NOURNEWS- Since the beginning of October, Israeli settlers have carried out nearly 350 violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, killing at least 8 Palestinian civilians, injuring more than 83 people, and forcing 1,026 Palestinians to flee from their homes. Although the violence in the West Bank cannot be compared to what is happening in Gaza; However, America and a number of Western countries, which are in some way financial, weapon and political supporters of the Zionist regime in killing the people of Gaza, have condemned what is happening in the West Bank in separate positions.
In this regard, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressured Tel Aviv to prosecute the settlers who attacked the Palestinians. On the other hand, the European Union and 12 European countries, along with Canada and Australia, issued a joint statement, strongly condemning the barbaric attacks by Zionist settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank and stressing that such developments threaten the prospect of sustainable peace in the region. In this statement, a copy of which was published on the website of the British government, it is stated; Australia, Belgium, Denmark, European Union, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Canada ask the Israeli regime to take immediate and concrete measures to deal with the unprecedented violence of the settlers which take place in the West Bank.
At the same time, “Politico” has also claimed that the President of the United States, Joe Biden, has asked the senior officials of his government to impose sanctions and ban the issuance of visas against the extremist Israeli settlers who are displacing the Palestinians from their land in the West Bank. Among these measures is not granting US visas to violators.
Recently, during a visit to a Palestinian village in the West Bank, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna condemned the attacks of Zionist settlers against Palestinians. “Josep Borrell”, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, also announced after the EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels that possible sanctions against Israeli extremists in the West Bank were discussed. Pointing out that there is no consensus in this regard, he added that he will present a proposal to the member states of the EU.
Considering that America and the leaders of some western countries have officially supported and armed the Zionist regime in the massacres in Gaza, the question is raised, why have they taken such positions towards the settlers? Where does this ambivalence of their behavior towards Gaza and the West Bank come from and what goals do it pursue? In response to this question, there are several important points:
1- The Westerners, based on the 1993 Oslo Agreement and the so-called “Middle East Peace” plans, have always sought to implement the Palestinian and Arab countries' reconciliation plan with the Zionist regime. In other words, the West Bank is a model of compromise to influence the Palestinians, Arab and Islamic countries. Considering this issue, the Westerners have always opposed the Zionist settlement in these areas and called it contrary to the peace process. Settlers' attacks on Palestinians in these areas will inflame security challenges, which is practically the collapse of the triumphant facade of the reconciliation process. It is on this basis that the French Foreign Minister states: “Such dangerous actions destroy the possibility of reaching a political solution and weaken the Palestinian Authority.” In other words, the West, which has failed in the compromise process, considers the consequences of the Zionist settlers' attacks to be the last nail in the coffin of compromise. Therefore, the collective West insists on confronting it.
2- The extremism of the settlers, which is derived from the ruling structure of the Zionist regime, has increased at the same time as the Gaza war, and the leaders of this regime are implementing a plan to arm the settlers extensively. The availability of weapons for the extremist settlers creates a new wave of security crises in the occupied Palestinian territories and the region under the control of the PA and the Zionist regime, which will actually intensify the collapsed state of security in Israel.
3- European leaders have addressed the boycott or BDS movement under different titles. A movement that seeks to defend the rights of Palestinians by imposing economic and cultural sanctions on the Israeli regime and putting pressure on this regime to end the occupation of Palestinian lands. The extremism of the settlers will make the boycott movement against the Zionist regime more active and will add to the economic crises of this regime.
4- In addition to showing the power of the resistance and the deterioration of the Zionist regime's intelligence and military, the Gaza war has laid the groundwork for the strengthening of the resistance in the West Bank; Since the beginning of this war, thousands of Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank and hundreds of people have been martyred. At the same time, polls also indicate an increase in the popularity of resistance in the West Bank. In a survey conducted by the reliable Palestinian polling institute named PSR, nearly 90% of Palestinians wanted the resignation of “Mahmoud Abbas” from the head of the PA. Also, according to this opinion poll, 44% of the people of the West Bank support Hamas; While last September and before the Al-Aqsa storm, only 12% of the people of this region supported Hamas. 82% of Palestinians living in the West Bank have supported Hamas' Al-Aqsa Storm operation. These components show the readiness of the West Bank for armed resistance and strengthening the turning away from compromise and weakening the PA. The extremism of the settlers leads to the further weakening of the PA and the strengthening of the resistance groups, the final result of which will be the repetition of the resistance and fight against the Zionists in this region. However, the Zionist regime will not be able to wage war on the two fronts of Gaza and the West Bank, and the war in the West Bank will practically shorten the security belt of the Zionists.
According to these factors, it can be said that the reactions of the United States and Europe to the extremism of the settlers in recent weeks are not an approach to support the Palestinian people, but rather an artificial respiration to the process of compromise, maintaining the self-governing organizations and preventing the spread of resistance in the West Bank.
NOURNEWS