Incitement to Kill Jews – Palestinian Youth Culture

By Sarah Ann Haves

The current wave of Palestinian violence has its roots in incitement against the Jewish State of Israel. The intent is to slaughter Israeli Jewish citizens and terrorize families so that they are forced into giving up land for peace.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and others in his government are using social media and broadcast television to train and lure young Palestinians, disseminating false narratives and distorted messages, aimed at getting these youth to commit terrorist attacks. This keeps the Israeli-Palestinian conflict alive, in an attempt to portray Israel as the oppressor, and the Palestinians as the victims.

Often, the excuse used to describe this new form of Arab terrorism in Israel is that the young people are acting out of despair and frustration because there is no hope of a peace accord. But, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said, the problem is Palestinian despair and frustration at an inability to destroy (Israel).

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely has echoed the Prime Minister’s words, indicating that Palestinian hatred towards Jews, and not frustration, is the driving force of continued Palestinian violence.

According to the Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs, the guiding hand of this new violence is Fatah, a faction within the Palestinian Authority (PA). In its policy of incitement, Fatah has stirred up Palestinian discontent in order to prolong the conflict and generate terror to keep Israel in a continued war of attrition.

This current wave of terror, which some refer to as the “Third Intifada” or “Knife Intifada,” is hard to trace to any organized group. It appears that the attacks are occurring spontaneously by young Palestinians who choose their victims randomly. But, behind these so-called “lone wolves” who strike violently against Jewish citizens and soldiers, is a well-calibrated strategy of terror incitement. Palestinian media, in endless broadcasts, goads Palestinian youth to go on their missions of death so they can become martyrs in killing Jews.

In early February, a Palestinian who stabbed a Jewish woman in the Bedouin city of Rahat confessed that he was influenced by propaganda he saw on the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aksa television station.

Other young Palestinians who have been captured by the IDF have confessed to being influenced by what they saw on social media or Palestinian television broadcasts.

The main goal of the PA is to make sure that Israelis live in fear, but what the Palestinian leadership has created is a new generation of Palestinian youth who have adapted a culture of death. The Palestinian government is making it impossible to build towards peace when Palestinian society is built on violence and hatred towards Israel and the Jewish People.

Young Palestinians are actively seeking to be super heroes, hoping that they will become famous on social media as martyrs, resulting in their families receiving financial rewards by the PA for their acts of “heroic” violence towards Jews. This represents a sick society.

The OneFamily organization, which helps with the emotional, financial, and legal needs of thousands of victims of terror and their families in Israel, recently presented Netanyahu with a plan to combat this current wave of terrorism. Their priority focus was that the Israeli government monitors Palestinian curriculum and textbooks in Arab schools throughout the country. The Palestinians have been accused of teaching hate, racism, murder, and falsehoods about Israel’s historical connection to the land. Because the Palestinian leadership refuses to recognize Israel, this reflects on what is taught in Palestinian classrooms.

Meanwhile, this current Intifada has been going on since October 2015 with no end in sight. Currently, there have been more than 230 terror attacks against Israeli citizens. Nearly half of those attacks have been committed by Palestinians who are younger than 21 years old. Most of the terrorists are Palestinian residents living in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), with many of the attackers coming from Hebron. Heavily hit by attacks have been Jews walking nearby or guarding the Damascus Gate area of the Old City in Jerusalem.

According to experts on Palestinian youth violence against Israel, the Israeli government should do more to work with the Palestinian Authority to rehabilitate these terrorists. Israel also needs to consider investing in prevention and education efforts for potential offenders.

Exposing Palestinian children to education that doesn’t contain incitement against Israel; giving them positive opportunities to interact with Israeli children; ensuring their families of better conditions for raising their children – all can contribute to a more rational society that does not breed hatred. But, ultimately, it is the Palestinians themselves that need to reign in their children and take a stand against this culture of death that is perpetuating Palestinian society. And, if the PA will not turn aside from incitement, the international community must demand a stop to those instigating this current wave of terrorism, and the collaboration of Palestinian groups that feed it.

Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; and you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there. But the humble will inherit the land, and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. Psalm 37:10-11

(c) 2015 Messianic Vision all rights reserved. This article is not reproducible except with permisson from Messianic Vision.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright ©1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Ms. Haves is a news analyst, reporting on political, diplomatic, military and spiritual issues in Israel and the nations.