Jewish Israeli stone throwing

Jewish Israeli stone throwing refers to Jewish Israelis throwing stones, either by settlers at Palestinians,[1][2] or by Haredi Jews who believe the territory belongs to them and wish to police it from any opposition. The activity among Israel's Hareidi circles has been documented in Jerusalem since the early 1970s.[3] Stone throwing has been used by Israeli settlers to prevent Palestinians from using roads the settlers consider theirs.[4] It has been claimed that the Israeli military and police have been more lenient when it comes to stone throwing by Israeli Jews than by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs, leading to the growth of the practice.[5]

History

Stone throwing played a role in the creation of Israel, both in fighting the British armed forces, and Palestinian Arabs, the latter of which have their own history of stone throwing. In 1947 after the Jewish Irgun had kidnapped and killed two British sergeants - hanging their bodies in a grove of trees with an anti-personnel mine underneath, British soldiers rampaged in Tel Aviv in retaliation, vandalizing shops and cars. Young Jews in Tel Aviv responded by taking to the streets and stoning British military patrols.[6] The events and their aftermath came to be known as the The Sergeants affair.

In the aftermath of the Deir Yassin massacre of 1948, carried out by the Israeli Irgun and Stern Gang militias and that resulted in over 100 Palestinian villagers killed following Israeli attempts to relieve the blockade of Jerusalem by Palestinian Arab forces during the civil war that preceded the end of British rule in Palestine, Palestinian survivors were loaded into trucks and then paraded through West Jerusalem while Jews spat at them and threw stones at them.[7]

Haredi attacks against property, involving both stone throwing, vandalism and arson at bus stops, broke out in 1985-1986 to protest posters showing what they regarded as immodest women.[8]

Jewish Orthodox Israelis threw stones at passing cars throughout 2009 to protest infractions of the Sabbath. Large scale protests broke out, involving stone throwing in June and July in response to the opening of a car park near the Old Quarter of Jerusalem. On 9 August, the Jerusalem city mayor Nir Barkat was stoned by dozens of ultra-orthodox demonstrators who held him responsible for the car park's opening.[9]

Reasons for stone throwing

Throwing stones at cars operated in violation of the Jewish Sabbath is practiced among the ultra-Orthodox community of Jews, such as the Hasidim community.[10][11] At the request of the Jerusalem police, the practice was halted during the first intifada.[12] In Mea Shearim women who sport ‘immodest dress’ have often been subject to stoning.[13]Members of the Women of the Wall protesting in order to secure women's rights to pray at the Western Wall have also been subject to stoning by the ultra-Orthodox.[14]as have demonstrators for gay rights.[15] Sometimes, the Haredi stone throwing has a political nature, to protest the arrest of prominent members of the community arrested on suspicion of things like money-laundering and tax fraud.[16][17] Palestinians in Shuafat's refugee camp have been targeted by the ultra-orthodox from Ramat Shlomo,[18] the Hassan Bek Mosque in Jaffa was stoned in October 2000 by Jews, who tried to set it on fire, in the wake of demonstrations and rioting by Israeli Arabs and Palestinians elsewhere in Israel,[19][20] including local rioting and stone throwing in Jaffa.[21]

Critical responses and reactions

Peter Beinart writes that similarities exist between political reactions in Israel and the United States to stone-throwing protests by Ethiopian Israelis and Afro-Americans. One condemns the violence, but calls are made to look into and attend to the problems that give rise to such episodes. He then asks why Israeli attitudes are different if the stone-throwers are Palestinians. In the former instances, he argues, the grievances behind the violence are acknowledged and promises are made to redress them. The IDF website brands all Palestinian stone-throwing as 'unprovoked', and as 'threats to the stability of the region', and yet Beinart thinks it absurd to characterize behaviour by 'people who have lived for almost a half-century under military law and without free movement, citizenship or the right to vote,' unprovoked.[22]

