To commemorate Land Day this year, Palestinians are planning a Global March to Jerusalem to highlight processes of land theft and dispossession in the city. Elsa Rassbach speaks with Palestinian leader Mustafa Barghouti on Jerusalem and the non-violent resistance movement.
By Elsa Rassbach
On March 30 each year, Palestinians celebrate Land Day as a day of national struggle to commemorate protests in 1976 against Israeli confiscation of Arab land. The confiscation that sparked the protests took place in the Galilee and was seen as part of an Israeli policy to deliberately produce demographic change and create Jewish majorities in certain communities. The 1976 marches and general strikes spread to the Negev, resulted in the deaths of six unarmed Arab Israelis, and marked the first large-scale rebellion of Arab inhabitants of Israel after 1948. Widespread solidarity protests took place in the West Bank, Gaza, and in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.
This year on Land Day, Palestinians throughout the Middle East and in the diaspora will call attention to the dangers facing the city of Jerusalem. The organizers of the “Global March to Jerusalem” allege that through methods of ethnic cleansing, Israel is forcing out Jerusalem’s remaining Arab inhabitants, thus endangering the multi-religious, multi-ethnic character of the city, part of which is the intended capital of a future Palestinian state. The Israeli government has long denied most Palestinians – whether Muslim or Christian – access to Jerusalem, even to visit holy sites.
On March 30, the Palestinians will attempt to get as close to Jerusalem as they can, including at the borders of Lebanon and Jordan, at checkpoints in the West Bank and at the Erez border crossing in Gaza. Demonstrations will also be held in Jerusalem itself. Supporters from five continents will join the march, and an advisory board to the Global March includes Nobel Peace laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mairead Maguire. Solidarity vigils and actions are also planned on March 30 at Israeli embassies and other locations in sixty cities around the world.
The Palestinian coalition organizing this Global March to Jerusalem may be unprecedented in its breadth. But after supporters from India, Malaysia, Pakistan and other Asian countries visited Iran on their way to Lebanon to join the March, some Israeli and U.S. press alleged it is being orchestrated from Iran and that violent clashes with Israeli forces are planned.
Among the most outspoken Palestinian supporters and organizers of the Global March is Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, 58, the well-known advocate of non-violent resistance. As secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Barghouti played a key role in recent attempts to bring Hamas and Fatah together. He is medical doctor educated in the former Soviet Union, the United States and Jerusalem. He founded and leads Palestinian Medical Relief society, which provides health care to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 2005, Dr. Barghouti ran for presidency of the Palestinian National Authority and won 19 percent of the vote. He resides in Ramallah in the West Bank. We recently spoke via Skype about the Global March to Jerusalem.
You have joined with Palestinians from many different political perspectives and many places in the world to call for the Global March to Jerusalem. What is this initiative about?
It’s an act of solidarity with the Palestinian people. It will take place on Land Day, March 30th, a day that symbolizes the unity of Palestinians in the struggle for freedom and dignity and against theft of their land. We hope to bring to the world’s attention the very grave violations that Israel is committing against Jerusalem. Both the UN and the International Court of Justice hold that annexation of East Jerusalem, which is part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, is a violation of international law.
But there is illegal Israeli confiscation of Palestinian land throughout the Occupied Territories and also within Israel. Why the focus on Jerusalem?
Jerusalem is at the heart of the Palestinian cause. East Jerusalem should be the capital of the Palestinian state. If Jerusalem is lost, the whole concept and idea of Palestinian statehood is lost, and the possibility of peace is lost. And Jerusalem is an important place for all of humanity, a holy place for Muslims, Christians, and the Jewish people. It should be the place where peace begins.
