four-letter words

Early this past January we were bombarded with news of horrible abuse perpetrated by the "settlers" of Hebron against their peace loving Palestinian neighbors.

We were told about how a "settler woman" verbally abused a Palestinian and how no soldiers came to the aid and protection of the Palestinian. All the major news sites made a big deal of the story. Many of them even carried a video of the woman cursing at the Palestinian.

We were not given any background to the story. We were not told what happened that this woman suddenyl started cursing at the Palestinian. Maybe the Palestinian woman's kid threw rocks at a group of Jews. Maybe she knocked the Jewish woman's laundry off the clothesline. Maybe a dozen other scenarios that prompted the Jewish woman to curse at her. Maybe nothign happened and the Jewish woman was really just crazed and spontaneously cursed at the palestinian. Who knows? It did not really matter to the media, because they had the damning evidence of settler abuse against Arabs.

That horrendous story was played up in the press to amazing levels. Human rights groups protested at international levels. Committees of investigation were set up at the highest levels of government to probe settler abuse against Palestinians. The Prime Minister spoke about the incident condemning the settler community. Discussions were held about limiting the movement of the Hebron settlers, restricting them to certain areas.

All that brouhaha because some woman from Hebron cursed at somebody else with some choice four-letter words. The Palestinian woman was even heard in the video cursing at the Jewish woman, but the Palestinian woman was abused and the four-letter word incident was brought to levels of an international crisis.

Why do I write about this 6 weeks later?

Because last night a Jewish man was found dead. He died from multiple stab wounds. According to the news sources, the evidence points clearly to the source of the murder being terrorism and he must have been stabbed by a Palestinian.

How was this incident treated in the news and around the world?

Did the item make the headlines anywhere? Did any human rights group file protests at the United Nations asking for censure of the Palestinians? Did any government official announce the launch of an investigation into the matter of Palestinian abuse of Israelis? Did anybody from the PA condemn the violence? Did anybody from the Israeli government insist on some sort of clampdown on palestinian movement due to their terrorism?

The news online carried the incident as a headline. Other than that, the answer to the rest of the questions is no. The newspapers that I saw carried the news item, but not on the front page. There is no public outrage on the matter. No criticism from the government. No investigations launched. No international protest. No concern from human rights groups. Not too many people other than the victims family and friends showed too much concern over the matter.

So, is Jewish blood simply cheaper than that of other people? Or do four-letter words carry more serous weight nowadays than even multiple stab wounds?