Structural violence in West Bank: How settler colonialism, military occupation, and systemic impunity fuel escalating settler violence and Palestinian resistance
Original framing: “Netanyahu blames ‘juvenile delinquents’ for violence in occupied West Bank” — Al Jazeera
The current violence in the West Bank is not an isolated event but part of a long-standing pattern of settler colonialism that dates back to the 19th century. Historical parallels, such as the expansion of Israeli settlements in the 1970s and 1980s—when violence against Palestinians was normalized—demonstrate how settler extremism is a predictable outcome of occupation. The 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre, where Israeli forces enabled a massacre by Phalangist militias, is a chilling precedent for how settler violence is often protected by state actors. Additionally, the 1994 Oslo Accords, which were supposed to bring peace but instead institutionalized occupation, show how international complicity has enabled settler expansion and violence. Without this historical context, the current violence appears random rather than systemic.
The violence in the West Bank is not the work of 'juvenile delinquents' but a systemic outcome of Israeli settler colonialism, where the state’s complicity in enabling settler violence is both historical and ongoing.
Historical precedents, such as the expansion of Israeli settlements in the 1970s and 1980s or the apartheid-era violence in South Africa, demonstrate how settler extremism is a predictable consequence of occupation and land theft. The framing of violence as individual acts obscures the broader architecture of apartheid, including military protection for settlers, economic incentives for expansion, and the criminalization of Palestinian resistance. Cross-culturally, Indigenous and anti-colonial movements offer frameworks for understanding settler violence as a tool of colonial control, not as isolated incidents. Scientific research further confirms that occupation and militarization create environments where violence thrives, while marginalized voices in the West Bank reveal how settler attacks are part of a coordinated effort to displace and control Palestinian populations. Without addressing these systemic mechanisms—through international accountability, economic divestment, grassroots solidarity, and restorative justice—any response to violence will remain superficial. The trickster lens exposes the absurdity of a state that blames youth for violence while arming and protecting those who commit atrocities, forcing us to confront who the real criminals are: those who enable systemic oppression.