A group of Jewish colonists took over the home of a Palestinian with a fake deed of sale. The following transpired as a result.
Marilyn.
From AFP and the Daily Star
05 December 2008
Hebron Colonists Attack Palestinians after Eviction
HEBRON, Occupied West Bank: Mobs of colonists rampaged through the Occupied West Bank on Thursday after Israeli police enforced an eviction order of settlers squatting illegally in a Palestinian house. Rabid colonists set fire to Palestinian homes and fields, fired weapons, hurled rocks, clashed with security forces and carried out other forms of vandalism to Palestinian property following the eviction carried out by about 100 officers.
Relatives said three Palestinians suffered gunshot wounds and were evacuated by helicopter, while police said five civilians and two policemen were wounded during the eviction itself. Medics said there were further injuries during ensuing clashes.
A cloud of black smoke covered much of the neighborhood as militant supporters of the colonists set Palestinian olive fields alight and torched two homes and a dozen cars.
In several areas of the city, youths clashed with Israeli security forces, who responded with tear gas.
Witnesses said Israeli soldiers beat up a Palestinian photographer who was involved in an altercation with a settler. The photographer was taken to hospital.
Several people were arrested, according to police.
"It could have been worse," Danny Poleg, a spokesman for Israeli police in the Occupied West Bank, said after officers found objects that the colonists evidently intended to use as weapons, including potatoes studded with nails.
Police used blowtorches to seal the occupied house shut after using stun grenades and tear gas to force the settlers out of the four-storey building.
The eviction followed a November 16 Israeli High Court order for the settlers to leave the house they claim they bought from a Palestinian who denies selling it. The court also found that documents presented by the colonists purporting to prove ownership of the house were faked.
"Israel is a country where the rule of law prevails. It is not a country of vigilantes," government spokesman Mark Regev said.
Doaz Aetzni, a far right-wing leader expressed outrage at the police action.
"They are very aggressive with the Jews and very soft with the Arabs," he claimed. "This country has become crazy."
Human rights groups have long decried the double standard used by Israeli forces in dealing with the two sides. While violence by Israelis is usually met with tear gas and batons by police, Palestinian and international protestors - often demonstrating peacefully - face live ammunition, rubber-coated bullets, armored bulldozers and stun grenades, among other means employed by Israeli authorities.
The police action came just hours after Defense Minister Ehud Barak and settler representatives failed to reach agreement in last-ditch talks.
Elsewhere in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, attackers hurled rocks at Palestinian drivers and scrawled graffiti on a mosque insulting the Muslim faith, according to witnesses.
Outside Occupied Jerusalem hundreds of youths blocked a major highway to protest the eviction, causing massive traffic jams and hurling insults at police, calling them "Nazis."
Israeli authorities declared the whole of the southern Occupied West Bank a closed military zone to prevent Israelis who don't already illegally live there from entering the area.
7 comments:
What has been happening in Gaza is heinous beyond words and leaves one feeling impotent at the immensity of it all. Like in this country, the abuse perpetrated by Israel and the lies that accompany it can be overwhelming and leave one numb. The evil becomes self perpetuating after a while. People don't want to hear the truth.
Keep up the good work. Chris
Chris,
Thank you for writing.
It is absolutely heart stopping what is happening in Palestine. Israeli aggression has traditionally been excused. Over six decades of land grabbing, occupation, torture and abuse are ignored.
The sickening thing is that the victims are being blamed for the crimes of those abusing them. One of the recurring themes of the colonizers is that their victims do not care about their own children and any civilian deaths are a result of the actions of Hamas. This is hogwash and is a moral travesty. The fact is that Israel has consistently killed children long before the first PLO guerrilla fighter attacked and long before the first suicide bomber blew himself up.
The peace movement in the United States has been relatively silent when it came to the rights of Palestinians.
Those in power always control the message. I think that the peace movement in this country has been marginalized and weakened by corporate media to a large degree.
Where are the headlines of this atrocity? Where are the interviews with Israel citizens who oppose these actions?
The meme is collectively repeated that those in opposition are a few malcontents and not to be taken seriously. It is ind boggling.
In Europe it is more of a story and most Norwegians are as outraged as you and I.
Like the recent story of the U.S. bombing in Afghanistan which killed numerous civilians, men, women and children, The military and Fox News reported that only insurgents were killed. This was buttressed by Oliver North of Fox news who was an "eye" witness. Later, when video was released of the actual atrocity the military and Fox News kept back pedalling until they finally admitted the real extent of the horror. What would have happened if that video did not exist?
I don't know what the answer is. It sickens me though.
Thanks again Chris.
