9/9/08
Pogrom. It's a loaded term for the Jewish community, referring to targeted and often government-backed anti-Jewish riots in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
So, it was startling to hear Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert refer that way to weekend violence by West Bank Israelis against Palestinians.
"In Israel there will not be pogroms against non-Jewish residents," he said in a reaction that demonstrated the seriousness with which he views such vigilantism.
The attack in a Palestinian village near Nablus took place after a 9-year-old boy was stabbed in the nearby settlement of Yitzhar. Settlers took it upon themselves to exact vengeance, and went on a rampage in the Arab village, shooting in the streets and stoning cars and homes, according to news reports.
The Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli police blame each other for allowing the violence to take place.
Knesset member Ophir Pines-Paz described the situation in the West Bank as "one of anarchy and you ask yourself who is the sovereign entity in the field the feeling is as though the IDF and the police are playing Ping-Pong, and every side trusts that the other will act in its stead, throwing the responsibility back and forth."
This is an intolerable situation for the Jewish state for numerous reasons, including Israel's international reputation and that anarchy often recognizes no borders, including the Green Line separating Israel and the West Bank.
Such violent outbursts are not in the interest of most Jewish residents of the West Bank. After all, their hopes for a continuing presence in the territories in the aftermath of any future peace between Israel and the Palestinians would depend, at least in part, on the willingness of their Palestinian neighbors to accept Israelis living nearby.
Israelis expect Palestinians living in the territories to live by the rule of law. They must have the same expectations of themselves.
Vigilantism is dangerous; regardless of what you believe about the wisdom of Israeli settlements, allowing the West Bank to turn into the Wild West will hurt Israel itself.