Financing the Occupation: Settler Violence in West Bank Escalates
On March 14, Israeli settlers reportedly shot Palestinians and stole livestock in villages such as Qusra and Rashayda in the occupied West Bank. Al Jazeera reported at least one Palestinian killed in Qusra during these incidents which also left others injured. This surge in violence by settlers against Palestinian communities is a regular feature of life under occupation, often accompanied by
impunity. Mainstream Western media outlets, exemplified by a typical report from The New York Times, frequently frame these incidents as isolated acts of 'settler extremism' or 'clashes,' effectively de-linking them from the broader financial and governmental machinery that enables their existence and aggression. This framing obscures the direct state support and private funding networks that
empower these settlers, portraying them as rogue elements rather than an extension of the occupation policy. The financial architecture behind these settlements involves a complex web of illegal contributions and state subsidies. For instance, the US-based organization 'Hebron Fund' alone funneled millions of dollars in tax-deductible donations to Israeli settlements, including those implicated in
violence, as meticulously documented by a 2015 investigation by The Intercept. Furthermore, the Israeli government provides substantial infrastructure, security, and even agricultural subsidies directly to these outposts, transforming what appear to be individual acts of aggression into components of a premeditated land seizure strategy. The US State Department, even while nominally against