[Peace-discuss] Fwd: ZNet Daily Commentary: Ethnic Cleansing in East Jerusalem is Not a Paranoid Worry... It's Happening Now by Bill Fletcher Jr.

Sun May 10 23:12:42 CDT 2009

FYI. The turpitude of Israeli policies towards Palestinians is  
bottomless.

Begin forwarded message:

> From: zhelp at zcommunications.org
> Date: May 10, 2009 10:20:03 PM CDT
> To: brussel at uiuc.edu
> Subject: ZNet Daily Commentary: Ethnic Cleansing in East Jerusalem  
> is Not a Paranoid Worry... It's Happening Now by Bill Fletcher Jr.
> Reply-To: zhelp at zcommunications.org
>
>
>
>  Print
> Ethnic Cleansing in East Jerusalem is Not a Paranoid Worry... It's  
> Happening Now
>
>
> May 10, 2009 By Bill Fletcher Jr.
>
>
> Bill Fletcher Jr.'s ZSpace Page / ZSpace
>
> The Israeli government often reminds me of a dog I once owned. My  
> dog was forbidden to enter into the living room. Nevertheless, she  
> would creep into the living room, usually moving a few inches at a  
> time in order to see whether we reacted. If we did not react, she  
> would move further into the living room. Sometimes, when she was in  
> the mood, she would move so far into the living room that she would  
> feel comfortable tearing apart the furniture.
>
> A recently released United Nations report confirms what many human  
> rights activists have alleged: at least 60,000 Palestinians in East  
> Jerusalem face the prospect of eviction by Israeli authorities. Yet  
> this story has received relatively little mainstream attention, and  
> even less official condemnation.
>
> Ever since the Israelis captured East Jerusalem in the June 1967 war  
> they have made clear their intent, despite widespread international  
> protest and in clear violation of international law, to annex  
> Jerusalem. In order to expedite this annexation, the Israeli  
> occupation authorities have put pressure on the Palestinians to  
> "vacate the premises." The pressure has included actions such as  
> encouraging Israelis to settle in what had been Palestinian East  
> Jerusalem, while failing to build new and adequate housing for the  
> Palestinian people.
>
> The current trick of the Israeli government is to move against  
> Palestinian residents by claiming that the Palestinians are living  
> in homes that show no proof of a legal building permit. What is  
> perverse about this is that the Israelis are not talking about  
> housing built in the last several years or even housing built since  
> the June 1967 war. They are discussing housing that has been  
> occupied by Palestinians in many cases for decades! In fact,  
> according to the Washington Post [May 2, 2009] the dispute even  
> involves searching through archives from the time of the Ottoman  
> Empire (which ended when World War I ended in 1918) in order to  
> prove ownership.
>
> The Israeli government, of course, denies that they have any intent  
> to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian population. How could they, of  
> course, given that they are supposed to be the model of democracy in  
> the Middle East??!! The reality is that what the Israeli government  
> has been conducting in East Jerusalem is part of the larger Israeli  
> strategy in its Occupation of the Palestinian territories: drive the  
> Palestinians from the best lands and replace them with Israeli  
> settlers. Insofar as the world does nothing, the Israeli government  
> behaves much as my dog did; it moves further and further in,  
> increasing the intensity and scope of their destructive behavior.
>
> It should surprise no one that the Israelis are attempting to remove  
> the Palestinian population from Jerusalem. This has been consistent  
> since the June 1967 war. The extent of the projected removal -  
> 60,000 people - should, however, outrage any democratic minded  
> person. Irrespective of one's stand on the history of the  
> development of Israel and its conflict with the Palestinians, the  
> fact of the matter is that the Israeli government continues to  
> violate international law and precedent without having to fear any  
> sort of international sanctions.
>
> The proposed removal of 60,000 Palestinians increases the relevance  
> and timeliness of discussions regarding the need to develop a  
> movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions aimed at undermining  
> the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. Since it  
> seems obvious that most governments, including but not limited to  
> the US government, are unwilling to take steps to insist upon  
> justice for the Palestinians, then pressure needs to be brought  
> about by squeezing corporations and governments that are complicit  
> in the criminal activities of the Israeli government.
>
> Silence in the face of ethnic cleansing is simply unacceptable. The  
> Israeli government and its friends must understand that there is a  
> cost involved when it snubs its nose at the Palestinian people, and  
> in fact, at the world as well.
> ________________
>
> BlackCommentator.com Executive Editor, Bill Fletcher, Jr., is a  
> Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies, the immediate  
> past president of TransAfrica Forum and co-author of, Solidarity  
> Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path toward Social  
> Justice (University of California Press), which examines the crisis  
> of organized labor in the USA. He is also on the advisory board of  
> the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (http://www.endtheoccupation.org/ 
> ).
>
> Source: BlackCommentator, May 7, 2009
> http://www.blackcommentator.com/323/323_aw_ethnic_cleaning_east_jerusalem.html
>
>
>
> From: Z Net - The Spirit Of Resistance Lives
> URL: http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/commentaries/3860
>
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