The U.S. labels the violence perpetrated by Jewish settlers in the West Bank as 'terrorist'

Complaints from the 3.5 million Palestinians living in this territory denounce not only the violence and impunity with which the settlers act—setting fire to homes and farmland, destroying the livelihoods and means of transportation of Palestinian farmers and shepherds—but also the fact that such acts are all too often committed under the watchful eye and passivity, if not the active complicity, of the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces. The U.S. Embassy in Israel, located in Jerusalem, appears to have compiled a vast collection of the numerous communications and reports sent to it by the Palestinian victims of these actions. However, it was not until this past Saturday that a man as far from being suspected of anti-Semitism as Ambassador Mike Huckabee—who, after visiting the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya and witnessing the settlers' actions with his own eyes—unequivocally described them as 'acts of terrorism.' The head of the U.S. diplomatic delegation in Israel had the opportunity to witness firsthand the incursion by a group of these settlers, whom he had no qualms about filming with his own cell phone. It is highly unlikely that this will change the United States' behavior toward Israel, or even cause a rift in their relations, but it is clear that Huckabee has lifted the veil of silence that had shrouded the operations being carried out by the most radical settlers among the half a million settlers in the West Bank, who inhabit structures and compounds that Palestinians denounce as 'flagrant violations of international law'. It is true that Huckabee's visit and statements in Turmus Ayya have a decisive backdrop. Nearly 80% of the 3,000 residents of the town of Turmus Ayya are Palestinians with U.S. passports, either as refugees or as descendants of those who managed to flee when Israel prevailed in the Six-Day War (1967), during which it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula. Meeting with a large number of these Palestinian-Americans, President Donald Trump's ambassador informed them that he had already informed the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as the White House, that 'such terrorist crimes must have consequences, no matter who commits them.' The ambassador, who also met with a delegation of relatives of American citizens murdered by settlers, comforted them by assuring them that 'You are Americans. You hold a U.S. passport. Consequently, you are our responsibility.' To put all this into context, it is important to note that Mike Huckabee has always been a staunch supporter of Jewish settlements. However, as settler violence became increasingly evident, resulting in a growing number of fatalities, Huckabee began to level severe criticism at the Israeli government, which he urged to remove the 'Israeli terrorists'from the West Bank. That is how he described them following the siege, attack, and destruction of numerous Palestinian homes in the town of Qusra last August. The U.S. ambassador also used the visit to deny that the Palestinians living in squalor, crammed together amid the rubble in Gaza, would be subjected to forced emigration: 'No one is suggesting that there will be a displacement [of 1.8 million]. Israel is not considering it. And neither is the United States, of course,' the diplomat stated with explicit forcefulness. In any case, Huckabee's visit and statements had no immediate effect on radical Jewish settlers. According to information that the Palestinians have relayed to the ambassador, numerous Israeli attacks were launched that same Saturday night in various parts of the West Bank, including a raid on the dormitories of the American Arab University in Jenin. According to these Palestinian sources, Israeli soldiers used stun grenades and live ammunition during at least one of the attacks.