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All-out pressure needed to stop Israeli crimes: Activist

Wednesday, 18 May 2016 1:54 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 18 May 2016 3:01 PM ]

Meir Ettinger, the head of a Jewish extremist group, stands at the Israeli court in Nazareth Illit on August 4, 2015, a day after his arrest over an arson attack on a Palestinian family in the West Bank. (AFP photo)

Press TV has interviewed Paul Larudee, with the Free Palestine Movement from Berkeley, about a decision by an Israeli court to release a terrorist who set a Palestinian house on fire in Duma, West Bank, and killed three members of a family while they were asleep.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: ... Ettinger, the accused terrorist of these acts, killed a whole family, burned them basically to death, and yet he’s to be freed this May, shouldn’t [there] be international repercussions to put pressure on Tel Aviv? How do you see it?

Larudee: Well, all of us – you and I and everyone else – would be surprised if there are any serious international repercussions. The Israelis are accustomed to having their way and being able to control the dialogue in the countries of the so-called mainstream press, which means the press in the biggest powers and biggest bullies on earth. So, it’s hard to imagine that there will be sufficient pressure, there will be condemnation for what they’re doing.

From the Israeli point of view, the fact that he was arrested at all is almost America … This is exactly what the Israeli policy wants. They want Palestinians to be gone somehow and they don’t mind if they’re burned by some of their own people, killed directly. And they probably would like to hang a medal on him rather than send him to jail.

Press TV: What has to happen to change all this around, Mr. Larudee? I mean we see this very often. As a matter of fact actually this time the accused did go to jail for a while which is also rare. Usually a lot of times when they commit these crimes, Israelis … don’t serve any time. What has to happen to change this around?

Larudee: It doesn’t matter if this is intolerable to you and to me and to the listeners and all of us. It has to become intolerable to the Israeli regime itself. When it becomes intolerable to them and only then is when it will stop.

And therefore, regardless of where the motive comes from, regardless of who imposes the pain on the Israelis whether it’s the great powers or whether it’s from the people or from the Palestinians themselves, it has to be intolerable, it has to be something that the Israelis cannot maintain.

And when the pain is great enough to the Israelis, that is when it’ll stop. And for the rest of us we have to try to bring that about in many many different ways.

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