Occupation soldiers “visit” Gate of Dignity early morning,
then close checkpoint, confrontations now going on
It was too cold to sleep for most of us last night at the
Gate of Dignity encampment and the army “visited” us early in the morning. Yesterday we had to overcome the Israeli
checkpoint at the entrance of Beit Iksa but today the occupation forces closed
the checkpoint and are attacking peaceful demonstrators with tear gas and stun
grenades then invaded the camp village and gave notice of intention to evacuate the location. We were thrilled to see good
friends from different Palestinian factions and to meet new friends from Beit
Iksa who showed us that the site with the tents on village land overlooks the
valley with the Green line border of 1948 (that has vanished in 1967). Just beyond it was the village of Lifta
depopulated in 1948 and just a little further is depopulated village of Deir
Yassin. Meanwhile all around and on both
sides of the Green line Jewish only housing proliferates in colonial
settlements built on Palestinian lands.
Thoughts that passed through my mind included my mother telling me about
her friend in school in Jerusalem who was from Deir Yassin. Hayah Balbisi was nearly just over 17 years
old when she decided to go to Deir Yassin to help her relatives that she heard
were being attacked. She was killed with
hundreds of others (men, women, children) and this was one of the famous
(though not the largest) of the 33+ massacres committed by Jewish underground
forces to drive the exodus of the natives and make space for the “Jewish
state.” My thoughts also ran to similar images I have seen of natives in North
America in remaining reservations. But
then I also had too little time for further reflections since we were very busy
in meeting, singing, reminiscing, greetings visitors, eating, and of course
trying to warm up around the bonfire. Palestinian officials came and went. Between 2-3 AM there was news of impending
Israeli raid but this did not materialize.
At 7 AM, the military visited us.
The villagers want people to come and stay with them as they try to defend
land that belongs to them. Before 1948,
the villagers had over 14,000 dunums and now have access and use about 2000 and
if Israeli additional apartheid plans go forward, they will have only 600.
Sunday evening, people coming through the only entrance to
Beit Iksa were blocked by the Israeli checkpoint and a peaceful demonstration
at the checkpoint was attacked by tear gas and stun grenades. Your support is
needed especially if you are a media person and can gain entrance tonight to
Beit Iksa to report on what is going on (if not, please go the checkpoint or
find an alternative route into Beit Iksa).
Facebook pages: https://www.facebook.com/QrytBabAlkramt
Pictures from our friend Calum in Bab Al Karamah
http://www.calumtoogood.co.uk/archives/3910
and below is a set of photographs by Calum of the attack by
Palestinian Authority “security” officers on Palestinians in Hebron http://www.calumtoogood.co.uk/archives/3797
and see this video of PA security forces clashing with
demonstrators
Additional source:
Israeli Military Orders to extend the confiscation of 1280
dunums for Completing the construction of the Segregation Wall Northwest of
Jerusalem
http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=4247
New Peace Now Report on eve of Israeli elections:
Netanyahu's Settlement Policy Wrecks Two-State Solution
http://peacenow.org/entries/new_peace_now_report_netanyahus_settlement_policy_undermines_two-state_solution#.UPv0A6ys1a9
Since Netanyahu’s partner is Avigdor Lieberman and most
other parties are right-wing racist Zionist, I suggest Jewish Israelis vote for
parties like Haneen Zoubi’s party. Israeli Palestinians represent only 23-25%
of the Israeli public (a manufactured minority since most Palestinians in that
state where ethnically cleansed. This
“minority” does have parties running but nearly half are staying home
frustrated by the dominance of racist Zionist parties and Israeli Knesset laws
that forbid parties calling for a pluralistic secular democracy ineligible to
run in the Knesset (candidates have to accept that Israel is a “Jewish and
democratic state”; which is a contradiction of terms).
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PHD
Chair, the Palestinain Center for Rapprochement Between
People
The Jewish state in Palestine has just concluded contracts for the purchase of Sudanese oil from the manufactured state of South Sudan. Why does its president wear a big western-style black cowboy hat? A Sudanese man tells me, "He's a cowboy." Apparently he's supposed to be one of the bad guys--the good guys wear the white hats, according to Mad. Ave.
ReplyDeleteThe Haaretz story points out the problem: South Sudan is landlocked, so how will the oil get to Israel? I'm sure Kenya is the intended route, hence the activation of various US-UN-Kenyan security arrangements including the ongoing Kenyan invasion of southern Somalia.
When the Algerian military killed so many "western" hostages along with hostage-takers before the weekend, pro-Israel interests in the US had to bump up the Dow-Jones Industrial average to almost uncharted heights (in this economy?) to keep the shivering "middle class" ("chattering class"?) in the US from noticing how ridiculous US/EU/Israeli security policy was getting.
So hasbara has two goals now, in lieu of making any positive arguments for the legitimacy and security of the Jewish state in Palestine: distract the global public from the on-going genocide ("killing of a cultural group") of Palestinians at the microcosmic level, and distract the global public from the global economic and political costs of maintaining that Jewish state in Palestine on the macrocosmic level.
A crusader castle torn from its nineteenth century western European fairytale book pages and lying out in the bleaching sun of southwest-Asian desert like another warning to westerners from a western poet, for those who missed the warning from Shelley about the feet of Ozymandias:
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desart. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
The non-westerner reader will comment to the poem and to the deceased poet: there is someone living here who sees these things and understands.
ReplyDeleteFirst, the plan to turn the settlement-outpost ploy 180 degrees around was absolutely brilliant!! I'll bet Bibi developed an urgent bathroom call when he was 1st told about Bab al-Shams. Second, does anyone there have a GPS or are you able to give a precise description of where Bab Al Karama is (or Bab al-Shames for that matter)? I track Is-Pal incidents and map them in Google Earth and just hate trying to do it from photos & vague descriptions.
ReplyDeleteThanks & in Solidarity!
maps are shown here
Deletehttp://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=4247