I’m so sick of the term “settler violence” that the media and politicians throw around. As if 700,000 families—men, women, and children—are somehow walking around being violent toward Palestinians every single day. It’s a smear campaign of another world. In reality, 99% are completely ordinary people living their lives in peace in Judea and Samaria. You know, the place where Jews have lived continuously for 3,200 years. And where the very word “Jew” comes from. Judea → Jew. The ones who actually are violent make up less than 1% of all settlers, and they don’t just attack Palestinians. They even attack Israelis and the IDF. And no one likes or accepts the violence they engage in. Those people are a problem, and both I and everyone I know distance ourselves from the violence they commit. But they are a grain of sand being used as a lie to demonize hundreds of thousands of people. There are lies, damned lies, and statistics. Did you know that when Jews defend themselves against terrorists, this is also categorized as “settler-related violence”? Last year there were over 5,000 attacks against Jews in Judea and Samaria. How often do you hear about that in the media? Or from the lips of European politicians, who are otherwise completely manically obsessed with Israel? There’s actually one attack against Jews every two hours, all year round. David and Rachel were driving through the village of Huwara and were nearly killed by a Palestinian terrorist. David is shot in the head, arm, and body, but manages to neutralize the terrorist. David is bleeding heavily, and Rachel is screaming for help. But what do the 30–40 Palestinians who come running over to them do? They take out their phones, film, whistle, and laugh at them. And how does OCHA then categorize this incident afterward? How does the incident fit into the statistics? As a quote: “Jewish settler attack against innocent Palestinian.” Let that sink in. So maybe we shouldn’t put so much weight on what the UN, OCHA, and Western media tell us about the facts on the ground. At least take it with a truckload of salt. Think twice when you hear the word “settler violence.”