The “settler violence” campaign has found its latest cause célèbre in the Arab village of Qusra, south of Shechem — and this time, even U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee appears to have been taken in by the narrative.
To read the original article ,click here
The “settler violence” campaign has found its latest cause célèbre in the Arab village of Qusra, south of Shechem — and this time, even U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee appears to have been taken in by the narrative.
Iyad Hassan, an Arab-American activist, helped propel the Qusra story into the American diplomatic arena, according to a report by Abu Ali Express. Hassan publicly claimed that “terrorist settlers” had been besieging the family’s home for five consecutive days and criticized the United States for supposedly failing to intervene.
He emphasized the family’s American connection — one of the homeowner’s sons holds U.S. citizenship — and circulated video of the incident. Huckabee responded directly to Hassan, saying the accusation that the United States had done nothing was false and revealing that the U.S. Embassy had already asked Israeli authorities to intervene. But in doing so, Huckabee also accepted Hassan’s framing, referring to the Israelis involved as “terrorists” and their conduct as an “act of terror.”
Those are extraordinary words coming from the Ambassador. But they came before the broader story of Qusra and the events surrounding the family’s home had entered the public discussion.
Qusra is not simply an isolated Arab village suddenly victimized by marauding Jews. For years, Qusra has been the source of repeated violent incidents against Jewish hikers, shepherds and nearby communities, including lynching attempts, road spikes, attacks on Jewish drivers, stone-throwing, explosive devices and other attacks.
The current confrontation also involves a larger struggle over control of Jabal Ein Eina, a strategically important ridge overlooking the Shiloh bloc.
According to reports by activist Elisha Yered, the Palestinian Authority and surrounding village councils have spent years encouraging road construction, building and agricultural activity designed to expand Arab control over the mountain.
About eight months ago, Jewish families and young men established the Tel Talpiot hilltop on the ridge, effectively blocking that expansion.
Since then, according to Yered, residents and shepherds in the area have faced repeated attacks.
One of the men now portrayed as a principal victim of “settler violence” is Qusai Abu Ridi, whose home stands outside the built-up area of Qusra on the slopes of the mountain.
Yered reports that Abu Ridi was previously arrested after being documented participating in a violent assault on a Jewish shepherd. According to that account, several attackers held the shepherd down while another struck him and another raised a hoe toward his head. Masked stone-throwers were also reportedly filmed attacking Jewish hikers from Abu Ridi’s property, while gunfire was reported from the vicinity of his home toward Tel Talpiot several weeks ago.
The latest uproar began after Jewish shepherds erected a shade structure not far from Abu Ridi’s home, reportedly because the summer heatwave made it difficult to move their flock long distances to water.
Abu Ridi subsequently claimed that settlers were laying siege to his family.
But according to Yered, no one prevented the family from entering or leaving the home, no one attacked its residents, and no one assaulted Israeli security forces. Several teenagers later attempted to block authorities from confiscating a vehicle during an enforcement action, but Yered says they did not use violence.
Nevertheless, the story was rapidly transformed into another national “settler violence” scandal.
The campaign also appears to extend well beyond Qusra.
Elchanan Groner of HaKol HaYehudi has highlighted the case of Mashal al-Kouk, an American citizen who divides his time between the Chicago area and Turmus Ayya, another Arab village in Binyamin. According to Groner, al-Kouk has publicly expressed support for Iran, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Hamas, praised the October 7 massacre and shared material from pro-Hamas demonstrations in the United States.
Al-Kouk, too, has complained of settler harassment at a house built outside his village and has involved the U.S. Embassy.
Groner argues that these cases form part of a broader network of Arab-American activists who use U.S. citizenship and access to American officials to internationalize local land disputes and promote the “settler violence” narrative, while the violence directed at Jewish residents receives dramatically less attention.
That context makes Huckabee’s intervention especially troubling.
Huckabee has been one of Israel’s strongest friends in Washington and Jerusalem. Yet in this case, he adopted the terminology of the campaign almost wholesale, publicly labeling Israelis “terrorists” before the competing claims surrounding the incident had been seriously examined.
Ironically, the story then took another turn.
After days of criticism alleging that Israel had failed to protect the Arab family, the IDF reportedly informed the head of Qusra that it was launching a three-day operation in the village. According to Army Radio, residents of as many as 16 homes were to be temporarily evacuated so that the buildings could be used as military positions — including the very house at the center of the supposed “settler siege.”
The issue is not whether every act committed by every Jewish resident of Judea and Samaria is justified. Obviously, it is not.
The issue is whether allegations of “settler violence” are being examined with the same skepticism, context and scrutiny that journalists and diplomats would apply to any other politically charged claim.
In Qusra, the missing context is substantial: years of violence emanating from the village, an ongoing strategic land struggle, documented allegations against some of the very people now presented as victims, and an organized effort to bring American political pressure into the dispute.
Before Israel’s friends join the chorus condemning “settler terror,” they would do well to find out who is attacking whom.