Four of today’s articles deal with the recent altercation between foreign activists and the IDF in which an Israel officer hit an activist in the head with his rifle: Ma’ariv contends that "We have gone crazy. We have simply gone crazy. Because, there are also facts. And they also deserve a bit of respect. Therefore, firstly, a band of anarchists is running around in the territories, primarily from Europe; they belong to known organizations, most of which, if not all, support Hamas and Islamic Jihad. They are Islamist-to-radical left. Second, the ‘bicyclist’ Andreas Ias is a member of the International Solidarity Movement (IMS), which has already been involved with assisting terrorism in the past, and even openly and declaratively supports Palestinian ‘armed struggle’. Third, these activists are generally more extreme than the Palestinians themselves. And before anyone claims that they are only ‘activists against the occupation’ it is worthwhile noting that the group’s media advisor, Paulo Rosovsky, declared that ‘Israel is a non-legitimate entity’.! 60; Israel, not the occupation. Fourth, Israel, it would seem, is the only country in the world which allows those who declaratively act to destroy it to act freely, in the name of human rights of course. Fifth, we have had dozens of events in which it became apparent that the filmed footage was totally incomplete, and the more they revealed something the more they hid the real story. ‘Pallywood’, as termed by Prof. Richard Landis. And here, aided by our media, they succeeded to fade into the background, the facts, their ideology and their agitation and their contention – and to reduce the entire story to a few solitary moments in which an officer struck one provocateur."
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Yisrael Hayom recalls that "A moment before the officer struck the activist from Denmark in the head, that same guy broke his finger with a board." The author maintains that "The fact that the protesters acted violently, that Lt. Col. Eisner’s hand was injured, disappeared from the pictures which were disseminated, and not for nothing. We must remember that the objective of all of the events is to demonize Israel and the IDF.
The Jerusalem Post feels that Lt.-Col. Shalom Eisner, the deputy commander of the IDF’s Jordan Valley Brigade, who was filmed striking a foreign pro-Palestinian activist with his rifle on Saturday, should be given the benefit of the doubt “at least until a thorough investigation is conducted.” While the editor thoroughly condemns such actions in the strongest possible terms, if indeed they took place, he feels that “The prime minister, the president and others who leveled criticism at Eisner should have refrained from commenting until the findings of a proper probe are released.”
Haaretz criticizes the excessive use of force used this week by the deputy commander of the Jordan Valley Brigade, who was caught on camera striking an apparently helpless Danish national in the face with an M-16 rifle, and commends the swift condemnation of the event by senior Israeli officials. The editor believes that “Such reactions are necessary, but certainly not sufficient,” and states: “Use of violence against peace activists is not an image problem that can be swept aside with a suspension and denunciation. A political and military leadership that incites the public against peace and human rights activists bears responsibility for the conduct of hot-tempered officers like Eisner.”
Yediot Aharonot notes that, "According to estimates, the extent of [Israel’s] black economy is NIS 100 billion per annum, which is 23% of our GNP." The author opines that "The collection of only 10% of that would mean an additional NIS 10 billion to the state budget. Expanding tax collection would assist the budgetary crisis in areas such as defense, education and health and would likely allow – in the long term – tax reductions and diminished social gaps."
[Iris Stark, Ben-Dror Yemini and Eli Hazan wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma’ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]
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