Public Comment

The latest settler terrorist attack occurred when a Palestinian home was firebombed, killing an 18-month-old baby and severely injuring other members of the family. Graffiti scrawled on walls near the homes read "Revenge" in Hebrew. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling the firebombing "an act of terrorism" rings hollow given that his government has encouraged settlement expansion for decades in complete defiance of stated US goals and international law. The blatant theft of land is itself an act of terrorism. 

About 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. 

Settler terrorism has been ongoing for decades with complete impunity. No settler has ever been charged with vandalism or other acts of violence. 

The attack revived painful memories of the abduction and killing last July of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, 16, who was burned alive by Jewish extremists after he was snatched from his East Jerusalem neighborhood. 

According to the United Nations “Palestinian civilians continue to be subject to various threats to their life, physical safety and liberty; in the West Bank, there was a huge increase in Israeli violence: this year to date 49 Palestinians have been killed almost double the number from last year.” 

Tragically, our government is complicit in these blatant acts of terrorism by rewarding Israel for its bad behavior with $3 billion of our tax money every year.