Contriving Jewish "terrorists"

Steven Plaut tells how the Israeli left chooses to ignore jihadism while setting out to label presumed acts of vandalism by assumed Jewish perpetrators as "terrorism":

News headlines in the US over the past few weeks have focused on political targeting there by the Internal Revenue Service against conservative groups. But Israel is now experiencing a far worse form of political targeting by the state. In Israel the Attorney General is leading an initiative to have a small group of radical juveniles who engage in mischief declared to be a terrorist organization.

The group of politically motivated Jewish vandals operates under the name “Tag Mechir” or “Price Tag.” They were founded as a response in kind to Arab rock-throwing and general acts of vandalism against Jews perpetrated in the West Bank and in some other areas. Much of their “activity” consists of writing graffiti on cars and homes of Arabs or Jewish leftists. Their worst acts of misbehavior have involved vandalizing mosques. The local police have been unsuccessful in tracking down and arresting those involved, but the perps are thought to be young religious juveniles from settlements in the West Bank. The media find them as fascinating as the postman who bites the dog.

Most of the political “Right” in Israel, including most conservative and pro-settler organizations and parties, regard “Price Tag” as an embarrassment. The vandals have been condemned by almost every rabbi in the country, including those identifying with the “Right.” The legitimate Right fears the “Price Tag” mischief and pranks will alienate the general public. Conservative pundits, and I include myself in this group, have suggested that the proper way to deal with the “Price Tag” juveniles is with a hickory switch behind the woodshed.

The Price Taggers have damaged property and needlessly provoke Muslims and others in the most explosive region of the world. But they have killed no one. They do not engage in actual violence against humans, except for some revenge-rock-throwing. The same leftist establishment seeking to define these jackanapes as terrorists bends over backwards to excuse rock throwing by Arabs against Jews as “protest,” even when it maims children. The liberal media refuse to label THAT terrorism, but are cheering on the initiative to battle against the “Jewish terrorists” from “Price Tag.” Their crimes are closer to fraternity pranks than to actual terrorism. [...]

As it turns out, in many cases leftists and Arabs themselves have vandalized Arab property, including damage to olive trees, as provocations to be blamed upon “settlers” and the “Price Tag” group. Presumably “Tag Mechir” is happy to accept the “credit” for these, even when it is not involved. When a mosque in Israel’s Galilee was vandalized, the press and the chattering classes instantaneously named “Price Tag” as the perps. Later in turned out the vandalism was done by some local Arabs who live in the same town. None of the many cases of synagogues being vandalized by Arabs have been defined by the government as terrorism, even when the vandalism is perpetrated by officials in the PLO.

The initiative to proclaim the “Price Tag” group a terrorist organization has come from Israel’s politicized leftist Attorney General, Yehuda Weinstein. It was quickly endorsed by members of the leftist herd. Political hacks from the Likud joined in, including the Minister of Internal Security, as did Netanyahu’s Minister of Justice, Tzipi Livni from the Kadima faction. So did the head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency and the dean of one of the law schools in the country.

Attorney General Weinstein has a long track record of “differential prosecution.” This is manifested in his refusal to prosecute leftists and Arabs, while running a special surveillance agency to spy on right-wing Jews. When an Arab fascist Knesset Member participated in the “Hamas flotilla” seeking to end Israel’s naval control of the waters around the Gaza strip and when she violently attacked Israeli soldiers, Weinstein refused to prosecute her or even ban her from running in the elections. Weinstein has studiously defended freedom of speech, but only for radical leftists and Arabs, while just as studiously seeking its suppression for everyone else. He has repeatedly indicted rabbis and others for “incitement” and “racism” when they dare to express political opinions with which the Left disagrees, even prosecuting people for catcalls at a soccer game, but has never indicted any leftists for calling for murder, for mutiny by soldiers, or for other acts of violence. On the other hand, Weinstein pursued a frivolous and openly partisan prosecution against rightist leader Avigdor Lieberman for trumped up evidence-free allegations of “corruption.”

Weinstein is a definite embarrassment, and so is Livni. These "price tag" acts of vandalism aren't even definitively proven to be committed by "settlers" and one can only wonder if they were committed by leftists, in a likely attempt to discredit the right.