Today in Jerusalem you see the Israeli system of segregation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing in the sharpest possible way. If a Palestinian man from Jerusalem marries a woman in Ramallah, only sixteen kilometers away, he will not be able to live with her. The Israelis will never grant her the right to move to Jerusalem, but if he moves to Ramallah, he will lose his ID and his residency permit in Jerusalem. And the permit may be withdrawn for political reasons as well. Though I was born in Jerusalem and worked there as a medical doctor for fifteen years, after I ran for president in 2005, the Israeli army thereafter refused to allow me in. Most Palestinians, including Christians and Muslims, also cannot enter.
But any Jewish person from anywhere in the world who decides to immigrate to Israel, whether from Siberia or the United States, will immediately be granted the right to live in Jerusalem or anywhere else in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Jerusalem is accessible to every Jewish person. It should be accessible to everybody. Many Jewish people from Israel and other parts of the world agree and are participating in and even organizing the Global March.
Among the demands of the March is “the right of return.” Why would Palestinians who live in historical Palestine support such a demand?
This demand means a lot to us, too, because there are huge numbers of refugees living in Gaza and West Bank who are denied access to the place they were forced to leave. Even Palestinians living in Israel who carry Israeli citizenship are not allowed to return home to their villages in Israel like Iqrit and Kafr Bir’im. The right of return is a right recognized by international law under a special UN resolution, 194. We do understand that its implementation will have to be negotiated, but the right itself has to be respected.
Last year on May 15, which is both Nakba Day and Israeli Independence Day, and on June 5, Naksa Day, the anniversary of the 1967 war, unarmed Palestinians tried to cross over the borders of Lebanon and Syria. According to some reports, in the two events, Israeli soldiers killed dozens, and wounded hundreds more. Could the Global March lead to a repeat of such violence?
The March will be an act of peace, an act of nonviolence, and that’s why Palestinians everywhere are united in supporting it. It reflects the consensus of Palestinians today on adopting nonviolence totally. We know that Israel is capable of terrible violence. All the organizers in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Israel/Palestine are aware of this risk. We hope that the U.S. and the European countries will pressure Israel not use violence against our nonviolence.
Elsa Rassbach is a filmmaker and journalist from the United States, now based in Berlin. She is a member of CODEPINK, an organization that has endorsed the Global March to Jerusalem. She is a frequent contributor to German and U.S. publications. Her award-winning film, ”The Killing Floor,” an historical dramatic film about a union’s struggle against racism in the Chicago Stockyards, will be re-released this year.
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Leen
I was pointing out what are the specific international law violations Israel is currently committing? At what point did I even talk about Muslim state? Seriously Steve, take a chill pill. If you can’t handle an adult debate, then don’t bother, because I am not interested in catty remarks and name callings. If you want to get person, go ahead, but I am not interested in conducting a debate with someone who cannot handle it.
Steve
The Jewish state of Israel is going to continue to exist. You crackpots can make up all the excuses that you want as to why you’re on the side of islamic fundamentalists, neo-nazis and other crackpots, but you will get nowhere. Just don’t pretend to want “peace.” You just want to harm Israel, just like Hamas, Hezbollah and the like.
Wasting your life trying to destroy Israel.
Pathetic.
Steve
Pathetic CodePink hatemongers: Hey Israel, stop being a Jewish state.
Israel: Uh, no.
Leen
But you won’t deny that Israel currently violates international law, correct?
Doesn’t matter who I am, or what I believe or what I do, that fact remains standing.
(For the record, I believe in separation of religion and state, and do not endorse any state built on racial supremacy or separatism, nor do I endorse any state built on religious beliefs.)
Steve
Most of the world’s countries exist acting as a homeland for one main ethnic group, one religious group, etc. and generally tend to favor in some way that group over others.
.
Israel’s citizens are mostly Jewish, and Israel has just as much right to be a Jewish state as all the Muslim countries have to be Muslim states, etc.
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Israel is not going to suicide its own existence and not be a Jewish state anymore and merge with millions of the crazy neighbors so it can become another Arab/Muslim-majority state, despite crazed hatemongers who pretend to be peace activists asking it to.
.
