JERUSALEM (VINnews) — In the last few days we have been witness to a hopelessly tendentious representation of a media event in Samaria, which has led to almost unanimous condemnation from the media both in Israel and abroad.

The way in which the situation was presented – settlers placing a tent in the back yard of an Arab house and blocking the owner’s way out, while dismantling a wall erected there – left little option but to censure the actions of the settlers. Leftists gleefully took the footage and slammed the “terrorists” for their “violent” actions, and the pictures even reached the White House and caused some discomfort, leading even Ambassador Huckabee, probably Israel’s best friend in the US, to condemn the actions without mincing words:

“Actions by those who carried out this horrific act of terror meant to intimidate and harass this family are disgusting. No excuse for such thuggish behavior.” ( Mike Huckabee)

Even the Yesha Council and settler leaders, many of whom participated in illegal construction of communities in their youth, disavowed the actions of the hilltop youths in Qusra and called them “irreversible damage”. 

The only thing lacking in the media reports was the most important thing – context. Nobody seemed to ask the obvious questions: Why are the settlers harassing this family in particular? Why did they set up a tent in his back yard, even though it would obviously be removed? Why didn’t the army just immediately remove them, like it does so often when they trespass on private property? What is going on here?

The answer to these questions, which no media outlet was objective enough to portray, is that this is no innocent house in the village of Qusra, located north of Shiloh. This house was recently erected on one of the highest promontories in the region, Jebel El-Eina, located well out of the borders of the village and dominating the entire Shiloh region. If the owner had only intended to enjoy the view from his new domicile, nobody would have disturbed him. Yet he had far more nefarious plans.

Kusai Abu Ridi, as he is known, is not the actual owner, as his uncle Loui from Chicago funded the new building, but he is the current occupier of the house.

Abu Ridi and several other rioters from the village recently carried out a brutal lynching attack on a Jewish shepherd. Three of the assailants violently restrained him while another repeatedly punched him, and another attacker raised a pickaxe over his head in an apparent attempt to strike him—images that, according to the account, evoked scenes reminiscent of the October 7 attacks.

The shepherd narrowly escaped the assault and required medical treatment for his injuries.

In an unusual move, Abu Ridi was arrested following the attack after clear video footage of the incident emerged. However, despite the documented evidence, he was later released and allowed to return home. 

Abu Ridi, however, was not yet rid of his craving for Jewish blood. The new house is located in a prime position to throw stones at Jews visiting a nearby spring, and Abu Ridi evidently has several friends and family who can take a good shot:

אבו רידי מרפה להשתפך בראיונות ולספר על בנותיו הקטנות, אולם מסתבר שהוא נוהג לארח בביתו עוד כמה אורחים חביבים. הנה למשל ילדי החמד האלה, רעולי הפנים, שיידו אבנים *מתוך ביתו של רידי* לעבר מטיילים יהודים שהיו בדרכם למעין הסמוך. pic.twitter.com/zNN38lecLR

— אלישע ירד (@ElishaYered) August 12, 2026

Usually the stonethrowing terrorists if not checked will resort to further forms of violence, and Abu Ridi’s clan are no exception. A few weeks ago, ten shots were fired from the vicinity of his home towards a farm located nearby (the farm, unsurprisingly, disturbed his view, so why not take a pot shot). The guard at the farm even succeeded in recording the final shots on video:

ואיך לא, התקיפות האלימות וידויי האבנים הסלימו מהר גם לירי. לפני כשלושה שבועות ביצעו מחבלים מסביבת ביתו של אבו רידי ירי של כעשרה כדורים מאקדח ככל הנראה לעבר גבעת תל תלפיות ששוכנת בראש ההר. השומר עוד הספיק לשלוף את הפלאפון, לתעד את הירייה האחרונה ולהזעיק את כוחות צה”ל אך המחבלים לא… pic.twitter.com/5JsaSqyoVC

— אלישע ירד (@ElishaYered) August 12, 2026

So what do we have here? A terrorist inexplicably released after he attempted to murder a Jewish neighbor, continuing to harass and attempt to murder Jewish neighbors from the comfort of his home with stones and bullets. The solution? Make his home less comfortable for him by establishing a Jewish presence in his courtyard, presumably to show him that the settlers are not afraid of stones or bullets and will not be cowed into submission by violence. 

Abu Ridi now claims that he is besieged but this is also a lie: He can walk out the other side of his house and ascend to the village, but prefers now to play the victim, moaning to the press about the occupiers of his home, but in truth he has only himself to blame. 

None of this background information made the mainstream media, which instead interviewed Abu Ridi and his uncle, who of course derided the settlers for attempting to steal their home. No reporter tried to obtain the perspective of the settlers camping outside.

Ambassador Huckabee, you are a fair man and a good judge of character. It is true that there are good settlers and bad settlers, just as in any other society there may be rotten apples. Do not however be deluded by the media into thinking that these agitators in Qusra are willing to gratuitously throw a man out of his home. There is always a context in every case, always a reason behind the madness, you just have to hear both sides of the conflict.