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Thursday, June 23, 2011

Molotov cocktails thrown at Israelis. Why don't we know about it?

Palestine Today quotes "Zionist sources" saying that several Molotov cocktails were hurled at an Israeli car east of Qalqilya.

No one was injured, so it is as if it never happened.

Not even the Israeli media bothers reporting such incidents in English (with the occasional exception of Arutz-7.)

This is a mistake. The impression in world capitals is that the Arabs who live in Judea and Samaria are behaving responsibly and that terrorism is a thing of the past. Incidents like the Fogel family massacre are presented as anomalies, the exceptions that prove the rule.

While the anti-Israeli side widely publicizes every minor incident, real or imagined, there is no similar English-language resource I am aware of that monitors and lists every case of rock throwing, firebombs and shootings against Jews. Neither is every case of fires set on Jewish lands and crops uprooted on Jewish farms systematically reported anywhere. The IDF will publish cumulative statistics and sometimes tweet specific incidents but the majority go unreported, at least in English.

The fact is that a Molotov cocktail is thrown with the intent to kill people. Guns are shot with the intent to kill people. Stones are thrown with the intent to injure or kill people. The violent intention is there and widespread.

Violent incidents, with deadly intent, happen every day. The lack of reporting on these incidents is a major shortcoming in the pro-Israel camp.

UPDATE: Kramerica found the monthly reports, from the Shin Bet:

Data regarding terror attacks in May 2011
Following is a regional distribution of attacks:

3 attacks in the Gaza Strip (66 in April); 44 attacks in the Judea and Samaria (19 in April); and 25 attacks in Jerusalem (16 in April).

Jerusalem and the Judea and Samaria area: Most attacks executed in May (64 out of 69) were in the form of firebombs (April: 32 out of 35).

Distribution of attacks according to regions and pattern profile:
Following is a distribution of attacks in May according to regions:

The Gaza Strip – 3 attacks: 1 rocket launching and 2 small arms shooting.

Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem – 69 attacks: 1 small arms shooting; 1 explosive device; 3 object / stone throwing and 64 firebombs (25 in Jerusalem).