Biden Executive Order Against "Settler Violence"

 Professor of Law Eugene Kontorovich writes about the Biden executive order: “The new sanctions tools against Israelis announced by the Biden Administration is not about settler violence. First, it does not require acts of violence – anyone vaguely involved in doing or not doing anything the White House thinks undermines “peace” and “security” in Judea and Samaria (J&S) qualifies.”

“As to violence, the language of the Order applies to anyone complicit in acts of violence in J&S – which should mean the entire PA government should have their accounts frozen because of Pay-for-Slay, which federal law has already determined to be complicity in violence. But we know that won’t happen, because this is really a set of sanctions on Jews the Administration doesn’t like – a revolting response to Oct. 7…”

The next problem is with the invective term “settler violence” itself, as it implies that violence by “settlers,” Jews living in Judea & Samaria, is commonplace and a serious problem.

Not new, this term is a highly politicized attempt to delegitimize Jews living in Judea & Samaria, which the Biden Administration would prefer to see form the heart of a Palestinian state. We heard about “settler violence” with regard to an announcement by the US that visas would be denied to “violent” settlers. Now Biden has elevated the response.

The problem is that there is no major problem of “settler violence”! Some 99.9% of the Jews living in Judea & Samaria are peaceful. See http://tinyurl.com/ywjam3fb  

An excellent example of an incident against Jews that is represented as action by Jews against Arabs occurred last weekend: “A group calling itself ‘Staring into the Eyes of the Occupation’ on Saturday provided a stunning example of the blood libel that’s being created in collaboration between Arab terrorists, Israeli anti-Zionist NGOs, and the Biden administration, depicting ‘Settler violence.’

“On Saturday, Jewish farmers, alongside the Israel Police and the IDF found and retrieved a herd of sheep that had been stolen by Bedouins. Throughout the event, the thieving Bedouins threw stones at the rightful owners of the herd, and anarchists took pictures.

“A tweet by the anarchists intended for Biden and the White House: ‘Armed settlers invade barns to loot sheep under the auspices of the security forces.’” See http://tinyurl.com/3yb9n43p. Lies, Lies. and more lies.