NETANYAHU BLAMES OTHERS FOR VIOLENCE

Violence has broken out again in Israel. Over the last few weeks ten Israelis have been killed, many in ugly, violent attacks by knife wielding young Arabs. Forty Arabs, many of them attackers have fallen to Israeli bullets. Many of these were attwckers but too many were simply demonstrators or bystanders. The turmoil has affected the whole population. Even a group of recent immigrant French Jews seeking safety in Israel from Moslem attacks are fearful they have made a terrible mistake leaving France. The some streets of Jerusalem are filled with young Arab men slinging stones and chunks of concrete at Israeli soldiers who fire back with rubber coated steel bullets and throw canisters of stink bombs and tear gas. The Palestinian youths ironically look like modern Davids slinging their missiles at the Israeli military Goliath. On American TV, Netanyhau and his operatives have mounted a propaganda campaign trying to blame the ugly violence on the victims of their expansionism.

What set off this most recent intifada? Netanyahu and his Likud government hard-liners have been tweaking the rules concerning entry and prayer at the Moslem world's most holy site. The fear of Israeli intentions to control access at the Dome of the Rock And Al Aqsa Mosque have been the last heavy burden which broke the donkey's spine this time. The incident of the burning deaths of an entire Palestinian family trapped in their home by settler mobs, who are known but against whom the Israeli government has not moved, also weighs heavily on the Plaestinian consciousness. The fact that Netanyahu also heads one of the most right wing, repressive, human-rights-ignoring Israeli governments and is intensely averse to peace negotiations is another cause. After fifty years of wars, wall building, illegal expansion into the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, house demolitions, arrests, killings, repression, check-points and denial of legitimate rights of the hope and patience of the Palestinian people has been exceeded..again. Netanyahus recent ridiculous claim that it was a Palestinian cleric who convinced Adolph Hitler to "burn the Jews" rather than deport them has only added gasoline to an out of control bonfire. With no hope and continued repression what else can one expect from an oppressed and humiliated Palestianian population? UN intervention at the holy sites of three major world religions, and a UN presence along the boundary between these two populations may be the ultimate solution if Netanyahu and his government is unable or unwilling to make the necessary moves to stabilize the region.

Perhaps the specter of the ISIS-sponsored chaos and violence surrounding Israel in Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere will bring Israel's leaders to the realization that meaningful negotiation and compromise are a better option than stonewalling American and UN sponsored peace initiatives. Can we hope that Netanyahu and his supporters will finally make an honest effort to seek peace rather than opting for the fragile and violent status quo and creeping expansion that they have favored for years now? I hope so.

Two nations seem to be responsible for inciting much of the violence. American counter-productive drone assassinations and attacks in which nine out of ten "terrorists" killed have been revealed to be innocent almost exclusively Moslem by-standers. And of course, Israeli policies in the West Bank and Gaza are simplly great advertisements and incentives for young Arab jihadists to join ISIS and continue the cycle of violence.

Adults please stand up and take charge!