Amira Hass. Photo: Wikipedia.

Yesha (West Bank) Council head Avi Ro’eh and Chairman Ron Shachner have sent a letter to Jerusalem Police accusing Israel’s Ha’aretz daily newspaper of incitement to violence.

An editorial published by one of the paper’s correspondents, Amira Hass, who lives in Ramallah, defends Palestinian stone-throwing and encourages other forms of violence against Israelis. “Throwing stones is the birthright and duty of anyone subject to foreign rule. Throwing stones is an action as well as a metaphor of resistance,” she writes.

Hass attempts to explain the cause of the stone throwing, writing, “Often hurling stones is borne of boredom, excessive hormones, mimicry, boastfulness and competition. But in the inner syntax of the relationship between the occupier and the occupied, stone-throwing is the adjective attached to the subject of ‘We’ve had enough of you, occupiers.'”

The article is particularly poignant considering that a Palestinian Arab man was recently convicted for murder in the death of an Israeli settler and his son after the car the two were traveling in crashed after being hit by stones.

Hass asserts that the violence is a Palestinian “right and duty,” adding that it and other forms of violence “should be taught and developed. Limitations could include the distinction between civilians and those who carry arms, between children and those in uniform, as well as the failures and narrowness of using weapons.”

“So why are such classes absent from the Palestinian curriculum?” she asks. “Part of the explanation lies with the opposition of the donor states and Israel’s punitive measures. But it is also due to inertia, laziness, flawed reasoning, misunderstanding and the personal gains of some parts of society.”