So happy holidays to all and yet occupation isn’t going anywhere: Church leaders in Bethlehem have called for peace and reconciliation at the annual Christmas mass held at what is said to be the birthplace of Jesus. Tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims are in Bethlehem for Christmas, in a record year for tourism. Only…
Showing all posts tagged West Bank
We are Israel and we build on Palestinian land
The true face of Israel is a colonising state: In the three months since Israel ended its settlement construction freeze in the West Bank, causing the Palestinians to withdraw from peace talks, a settlement-building boom has begun, especially in more remote communities that are least likely to be part of Israel after any two-state peace…
Breaking the Silence book lands in English
The landmark new book by the brave Israelis who detail the full extent of Israel’s apartheid regime in the West Bank. This is all about control and humiliation of Palestinians: Breaking the Silence Full Book ENG Dec22-10 [Occupation of the Territories — Israeli Soldier Testimonies 2…
There’s plenty in Wikileaks cable dump, if reporters care to look
One: This is why Wikileaks is so crucial: A June 2009 cable from France, days after the great Cairo speech of Obama, in which the Israelis are said to claim a secret deal with the US for settlement growth. I’m running. More to say later. And note too… where… Sarkozy says, Israel, the horse of history is…
Damaged Palestinian property is never investigated
Apartheid: The Yesh Din human rights group said that in cases of settlers’ violence against Palestinians, 90-92 percent are closed, mostly because the perpetrators are not found. These figures are based on 700 cases opened after claims of violence. In cases of vandalizing or destroying property, no charges are pressed in 100 percent of the…
How to spend 40 years morally corrupting a society
The banality of Israel’s evil occupation is laid bare with startling descriptions in the new book by Israeli group Breaking the Silence. Former IDF soldiers recount the daily beatings, humiliation, violence and degradation handed out to Palestinians. It’s routine. It’s normalised. And it’s backed by most Western powers: Testimony 48: “In reality you are just…
Zionist separation is in the state’s bloodstream
The actions of an apartheid state with the full backing of the so-called civilised world: Israeli policies in the West Bank harshly discriminate against Palestinian residents, depriving them of basic necessities while providing lavish amenities for Jewish settlements, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The report identifies discriminatory practices that have no…
Getting out of the West Bank is for real Israeli security
Martin van Creveld, The Jewish Forward, 15 December: Keeping all these facts in mind — and provided that Israel maintains its military strength and builds a wall to stop suicide bombers — it is crystal-clear that Israel can easily afford to give up the West Bank. Strategically speaking, the risk of doing so is negligible.…
Mastercard, Visa and PayPal rather like illegal Zionist colonies
The huffing and puffing over alleged illegality by Wikileaks (nothing proven by a mile) compares badly to actual behaviour by many corporates in the Middle East. An important Crikey investigation: Visa, Mastercard and PayPal all enable donations to be made to US-registered groups funding illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank in defiance of international…
Israel’s policy of separation is backed by Western powers
Akiva Eldar writes in Haaretz what many people have known for years; Israel’s goal is to maintain the occupation forever: The testimonies of 101 discharged soldiers who served in the West Bank over past decade and collected their comments in a book published by Breaking the Silence show that even the status quo Clinton referred…