FT Discovers 'Settler Violence' Isn't So Settled After All
Mainstream media like the Financial Times now acknowledge a 'surge' in settler violence in the West Bank, with attacks on Palestinians reaching a nearly two-decade high. This sudden realization overlooks decades of documented, systematic dispossession and state-sanctioned aggression. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has recorded thousands of settler attacks since
2005, often with Israeli military complicity, yet it only becomes a 'crisis' when the numbers surge past previous 'acceptable' levels. This isn't a new phenomenon; it's an escalation of an ongoing colonial project. While the FT frames it as a recent development, the pattern of settler violence, land seizure, and forced displacement is integral to the occupation, often facilitated by policies
enacted by leaders like Benjamin Netanyahu, who has consistently expanded settlements since his first premiership in 1996. How many 'surges' does it take for a systematic issue to be recognized as, perhaps, systemic?