I don't know if you have had a chance to see the documentary "Control Room," where one Al-Jazeera station chief stated clearly that "history is written by the victors" and that the United States would write the history of the Iraq War. But mass media has made their task a bit harder, as you said.
I have made a few contacts locally to see if anything is going to be taking place in SLO County for Gaza. A few of my friends have already written and phoned their senators' offices in protest of the Israeli assault. I am also waiting to hear from a few students at Cal Poly. There may be something brewing there within the week. Arab Awareness Week is coming up there too soon and it is sponsored by Students for Justice and Peace in the Middle East. I will post more information as I get it.
Thank you again for all your support and your ethical reasoning.
Hi again. I have seen Control Room and Taxi To The Dark Side as well as other like movies. I have been to the middle east several times and have witnessed the deplorable conditions that the Palestinians exist in.
I was in the Sudan with Thom Hartman and others some months ago as a Nurse Practitioner and to assist with care packages we delivered, what a mess.
The media in the U.S. is very well controlled regarding the Palestinian situation, it is really quite sickening. Glenn Greenwald has been writing some decent articles for Salon which have been close to being spot on.
I just obtained my license to practice in Norway which keeps me on my toes. I was doing it anyway, now it's just legal. Some of the villages here are pretty remote. Keep up the good work. Be well. Chris
Hey Chris,
I don' think I've ever seen Taxi to the Dark Side. I have seen many others and after all these years they are all starting to look alike. However, there is an anime type movie "Waltz with Bashir," about the Sabra and Shatila massacres in 1982. I am waiting for that one. Supposed to be really good. It won something at the Cannes Film Festival. I was still in Beirut at the time, but things are mostly a blur. I only remember fragments of things.
It is great that you are able to help people all over. I think you are lucky to be able to practice in Norway. One of my three closest friends from Lebanon was working in Africa with UNICEF. I think she may still be there. Based in Sierra Leone but helping the genocide refugees in the Sudan. There were three of us who were in graduate school in Beirut in the early 80s in the Anthropology Department. Most of the people I went to university with are scattered around the world. My other best friend teaches anthropology in Montreal, Canada.
Never been to Palestine. Jericho is as close as I came, but I would love to go one of those days. Believe it or not, the old railroad track that connected Lebanon to Palestine is still there although it has not been used since the 40s or 50s. It is a sad reminder when people could cross over without problems.
My work and other commitments prevent me from traveling much any more.
The Cal Poly Students for Justice and Peace in the Middle East are going to be on the Congalton Show on Wednesday, January 7th at 6 p.m. I will do my best to call in. Jack Greene is going to be there tomorrow, Monday, also at 6. I will try to call then too. Gaza is the topic of discussion both days.
It is frustrating listening to the Zionist spin. The reality is their ideology is racist and exclusionary at its core. I agree with these two people: George Salzman and Manuel Garcia, Jr. in their analysis of Zionism.
By the way, I went to a three-day conference on genocide in Sacramento about 3 years ago. My friend in Canada was presenting on the Armenian genocide. It was at the time when Colin Powell and others in our government were debating whether they should call the atrocities in the Sudan "genocide" or murder. Can you believe that. I guess if the term "genocide" were applicable, the expectations from the "moral" nations would have to be met by them. It was an eye opener. Similar issues were seen between the Hutu and the Tutsi parties to the conflict in Rwanda. Such atrocities became politicized it was sickening to watch. And -- the Turks were still refusing that to admit that there was a genocide on Armenians. The victims never have reprieve, do they? There were a few positive things, though. The most inspiring arguments came from the survivors of the Nazi Holocaust. They were the most forgiving and conciliatory. There was also too much fluffy academic stuff and not enough action, if you ask me. But I have a lot more to say about that.
I am sure you saw and heard terrible things when you went to the Sudan. I think it takes special people to do that and do it for free.
I will check out Greenwald's articles. Trying to help the students get ready for the show on Wednesday with material. They keep us more cynical people hopeful and on our toes as we get older. We really do it for them.
I am thinking in fragments. Have been listening, watching, and writing all day. It is so depressing what is happening to the Palestinian people. They will always be special to all of us in the Middle East and that is something the haters will never understand. They are a part of all Arabs and their struggles are ours forever.
All the best.
Chris,
Thank you for calling the show tonight and putting you two cents in. I thought it was great. There are so many people cheering this war like they were cheering the war on Lebanon in 2006. And the palestine/Israel issue is uncomfortable for so many they will not even go there. I was disappointed with Jack Greene's analysis. He is never willing to address the Israeli role in this and he avoided many of the questions put to him. I suggested another person for the segment, but I am not the host.
Again, thank you.
Post a Comment