PALESTINIAN youths popularized the act of stone throwing as a common form of defense against Israeli soldiers during the first Intifada, or uprising, in the late 1980s. Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation routinely throw stones at heavily armed security forces during clashes as one of the few means available to protest their subjugation. But now, even this weakest form of physical opposition to the occupation has been severely curtailed after Israeli lawmakers passed a law that would penalize stone-throwers with up to 20 years in prison. As the law stood prior, those who throw stones at cars could be convicted and sentenced for up to 20 years but the state had to prove intent to cause either harm or damage. Under the new law approved by the Knesset, the 20-year sentence still stands where intent can be proven, but Israeli government will also be able to put someone behind bars for up to 10 years without even proof of intent. Questions abound. Who will the judge send to prison? He who demolished a home, seized the land and killed a brother or father, or the boy who threw a stone? The one who demolishes the home gets a medal, but the boy whose anger is justified gets punished. There is a military order that if soldiers come to an area where Jews are demonstrating and one of the demonstrators attacks a soldier, it is forbidden to shoot him because he is Jewish. But, when under the same circumstances, Israeli soldiers kill an Arab they call that neutralizing. There are instances in which Israeli settlers have attacked officers and were not even arrested. There is no justice in this law. This is not just about a law. It's about the occupation. If the law is meant to protect Israelis, it should also be meant to protect the victims of the occupation because the occupiers are responsible for their safety. The Palestinians have no army, no air force, no navy, no comparable military ordnance of any kind to throw at the fourth largest state-of-the-art military in the world. Only stones. Can the stone kill? Yes, but so can $300,000 missiles and phosphorus bombs. Do we justify death by missiles and phosphorus but damn death by stoning? Does the throwing of a stone justify the carnage of Israeli soldiers against defenseless Palestinians? Imagine a soldier with a gun facing a teenager with a stone. Where is the symmetry? It is common for settlers — both armed and protected by armed Israeli forces — to target Palestinian vehicles with rocks. Settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is routine and goes unpunished by Israel, with 324 incidents of violence recorded in 2014, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Commenting on the stone-throwing law, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “acting firmly against terrorists, rock-throwers and firebomb throwers” and that Israel would respond to all acts of terrorism “resolutely and forcefully”. Obviously, Netanyahu was referring to Palestinian “terrorists”. He did not take into account Thursday's burning to death of an 18-month-old Palestinian toddler in an arson attack by Jewish settlers in the West Bank. This was a horrific act of terrorism committed by militants who seek to exact retribution for any Israeli government curbs on settlement expansion in the West Bank. Netanyahu called the baby's killing a terrorist attack and that Israel takes firm action against terrorism “no matter who its perpetrators are”. Well, here's Netanyahu's chance to prove how serious he really is. If stone throwers can get 20 years, what about baby murderers?
