The European Union’s foreign affairs office called for “urgent measures” on behalf of Tel Aviv to protect Palestinian civilians from Israeli settlers in the West Bank, right as the UN updated its figures on alleged “extremist settler violence” on Wednesday, November 1st. However, there is a very different story on the ground, one that both organizations deliberately ignore, Israeli sources tell The European Conservative.
“The upsurge of settler terrorism in the West Bank has led to very high numbers of civilian casualties and Palestinian communities being forced out of their homes,” the EU’s statement reads, warning of possible escalation. “The situation could get out of control and is causing unspeakable suffering to local communities.”
Stopping just short of accusing Tel Aviv of directly supporting the behavior of settlers, the EU statement instead calls for “urgent action” on behalf of the government, saying that it is Israel’s legal duty to protect Palestinians from “extremist settler violence” and even to deploy the Israeli army to the end.
“The risk of dangerous escalation of the conflict … must be avoided at all costs,” the statement added.
According to new figures published by the UN’s humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, at least 820 Palestinians have been internally displaced in the West Bank since the start of the current conflict, directly because of settler violence and increased movement restrictions.
In 2023, OCHA recorded an average of three incidents a day against Palestinians in the West Bank. Now, it claims that number has more than doubled, with 171 “settler attacks” reported since October 7th—the day of Hamas’ attack on Israel—including 115 incidents only involving damage to Palestinian properties, and 56 alleged attacks on people.
None of these “attacks” were fatal, but OCHA purports that eight Palestinians had been killed in follow-up confrontations with the IDF, which often “accompanied or actively supported” the attackers.
‘Repainting reality’
These numbers, however, tell only half the story and the UN is propagating a false narrative infused with lies and half-truths, Sarah Ha’etzni Cohen, the head of the Zionist advocacy group My Israel, told The European Conservative.
“This [UN] campaign is total incitement. They are trying to repaint reality to a different color, but those of us who live here see what is actually happening on the ground,” she said, before explaining that nearly all of these alleged incidents happen in response to Palestinian threats, provocations, or attacks.
I won’t tell you there are no interethnic clashes, but claiming ‘settler’ violence increased is a complete lie. It’s Palestinian violence that has sharply increased in [the West Bank]. The reality is not Jewish violence, but Arab violence.
Ninety-nine percent of these incidents are self-defense, Ha’etzni Cohen explained, and sadly, not all of them are successful. “A Jewish man was killed in a terror attack in the West Bank just this morning, two hours ago,” she added, telling how the 35-year-old father was gunned down after stopping in an intersection in his car on Thursday, without even having a chance to exit the vehicle.
Ha’etzni Cohen believes the fact that the UN publishes these numbers without any context of these repeated terror attacks against Israelis is not only dishonest but deliberate. “The OSHA is a terrible organization, I don’t know why it wasn’t banned in Israel yet,” she told The European Conservative, adding that the organization’s Jerusalem headquarters employs several openly antisemitic staff members.
Likewise, she said, the EU’s use of the term “terrorism” to describe these incidents is also a clear attempt to further the UN’s false narrative. “They try to equate Jewish settlers with Hamas. But there is no equation between murderous terrorists and people trying to defend their families.”
