Wat betreft de vele confrontaties tussen radikale kolonisten en Palestijnen, soms met hulp van linkse vredesactivisten, is het soms lastig uit te maken wie gelijk heeft. Het wordt vaak een welles-nietes gevecht.
In Nederland en andere Europese landen is er inderdaad nauwelijks oog voor het verhaal van de kolonisten; omdat men vindt dat zij sowieso niet op die plek mogen wonen, hebben ze per definitie ongelijk in de ogen van zowel journalisten als publiek. Dat is niet helemaal terecht. Als iemand die in een kraakpand woont ruzie krijgt met zijn buren, moet je bereid zijn het verhaal van beide kanten te bekijken, ook als je tegen kraken bent.
De bewering dat ook de Israelische kranten te weinig aandacht hebben voor de kant van de kolonisten doet een beetje vreemd aan. Haaretz neemt het vaak op voor de Palestijnen, maar de Jerusalem Post toont zeker ook het perspectief van de kolonisten. Wel is het zo dat ook zij soms gewoon verhalen van de internationale persagentschappen zoals Reuters en AP overnemen, die vaak nogal eenzijdig negatief tegenover de kolonisten staan.
RP
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Settlers say claims they harrassed Palestinians 'libelous'
By Nadav Shragai - Haaretz
Many settlers say the accusations that they harassed Palestinian olive pickers are libelous.
Benzi Lieberman, the former head of the Yesha Council of Settlements and Samaria Regional Council, recalls going with tree-clearing expert Yitzhak Scali of the Scali farms outpost to examine olive trees that Palestinians claimed were cut down by settlers.
"This expert, who didn't have any stake in either side of the dispute, saw the trees and determined they were most likely cut down by Arabs in order to maintain the grove, as is traditionally done," said Lieberman.
Lieberman is convinced Palestinian farmers often stage scenes of destruction.
"They benefit twice," he said. "Cutting the trees down benefits the groves, and they also benefit financially because the damage supposedly was caused by settlers."
Lieberman also recalled how leftists "torpedoed" an agreement between residents of the Itamar settlement and their Arab neighbors.
"Village representatives would have gone to the community and, along with Itamar residents, evaluated the crops' yield, and determined the sum Palestinians would receive for the harvest. The extreme left prevented this," he said.
Lieberman admits, however, that the so-called "hilltop youth" of the surrounding outposts often clash with the farmers.
"If we don't protect the individual rights of the Palestinians, our neighbors, we will break our hold and our roots in Judea and Samaria. We have an interest in maintaining what belongs to them, and what belongs to us. They are human beings, and we must deal with them as with human beings," he said.
Orit Struk, the head of Judea and Samaria Human Rights Group, said the media's treatment of confrontations between settlers and Palestinians is hypocritical.
"More than a year ago we released a document describing hundreds of instances of Palestinians harming Jewish farmers and their property. The media wasn't interested at all, and the police weren't exactly excited either," she said.
Benzi Lieberman, the former head of the Yesha Council of Settlements and Samaria Regional Council, recalls going with tree-clearing expert Yitzhak Scali of the Scali farms outpost to examine olive trees that Palestinians claimed were cut down by settlers.
"This expert, who didn't have any stake in either side of the dispute, saw the trees and determined they were most likely cut down by Arabs in order to maintain the grove, as is traditionally done," said Lieberman.
Lieberman is convinced Palestinian farmers often stage scenes of destruction.
"They benefit twice," he said. "Cutting the trees down benefits the groves, and they also benefit financially because the damage supposedly was caused by settlers."
Lieberman also recalled how leftists "torpedoed" an agreement between residents of the Itamar settlement and their Arab neighbors.
"Village representatives would have gone to the community and, along with Itamar residents, evaluated the crops' yield, and determined the sum Palestinians would receive for the harvest. The extreme left prevented this," he said.
Lieberman admits, however, that the so-called "hilltop youth" of the surrounding outposts often clash with the farmers.
"If we don't protect the individual rights of the Palestinians, our neighbors, we will break our hold and our roots in Judea and Samaria. We have an interest in maintaining what belongs to them, and what belongs to us. They are human beings, and we must deal with them as with human beings," he said.
Orit Struk, the head of Judea and Samaria Human Rights Group, said the media's treatment of confrontations between settlers and Palestinians is hypocritical.
"More than a year ago we released a document describing hundreds of instances of Palestinians harming Jewish farmers and their property. The media wasn't interested at all, and the police weren't exactly excited either," she said.
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