The media do not understand that the reality they describe can rebound upon them. NTB’s Nils-Inge Kruhaug once again delivers a lengthy harangue about settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, but as with all activist journalism: the intention is too evident, and it rebounds. Kruhaug belongs to those who consistently refer to Judea and Samaria as “occupied”. He holds that Israel unjustly “conquered” ancient biblical land in 1967. On the basis of this understanding, 800,000 settlers become unlawful.

These are called ultimate demands, and they have no possibility of ever becoming reality. In fact, it is such that activists like Kruhaug – there are many of them in the media and NGOs – are Israel’s indirect allies. They set themselves objectives that will never be fulfilled. Instead of encouraging Israel towards moderation and a reduction of violence, they remind Israelis that they still stand with their backs to the sea.

Israel occupied the West Bank during the Six-Day War in 1967 and has ever since refused to comply with the UN’s demands for withdrawal.

According to the Norwegian-supported Israeli organisation Peace Now, 141 official settlements have been established in the West Bank over the years and a further twelve in occupied East Jerusalem.

This month, the Israeli government decided to establish a further 34 settlements, to Palestinian and international protest.

According to Peace Now, far-right nationalists have also established 224 so-called outposts. Such are often a precursor to settlements approved by Israeli authorities.

The UN Security Council has determined that the settlements, where nearly 800,000 Israelis now reside, are unlawful and in violation of international law.

The UN and Kruhaug have no chance of having their dream of a Jew-free Palestine in the West Bank realised.

But the devotees of international law believe that by appealing to the conscience of the world, they can force Israel to its knees.

Their activism resembles a ritual of a cargo cult: by repeating the same exercises – accusations and documentation – they will bring about the miracle: the gates will open, and Palestine will then rise from the ruins like a phoenix.

The activism overlooks the history of the past three years: that 7 October 2023 was a watershed. They now speak of when the Gaza war broke out, not of the 7 October massacres, for that event they will place within their own context – the one that makes it possible for Jonas Gahr Støre to stand in his office in the new government building and look out over the square decorated by the Palestinian artist who called the paraglider warriors of Hamas heroes.

They believe they can control the narrative by giving Netanyahu ugly epithets, for that is also done by Israeli and Jewish leaders.

But Kruhaug and Støre forget that they are part of a much larger reality which also encompasses our own continent.

With settler spectacles, one can also make the role-play in the Dutch town of Loosdrecht fit in: Dutch police strike brutally at ordinary citizens who do not want young immigrant men living next to a fitness centre for girls. The police are special police, they are masked and use batons, just as the settler thugs in the West Bank behave.

How can Støre-Kruhaug believe that this reality will not catch up with them? That people do not see comparisons and connections?

All of Europe resembles Loosdrecht. The same scenes have played out in Ireland and the United Kingdom, and there has been no doubt as to which side the police stand on.

People see what they see.

In the Romerike and Glomdalen District Court, a trial begins today against ten men accused of unlawful hunting of wolf and lynx. They risk six years’ imprisonment. The wolf is better protected than Norwegian citizens subjected to immigrant violence.

This two-tier treatment is more or less systematic throughout Europe; it is not something Starmer has invented.

And it is an extremely dangerous signal to send if one wishes to preserve social peace.

Støre-Kruhaug lash out at Israel and believe it will divert attention away from settler violence in Europe.

The parallel is entirely obvious: colonists settle and enjoy special advantages paid for by the natives.

How long will they tolerate that? How long will it take before the truth dawns upon them?

Who is quickest on the trigger: the authorities who channel in tens of thousands or the population that experiences ever greater problems in everyday life?

Israel undoubtedly has some stumbling blocks. The soldier who smashed the head of a Jesus statue in a village in southern Lebanon became herostratically famous. This has led Israel to appoint a special envoy to Christendom.

Police chief Itamar Ben Gvir had already blundered when he prevented Cardinal Pizzaballa from officiating at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Easter Sunday.

Israel’s army knows that loose cannons can harm them:

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly promised to crack down on what he has described as a small number of extremists, most recently in a directive to the country’s security forces in March.

Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has called the settlers’ use of violence “morally and ethnically unacceptable” and has promised to withdraw the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda Battalion from the West Bank.

At the end of March, soldiers in the battalion failed to prevent settlers from attacking the village of Tayasir, but instead detained a CNN team covering the incident.

Such attention cannot be expected by Europe’s Christians.

When Document wrote about the church that burned, or rather: was burned down in New York City recently, the article was removed from Facebook as a violation of community standards.

That is the reality we live in. You shall die in silence; no one will hear your cries, and no one will defend you.

That is the message they wish to send.

Palestinians, on the other hand? An entire army of Gutmenschen stands ready:

Jews have traditionally stood strong on the left and are not difficult to ask:

Four former Israeli security chiefs, three former Mossad chiefs, three former chiefs of staff, three former military intelligence chiefs and eight former Israeli police chiefs sounded the alarm this month.

– Jewish terrorism, which is tolerated or, worse still, supported by the authorities, constitutes not only a profound moral failure, but a serious strategic threat to Israel’s security, they write in a joint statement, reported by several media outlets, among them The Independent.

– A small, but dangerous extremist wing, encouraged by irresponsible politicians and the Prime Minister’s silence, must not be allowed to undermine the Zionist project, it continues.

Israel’s former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to intervene to put an end to what he describes as “state-supported settler violence”.

The same demand comes from more than 1,000 Jewish leaders in a number of countries who recently signed an appeal.

– The frequency and intensity of deadly violence from Jewish extremists is now without precedent, they state. (NTB)

But it is of course not a small extremist wing that wishes to empty the West Bank. It is a logical step after the 7 October massacres. But it will come at a high political cost. The Palestinians do not have many friends, not even among their “own”.

But the international community, the media and thousands of NGOs defend them daily.

How many defend Christians and churches in Europe?

Another historic church up in flames: Massive emergency response in New York

Nederland: Opprørs­politi satt inn i brutal aksjon mot landsby som demonstrerte mot nytt asyl­senter