In an unusual move, Yesha (Judea and Samaria) Council head Avi Ro’eh and Chairman Ron Shachner have sent a letter to Jerusalem Police accusing the leftist Ha’aretz daily newspaper of incitement to violence.
In a column published Wednesday, Ha’aretz writer Amira Hass, who lives in the PA city of Ramallah, wrote, “Throwing stones is the right and the duty of anyone living under foreign rule.” Later in the column she termed rock-throwing “a metaphor for resistance.” Hass is the official Ha’aretz correspondent for what the newspaper labels the “occupied territories”.
Hass, who also lived in Gaza for three years in contravention of Israeli law, wrote that arrests of rock throwers “is part of the role of the foreign occupation, no less than gunfire, torture during investigations, land theft… and discrimination in distribution of water.”
Several recent rock attacks by Arabs targeting Israelis living in Judea and Samaria have caused serious injury. In the most serious case, a terrorist wounded a mother and three of her children, including a 3-year-old who was critically injured. All were rushed to the hospital, including the toddler who has since undergone numerous surgeries.
Hass’ column constitutes praise for violent rock attacks and gives such attacks legitimacy, Ro’eh and Shachner said in their complaint, adding that it ignores the dangers posed by such attacks.
The two noted that one day before Hass’ column came out, a Palestinian Authority resident was convicted for murdering a young father and son in an Arab rock-throwing attack.
Giving rock attacks “legitimacy and respect” leads to “fanning the flames with near certainty” to such an extent that law enforcement should be involved, they argued.
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