Families continue to be evicted from Jerusalem for being not Jewish. In this case two Palestinian refugee families (nearly 50 individuals) who lived in these homes since they were evicted from their homes in West Jerusalem in 1948 are made refugees again (see video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcjchhD3qBc). Israeli colonial settlers claim the land was owned by Jews before 1948. But ofcourse Palestinian natives cannot claim the land they owned before 1948. Hundreds of families were evicted from Jerusalem just the last two years while Obama and other politicians talk about peace and settlement freeze. And even this week in the Knesset, a new law is passed that allows sale of seized lands of Palestinian refugees for Jewish use only. Racist apartheid laws are numerous already but it seems Israeli politicians score points by supporting more discrimination. Nazi like evictions of people simply for being of the wrong religion is done in sight of a silent supine world. The terrorizing and kidnapping by Israeli forces of citizens in Bilin at 3 AM in the morning and the settlers who come "visit us" in Beit Sahour two times a week go unchallenged by the same supine world. The Western governments attempt to hide their complicity with words indicating they do not approve of some Israeli tactics bvut continue to funnel billions to Israel and millions to compliant Palestinians (in normalization schemes). They do have leverage to stop these crimes against humanity and the public must demand they use it. We must cut-off all aid to Israel and treat it as the pariah state it is (just like happened with apartheid South Africa).
Defense for Children International (DCI-Palestine) submitted an Alternative Report to the UN Human Rights Committee which is scheduled to review Israel’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) (ICCPR) in October 2009. The report focuses on the right to life (Article 6), torture and ill-treatment (Article 7), arbitrary detention (Article 9) and fair trial rights (Article 14) in the Israeli military court system which has operated in the Occupied Palestinian Territory for the last 42 years. The report covers the period 1 January 2004 to 30 June 2009, during which time 851 Palestinian children were killed during the conflict and around 3,850 children were arrested and prosecuted in the military courts, where basic fair trial rights are denied to minors as young as 12. The report also investigates ill-treatment and torture, administrative detention, the use of children as human shields by the Israeli army and the increasing level of settler violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. The 45 page report makes 35 recommendations and is supported by over 120 pages of sworn testimonies contained in an annexure to the main report.
Full report at http://www.dci-pal.org/english/doc/reports/AlternativeReport.pdf
(good reading) Re-imagining Palestine: Self determination, Ethical De-colonization and Equality by Omar Barghouthi
http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/22158
(another good analytical piece) On the right of resistance
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=255575
ACTION: I remember a situation where a bright student in an ivy league college never ventured one block to visit the rough inner city neighborhood next to his school. Here in Bethlehem (that has been shrunk to 15% of its total district size and doubled in population by refugees and displaced people), I know many visitors come and go (to conventions, to church, to pilgrimage) and never really understand how most of the population lives (70% are below the poverty line of $2/day). So wherever you are, PLEASE take time to simply go to the poorest and the most vulnerable human beings and truly listen to understand, observe to comprehend, run your hands on the wounds that are healing, and touch a calloused hand. Such genuine encounters teach us so much more than anything we could read in books, see on TV, hear from speeches, or understand from lectures and education. Most of all they teach us humility and the meaning of true love and hope. With such knowledge comes a responsibility to act even in modest ways and this in turn gives true meaning to our lives. The Chinese proverb “To [really] know and not to do is not to know. “ The cliché of think globally and act locally is still valid but only after such knowledge that can’t be gained any other way.
If you want to help here in Palestine, we do have lots of projects.. join us.
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a Villager at Home