A violent attack on an Israeli soldier attempting to arrest a rock-throwing Palestinian boy generated praise by private Arab citizens for the IDF’s restraint as well as criticism of their own leadership.
Images of an IDF soldier attacked by violent women in the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh while attempting to arrest a rock-throwing boy generated outrage in Western media, which almost always sides with those against Israel. Journalists decried the soldier’s alleged violence and condemned the Israeli “occupation.”
A number of Arabs chatting on social media, however, praised the soldier for the restraint he exhibited, which is in stark contrast to the treatment to which they are accustomed by the military in their own countries. The IDF soldier did not use extreme physical violence or his weapon, even though his life was clearly threatened.
“An Arab soldier would have shot all of them,” one person wrote in response to an article on the incident posted by Al-Jazeera.
“If this would have happened in Egypt, they would have shot the boy with live fire and would have not been so considerate,” commented another by the name of Tita.
“Honest to God, it’s a shame that women are fighting and the men look on,” said another observer.
“Notice that despite the fact that he had a weapon, and despite the fact that he is a soldier of the Zionist entity, he did not shoot him in the head. Imagine the same thing in Arab countries, how our people would have acted,” stated another, named Osama.
The incident also generated hefty criticism of the Arab leadership.
“When I saw an Arab child dying of hunger, and another drowning in the sea and the fish eat him as he escapes death to the West …. I became convinced that the worst thing produced by the Arab countries are the Arab rulers,” Elsayed Ahmed wrote, according to Israel’s Mako news site.
Ahmed Issa agreed with him, saying, “The Arab soldier follows the orders of tyrannical Arab leaders, and he is not interested in his image.”
‘Shirley Temple’ of Palestinian-Staged Provocations
The Daily Mail adopted a more balanced tone when it revealed on Saturday that one of the young girls seen fighting the soldier was Ahed Tamimi, whose parents, Bassem and Nariman, are known Palestinian provocateurs in Nabi Saleh, which is a regular site for mostly violent Palestinian rallies, financed in part by European funds and joined by European anarchists.
Nicknamed “Shirley Temple” by the blog Israellycool and dubbed a “Pallywood” star – a term coined by US historian Richard Landes – Tamimi was given the Handala Award for Courage by Turkish President Erdogan in the city where she says she’d prefer to live—Istanbul. Palestinian Authority (PA) Chair Mahmoud Abbas also hosted her in his office, honoring her for her anti-Israel activity.
She has appeared in several clips of staged provocations against IDF forces, who are confronted with this sort of violence on a weekly basis.
By: United with Israel Staff
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