The muddled morass of ‘settler violence’

Earlier in the week, an Israeli man was murdered and three other people were injured in a stabbing and car-ramming attack at the Gush Etzion junction in central Israel.

This attack barely registered among Western media outlets. Gush Etzion is a major crossroads in the “West Bank,” the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria. The West views the Jewish residents of these territories as illegal and violent “settlers” rather than the victims of attack.

The Israeli government has allowed a situation to develop to the point where Israel’s enemies have been able to defame the Jewish residents of these territories, who are subjected every day to murderous Arab attacks or terrorist threats, by painting them instead as the perpetrators of violence.

The “settler” attacks are actually being carri