Another Ambush In Silwan--More Stones Thrown

Well They'll stone you when you are all alone
They'll stone you when you are walking home
They'll stone you and then say they're all brave
They'll stone you when you're send down in your grave
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned
Bob Dylan, Everybody Must Get Stoned

The stone-throwing continues in Silwan:

A minivan carrying members of the Knesset's State Control Committee returning from a tour of the east Jerusalem Silwan neighborhood was stoned by Arabs Tuesday.


A large rock hit the front window of the vehicle, but no one was injured. Border Guard troops who were securing the area were informed and dispersed the attackers.

The incident took place while Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch visited the east Jerusalem neighborhoods of Silwan and Issawiya in response to the recent escalation in stone-throwing.

It bears repeating that whatever justification Arabs may claim for throwing rocks at Jews, the fact is that there is a long history of Arabs stoning Jews that long precedes the reestablishment of the State of Israel

So just what is it about Muslims and throwing rocks? In Jews and Arabs: Their Contacts Through the Ages, S. D. Goitein wrote in 1955:

In former times--and in remote places even today--it was common for Muslim schoolboys to stone Jews. When the Turks conquered Yemen in 1872, an envoy was sent from the Chief Rabbi of Istanbul to inquire what grievance the Yemenite Jews had against their neighbors. It is indicative that the first thing of which they complained was this molestation by the schoolboys. But when the Turkish Governor asked an assembly of notables to stop this nuisance, there arose an old doctor of Muslim law and explained that this stone-throwing at Jews was an age-old custom (in Arabic 'Ada) and therefore it was unlawful to forbid it. [p. 76]

Old customs die hard--especially the ones that can kill.

Technorati Tag: Silwan and Stone Throwing.