Palestine: The hate crime capital of the world

Submitted by Dave (United States), May 14, 2022 at 17:49

The recent killing of 19 Jews in Israel by Muslims around the time of Ramadan was accompanied by extensive rioting in the Temple Mount Area and Joseph's Tomb. Islamic leaders in the region rationalized the violence as a reaction to Jewish provocations, but the attacks were clearly based on religious intolerance linked to Jewish sovereignty over these shared holy places, despite the open access to all faiths of these sites. The poll cited here shows that three-quarters of Arab citizens reject any Jewish sovereignty at all in the region. That means that perpetrating hate crimes against Jews is acceptable when it comes to Palestinian nationalism. It's the ethos of pay-for-slay.
In the interest of accuracy, let's define "hate crime": As per Title 18 of the US Code, section 249, a hate crime is defined as "Offenses involving actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin.—Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin of any person".
Since these attacks on Jews were carried out based on the ethnicity of the victims, they fall within the legal definition in the US. One must conclude, therefore, that hate crimes are both tolerated and encouraged by a wide array of Arab authorities and citizens. Since most Arabs reject Jewish sovereignty, that has seemingly led them to encourage hate crimes.
One may also note that Israel's attempts to defend itself, to protect its threatened sovereignty through the use of force, or by expanding its land buffers through settlement are generally severely criticized by the international community in sympathy with Palestinian nationalism, thereby further encouraging Arab rejection and hate crimes.
It is thus a sort of wonder that despite not being a formally recognized state, Palestine has carved out a unique niche for itself as a haven for those wanting to commit hate crimes. I'm not aware of any other place on earth where this moral impunity exists. The irony is that those Americans who would become apoplectic over the slightest hint of racism or discrimination are some of the biggest champions of this hate crime capital of the world. Perhaps the first step in changing this is to stop glorifying things and call them out for what they are.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".