Have a good one.
Leen
Once more, you are still not denying that Israel is currently in violation of international law.
Steve
Pathetic Leen thinks that Israel’s very existence as a Jewish state is “against international law.”
Leen lives on Mars, not Earth. Plenty of wacky antisemites live on Mars as well. I hear the atmosphere there is terrible.
.
Off now, farewell!
Leen
Not once did I comment on Israel’s identity as a Jewish state, I merely pointed out how it is in violation of international law.
Oh, and please don’t resort to personal attacks just because you can’t handle Israel’s violation of international law.
So you don’t deny that Israel is currently violating international law, right?
Bill Pearlman
You keep repeating international law like if you stop you’ll die. What exactly are you talking about. What law and what authority. And don’t come back with the UN. Try something where Roland Freisler wouldn’t feel ar home
zayzafuna
Hey Leen
How did you get to Al Quds. I always avoid the zionist airport and go thru Amman, then take a bunch of taxis. I dont want to subsidize the zionists at all
aristeides
If 972 isn’t going to get the site trolls under control, it would be better to shut down the comments entirely than let it degenerate like this.
Steve
ARISTEIDES blames every single thing on Israel, including all the wars started by Arab countries against Israel, and he thinks Israel has no right to even exist. And anyone who disagrees with his vile hate, he calls a “troll.”
XYZ
Look who’se talking, Aristeides. I saw the comment you wrote on Ha’aretz a couple of weeks ago on an article discussing the bereaved families from the suicide bombings some years ago. You said something to the effect they were wallowing in “victimization”. (Of course, you would never say that about the Palestinians whining about the Nakba, would you?). We all saw the disgusting comments you made about Toulouse as well. But perish the thought that you should be banned. You are the best adverstisement for Jews as to the importance of Zionism today.
sh
“If 972 isn’t going to get the site trolls under control, it would be better to shut down the comments entirely than let it degenerate like this.”
.
Seconded.
There’s a problem here that produces this kind of reply to an observation about international law:
“Try something where Roland Freisler wouldn’t feel ar home”
.
That’s not discussion, that’s total lack of respect for +972 by a Nazi-obsessed paranoiac whose sole aim is to sink it. And the two posts following Aristeides’s are both ad hominem attacks from the same factory.
XYZ
I am sorry, SH, but Aristeides comments are very offensive as well. I never criticize anyone else who disagrees with me, but someone who spews out hate like he/she does must be called on the carpet, but as I said, I totally oppose banning him/her.
Jack
Bill Pearlman,
“You keep repeating international law like if you stop you’ll die. What exactly are you talking about. What law and what authority. And don’t come back with the UN. Try something where Roland Freisler wouldn’t feel ar home”
International law.
That is
Gaza, Sheba, Golan, East Jerusalm, West bank are occupied territory. These lands does NOT belong to Israel.
*
Annexation/Settlement are ILLEGAL
John Yorke
What we seem to have here is an outline of entire problem in microcosm.
Neither side can move anywhere near the other’s position for fear of jeopardising its own. Hence there exists a stalemate, something very familiar to Israelis and Palestinians alike; except that theirs has lasted for 64 years.
Wouldn’t you say that 64 years is long enough for even the most stubborn of stalemates to survive?
Perhaps the time has come to make the situation a little more fluid, to introduce the possibility of movement and a certain dynamic into the whole affair.
Here’s a thought.
What if the pro Palestinian and pro Israeli commentators here were to try arguing the other side’s position for a while? All their comments could be placed in parenthesis, signifying their actual disavowal of the words. A rider could also be added to confirm this.
It might be very interesting to see what might develope. In any event, it would make a welcome change from the usual round of diatribes. And change, while sometimes very disturbing, can have benefits that would otherwise never come to the surface.
Jack
John Yorke,
The solution is very simple and is supported by the whole world (two states, 1967 borders), but Israel as the only party refuse. This solution have been ready for multiple decades. So its not really a stalemate in my opinion, there is rather one party that obstruct a solution based on international law and world consensus.
