Father Roy writes: Please see my highlights in the article pasted below. Note the concluding paragraph in particular. This incident was not reported in the US media. It was, however, reported by an Israeli daily newspaper. Peace, Roy
source: www.palestinemonitor.org…
Palestinian woman subject of another Jewish hate crime in Jerusalem
On Monday, February 25 a Palestinian woman was attacked by a mob of ultra-Orthodox Jewish women in broad daylight at the light rail station in Jerusalem.
The Palestinian woman was punched by one passing Jewish woman in an unprovoked attack, before the Jewish woman’s friends joined in, managing to tear off the Palestinian’s headscarf off as they rained blows on her body.
The Israeli daily newspaper Maariv reported that the light rail security guard, in addition to around 100 religious Jewish men, stood by at the Kiryat Moshe rail station watching the beating and doing nothing.
Dorit Yardan Dotan, an eyewitness who captured the assult with her camera phone, told Maariv that she was horrified by the violence and that the security guard was even smiling.
There were more than 100 Orthodox Jews including Yeshiva students who watched an Arab woman being beaten," Dotan said. "She was escorted by an elderly man before a heated argument erupted and people shouted. I couldn’t understand the motive behind that, and all of a sudden they all attacked the Arab woman beating her severely."
Hate crimes are not uncommon for Palestinians living in Jerusalem or in the ’48 territories. Ynet reported that on February 24, a Palestinian man in his 40’s who works for the Tel Aviv Municipality as a street cleaner was assaulted by 20 Jewish youth, who targeted his head.
As a result, Hassan Usruf had to undergo surgery on his jaw while suffering injuries made to his eye socket, but no arrests were made and his attackers remain unpunished.
In August 2012, dozens of Jewish teenagers beat up three Palestinian youth in Zion Square, West Jerusalem. The mob relentlessly kicked and punched the Palestinians, and shouted racist slurs and chants such as "Death to Arabs!" over and over again as more than 100 bystanders stood by watching the lynching without interfering.
One of the Palestinian youth, 17 year old Jamal Julani, was beaten unconsciousness and had to be resuscitated on site after the mob ran away. Julani had to be hospitalized, and has no recollection of the incident.
In the aftermath of the lynching, Israeli police arrested several Jewish teenagers, the youngest being 13 year old. One of the suspects, a 15 year old, defiantly told the court, "For my part he [Julani] can die. He’s an Arab."
Nimrod Aloni, the head of one of Tel Aviv’s colleges for the Institute for Educational Thought said of the mob attack, "This is directly tied to national fundamentalism that is the same as the rhetoric of neo-Nazis, Taliban, and K.K.K. This comes from an entire culture that has been escalating toward an open and blunt language based on us being the chosen people who are allowed to do whatever we like."
Filed under israel and palestine articles by on Mar 4th, 2013. Comment. 
Peers,Have you noticed how interesting a good short story can be? Details can be especially interesting. Here’s a short story in progress that we can follow. A Palestinian man … accepted an invitation from a group of Jews … and all hell broke loose. The story would be funny if it weren’t so tragic.
Thanks to the Christian Science Monitor for the commentary pasted below. Peers, let’s look on the bright side. An International Debate is in the process of precipitating, both in Cyberspace and on the ground. And under our very noses. I suggest that we pray that we deal with these matters with understanding. There’s a postscript.
Peace,
Roy+
P.S. Peers, a heated debate need not be bitter. If we all start listening to one another with good will in our hearts … and … at the same time … if we all will respond honestly and without hesitation … (here comes the heard part) … we’ll all learn something. Please read on. Read what Hanan Ashwari had to say about the latest tempest in Israel’s tea pot.
Palestinian comments on Holocaust underscore internal divides
A Palestinian official prompted a heated debate when he visited Auschwitz last month. Many Palestinians believe that recognition of the Holocaust detracts from their own suffering.
A rare gesture of empathy for victims of the Holocaust has underscored how divided Palestinians are over recognizing what Jews consider the darkest chapter in their history – and also how far apart Israelis and Palestinians remain, not only when it comes to the present conflict, but also the past.
Ziyad Bandak, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas‘s adviser on Christian affairs, visited the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland last month, laying a wreath in memory of the more than 1 million people, most of them Jews, who were killed there during the Holocaust. Mr. Bandak, who was invited by a Polish group working for tolerance, was flayed in public statements by the Islamic militant group Hamas movement for harming the Palestinian cause and marketing a ”false Zionist alleged tragedy.”
But Bandak is being backed up by moderate Palestinian leaders in the West Bank for what they say is a ”human” act.
In the past, there was a sense among Palestinians that recognition of the Holocaust would detract from their own cause and suffering – an opinion accentuated by the feeling that their own struggles, including displacement by Israel‘s establishment in 1948 and the ongoing military occupation, have gone unrecognized by Israel and the international community.
With his adviser’s visit to Auschwitz, Mr. Abbas has come full circle on the issue. In 1984, he published a book based on his doctoral thesis alleging that the Holocaust was exaggerated and that Zionists created ”the myth” that 6 million Jews were murdered. But when he became Palestinian Authority prime minister in 2003, Abbas wrote that the Holocaust was an unforgivable crime against the Jewish nation and humanity. He said that he wrote the book when the Palestinians were at war with Israel and would not have made such remarks today.
“There is a competition over victimhood and suffering,” says Hanan Ashrawi, the Ramallah-based spokeswoman for the Palestinian Liberation Organization. ”Many people feel ‘Why should we recognize their suffering if they are still inflicting pain on us? We are not responsible for what happened to them. We are the victims and yet we are being blamed.’ The feeling is ‘Let them stop victimizing us now because their suffering in Europe is not something we’re responsible for – but what’s happening to us, the Israeli occupation is responsible for.”’
But Ms. Ashrawi herself says she supports Bandak’s act, calling it a “human” gesture.
“You can never discount suffering and empathy with the suffering of the other, regardless of whether he is Jewish, Christian, Muslim, or atheist. The Holocaust is a horrible chapter in human history. It should never be repeated, and should never happen to anybody, and an expression of empathy and recognition of the horror is only human,” she says.
Qais Abdul-Karim, a Palestinian legislator from the left-wing Badil party, termed the wreath laying ”a normal thing to do.”
“I do not believe it will divert attention from the rights and agony of the Palestinian people. We do not deny the Holocaust or agree to any position that will try to minimize or justify the cruelty and barbarism embodied in the Holocaust,” he says.
Bandak himself was traveling abroad and unavailable for comment
Filed under israel and palestine articles, israel and palestine religious conflict by on Aug 12th, 2012. Comment.
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