Breaking News! Double Standards In The Occupied Territories
Old story, but worth posting for those of you who might have missed it. Palestinians and Israelis put a caravan on land that used to be part of Bil’in but was cut off by the separation fence. The army sent 150 soldiers to evacuate the caravan from its 50 inhabitants:
“This will be blatant proof of the fact that there is selective law enforcement if they deal with the poor caravan before the hundreds of housing units built illegally in Upper Modi’in,” [said lawyer Michael Sfard].
Sfard submitted a letter in the name of Peace Now to the Civil Administration demanding a halt to the construction within a week. At the end of this time, Sfard wrote in the letter, he will turn to the Supreme Court.
“After what happened today in Bil’in, there is no reason that the state should defend its decision to continue the construction” in Matitiyahu, Sfard said.
“Now the truth is out, and the truth is that Jews are allowed to break the law and Palestinians are not.
“This,” Sfard continued, “is called apartheid.”
Security sources said that it was clear to them that immediately after the evacuation, they would need to explain to the court why they are hurrying to act against Palestinian illegal construction and tarrying on curbing illegal construction in the settlements.
Full story here.
heres a random roundup of stories from today: the islamic society of boston is building a mosque subsidized by the city of boston, amongst the isb’s key contributors and in some cases trustees are supporters of suicide bombers and conquest of europe and america by islam, john kerry wrote them a big letter of support; a pakistani muslim man murdered his 4 daughters by slitting their throats, he somehow thought any man should have that control over women (particularly those in his own family); europe and australia have been assaulted by muslim youths rape of indiginous non muslim women, those rapes have been jjustified by muslim clerics because the women were not muslim and/or wore provacative clothing and/or were otherwise “asking for it”. i could list hundreds of additonal simililar stories. i suggest we focus on the assault on western and jewish- xtiaon values while there is still time for us to resist this onslaught – in the vast sweep of things the building of an additional settlement or so is so irrelevant to what’s going on out there it could make you weep that anyone bothers talking about it.
an additional story from today: the us embassy in egypt is being investigated by the state department, the suspician is that muslim egyptain employees of the embassy (who are low level and are suppose merely to conduct initial interview) have been able to prevent the issuance of american visas to egyptian coptics (xtians), reserving them only for muslims; and another demographic story, the xtian population of bethleham, once a significant majority, has been decimated by muslim abuse, indeed througout the arab lands the xtians (the original inhabitants) have been terrorized into leaving those lands – thats an interesting subject for discussion.
Avi wrote: “i suggest we focus on the assault on western and jewish- xtiaon values.” Is taking someone else’s land a western, Jewish, or Christian value? The separation barrier is cutting off the village of Bil’in from much of its farmland. The settler outpost this building in Bil’in has been placed next to is illegal even under Israeli law.
Re: Muslim-Christian tension in the occupied territories, Israel tries to exploit this; the following is by parish priest Fr. Aridah in Aboud, a mixed Muslim-Christian village whose farmland is also being annexed by the barrier:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/…
Sometimes the Israelis give special treatment to Christians. Sometimes they give Christians permits to go through checkpoints while they stop Muslims. They do this to try to separate us, but in reality we Muslims and Christians are brothers.
Our church organist Yousef told me, “Some foreigners believe that Islam is the greatest danger for Palestinian Christians rather than Israel’s occupation. This is Israeli propaganda. Israel wants to tell the world that it protects us from the Muslims, but it is not true. In Aboud, we Muslims and Christians live a normal, peaceful life together.
“Last week our village celebrated the Feast of Saint Barbara for our patron saint whose shrine outside our village was damaged by the Israeli military in 2002. We invited the Muslims to share the traditional feast of Saint Barbara. They also invite us to share their traditional Ramadan evening meal. We have good relations. Muslims are peaceful people.”
Is taking someone else’s land a western, Jewish, or Christian value?
read joshua lately?
avi — white nationalists started the fights and spread the myths in australia, not muslims.
I can accept a charge of double standards from anyone who is not actively involved with promoting double standards himself – so Asaf is disqualified.