John Yorke
Jack,
You may well be right in your analysis but I somehow suspect it will be asking too much of both sides to abide by such an arrangement this late in the game.
Too much blood has been spilled, too many very bad memories seared into the consciousness of each community for any of the old rules to register now.
I think the problem has to approached with an entirely new set of rules, ones specifically tailored to deal with the situation and acceptable to all concerned or, at least, by far the greater number.
And this number would not be just Israelis and Palestinians. It will need virtually all of us to get involved. Because that’s what it takes to resolve this type of conflict.
http://yorketowers.blogspot.com
All done by numbers and very cold equations.
BOOZ
Jack :
If you would care to read “Palestinian’s” remarks in the thread under Aziz Abu Sarah’s post, you might realize that his interpretation of international law is much more elastic than yours. There should be according to him many add-ons to the list of occupied territories (with which I could concur, BTW) you stated at 1:23 am.
And I am afraid he does not carry a minority opinionb among his crowd….
Jack
John Yorke,
Its not too much to ask to urge the parties to follow international law. Even though palestinians have gone beyond that, they have offered Israel to keep a majority of the illegal settlements in the West Bank, an offer only to be ignored by Israel.
XYZ
Jack-
You are wrong…the Palestinians rejected the terms offered by Israel mainly on the grounds of the “Right of Return” of the Palestinian refugees because the Palestinians are demanding that Israel accept an unconditional, unrestricted recognition of the right of ALL refugees to return to Israel. Regarding the territorial issues, Olmert offered to give up Israeli control of all the Jewish holy places over the Green Line, which would be put under Palestinian control by ways of an “International body”, the majority of whose members would be Arabs, as I understand it. Thus, the territorial issue is not the main area of disagreement.
Bill Pearlman
Jack, I love guys like you. Everything is simple. Let me throw just one of the million details at you. You don’t have to be military genius to know that Israel cannot have a hostile military force on the west bank ridge line. What is your solution that would allay the perfectably reasonable fear of the average Israeli.
Jack
Bill Pearlman,
Well if you dont want to accept international law theres no point of having a discussion at all.
Bill Pearlman
What international law are you referring to. What governing body, what citations. And don’t come back with the UN.
Jack
Declaration of Human Rights
-
Humanitarian law
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Geneve conventions
etc
Are the basis.
Leen
@Bill Pearlman, the Universal Declaration of Human rights was drafted after the knowledge of the horrific Nazi persecution of the Jews. One of the contributors was Stephane Hessel, a holocaust survivor and one of the French resistance fighters. In short it is because of the Holocaust the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted, to ensure that kind of genocide would be never again tolerated. If you want to disrespect that and ignore it, go ahead, but please do me a favor in this case and don’t bring up the holocaust again.
@Zayza, I’m actually a Palestinian who lives in Jerusalem so I’ve been here all my life! So I’ll be within the city itself =)
“If 972 isn’t going to get the site trolls under control, it would be better to shut down the comments entirely than let it degenerate like this.”
Indeed, it’s sad that once you bring up international law or make an observation you are labelled as a ‘anti-semite, neo-nazi, bigot, islamist fundementalist, etc’.
@John Yorke
Actually john, I have in the past played devil’s advocate (I’ve taken university courses on Zionism, Israeli Politics) I’ve also participated in MUNs where I was several times the Israeli delegate (I was once in a Historical Crisis committee of the Israeli cabinet, discussing a pre-emptive strike in 1967.. that was a challenging). It’s strange because once I argued for the other side, I did really get a sense of how wrong it truly is.
John Yorke
Come on, guys. It’s priorities here that have to be addressed first; the rights and wrongs of the situation can be sorted out later.
Tomorrow, someone is very likely going to die because no workable solution is presently in place, nothing exists that prevents the certainty of that death and all the subsequent deaths that must follow.