In May 2015 The Netherlands warned its citizens about travelling near West Bank settlements in the following terms: "Jewish settlers live in illegal settlements in the West Bank... These settlers organize on a regular basis demonstrations close to the roads. These demonstrations are sometimes violent. This happens when settlers throw rocks toward Palestinian and foreign vehicles." The warning specifically identified the hills around Hebron and Nablus as potentially dangerous, where the "extremist settlers are liable to be hostile."[23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Report: Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claim responsibility for West Bank shooting attack". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
  2. ↑ "This picture of Palestinians shielding an Israeli cop is incredible". mirror. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
  3. ↑ Nachman Ben-Yehuda, Theocratic Democracy: The Social Construction of Religious and Secular Extremism, Oxford University Press,2010 p.152
  4. ↑ Peter Bouckaert, Center of the Storm: A Case Study of Human Rights Abuses in Hebron District, Human Rights Watch 2001 pp.99-103
  5. ↑ Daniel Byman, A High Price: The Triumphs and Failures of Israeli Counterterrorism, Oxford University Press, USA, 2011 p.291.
  6. ↑ Bethell, Nicholas (1979). The Palestine Triangle. London: André Deutsch. pp. 323–340. ISBN 0-233-97069-X.
  7. ↑ 'The Historiography of Deir Yassin,' Benny Morris, Journal of Israeli History: Politics, Society, Culture, Volume 24, Issue 1, 2005 pgs. 79-107
  8. ↑ Nachman Ben-Yehuda, Theocratic Democracy: The Social Construction of Religious and Secular Extremism, Oxford University Press,2010 pp.67-68.
  9. ↑ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2009, Government Printing Office, U.S. Department of State, October 2012-
  10. ↑ Samuel C. Heilman, Defenders of the Faith: Inside Ultra-Orthodox Jewry, University of California Press, 1992 p.99: ‘The American ultra-Orthodox Jews who would do battle with those who did not observe Sabbath, who wanted to throw a stone against its desecrators, got on a plane and threw their stone here in Jerusalem. In America, haredim –such as they were-limited their struggles with modernity to intramural jousting with other Jews.’
  11. ↑ W. Gordon Lawrence, Tongued with Fire: Groups in Experience, Karnac Books, 2000 p.83;’To drive on a Sunday afternoon through parts of Jerusalem, where the extremist Israelis are waiting with stones to throw at cars with West Bank number plates, is to experience the fear of becoming a victim of the mob’
  12. ↑ Jonathan Boyarin, Palestine and Jewish History: Criticism at the Borders of Ethnography, University of Minnesota Press 1996 p.198.
  13. ↑ Nora L. Rubel, Doubting the Devout: The Ultra-Orthodox in the Jewish American Imagination, Columbia University Press, 2013 p.98.
  14. ↑ Tia Goldenberg, 'Ultra-Orthodox Jews Attack Jerusalem Buses Over Women Of The Wall, Ad,' Huffington Post 18 September 2015
  15. ↑ Rory McCarthy, 'Violence from ultra-orthodox Jews may halt gay march in Jerusalem,' The Guardian 6 November 2006.
  16. ↑ Oz Rosenberg,'Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protesters block roads, throw stones in Beit Shemesh,' Haaretz 15 January 2012.
  17. ↑ 'Haredim throw stones, smash windows of bus in Bet Shemesh,' Jerusalem Post 31 July 2013.
  18. ↑ Noam (Dabul) Dvir, Ultra-Orthodox from Ramat Shlomo throw stones at Palestinian homes in refugee camp; three arrested,' Ynet I September 2012.
  19. ↑ Lev Luis Grinberg, Politics and Violence in Israel/Palestine: Democracy Versus Military Rule, Routledge, 2009 pp.155ff.
  20. ↑ The Or Inquiry - Summary of Events, Haaretz Nov. 19, 2001
  21. ↑ Adam LeBor, City of Oranges: Arabs and Jews in Jaffa, A&C Black 2007 pp.276-278:'The mob pelted passing cars with stones. Windows and windscreens scattered, scattering glass across the road... The rioters blocked off the Yaffet street and fought with police, hurling stones and bricks... Just as in 1921 and 1936, the Arab riots provoked Jewish counter attacks... the Jewish community activist: They (Arabs) said this exploded because they are treated badly. I asked them what the connection was, to make intifada in Jaffa? ... why are you making a pogrom against me as a Jew?'
  22. ↑ Peter Beinart, 'Violence doesn't erase the legitimacy of grievances – in Baltimore, Tel Aviv or the West Bank,' Haaretz 7 May 2015.
  23. ↑ 'Dutch government warns: Beware stone-throwing settlers,' The Times of Israel, June 2, 2015
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