PMWATCH's Findings -- Washington, DC -- March 13, 2002
Instances of the words "vigilante," "terror," and "terrorist" in the Washington Post
October 2000 - March 2002
March 6, 2002
Mideast Fighting Intensifies; Both Sides Vow More; Bush Shows No Sign of Intervening
Lee Hockstader and Daniel Williams, A1
A bomb planted at a Palestinian school in East Jerusalem evoked a new threat today
of attacks against Palestinian civilians by revenge-seeking Jewish vigilantes. It
exploded just as several hundred pupils were arriving for their morning lessons.
Seven children and a teacher were lightly injured...Almost immediately after the
blast, a group calling itself "Revenge of the Innocent Babes," apparently a Jewish
vigilate group, sent beeper messages to news agencies asserting responsibility for
the blast. Police said they were not aware of such a group."
July 21, 2001
Middle East Coverage
Michael Getler, B6
"Last week, for example, a reader pointed out that The Post's accounts of the killing
of three West Bank Palestinians, including a child, in a drive-by shooting apparently
committed by Israeli vigilantes did not include the statement of condemnation issued by
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office."
July 21, 2001
vigilantesKindle Fear in Mideast; Jewish Extremists Suspected in Ambush
Lee Hockstader, A17
"As infuriated Palestinians buried the dead today, both sides were left to contemplate
the specter of a dangerous new front in the deadly Middle East conflict: Israeli vigilantes
bent on avenging Palestinian attacks. As evidence has mounted in recent weeks that armed Jews
are ambushing Palestinian vehicles in the West Bank, combatants and civilians are bracing
for a fresh escalation in a conflict that has already cost more than 600 lives since
September....Many of the hard-line Jewish settlers revere Baruch Goldstein, the
Brooklyn-born physician who with an assault rifle murdered 29 Palestinians at prayer
in Hebron in 1994; a memorial to him stands in Kiryat Arba, the settlement that abuts
a Palestinian neighborhood of Hebron."
July 20, 2001
Drive-By Shooting Kills 3 Palestinians in West Bank
Lee Hockstader, A21
"Three Palestinians, including a 3-month-old girl, were killed in a drive-by shooting
as they traveled in the West Bank tonight, and an extremist Jewish group claimed
responsibility for the slayings. Israel Radio reported that a group calling itself
the Committee for Road Safety said it had carried out the attack on a Palestinian
family near the city of Hebron. The incident appeared to be the most deadly attack
by Israeli vigilantes since Baruch Goldstein, an American-born physician, killed 29
Palestinians at prayer in Hebron seven years ago....In the past two months, Sharon
has authorized the assassinations of leading militants but has refused in most cases
to order massive aerial and artillery attacks. That has infuriated Jewish settlers
and other Israeli hard-liners, some of whom have warned that the logical consequence
would be vigilantes taking revenge into their own hands."
June 3, 2001
For Many Israelis, the Last Straw; In Aftermath of Suicide Bombing, Faith in the
Peace Process Dies Lee Hockstader, A16
"There were isolated vigilante attacks against Arabs. Around 1 a.m. today, two hours
after the suicide bombing, Israelis opened fire on Arabs sitting in a cafe near the
Shuafat refugee camp north of Jerusalem. A 32-year-old Palestinian pharmacist, Mazen
Joulani, was hit in the neck and later pronounced clinically dead."
February 4, 2001
Embittered Israeli Arabs See No Choice in Election; 'I Don't Want Either of Them'
Is Sentiment in Arab Towns
Molly Moore, A25
"Jewish vigilantes firebombed mosques and Arab businesses."
February 2, 2001
Palestinians Battle the Enemy Within; Menace of Israeli Collaborators Spawns Executions,
Vigilantism, Revenge Killings
Lee Hockstader, A18
"And now, there is evidence of a backlash: a rising tide of summary judgments, executions,
kidnappings and vigilante killings carried out by Palestinians against Palestinians."
October 10, 2001
Israel Extends Deadline On Riots; 'Last Chance' Offered As Attacks Continue
Lee Hockstader, A1
"Jewish settlers in the West Bank have organized vigilante groups to attack Arab villages."
March 13, 2002
Massive Israeli Force Enters Ramallah; Thousands of Troops Assault City, Camp; 30
Palestinians Killed Lee Hockstader, A1
"The Islamic Resistance Movement, known as Hamas, which has carried out repeated suicide
bombings and other terrorist attacks against Israelis, vowed to strike back....Israeli
forces have penetrated parts of Ramallah before, but never as deeply, or in such massive
force, as they did today. Ramallah and its surrounding neighborhoods have been a base for
numerous suicide bombers and other militants, prompting Israeli officials to brand it
a hotbed of terror.
March 12, 2002
Israeli Military Storms Refugee Camp in Gaza; Fighting Kills at Least 17 Palestinians
Lee Hockstader, A1
"In the northern West Bank city of Tulkarm, for instance, where two refugee camps were
invaded and about 1,000 men arrested, the army has identified six men it accuses of
being terrorists."
March 11, 2002
Sharon Backs Lifting Siege on Arafat; Israelis Destroy Palestinian's Gaza Headquarters
Lee Hockstader, A11
"The destruction of Arafat's office, on a day of further Israeli airstrikes and sporadic
violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, was in retaliation for the killing of 13
Israelis in a pair of Palestinian terrorist attacks Saturday night, one a shooting
in the beachfront town of Netanya and the other -- far deadlier -- a suicide bombing
in Jerusalem."
