"The sound of Israelis chanting “Death to Arabs” while Israel flattens
entire residential buildings in the Gaza Strip has made my home in Haifa
a frightening place. Across the country, my friends are witnessing
similar incidents, leaving many pundits to wonder about what broke the
“calm,” even after the Thursday announcement of a ceasefire between
Israel and Hamas. But this question ignores the years of Israeli
government decisions – specifically, by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu – that led to this moment..." Diana Buttu
"Forced displacement, confiscation of lands, an inferior juridical status
and incarceration are realities shared by all Palestinians, whether
“inside” Israel or in the occupied territories. It is simply wrong to
claim that a pre-existing coexistence has been shattered. Palestinians
inside Israel are protesting against Israeli policies in Sheikh Jarrah
and the bombardment of the heavily populated refugee prison camp that is
Gaza because they see the unity and continuity in the colonial system
of oppression over all Palestinians. Our protest is asserting the unity
of an anti-colonial struggle for equality and freedom." Nimer Sultany
‘In the context of
Israel’s rule over us, coexistence is a fiction that conceals a reality
of separate and unequal lives.’ Palestinian citizens of Israel
demonstrate in Haifa, to mark a nationwide general strike. Photograph: Mati Milstein/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock
“We
don’t understand that the Israeli government, which is one of the most
sophisticated armies in the world, that’s funded by the largest imperial
army in the world, is fighting against civilians... This is one of the worst atrocities that has happened in the history of
humanity. You don’t have to be a Muslim, you don’t have
to be a Christian, you don’t have to be Hindu or any other religion to
know that this is a human issue.” Omar Mussa
“For years and years, we’ve been begging to be heard and finally [there
are] protests all over the country- No one has ever talked about
Palestine this much,” Elisa Thabateh
"“A lot of people think it’s ‘Oh Israel has a right to defend
themselves,’” Thabateh said. “From what? Palestine has a right to defend
themselves and they’re trying their best. But it’s really just children
against military officers.”"
"“Because this genocide, this ethnic cleansing, it’s been going on for so
long. The violence is not something that has been going on
for just weeks but is a continuation of decades of conflict." Elisa Thabateh
The violence is not something that has been going on for just
weeks but is a continuation of decades of conflict.
Palestinian supporters march in Harrisburg: ‘We’ve been begging to be heard’
As Always, Please Go to the Original Link to Read the Article in FULL
Harrisburg native and Palestinian activist Elisa Thabateh speaks to the
crowd at the Free Palestine rally at Riverfront Park on May 16, 2021.
Photo by Becky Metrick
Friends Ghada Karmi Palestinian refugee and Ellen Seigel American Jew- advocate foe the Right of Return
1940s: The United Nations General Assembly adopts resolution 194 (III), resolving
that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with
their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest
practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property
of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property
which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made
good by the Governments or authorities responsible.”
(CNN)There are no winners in
the current battle between Hamas and Israel. The loss of life on both
sides -- while unequal -- is heartbreaking. As of Sunday evening, 197 Palestinians had been killed, including eight children who died Saturday when an Israeli airstrike destroyed their home in a Gaza refugee camp. At least 10 Israelis, including a 5-year-old boy, have been killed by Hamas rockets.
If
history serves as a guide, however, after a ceasefire is reached, the
conflict will slowly fade from the headlines, the world will go back to
its business and the Palestinians will largely be forgotten -- yet
again. For those who sincerely want to see a just and lasting peace in
the Middle East, this time must be different. The world, and especially
the Biden administration, cannot look away but must engage on the
question of Palestine. It's 2021 -- a homeland for Palestinian
Christians and Muslims is long overdue, as is safety and equality for
Palestinians.
The
Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been a part of my life for as long as I
can remember. My Palestinian father, born in the 1930s in what was
then Palestine (controlled by Britain
until 1948), but now the West Bank, would tell me stories about it when
I was a child in the late 1970s. This wasn't a political discussion,
rather it was one focused on how my relatives and other Palestinians
navigated daily life under Israeli military occupation.
The limited freedom of movement, the myriad of Israeli military
checkpoints that denied personal self-determination, my grandmother's
land being stolen by Israeli settlers, etc... READ MORE, AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE ORIGINAL LINK TO READ THE ARTICLE IN FULL
"Israeli courts are not operating in a vacuum but rather are an
integral part of Israel’s land-grabbing enterprise. But even as the
courts — particularly its Supreme Court — are implicated in this
project, they are treated overseas with reverence as impartial
adjudicators of law, even though the laws they enforce are at odds with
international norms. Israeli Supreme Court judges are frequently invited
to speak at law schools around the world to describe the “difficulties”
they face when adjudicating cases.
They will rubber stamp more evictions, all the while using the tool of law to provide a veneer of integrity.
But
as the families of Sheikh Jarrah, like the families of Silwan and other
Palestinian neighborhoods where Israeli settlers are targeting
Palestinians for expulsion, know, the Israeli courts will not rule in
their favor. They will rubber stamp more evictions, all the while using
the tool of law to provide a veneer of integrity. In so doing, in
advancing Israel’s creeping colonization of Palestinian territory, they
are also foreclosing any opportunity of a peaceful resolution.
It
isn’t just in the realm of settler takeovers that Palestinians have
witnessed the unjust application of Israeli law. The courts have
sanctioned scores of discriminatory laws to preserve Israel’s status as a
“Jewish state.” They have sanctioned the construction of Israeli bypass
roads and settlements in the occupied West Bank and have only
begrudgingly stopped the small number of outposts built on private
Palestinian land. They have approved the use of home demolitions as a
form of punishment, authorized assassinations (euphemized as “targeted
killings”), approved mass deportations, and licensed the cutting off of
fuel and electricity to the besieged Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Dispossession at the Heart of the Gaza Conflict
The
violence in Gaza rightly captures headlines, but it conceals the silent
and relentless dispossession at the heart of the conflict between
Israelis and Palestinians
Diana ButtuDiana Buttu is a Palestinian human rights lawyer who formerly served as a legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team
