Feeding the Anti-Israel Narrative

West Bank sheep farmer, Mordehai Minster (screenshot)

It’s hard to make the case that Israel is a moral country fighting for its right to exist when you have religious-looking Jews, with large Kipot and Tzitzis flowing out from their clothing, terrorizing Palestinians in the West Bank. On the contrary, those who see Israel as a brutal occupier of indigenous Palestinians can easily point to these people and their actions to make their case. And frankly, I don’t blame them.

As reported on 60 Minutes last night:

In recent months, some militant settlers are ramping up their campaign to violently drive out the Palestinians who live there — often with impunity — the Israeli government showing an unwillingness to crack down on the violence.

Normally, I am skeptical of the media’s practice of showing disturbing images without providing context. That is a legitimate criticism of media bias. Eliminating context from a negative story is unfair and distorts the truth.

But honestly, there is no context in the world that could justify the terrorism of these young Jewish thugs. While they may not be on the same level of evil as Hamas, they are terrorists nonetheless.

To the casual American observer who watched this segment on 60 Minutes, the conclusion might well be that the worldwide calls to boycott Israel are justified. How can anyone of good conscience support a country that appears to look the other way while some of its own citizens terrorize their Palestinian neighbors?

Why do these young Jewish terrorists do it?

The violence is often carried out by these young shepherds known as “Hilltop Youth,” who have flocked here for a sense of adventure, told they’re on a God-given mission to redeem the land.

But it isn’t only these young thugs who are trying to push Palestinians out of their homes. There is a relatively new tactic:

Mordehai Minster cofounded this sheep farm. It’s a new kind of settlement here in the West Bank from where his herd is driven deeper and deeper into the surrounding Palestinian communities…

The sheep have taken over huge swaths of land: 20% of the West Bank. In one Palestinian village after the next, herds from these farms have pressed in, and the village shepherds pushed out…

The settlers even push sheep into people’s homes.

When asked about it, Minster acknowledged that it was unfortunate that violence sometimes took place and things sometimes get ugly. But that, he said, does not diminish what he considers his God-given right to all the land of Israel…

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