Clashes erupted in the West Bank today on the 19th anniversary of the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre, in which settler Baruch Goldstein attacked Palestinians at the Ibrahim Mosque, killing 29 and wounding 125 others.
Several incidents were reported, including stones thrown at Israeli highways and settlers slashing tires in a Palestinian village;. An Israeli soldier was hit with a marble by a Palestinian at the al-Arrub refugee camp, and soldiers shot the Palestinian, wounding him.
Most of the incidents involved attacks on private property, with Palestinians damaging a vineyard near a settlement and settlers uprooting a number of olive trees in a nearby village.
Tensions have been rising in the West Bank in recent weeks, with demonstrators urging Israel to release hunger striking detainees, including one who is said to be in failing health who was already released once and then recaptured on dubious grounds.
Jason Ditz describes an incident in which a soldier is "hit with a marble by a Palestinian at the al-Arrub refugee camp, and soldiers shot the Palestinian"… Clearly he's trying to create a scenario wherein a soldier is attacked with a toy (i.e. the attack is really quite innocuous) but the big bad Israeli army still decides to shoot the Palestinian…
In this description he leaves out the fact that in some places in the world people actually hunt armed only with slingshots and marbles (glass or metal)… In other words, the "toy" used can actually be a lethal weapon… Viewed from this perspective, the actions of the soldiers actually make sense…
However, IDF soldiers reacting sensible to a lethal attack doesn't fit the narrative that Jason Ditz wishes to create as it doesn't promote Israel bashing…