Comments on: WATCH: Settlers set fire to Palestinian olive grove, man shot

By: Rowan Berkeley

Rowan Berkeley — Tue, 29 May 2012 10:34:59 +0000

JPost has also piled in on this now, with a piece that tries to sound neutral but in fact tilts somewhat:
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=271776

By: ABU-ALI

ABU-ALI — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:16:31 +0000

I would like to start a new settlement here in the West-Bank, where Israelis and Palestinians live together as a community,any body wants to join.

By: Greg Pollock

Greg Pollock — Tue, 29 May 2012 07:12:29 +0000

XYZ,
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The soldiers are obiously not neutral. They are young, have a job to do, have to live with their comrades, have to take orders. There is profound pressure to see the right thing.
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972 is hated because it shows these events, possible in the digital age. If not for such as they, the very event would go unremaked. Would you then expect soldiers to come forward and speak, although there is no public reason for doing so? In fact, some have. Some are now reporters on this site. Others are part of NGOs you may well detest. The courts are important precisely because institutions cannot adequately police themselves under social stress; but the IDF, and the settlers, are at present seemingly immune from court oversight.
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In the American Jim Crow South, in South Africa, in the USSR, there were periods where certain kinds of events just didn’t occur. It is happening in your land now. Will some reports be wrong, even faked? Certainly. But not all. I suspect far from all.

By: max

max — Tue, 29 May 2012 06:22:50 +0000

I see: you have a theory and the facts will have to adjust themselves
As you explained, this is the essence of conspiracy theories, and the 972mag audience, rational though it presumably is, is quite ignorant of all this.

By: Rowan Berkeley

Rowan Berkeley — Tue, 29 May 2012 05:54:51 +0000

Because as I explained at enormous length a couple of weeks ago, it’s quite clear from the teachings of Yitzhak Ginzburg (the mad Lubavitcher of whom Yitzhak Shapira’s defines himself a student) that their entire strategy is to set the fires themselves and then say “would we do that on Shabbat?” And the A7 audience, religious though it presumably is, is quite ignorant of all this.

By: max

max — Tue, 29 May 2012 04:18:18 +0000

RB, thanks for the link – why do you claim it’s a spin? Is it grainier than others? Is it doctored? Is it less conclusive?
Are the implications less to your liking?

By: XYZ

XYZ — Tue, 29 May 2012 02:46:56 +0000

Since 972 defines itself as an “independent reporting” site, I think it is incumbent upon them to give us follow-up reports on these incidents. In the previous incident, the person firing at the Palestinians is clearly identifiable so we need to know what has happened to the investigation of these incidents. There are numerous neutral witnesses, including soldiers present who no doubt have been able to help the authorities with the investigation. Don’t forget that soldiers come from all sectors of society and are not necessarily “pro-settler” so they should be able to give an unbiased account of what happened.
So often, we are told of supposedely “shocking events” carried out by settlers and yet no prosecuation ever takes place. As I have pointed out previously, this can NOT be due to the fact that all the organs involved, the IDF, the police and the state prosecutors office is “covering-up” for the settlers, since the heads of all these organization are not favorably disposed to the settlers in any event.

By: Rowan Berkeley

Rowan Berkeley — Mon, 28 May 2012 11:42:51 +0000

I said that Arutz Sheva would try to spin this story, and the video evidence, backwards, and they have:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/156247

By: Greg Pollock

Greg Pollock — Mon, 28 May 2012 09:28:54 +0000

There ultimately will be another explosion, another rising, something. These memories spread, through family, friends, even strangers. These settlers are going to turn Israelis into monsters by placing the State in an overt position where mass force is decided necessary. Every call of “God is Great” after a wounded is retrieved, or a dead body, brings this time nearer. The settlers are going to force you to become as they, and the prevalent Israeli media filters contribute by isolating the public from these events.
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Now, am I a terrorist for saying this will happen? How long will this silence continue? I fear, almost now predict, until the social explosion begins.
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FU has a good inqiry, in my view. The thought of such people should be heard, so one can see what they want to do to Israel.

By: FU

FU — Sun, 27 May 2012 22:51:17 +0000

Honest question: who articulates the settlers’ perspective or defends their actions like this? Seriously — what websites or spokespeople are there, who even try to defend them? (I’d love a URL or some names, just to look at.)

Thanks!