The Israeli occupation is a constant, chilling presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and among Palestinians living in Israel: children and adults are routinely abducted, Israeli housing is built on Palestinian land while Palestinian homes are demolished – just a few examples from one “average” day.
For the past six weeks, Israel has been sending paramilitary police forces to raid the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya every evening. The raids, a severe form of collective punishment, have left one young Palestinian dead and hundreds wounded.
When 3 member states in the United Nations tried to pass a resolution condemning Israel’s act of demolishing Palestinian homes – which contravenes international law – the United States blocked the measure.
Israel has dumped its waste, much of it toxic, on Palestinian land for years. Now it has confiscated Palestinian garbage trucks and detained the drivers…
Israeli soldiers have killed 1, injured over 95, abducted at least 30 in ongoing invasions since Thursday in East Jerusalem; also imposed sanctions and collective punishment measures against the residents; invaded & ransacked dozens of homes, hospitals and clinics, assaulting physicians, nurses, patients… Part of Israel’s effort to displace Palestinians to create a new “National Garden” in the area…
Alaa ad-Dali is a young man who had a dream – quite a rare thing in Gaza – and it was crushed by the IDF. What does he have left? 138 young people in Gaza have lost legs in the protests at the fence as a result of IDF sniper fire, and they aren’t even a story. Their motivations don’t interest anyone. They are all labeled “terrorists.”
Today marks the 25th anniversary of Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein’s massacre of 29 Palestinians as they prayed. Israeli soldiers blocked Palestinians who tried to flee and who wanted to enter to help the victims. The repercussions of the attack are still felt by Palestinians in Hebron, who have seen their rights eroded and their formerly bustling city centre turn into a ghost town.
Why would 2019 be any different from 2018? Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes goes on unabated, as though it were a completely legal occurrence. In fact, 2018 saw a 21% increase over 2017.
For the 11th year, Gaza’s Christian minority celebrates Christmas under Israeli siege, unable to join family in West Bank. Travel requests are mostly denied or ignored from an occupying country that claims to promote freedom of religion and worship.
Elderly women, families, children, and of course young men in the occupied Palestinian territories are regularly treated with brutality by Israeli forces. International laws are in place to protect vulnerable populations, but Israel ignores such laws – and gets away with it. Simple, common decency ought to elicit restraint on the part of the occupier, but does not.
These very brief stories are snapshots of Israeli cruelty between December 15 and 17, 3 days out of the 50+ years of violent occupation which the United States endorses and supports to the tune of over $10 million a day.