But maybe Asaf can do tshuva. How about some reports on the laws in the PA territories? Are we are dealing with a fair system there, especially in regard to Jews? Isn’t it a double standard to talk about unfair practices against Palestinians in Israel and ignore unfair practices against Jews in the Palestinian territories.
And it’s not just here. Asaf has posted tons of anti-Israel material and consistantly ignored any violations of norms from the Palestinians. He doesn’t mind at all that the Palestinians are building a true apartheid state right under his nose.
We can talk about double standards, Asaf, as soon as you pull your head out of your ass. I don’t know how you breath in that position. Clearly, it clouds your judgment.
xisnotx – i guess you are claiming to be a palestinian xtain, & you consider israelis larger an enemy than muslims – ok then, lets leave the west bank – whats the % of coptics as a part of the total egyptian population today – what was it 10 years ago -what was it 20 years ago. Since the percentage of christians in egypt has steadily diminished over the last 20 years (hard to tie the dirty joos into this situation), it would appear that the muslims are the cause of the problem, trure xi? amd mobius, are you denying that muslim raping of non muslim women is a huge problem in every part of europe and autstralia with a large muslim population? if not, then your comment is irrelevant; and if you are denying this, your comment is still irrelevant – the issue is whether the muslim culture/religion encourages the rape of non muslim women, the stats and muslim public statements appear to support and confirm large numbers of rapes by muslims of non muslims – that’s the issue that needs to be addressed and discussed!
That’s quite an interesting news. I would like to read more stuff on this.
xisnotx
Not all Palestinian Christians agree with you, apparently:
“One religious novelty-store owner cited examples of Muslim gangs defacing Christian property, the PA replacing Christian leaders on public councils with Muslims, and armed Palestinian factions stirring tensions. One such incident was last week’s storming of Bethlehem’s City Hall, across the street from the Church of the Nativity, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, by gunmen from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group.
The store owner said “We are harassed but you wouldn’t know the truth. No one says anything publicly about the Muslims.”
Ynet
Mobius– I should not have asked 😉
Eyal — i mentioned Israel tries to exploit Muslim-Christian tensions, I didn’t deny they exist. As the store owner indicated, it’s difficult to get the straight story about it. As far as I can tell, life in Aboud, which I’ve visited, is pretty harmonious, tho as Father Aridah indicated the occupation authorities are already trying to play one group against the other thru favoritism.
xisnotx, avoiding the question just pinpoints the bias of your position: why has the xtian population of egypt significantly diminished over the last 40 years – isn’t it the terrorism inflicted on the coptic xtains by the muslims? all your bubbymeises about father aridah are as unimportant as my conversation with my village cleric in determining the truth of the middle east – so i ask for the 3rd time, why is the xtain population of the middle east being decimated?
Avi, Eyal, why not listen to some Palestinian Christians speak for themselves:
Subject: [HumanRights] Tune-in Tonight (Wed) 10 Central, 11 Eastern
Live radio program “Arab Voices”
Date: Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Time: 10:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. central time
Guests:
Dr. Victor Batarseh, Mayor of the City of Bethlehem, Palestine.
Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh: Co-founder of Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, member of Al-Awda-CT steering committee and the national steering committee of the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation, Vice President of the Middle East Crisis Committee, author of several books including Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human rights and the Israeli-Palestinian Struggle, self-syndicated columnist whose articles appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, and Al-Ahram in Egypt.
Topic:
Christians in occupied Palestine, the Israeli measures against them, the occupation affect on the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, the Israeli Apartheid Wall set to divide the village of Aboud (mainly Christians) in the West Bank into two parts, and the call by many churches in the U.S. for a boycott of Israeli products and divestment from Israeli investments.
You can also listen live on the Internet at http://www.ArabVoices.net.
xi, you still refuse to answer the question: why has the xtian population of muslim dominated countries in the middle east (and I refer to those outside of Israel/West Bank) declined precipitiously???? ANSWER THE QUESTION!!!!!
xi, i see you still refuse to answer the question – why? Is it because you, a professed xtian living amongst arabs, suffer the from the same conditions that those other xtains you mention above endure: fear of being murdered/raped/mutiliat ed? or the stockholm syndrome where you have begun to identify with your oppressors – let’s talk, the jews can save you.
