Mitzpe Yair: Why so Little About Such a Violent Incident?

I am still trying to catch up with all the violence that has been taking place in the South Hebron Hills region of late. Last Wednesday, 10 November, there was intense violence near Mitzpe Yair that perhaps parallels, in a way, the the incident that occured on Simchat Torah this year (28 Sept 2021). In some ways, it was even worse than what happened on Simchat Torah. It did not, however, get plastered all over the media like the September incident did, and many readers probably never heard of it. In any case, we can examine the few articles and social media posts to understand what happened and, perhaps, why it was not more widely spread.

The Anti-Israel Coverage of the Mitzpe Yair Violence

Member of Knesset Mossi Raz did not wait long to weigh in, declaring in a tweet that “Three were injured, two of them shot, in the terror attack carried out this evening by Jewish terrorists at Khirbet Khalat a-Diba’a. Gantz, this looks like terror.”

שלושה פצועים בהם שניים מירי בפיגוע שביצעו הערב מחבלים יהודים בכפר ח’רבת ח’לת א-ד’בע.
גנץ, כך נראה טרור

— Mossi Raz | מוסי רז | موسي راز ? (@mossi_raz) November 10, 2021

For some reason, he does not seem to think that the entire incident should be examined before believing one side of the story. What happened to “allegedly”, a word used in any initial reports of criminal violence that hit the news before the there has been an investigation? According to Raz, then, there is no need for an investigation. (And the specific location was on land that was leased to the Jewish shepherd from Mitzpe Yair on which he was permitted to graze his sheep and had nothing to do with the Arab outpost Raz refers to.)

Speaking in English and reporting live from the field, B’tselem propagandist, Basel Adra, tells us in the first video that settlers shot two men and the IDF came and injured two more. Three cars were destroyed. And he claims that tens of settlers from Mitzpe Yair and Havat Maon are shooting at the Arabs, that the soldiers went away and then came back.

In the second video, he tells us that settlers set a house on fire and the army is chasing the Arabs away, not helping put out the fire.

pic.twitter.com/Xqx5fNcCib

— Basel Adra (@basel_adra) November 10, 2021

The next day, B’Tselem posted their version of events, that seems to have become the “official” version:

Last night, settlers fired live ammunition, threw stones, smashed car windows and injured at least five Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills. The military evacuated a tent settlers had set up in Firing Zone 918, and when it left the area, > pic.twitter.com/54rSx5TRrp

— B’Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) November 11, 2021

B’Tselem continues:

Only after a few hours did the military return to the scene and act to evacuate the Palestinians. At that point, the settlers set fire to an agricultural structure.

— B’Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) November 11, 2021

Adra publishes photos of two Arab injuries:

Leg injury sustained by Arab during violence near Mitzpe Yair.

Injury to hand sustained by Arab during altercation near Mitzpe Yair.

According to the Israel news station, Kan, a security source said that Palestinians and Jews threw rocks at each other. Hmm. A bit of balance, perhaps?

Haaretz Image that Raises Questions about the Arab Version

Hagar Shezaf reported on this incident for Haaretz. She essentially regurgitates the B’Tselem version of events. At the end of the article, she gives South Hebron Hills Regional Council spokeswoman a few lines to respond to the accusation that the Jewish residents perpetrated a serious crime while the IDF looked on and did nothing.

One image that was not published elsewhere, as far as I could tell, raises a question regarding the Arab narrative. It is of the agricultural structure that Basel Adra refers to in his tweets as a “room” in the first video he posted and a “house” in the second, and that was, according to him, set on fire. Here is the structure:

Screenshot of the image in Haaretz article showing the agricultural structure B’Tselem claims settlers set on fire.

It does not look like the brick structure was one that would lend itself to being set on fire. If a fire did start, it was likely tires that were aflame. The presence of these tires validates part of the story Elhanan Gruner tells below. In any case, one must wonder what tires are doing around this “agricultural” (?) structure. Is this a junk yard pile? Is this a collection of flammable materials to be used for nefarious purposes? If this is agricultural land, what are they doing here like this? I turned to Regavim spokeswoman, Naomi Kahn, and her answer deserved a separate article in order not to make this one too long. You can read it here.

