The Torah did not tell you to burn olive trees

When confronted by news on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, I am often tempted to take the side of the Palestinians. They seem, to my admittedly uninformed eye, to be victims of Israeli bullying in many cases, which lends a sympathetic angle to their cause. I typically try to temper this urge, recognizing both the absurdity of strong, uneducated opinions and the fact that it would be easy to offend the many people who are very passionate about this issue. But every once in awhile, I'll come across something that strengthens my convictions.

I find it almost impossible not to be infuriated by this piece from NPR's All Things Considered. It describes how Jewish settlers in the West Bank have been reacting to the Israeli government dismantling their illegal settlements: by violently destroying local Palestinian property. They call this movement "the price tag." Even the name reeks of disgusting vigilantism to me.

The article acknowledges that many settlers frown upon the practice, but an aggravating, underlying stubborness is nevertheless pervasive. Perhaps most obnoxious of all is this statement, attributed to a teenaged settler:

We are here to show that we can build freely. The land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people. We are settling here and in other places because it's our right.

This defiant attitude is, in my opinion, the biggest obstacle to peace in the Middle East. Yes, radical groups like Hamas are also guilty of violence against civilians. But Israel is a stable, Westernized nation-state. It is ridiculous that the government does not have more control over the destructive rampages of its wayward citizens.