In the aftermath of the kidnapping and killing of three Jewish boys in Hebron, the world has now fixed its attention on the killing of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, 17, a Palestinian youth whose burned body was found in the Jerusalem Forest. The world immediately jumped to the conclusion that the vengeful Jews must have killed the boy.
The goal of that evidenceless assertion: to craft a moral equivalence between a Palestinian government that supports, backs, funds, and includes the murderers of children, and an Israeli government and people that condemn such murders.
The media provided no evidence for the notion that Khdeir’s killing was based on revenge. They simply cited Arab rioters with an interest in blaming Jews, despite the fact that no suspects or motives have been ascertained.
In fact, the only evidence thus far released to the public suggests that Khdeir was not killed by Jews bent on revenge, but by other Arabs. The Jerusalem Post reported today that Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharanovitch stated that there were leads, but no determination of motive. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld went further, stating, “We are investigating whether it was nationalistically motivated or criminal right now. Police forensics teams are carefully examining the body and the area of the forest where it was found to search for evidence of who may have done this.”
The Post continued:
Though the cause of Abu Khdeir’s death remains unannounced, Rosenfeld said the boy’s body had significant burn marks. The spokesman added that police are investigating previous attempts to kidnap members of Abu Khdeir’s family, stemming from a personal dispute.
Meanwhile, an ex-police official told Arutz Sheva that the teen’s murder was “likely [an] inside job” and ripped into officials for blaming Jews for the murder without evidence:
The official noted that the family of the murdered 16-year-old was well known to police sources in Jerusalem, adding “it’s a problematic family with internal clashes that have been ongoing for many years.”
“I have no doubt that as time passes it will be clarified that the murder was criminal and nothing more,” declared the official, who spoke to Arutz Sheva on condition of anonymity.
In another telling addition to the unfolding story, leftist Justice Minister Tzipi Livni immediately tweeted, “we must punish those who want to turn us into a society of killers. This cannot be allowed to happen in Israel.” The implication: Jews were behind the murder. Just a few minutes later, Livni deleted the post. Oops.
In short, there is no information yet confirming that Jews were behind the vicious kidnapping and murder.
But that didn’t stop the Obama administration from reacting with force and fury they never showed when it came to the kidnapping and murder of three Jewish boys, including an American citizen. National Security Advisor Susan Rice tweeted:
US strongly condemns the heinous murder of Muhammad Hussein Abu Khdeir in Jerusalem. US sends condolences to his family and Palestinian people. Perpetrators must be brought to justice. US paying close attention to investigation.
Secretary of State John Kerry condemned “in the strongest possible terms the despicable and senseless abduction and murder… It is sickening… There are no words to convey adequately our condolences to the Palestinian people.” Contrast that language with Kerry’s initial response to the kidnappings of the Jewish boys: “The United States strongly condemns the kidnapping… We are still seeking details on the parties responsible for this despicable terrorist act.”
There would be no such calls for patience from Kerry this time:
Those who undertake acts of vengeance only destabilize an already explosive and emotional situation. We look to both the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to take all necessary steps to prevent acts of violence and bring their perpetrators to justice. The world has too often learned the hard way that violence only leads to more violence and at this tense and dangerous moment, all parties must do everything in their power to protect the innocent and act with reasonableness and restraint, not recrimination and retribution.
Kerry has labeled this a revenge killing. Unless he knows something the Israeli Justice Minister and the spokesman for the police do not, he is playing politics with murder.
But that’s no surprise. The world press is doing the same thing. There have been no suspects named as of yet. But in its efforts to tar Jews and Israel, the press went ahead with its accusations anyway. Its headlines all labeled the murder a “revenge” killing.
Perhaps the killing was an evil act of vengeance. If so, the Israeli government and Jews everywhere will condemn it and call for justice – unlike the Palestinians, who largely celebrated the murders of the Jewish boys, and whose government includes Hamas, the terrorist organization behind those murders.
But if the killing was not an act of vengeance, we are watching a slow-motion blood libel. A blood libel pushed along by the Obama administration.
Ben Shapiro is Senior Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the new book, The People vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against The Obama Administration(Threshold Editions, June 10, 2014). He is also Editor-in-Chief of TruthRevolt.org. Follow Ben Shapiro on Twitter @benshapiro.