Arming the Apartheid: Israel Legalizes More Settler Violence in the West Bank
📰 THE STORY: The New Arab reports that Israel's far-right government is facilitating the arming of more settlers across the occupied West Bank, accelerating a process that has seen settler violence against Palestinians rise with impunity since October 7, 2023. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: The arming of settlers is not new; it's a deliberate, decades-long policy. Since
1967, Israel has established over 250 illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, housing over 700,000 settlers in direct violation of international law (Fourth Geneva Convention). The Israeli military actively provides security for these settlements and often stands by or even participates in settler attacks on Palestinian villages, an established pattern documented by countless
human rights organizations for decades. Double Standard: Imagine any other nation's government distributing firearms to its civilian population illegally occupying land and then allowing them to engage in violence against the indigenous inhabitants with 'impunity' – it would be universally condemned as a war crime. Yet, when Israel does it, Western media largely frames it as 'security concerns' or
'retaliation,' erasing the illegal occupation and the systemic violence by settlers as the root cause. This is never described as 'ethnic cleansing' or 'state-sponsored terrorism,' terms readily applied to adversaries. Follow the Money: The US provides over $3.8 billion annually in military aid to Israel, a significant portion of which indirectly subsidizes the infrastructure, security, and