The Real Reason Palestinians Suffer

17 year old Rina Shnerb, killed on the West Bank by a terrorist bomb (JTA)

There is little doubt that Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib is anti  Israel - and by extension probably an antisemite too. (Despite her protestations to the contrary). While she hasn’t said that in so many words, her support of BDS makes that obvious.

Those who say that supporting BDS is merely in opposition to Israeli tactics with respect to Palestinians (like the settlements issue) are either unaware of BDS’s true goals or are aware but don’t share that fact with a public that has been indoctrinated to believe that all Palestinians want is their own state living side by side with Israel. And that supporting BDS will get them there. But nothing could be further from the truth.  As former Israeli ambassador to the US, Danny Ayalon, said in a PBS interview: 

BDS, unfortunately, is not just calling for boycotts and sanctions against Israel, it's not just criticizing any Israeli policy, which is, of course, fair and legitimate, but actually they are undermining the very existence. The battle cry of the BDS movement is basically from the river to the sea, Palestinian will be free. And if you look at the map, from the river to the sea of the land of Israel, there is no room for any other state, let alone the Jewish state. 

That is the truth. A truth that Tlaib surely knows since - as the daughter of Palestinian parents who immigrated to America - living an enclave where a culture of hating Israel is pro forma, she has no doubt been indoctrinated to see Israel as the arch enemy of her people. An enemy that treats them like Apartheid South Africa treated black South Africans.

Which is of course a lie. The Apartheid lie nevertheless keeps being used by Palestinians when describing how they are treated by Israeli security. It is a lie that any black South African that actually experienced the horrors of Apartheid will corroborate as a lie.

This attitude has poisoned Tlaib to such an extent, that she probably believes every negative thing her  parents and community have ever told  her about the Jewish State. Which is why she cried at a press conference explaining why – after first accepting it – she later rejected Israel’s humanitarian gesture that would have allowed her to visit her 90 year old grandmother.

She cried because of the humiliating way Palestinians are treated in Israel and presents herself as their champion in congress. To her community's  great acclaim!

The truth is Palestinians are treated in ways that are indeed sometimes humiliating. Not because Israelis are bigots who hate Palestinians because of their ethinicity. Although that is what so many Palestinians believe by virtue of the personal experiences (as do others who have legitimate human sympathy for the struggle they see via a media.) 

Bigotry has absolutely nothing to do with that.

I have in the past acknowledged that Palestinians are treated differently than Israelis. (Including Israeli Arabs). Palestinians do indeed suffer indignities that Israelis do not. But there is a very good reason for that which has nothing to do with hating them. It has to do with security. When Palestinians from the West Bank want enter Israel proper they are often subjected to a lengthy and occasionally humiliating security check by Israeli military personnel. Israelis (both Jewish and Arab) generally pass right through those checkpoints when traveling with even being stopped.

This has again been made obvious by what happened to Rina Shnerb. From JTA: 

A 17-year-old Israeli girl was killed and her father and brother were severely wounded in a bomb attack at a nature reserve in the West Bank.
 Rina Shnerb of Lod, her father Eitan, a rabbi, and her brother Dvir, 19, were hiking at the Ein Bubin spring when they were attacked with an explosive device, possibly a grenade, hurled at them from a passing vehicle, according to reports by the Magen David Adom ambulance service and others. 

Unfortunately the mainstream media never reports these stories when they report about the way Palestinans are treated. But it is an event like this that requires those kinds of border security checks.  There is a reason they are called security checks. leaving out the context leaves the listener or reader to surmise that Israel’s security measures are unfair and racist. So racist that they are akin South African Apartheid! This is why some good people might even support BDS. (Although most that do are either anti Israel and/or closet antisemties.)

I wish the media would be more objective rather than to choose sensationalist journalism.  The idea of ‘If it bleeds it leads’ is an old motto of the media. The truth be damned.

Why do they do that? Follow the money. It’s all about circulation numbers or ratings. A story about a Palestinian that was humiliated without explaining the context  is far more likely to trigger a reaction by  readers or listeners. That will generate more readers or listeners. And that translates into more ad revenue.

Meanwhile Israel gets painted as the big bad bully of the Middle East that treats Arabs like dirt. A bully supported with American money! Is there any wonder why there are so many even decent people that might support BDS? Or feel sympathy for Tlaib? Without context - I might feel the same way. Especially after seeing her cry about why she refused to take up Israel’s humanitarian gesture to visit her grandmother! After all as an idealistic American congresswoman - she sacrificed her personal desires for the sake of her people. Making her a hero in the eyes of those who are not familiar with the context.

I’ll tell you who does not think of Tlaib as a hero. The family of Rina Shnerb.

That said, I wish that Israelis would just stay out of dangerous places on the West Bank. If Rina had not gone hiking there with her family, she would still be alive today. Why is this area, named for a an Israeli victim of terror so popular? Are there no areas in Israel proper where they could have done that? Why tempt fate?