If you, yourself, were that person, would you be prepared to accept the same fate that so many others have met in the past 64 years? Or would you be moving heaven and earth to escape its clutches.
I know what I would do? What would you do?
Jack
John Yorke,
There is a workable solution as I have made clear earlier.
Any solution or basis for talks must be based on international law, thats fundamental.
Bill Pearlman
Ok, Jack, I’m curious. Based on your “international law” mantra clearly Israel can wind this thing up by next week. If you wer PM of Israel would would you do. What would be your plan.
Jack
Bill Pearlman,
Its not about a plan, its about following international law.
John Yorke
‘For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,’
There has to be more urgency in this matter, a greater willingness to get a result and not wait around forever while all the details are worked out. If there are those among us who will not abide by whatever laws already exist – and there are plenty of these – then it is incumbent upon everyone else to force the issue in whatever way seems best.
Jack
John Yorke,
Since you seems to not agree with my view, what do you think should be done to solve this conflict?
John Yorke
Jack,
International law is all very well – if it can be applied and is seen to be carried out. This will likely never be the case as far as the Palestinians and Israelis are concerned. Therefore, as things stand at present, international law has its limitations and these are usually caused by those unwilling to accept or abide by any or all of its verdicts, pronouncements or impositions.
Our world is not yet so perfect a place that everything in it can always be determined by law, no matter how pressing the need is for such an outcome.
My view on this would be one I have held for a long time now.
If a settlement of the entire matter is ever to be seriously entertained, then it seems obvious that an exchange, a land swap or ‘adjustment’ of agreed-upon areas must be involved. At present there is no official demarcation of any sort because peace has yet to put in an appearance and only when it does can meaningful discussions about land transfer take place.
I would invert this whole arrangement and make a special type of land transfer come into being BEFORE peace talks get under way. This is because the possibility of such a transfer then creates conditions ripe for the peace process itself. This can also guarantee that whatever agreement is reached can be made enforceable; often this is a particular sticking point in such a deal.
In other words, the concept of land transfer PRIOR to a peace agreement allows the peace process to go ahead without any of the usual pitfalls that have befallen so many others in the past.
This concept is on record at:
http://yorketowers.blogspot.com
Jack
John Yorke,
Isnt that time long overdue?
I mean the solution is very simple and has been (1967 borders – two states). Even though palestinians offered Israel to keep a majority of their illegal settlements on the West Bank (a land swap) but this offer were ignored by Israel because Israel arent looking for two state solution, they want an Israel on the whole of the area without any palestinians.
John Yorke
Jack,
1967 borders- two states living side by side in perfect harmony. Or just harmony. Or just living side by side.
Any one of these would be an ideal solution. But you, I and everyone else knows that, given the length of this dispute and all that’s gone with it, circumstances bringing about such a fairy-tale ending are unlikely to materialise, certainly not in the short-term.
But circumstances really do have to be created that will move the entire matter forward. Otherwise, the situation continues to deteriorate, no acceptable resolution will be found and, especially these days, that bodes extremely ill for the future of the region and the rest of the world.
Thus, with the state of play between Israelis and Palestinians virtually at a standstill, much as it has been for the last 64 years, a tie-breaker of some description is urgently needed, a decision-maker that can break down the walls of fear, suspicion and reproach that have risen up over more than three generations.
Can you think where one of these might be located?
I can.
http://yorketowers.blogspot.com
Jack
John Yorke,
Right suspicion and distrust is a big problem. However how is for example settlements justified which only makes things worse, if to cleanse the palestinians off the land is the goal itself?
John Yorke
Jack,
In a way, you see the problem very clearly. But it’s the solution we have to find.
Land is the key to everything in this matter.
Religion, politics, economics, military capability; all these take a back-seat when the land itself is made the dominant factor in this decades-old confrontation.
