What to Make of Biden’s Historic Sanctions on Israeli Settlers
TimeJan 30
France to Sanction 28 Israeli Settlers
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The Facts
France on Tuesday said it will sanction what it deemed 28 "extremist Israeli settlers," barring their entry into French territory. The decision is reportedly related to accusations of violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
The government further commented that Israeli settlements — some of which its report claims are located on land owned privately by Palestinians — violate international law, and threaten the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state.
The Spin
Pro-Palestine narrative
Western sanctions against Israeli settlers are a positive first in both persuading Netanyahu to curtail the influence of his extremist allies and demonstrating to Palestinians that the West is not their enemy. Still, more must be done to ensure that Israeli expansion into the occupied West Bank — illegal according to the Geneva Convention of 1949 — comes to an end. Settlers are encouraged by the government's lack of action, and Biden must recognize that Israeli crimes in Gaza are no different than Russia's crimes in Ukraine.
Pro-Israel narrative
Those committing violence against Palestinians are a small minority of individuals among the settler community, and they are already under investigation for their crimes. They cannot, however, be compared to Hamas terrorists who have ruled the Gaza Strip with an iron fist for over a decade. By sanctioning Israeli settlers at this crucial time — especially after over 1K Israelis were slaughtered on Oct. 7 — Western states are drawing a morally outrageous equivalence between Hamas terrorism and individual acts of violence committed by a small fringe.
