Pretend you are Jewish. Pretend you live in Israel. For just a minute.
Your doctor suggests you get more exercise; go on a little hike or walk on the weekend. Try to get your step count increased. Hey you can bring your kids , and don’t forget to take your firearm.
No problem for you – and it seems hundreds of Israel settlers– youth and adults of all ages including families with children, accompanied by armed settlers. Hundreds of settlers go on “hikes”, outings and especially Friday rambles in Palestinian-run areas of the West Bank. What about a day trip into Area B, in Judea and Samaria (West Bank)? Though area B is supposed to be out of bounds to Israelis, as a Palestinian-controlled area –the IDF and local cops do not require coordination, or any notice at all that Jews are entering a no-go zone.
There’s no problem, you insist. After all, going on a hike can’t hurt anyone.
Except that last Friday Aug 21, in the Palestinian village of Sa’ir north of Hebron, a civilian Israeli security guard shot dead Karim Sanad Raja Shallaldeh, age 17, and seriously wounded a 70-year-old man. Observers said the “hikers” or settlers set a building on fire, and a guard from the ultra-orthodox settlement of Beitar Ilit shot the two men. Neither victim was armed. No Israelis, hikers or not, were supposed to barge into Sa’ir – let alone shoot two Palestinian residents.
According to the 30 year old Oslo Accords, Area B (where Sa’ir is located) is supposed to be exclusively under the control of the Palestinians –with no Jewish settlers or settlements permitted. But there are settlers from many “wildcat outposts” plus from expanded existing settlements allowed in area C. Area C boasts at least 146 settlements and 360 ‘unrecognized’ outposts (sometimes called wildcat outposts) that again are illegal under international law, but supported by Israel. This means there is no shortage of violent and murderous settlers. One “hiking” group from a “moderate” settlement claims
“There is no division of the territories into A, B and C. There is only Eretz Yisrael.”
But wait a minute. The Israeli police are blaming…wait for it…the victims, they “view with severity the attack on the hikers, who did nothing to provoke it during their time in Area B, which Israelis are permitted to enter.”
But in fact the law does not allow Israelis to enter Area B at all. Civilian authority is assigned to the PA (Palestinian Authority). Palestinians think that these “hikes” through their villages and land are a “display of Jewish supremacy that puts [the Palestinians] at risk.”
Earlier last Friday, Jewish settlers vandalized a quarry and set vehicles on fire near Wadim Rahim in the South Hebron Hills. The graffiti sprayed the wrecked cars read “Regards from Shilo bloc raids.” The UN and most countries (except for Israel) point out that Jewish settlements, like Shilo, are illegal.
The day before, Jewish settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles and injured six Palestinians on the road between two Palestinian villages in Area B –not far from Ramallah. The IDF then blocked entry to al-Mughayyir because settlers were roaming the area. Then the IDF blocked the road from Abu Falah village, set off tear gas and shot a Palestinian in the face with a rubber bullet.
Less than a month ago, Israelis burst into Halat al-Hams in the South Hebron Hills on what the Israeli trekkers called a “tour”. They broke fences, terrorized villagers. A settler with a herd of goats approached a Palestinian family’s home. When a man in the house came out, the settler gestured with a rifle at him. There was a fight over the gun and it went off, killing the settler. An IDF soldier was also killed. Four Palestinians were killed and four more injured.
Palestinians see the settler attacks as provocations. If they fight back, Palestinians will be labeled terrorists. That will justify Israel demolishing their home, burning down their crops, grabbing their land and ultimately clearing the Palestinian villages— ethnic cleansing.
So what do Canadian Jews say about this? The terrorism by Israeli settlers isn’t doing much good for Canadian Jews.
But many Canadian Jews are settlers at heart.
If you think might is right; if you think antisemitism will magically disappear when Israel kills 75,000 Palestinians – who had nothing to do with antisemitism, that’s a settler at heart.
After nearly three years of you ignoring the genocide perpetrated by your fellow lantsman, you are still refusing to speak about it.
First: Oct 7 –it was too terrible to think about, but you thought it would be over relatively fast.
Then you read that the Palestinian men raped and degraded Jewish women victims (now debunked here and here) so that –for you– it kind of justified Israel’s hellish wrath.
Then the IDF targeted and killed sevenWorld Central Kitchen aid workers in drone attacks—one was even a Canadian with a young baby! But what could you say? Yet just six days ago on World Humanitarian Day Aug 19, two years after the deaths, the IDF announced it was not going to pursue a criminal investigation into its fatal air strikes. The UK, Canadian and Australian governments issued a weak complaint adding that since 2025, Israel has killed more than 186 aid workers. But you did not think it was up to you to comment.
Israel’s deliberate killing of more than 1700 doctors, nurses, paramedics (including the two ambulance medics dispatched to try to save five-year-old Hind Rajab –whom Israel had murdered). Again you were uncomfortable speaking up.
There we have it. The comfort of Canada’s Jews is more important than Palestinians’ lives.
Meanwhile, today in the West Bank…January 21, 2025In “Book review”
It’s time for Canadian Jews to be on the Right Side of HistoryMay 15, 2021In “commentary”
Film Review: No Other LandMarch 12, 2025In “American empire”
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Judy Haiven is a writer and activist living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Formerly, she was a professor in the Management Department of the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University and is a specialist in Industrial Relations. Judy Haiven is a founder of Equity Watch, a human rights organization dedicated to fighting bullying and discrimination in the workplace.
Contact: jhaiven [at] gmail.com
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