Once land is acknowledged as the overriding principle in the Israeli-Palestinian struggle, provision can be easily made for its transfer from one side to another, (and that’s the secret: these days it isn’t very difficult to achieve this) then the conflict MUST end, almost immediately.
There is no longer any possibility for it to continue. Violence becomes a self-defeating exercise, of no earthly use whatsoever to either set of combatants.
Because the land itself will have been elevated from a static to a dynamic component of the conflict, this fact alone can now direct the course of all further and future developments.
Complexity is often only defeated by the simplest of solutions.
Jack
John Yorke,
The Likud reject a palestinian state.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Likud#Charter
John Yorke
Jack,
Statehood is not the prime mover here. That comes later.
It’s the land itself that has pole position; its physical dimensions and whoever has legitimate title to it is of paramount importance. It is the fundamental building block of nations.
If there exists, or can be brought into being, a universally agreed procedure whereby land is distributed according to whichever side appears more deserving of its ownership, then, really, it’s all over bar the shouting. I imagine there might be a lot of that – but shouting, by itself, hurts no one; except those with extra sensitive eardrums.
John Yorke
PS:
On the subject of eardrums, Israelis and Palestinians have appeared largely deaf to each others voices and positions since the whole messy affair began.
Maybe everyone else just has to shout that much louder to gain their full attention. After than, who knows what might happen?
http://yorketowers.blogspot.com
Jack
John Yorke,
Its not about a question about land its about Israel reject any statehood. If they reject a statehood from the outset – there is simply no reason to have talks between the parties since the goal of the talks must be 1 palestinian state 1 israeli state.
-
The problem is also that the outside world, US but also more and more EU approve the settlements and israeli policy towards the palestinians and let the conflict goes on and on. If Israel got economic sanctions etcetera like any other state in breach of international law, they would have come to the negogiating table immediately.
John Yorke
That’s been tried before, here in the UK.
It took ten years before a breakaway commonwealth country then known as ‘Rhodesia’ could be ‘persuaded’ to mend its ways and be accepted back into the comity of nations. After that, there was South Africa – and we all know how long that took.
OK. it can be done – eventually. But I rather think matters must be seriously accelerated when it comes to the issues surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
The way things are going today in the ME, none of us may be around in two years time, let alone ten.
A speedier conclusion, therefore, must surely be of the essence here.
Steve
Misguided, clueless people continue to place full responsibility on Israel, and NONE on Palestinians. Until Hamas want peace with the Jewish state of Israel, and until Fatah/PA want peace with Israel in a manner that does not involve undoing Israel’s very existence, there’s nothing for Israel to do, and it makes no sense to expect Israel to hand land that they won in defensive wars over to people whose long-term goal is still to remove Israel from the map.
Jack
Steve,
Yes its Israel’s fault. Israel is the occupier of Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian land. Israel is the regime who annex land. Israel is the one using collective punishment with its blockade.
-
Now Palestinians have accepted two state solution, Israel have not. Palestinians try to unite which have been also the goal from the international community, when they finally unite Israel reject it. Read the rejectionist Likud Charter.
John Yorke
Steve and Jack,
Trying to establish which side is the most blameworthy can be a legitimate goal but, at this point in the game, it’s a job best left for the historians to figure out. And, if they ever do hand down a verdict that’s accepted by all concerned as eminently fair and reasonable, I, for one, would probably die of amazement after absorbing the enormity of so unlikely an occurrence.
The overall struggle between these two opposing camps can never be ended if it is always allowed to degenerate into violent conflict. Violence only destroys whatever small progress has been made and then reboots the system so that everyone has to start all over again. This is a wildly inefficient way to achieve peace. In fact, it seems uniquely designed to do just the opposite.
Therefore, the first priority must be to get rid of the violence and all elements associated with it. Forget everything else; concentrate on that alone and the rest will follow. Not the easiest of tasks to undertake but, with each of us having some appreciation of that labyrinth known as the human mind, not an impossible one either.
