| 'The violence is threatening Israeli democracy and the ability of those in charge in Israel to make decisions, and the ability of people to freely express opinions without fearing that they will be hurt by wild and violent people, people who break the law and break the framework of normal democratic life.'
See my earlier posts here and here on the backers of the warmongering, hate-mongering DVD 'Obsession' that has been distributed to millions of US homes in the last few weeks in 'swing states.'
JERUSALEM (AP) - An "evil wind of extremism" is threatening Israel's democracy, outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned Sunday, after a pipe bomb attack wounded a professor critical of Israel's settler movement.
Olmert's forceful comments came amid growing concerns in Israel about violence by hard-line radicals, including extremist West Bank settlers.
Israeli defense officials and human rights groups have noted a rise in settler violence against Palestinian soldiers and Israeli soldiers in recent months.
On Sunday, police were investigating the shooting death of a 19-year-old Palestinian shepherd whose body was discovered in ravine in a remote area of the West Bank. The shepherd's relatives blamed Jewish settlers, but police said they were still investigating.
Also, dozens of Israeli civilians entered the Palestinian village of Kufr Diek in the West Bank late Saturday, smashing the windows of several cars and homes, said the mayor, Jamal al-Diek. Israeli troops fired stun grenades, and two villagers were hurt, the mayor said. The military denied firing grenades.
The rampage appeared to be in response to a shooting attack on an Israeli car in the area earlier Saturday. An Israeli was lightly hurt in the attack, the military said.
In Jerusalem, Olmert told his Cabinet at the start of its weekly meeting that police were asked to move as quickly as possible to arrest those involved in the bomb attack Thursday on Professor Zeev Sternhell, winner of Israel's prestigious Israel Prize.
Sternhell, a vocal critic of West Bank settlements, was lightly wounded in the bombing, which took place outside his home.
Olmert said the attackers appeared to be part of "another underground" - a reference to extremists who bombed the cars of several Arab mayors, killed three students in a shooting spree at a West Bank university and masterminded a botched attempt to blow up a key Muslim shrine in Jerusalem in the 1980s.
"An evil wind of extremism, of hate, of maliciousness, of violence, of losing control, of lawbreaking, of contempt for the institutions of state, is passing though certain sections of the Israeli public," Olmert told the Cabinet.
The violence "is threatening Israeli democracy and the ability of those in charge in Israel to make decisions, and the ability of people to freely express opinions without fearing that they will be hurt by wild and violent people, people who break the law and break the framework of normal democratic life," Olmert said.
Story here. |
