Israel/Palestine
Related: About this forumWho's afraid of Israeli hate crimes?
http://972mag.com/whos-afraid-of-israeli-hate-crimes/108233/From time to time, this country is shaken by a particularly severe wave of nationalistically-motivated hate crimes against Palestinians, often in the form of arson or desecration of a religious site. After each such incident, we are faced with the usual ritual: senior government or police officials stare into the cameras with a determined gaze; they call the acts unconscionable; they say they take the incident with a full measure of responsibility and severity; they claim that this is not how a Jewish state acts; they promise that zero tolerance will be shown. These rituals usually appear against a backdrop of fear that this time the cup will finally runneth over, shattering the sacred quiet in the West Bank. After a short while, however, everything is back to normal.
We can see just how seriously the government takes hate crimes from the following case. On July 26, 2010, a large group of Israeli marauders, whom eyewitnesses said came from the direction of the settlements of Yitzhar and Har Bracha, allegedly made their way to land belonging to the nearby Palestinian village of Burin. According to witnesses, the marauders burned hundreds of olive trees, some of them older than a century. They then attacked the villagers with stones and, in a few cases, with clubs, after which they stoned the houses of the village. On that same day, some of the victims lodged a complaint with the Israeli police.
In August 2011more than a year after the incidentthe police informed Yesh Din that the case was turned over to the attention of a prosecutor; that is the last the organization heard of the story for two years. In August 2013, the Shomron Prosecution Unit bothered to update Yesh Din that they had closed the case back in December 2012. Three months later, we received the investigation material of a three-year-old incident, and attempted to see whether there is any point in appealing the decision to close the case.
To the utter surprise of Yesh Dins attorneys, who were under the impression that the police closed the case for lack of evidence, the files contained quite a bit of evidence. At the same time and place of the incident, three Border Policemen detained two Israeli civiliansA. and M.after police officers testified that they saw them throwing stones at Palestinians.
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)State-sponsored hate: a national scourge.
6chars
(3,967 posts)R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)Israeli
(4,169 posts)....its a really stupid question .
Israeli
(4,169 posts)Israel is like any other country on our planet .....its not perfect but which country is ?
Before you ask such an idiotic question shouldnt you state which country you are a citizen of ??
6chars
(3,967 posts)I'm not sure why I should have to state my country to ask a question, and calling it idiotic isn't very inviting, but I don't mind stating that I am from the US. It has its pros and cons. It is enlightened enough to have elected a black president and approved marriage equality, its citizens have aided many other countries in many ways, it tolerates heated political debate without a lot of violence, but it has too many guns, its police and its sentencing are sometimes out of control, equality on racial and other lines is a long way off, it is slow to address carbon emissions, and its wealth is concentrated at the top. As a diverse nation, I think it is hard to classify a single American mindset, e.g., as racist or as generous or greedy or anything.
Israeli
(4,169 posts)If you were the only American in a group such as this ....discussing and debating American politics and policies ....and I asked ...' Is there anything good about America ? Anything at all? '
How would you react ???
I think its hard .....' to classify a single Israeli mindset, e.g., as racist or as generous or greedy or anything. ' .......we are also a " diverse nation " .
If I were to judge America based on the politics and policies of your Republican party ...then I to " might get a different impression " ......but I know better 6chars.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)from the link:
"This is when events took a surrealistic turn. In response to the appeal, the prosecution claimed that they are well aware that there is enough evidence to indict A. and M., but said it would not do sosince it sees no reason to interfere with the decision of the Police Prosecution Unit, which closed the case for lack of public interest."
LACK OF PUBLIC INTEREST? Does this mean that Israeli police or the Justice Ministry takes a poll to decide if the public is interested before arresting criminals and/or prosecuting crimes?
Sounds like every day is open season on Palestinians in the "only Middle East democracy" that is definitely NOT an apartheid state.
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)Or will it be when someone claims that there is no apartheid in the West Bank?