Jewish terror

I'm having trouble figuring out how to preface General Avi Mizrachi's comments on the Israeli Meet the Press. The Haaretz story leads with his call to shut down the yeshiva led by the author of Torat Hamelech (see previous post).

He also said something I've been thinking for a while -- that settler attacks on Palestinian residents of the West Bank are "Jewish terror". I was reluctant to articulate this because I was afraid of the harsh reactions some people might have. But Mizrachi has emboldened me.

Apparently there is some dispute over the definition of terrorism. It's a toxic word, so people try to stick it to anything they don't like. The only definition that makes sense to me is violence for political ends by non-state groups or individuals against non-state groups or individuals. Lots of horrible crimes do not fit this definition. I'm not saying those crimes aren't horrible, I'm just saying they deserve their own distinct labels, like war crimes or human rights violations.

I fear that the word terrorism is more frequently used simply to mean violence by people who have a different skin color or nationality. But if terrorism still has any meaningful definition, then we ought to be using it for the settler attacks on Palestinians. The euphemism "price tag" is more common and more comfortable. "Terrorist attack" is more accurate.