A Rightwing Jewish Reporter Gives More Details

Elhanan Gruner of the rightwing news site, HaKol HaYehudi (The Jewish Voice) tells a detailed story in a number of tweets. Compare these details with what Adra wrote. I show you the first and last tweets, translating the entire series into English. You can see the complete thread in the original Hebrew by clicking on the first tweet:

ההתקפה הערבית אתמול בהר חברון – סדר האירועים:
1. ערבים בונים מבנה לא חוקי באדמות מדינה בשטח שמוחכר לרועה צאן יהודי – המנהל לא עושה כלום
2. אמש רועה הצאן מקים בבוקר אוהל רועים קטן ללינת לילה. מגיעים למקום ערבים ואנרכיסטים ובהם נאסר נווגעה פעיל בצלם ומגרשים את העדר עם מקלות
3.הצבא> pic.twitter.com/oa94TDKwXV

— אלחנן גרונר (@elchangr) November 11, 2021

1. Arabs build an illegal structure on state land in an area leased to a Jewish shepherd. The Civil Administration did nothing.
2. Yesterday evening the shepherd put up a small shepherd-tent in which he intended to sleep that night. Arabs and Jewish leftists arrive at the site, among them B’Tselem activist Nasser Nawaja. They chase the Jewish shepherd’s flock away using sticks.
3. The IDF finally presents a document testifying that the land is a closed military zone, letting the Arab stay in his illegal structure and making the Jew move 200 meters away. The Civil Administration insists the Jew take his tent down but leaves the Arab structure in place.
4. In the evening, Arabs from the region begin to gather and roll burning tires toward the Jew and his flock. He calls for help from the army and other Jewish residents.
5. The shepherd and other Jews are attacked with rocks and burning tires and report attempts to run them down with vehicles. A rock fight breaks out with both Jews and Arabs throwing rocks, and Jewish as well as Arab cars were damaged.
6. The army arrives and compels the Jews to leave the grazing land. The Jews request that the army have the Arabs move to clear the road because when they tried to leave, they were pelted with rocks. According to a number of witnesses present, the officer said: “We are leaving and as far as we are concerned you can both kill each other.” The soldiers leave and the Arabs call for reinforcements and shouting “Itbakh al Yehud” [meaning slaughter the Jews]. Things heat up yet more and in addition to rocks and burning tires, there were also Molotov cocktails and massive fireworks. Some report shooting on the part of both Arabs and Jews.
7. Only after this had been going on for quite some time, the battalion commander arrives with a sizeable unit and clears everyone out. Remember, this all took place on state land that was leased to the Jewish shepherd (this was verified by the authorities) The IDF spokesman refused to comment on complaints against the soldiers’ behaviour.

In the last tweet we are shown an image of the injury sustained by a Jew during this incident. I did not find this image posted anywhere else.

>זמן רב מגיע המגד עם כח משמעותי ומפזר את האירוע. כאמור כל האירוע בתוך אדמות מדינה שהוחכרו לרועה (גם הרשויות אישרו לי את זה). בדובר צה”ל סירבו להתייחס לטענות על התנהלות הכוחות

בתמונה: יהודי שנפצע באירוע@hakolhayehudi pic.twitter.com/EKj1y7CInC

— אלחנן גרונר (@elchangr) November 11, 2021

Compare and Contrast for Yourselves

Here you have the Arab version of the events near Mitzpe Yair that day and a report on the Jewish version. It seems that Israel’s MKs and media accept the former without even considering whether or not there is another side to the story. I have given you both. Not to judge because we are not judges, but to consider and reflect upon.

After learning more about what happened on 10 November, I still don’t know why this incident was not more widely publicized. It seems to me that what happened was far more intense and violent than what happened at al-Mufaqara on Simchat Torah. Was it harder to get images and videoclips purporting to show one-sided settler violence at Mitzpe Yair? Would they have had to show how much the Arabs were also perpetrators of violence and not just innocent victims? Something else entirely?

Regardless, the fact remains that 10 November marks another day in the war being waged against the Jews living in Judea & Samaria.

Feature Image Credit: Screenshot from video in Gruner’s first tweet above showing an Arab chasing away sheep belonging to a Jewish shepherd.

Other articles in this series:

Arab activist fakes falling down.

Incitement to violence by leftwing anti-Israel NGOs.

How the anticipated violence was foiled.