March 10, 2002
Israel Suffers 2 More Attacks; Palestinian Gunmen, Bomber Leave 13 Dead, Scores Injured
Lee Hockstader, A1
"In Jerusalem, where there have been almost constant warnings of imminent terrorist
attacks, many people continue to try to live some semblance of a normal life, including
going out to restaurants and cafes....A resort popular with Israeli tourists, Netanya sits
on the Mediterranean just eight miles west of Tulkarm, on Israel's slender northern neck.
It has been the target of at least six terrorist attacks in the last 17 months, and many
others before the current Palestinian armed uprising."
March 9, 2002
Sharon Eases Cease-Fire Demands; Week Without Violence Had Been Condition For Renewal
of Talks Lee Hockstader and Alan Sipress, A14
"Many of the other dead were members of the Palestinian security forces, which Israel
says must crack down on militants and terrorists."
March 6, 2002
Mideast Fighting Intensifies; Both Sides Vow More; Bush Shows No Sign of Intervening
Lee Hockstader and Daniel Williams, A1
"Arafat's Fatah organization, which has an armed spinoff known as the al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades that has taken the lead recently in guerrilla and terrorist attacks."
March 1, 2002
Israelis Attack 2 West Bank Camps; Palestinians Fight Back As Violence Spreads
Daniel Williams and Lee Hockstader, A1
"The Israeli army issued a statement saying its operations in Nablus and Jenin were
designed to arrest Palestinians wanted for terrorist attacks."
February 25, 2002
Restraints On Arafat Extended; Travel Ban Stokes Palestinian Anger
Lee Hockstader, A1
"After the meeting, Israeli officials, who had threatened to intensify their military
campaign in response to Palestinian violence, backed off and promised not to initiate
operations for a week, except to prevent imminent terrorist attacks."
February 23, 2002
Israelis From Left and Right Criticize Sharon
Lee Hockstader, A12
"In a speech on Thursday, Sharon proposed buffer zones to separate Israeli and Palestinian
areas and protect Israelis against further violence and terrorist attacks."
February 22, 2002
Sharon Urges Resolve, Scolds Dissenters; In Rare Address on TV, Few Ideas to End Strife
Lee Hockstader, A16
"However, Israeli officials said that two other suspects remain at large and Arafat must
do more to crack down on terrorist organizations before he will be allowed to travel freely."
February 20, 2002
Israeli Forces Strike Arafat's Compounds In Gaza, West Bank; Sharp Increase in Violence
in Mideast, Lee Hockstader, A7
An army announcement said the attacks on Arafat's Gaza compound and the restrictions of
Palestinian movement were intended to combat terrorist attacks and protect Israelis."
February 16, 2002
Israeli Commander Killed in Raid; Army Suffers 2nd Disaster in Two Days in Palestinian
Territory, Lee Hockstader, A22
"Four Palestinians were arrested, all said by Israel to be local members of Islamic Jihad,
which has carried out terrorist attacks against Israelis."
February 14, 2002
Top Palestinians in Heated Dispute; Arafat Reportedly Threatens Security Chief With Gun
After Release of Militants
Lee Hockstader, A26
In a meeting of his top aides, Arafat became angry at reports that a mob of Palestinians
had stormed a jail in the West Bank city of Hebron, freeing Islamic militants and suspected
terrorists whom Arafat had ordered arrested at the behest of the United States and
Israel....On one hand, Israeli military attacks and U.S. diplomacy have pushed them
to rein in the Palestinian insurrection, arrest Islamic radicals and dismantle
organizations that have sponsored terrorist
attacks, such as the Islamic Resistance Movement, known as Hamas."
February 7, 2002
Sharon's Failed Promise of Peace; Year Since Israeli's Election Has Brought Only Violence
Lee Hockstader, A20
The Israeli leader, whose aggressive battlefield tactics once earned him the nickname
"The Bulldozer," has waged his tit-for-tat military campaign in the name of punishing
Palestinian terrorists and forcing Arafat and his administration to squash the 16-month-
old Palestinian armed uprising....Now he speaks of a
"military response" to terrorist attacks."
February 5, 2002
Blast in Gaza Leaves 5 Palestinians Dead; Israelis Accused of Targeting Militants
Lee Hockstader, A11
"But Sharon said Israel would stick to its policy until the Palestinians arrest several
dozen men Israel suspects to be terrorists."
February 4, 2002
A Grisly Routine; Aid Workers and Israeli Public Become Numb to the Shock of Suicide Bombings
Lee Hockstader, A12
But after more than 30 suicide attacks in the last 16 months, Weingarten and 600 other
volunteers from ZAKA, a Hebrew acronym for Identification of Victims of Disaster, are
fixtures in the response to terrorist assaults here and a staple of the evening news."
"And by a ratio of more than 3 to 1, Israelis said they believed the terrorist attacks
would continue in the coming year.... 'These days if it's less than 15 or 20 people
[killed in a terrorist attack], people say, Well, it's a shame but there's nothing to do,'
said Galia Golan, a veteran peace campaigner." [NOTE the reporter's editorial comment
about the "terrorist attack"]
The group, which responds to accidents, murders and suicides as well as terrorist
attacks....ZAKA has motor scooters for volunteers to thread their way through traffic,
training courses for new volunteers, refresher courses for veterans, debriefing sessions
to examine performance after each terrorist attack."
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