My preferred option you may know. Http://yorketowers.blogspot.com
What’s yours? And, please, don’t mention anything about reaching out to each other in peace, harmony and good-fellowship. I think we’re all way past that for now.
ATAMAO B T KANE
Jerusalem is Blessing city of God, all the prophets had once in their live spend time there. The city of unicity of God . more than 2000 years , jews and arabs had living in peace because they are brothers from this same father Prophet Abraham. Let jews and arabs living in peace is Willing of God .Im peace maker im pround to be
Sherri Munnerlyn
I had a dream last night, my daughter, Leila, who is 11 ½ years old was tied to a chair and she was slowly being electrocuted to death/burned to death, and I was standing in front of her and she was crying, tears were running down her face, and she was telling me how much she was hurting. And I was powerless to do anything.
And I thought, this is people’s interpretation of “THE LAW“, and Jesus spoke to me and He said, your test and her test is this, you must respond to all of this with LOVE. And I woke up, and I knew my hurting child in my dream was all the hurting children in Palestine, hurting and slowly being killed every single day that the Occupation and the ethnic cleansing of Palestine continue. And Me,in my dream, was all the parents in Palestine. They are powerless to stop their children from hurting, every single day the Occupation continues.
The Global March to Jerusalem is an act of LOVE, it is a nonviolent response to the Injustice of the Occupation.
All are free to call it, nonviolent resistance, the Global March, “evil” 24/7, it will not change the Truth of what it is, a nonviolent action opposing an Injustice. And Injustice, it always has its End, in God’s timing. And Truth will always be brought into the Light. And people will keep speaking and acting against the Injustices of the Occupation and confronting it with Truth, as long as the Occupation continues.
Israel unlawfully occupies East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, under intl law, in an unlawful Occupation that commenced in 1967. The indigenous people, the Palestinian people, have a right of self determination, to have a state on that land that Israel occupies. This is a clear right they are guaranteed under intl law. Intl law also makes it unlawful for an Occupier to move their people into settlements in Occupied Territories, there are presently now about 700,000 illegal settlers living unlawfully on Palestinian land in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, inside East Jerusalem and the West Bank. This march protests the unlawful land thefts and ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem.
Sherri
Ilana Mondlak-Sebba
There needs to be an agreement based on reality. Reality means Israel has a right to exist, granted by the UN in 1948, and it will stay. Do we need to negotiate with palestinians? Absolutely, but reality must prevail, and by that I mean that if we compare Israel’s situation to that of Canada or the U.S.A., the first Nations/Indians/Native Americans who live in reservations in quite terrible conditions sometimes, shouldn’t they be “walking” to Ottawa and Washington D.C., and why is it that people from these places are so hyper aware of the palestinian situations but always sweep the conditions under which their own native populations live under the carpet? How is that OK?
Let’s do a bit of soul searching here!!!
John Yorke
What, I wonder, will be Israel’s response to this march?
Israel’s primary function cannot be confined to mere existence alone. We all exist. And, one day, we all must die. That’s life’s way of making room for those of the next generation; to see if they can make a better fist of things, to somehow validate a humanity always in need of some such justification.
So, all things fade towards death but Israel will fade away much faster if it continues to offer the world nothing more than a shell of what it believes itself to be.
At present, Israel seems more dedicated to just staying in the world rather than being part of it. It may be that the dangers it faces are so immediate that doing anything else will simply have to wait. But for how long? Trying to maintain the status quo forever will not, in the end, produce a society whose destiny was supposed to be that of ‘ a light unto the nations.’
It might be worth observing that light is perceived best when darkness is at its deepest. These days, it’s very dark in certain areas of the Middle East. And expected to get even darker. If there ever was a time to shine some serious illumination upon so dismal a scene, then now might very well be it.
Http://yorketowers.blogspot.com
If one would hold back the night, it would be best to start before it’s all too late. Otherwise night must fall.