Murray Rothbard on the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre at Hebron (1994)

The brutal massacre at Hebron in late February was as fascinating for the inappropriate responses of the Israeli and U.S. authorities as for the dramatic nature of the act itself.  The initial response of the Israeli government was the traditional reaction in matters of this sort: to blame it all on one lone, "deranged" nut, in this case Dr. Baruch Goldstein.  But this first reaction fell through quickly when it turned out that, however nutty, Dr. Goldstein was scarcely alone: that he was, in fact, the leader in Hebron of the "Kachniks," the movement founded by the notorious Brooklyn Rabbi, the late Meir Kahane, which is now split into the Kach ("the way") Party and the smaller and even more fanatic Kahane Chai ("Kahane lives.")  The loneness was further called into question when the Kackniks praised Goldstein's mass murder of Arabs while kneeling in prayer in their mosque, and mourned the "martyrdom" of Goldstein, who was beaten to death by the enraged remnant of those of his victims who managed to remain alive.  World-wide television spread the remarkable comment of Rabbi Yaacov Perrin, at the Goldstein eulogy, a comment that was repeated by various of the mourners: "One million Arab lives are not worth one Jewish fingernail!"

[...]

The Palestinians were all too aware of the emptiness of these gestures of shame and anger by Israel.  Talk is cheap; as we say in New York, that and $1.25 will get you on the subway.  Despite all the talk of moving against the Kachniks, in fact only a half-dozen have been proscribed by the government, and only one is actually in jail.  The rage of the Palestinian Arabs is unbounded; even the usually passive Arabs of Israel proper have rioted against Israel; and even the traditionally pro-Israel Bedouin Arabs are talking about resigning from the Israeli Army.  You know that matters are serious when Farouk Khadoumi, the "foreign minister" of the PLO, and a man who has always been an ultra-moderate, refused Arafat's call to meet at Tunis because he didn't want even the hint of implication in a possible resumption of peace negotiations.

~ Murray Rothbard, "The Vital Importance of Separation," Rothbard-Rockwell Report, April 1994, pp. 1, 3

Margherita Stancati on Israeli settler violence in the West Bank

Since Israel captured the West Bank in 1967, the building of Israeli settlements—considered illegal by most countries—has undermined efforts to create a sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

Settler groups and Israeli authorities say many Palestinian hamlets in the West Bank were built without permits and are illegal.  Some of them were established in areas later declared military zones, archaeological sites or nature reserves and demolished. Israeli and Palestinian rights groups say the overarching aim is to forcibly expel Palestinian residents from parts of the West Bank.

Pro-settler groups and some far-right Israeli politicians are pushing for the formal annexation of settlements in the West Bank to Israel.

Settlers have attacked Palestinians in the past, but the current level of violence is unprecedented in frequency and intensity, rights groups say.  “The moment the war in Gaza started, settlers knew they had an opportunity because no one was looking,” said Dror Sadot, a spokeswoman for B’Tselem.

Settler attacks have nearly doubled since Oct. 7 to an average of five a day, resulting in the killing of eight Palestinians, the U.N. said.  In nearly half of the attacks, Israeli forces accompanied or supported the settlers, it added.  A spokesman for Israel’s military said soldiers were required to intervene to stop violations by Israelis against Palestinians or their property and that, should soldiers fail to adhere to orders, they would be disciplined.

~ Margherita Stancati, "Palestinians in West Bank Flee After Settler Violence: ‘We Were Forced to Leave’Since the start of the war in Gaza, around 1,000 Palestinians living in the West Bank have left their homes," The Wall Street Journal, December 3, 2023