Avi — I’m sure the Copts in Egypt, and the Nestorians, Chaldeans, and other Christians in Iraq, are deeply moved by your concern. It’s unfortunate that your concern doesn’t extend to the “unimportant” Father Aridah and his “unimportant” village. How can anyone believe you truly give a rat’s ass for the plight of minorities in the Middle East when you’re only concerned about them if those oppressing them happen to be Muslim?
ah, xi, you finally acknowledge that the muslims of the middle east are oppressing the xtians. we can now discuss the xtains of the west bank – since you now have seen the light and concede that the xtians there are oppressed by the muslims, we can now deal with reality: perhaps the xtains should ally themselves with israel and the jews perhaps the xtains should insist on autonomous areas within the west bank where they can be free of muslim oppression; perhaps the xtians should insist on their own minisate within the west bank. since we all now agree that west bank xtians need protection from the muslims, i have just put some ideas on the table – xi, lets explore them in good faith for the betterment of your brethren.
I said you only cared when the oppressors were Muslim, the clear implication being you don’t care when the oppressors are Jewish. Nor do I agree if Palestinian Christians are oppressed by Muslims that they could expect Israel, which steals their land, and fences them in behind walls, should be relied on to protect them at all. If you really want to help the West Bank Christians, you’ll respond to their call to divest from companies that invest in the Israeli occupation. But we have already established you don’t actually care about the rights of these Christians, you’re just using them to advance your agenda of obscuring the crimes of the occupation. And they are not my “brethren,” I’m as Jewish as your bubbe.
The article Eyal posted above from Ynet was originally in the Islamophobe and ultra-right WorldNetDaily, and part of the piece is the from the rightwing media propoganda outfit HonestReporting.com. I agreed there are Muslim-Christian tensions in the West Bank, and I’d be interested to find out more about it, but those are not the sources I’m going to rely on. As you’ve demonstrated aptly here, right-wing pro-occupation sources have every reason to distort and exploit the tensions between Muslims and Christians in the West Bank. And you say a settlement here and there isn’t a problem — but it’s stealing their land and isolating their cities and villages from each other. Who is going to protect the Christians of Aboud from having their land stolen by the Jewish settlement of Ofarim?
The following is from one of the comments on Ynet:
World net and hones reporting are propaganda websites. It was the PA that gurranteed that the majority of members of Bethlehem council will always be Christians and Muslims will not exceed 7 of the 15 memebers. Beit Jala and Beit Sahur, 4 out of 15. So dont fall for the BS printed.
There are certain incidents occur between Christians and Muslims but to use these spins to why many Christians have fled is total BS. We’re controlled by a foriegn military that care not if you are Christian or Muslim, a corrupt PA, Israeli land confiscation and the feeling of imprisonment while Gilo and Har Homa expand to the Bethlehem boundries. Settlers intimidation and harrassmant while claiming to us ‘it is their land’….
You guys have no clue until you live in Bethlehem for 30 days.
A Bethlehemite , Palestine (12.27.05)
xi, you keep posting as if you are a palestinian, but you then cliam to be a jew. If you are a jew, wonder whether you read the story today about Lieutenant Ori Binamo, 21, who at the cost of his own life stopped a suicide bomber from murdering a bunch of children at a hannukah party. for the life of me, xi, if you are a jew, why does not crazed muslim murderers bother you a lot more than an extra settlemtent?
Gee, a majority Muslim Palestinian city elected a female Christian mayor. those Muslims must really be oppressing those Christians pretty bad in Ramallah.
Dec. 30, 2005 6:07
Christian woman elected mayor of Ramallah
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Janet Hanna Michael was elected mayor of Ramallah early Friday, marking the first female mayor in the history in the Palestinian Authority.
Michael ran as an independent but had ties to Fatah.
Israel Radio reported that she is Christian and 60-years-old.
Levying the jizya tax in the Palestinian Authority: Jizya is a tax specified in the Koran (9:29) to be paid by non-Muslim males living in dar al-Islam, that is, under Muslim political rule, it has a humiliating quality to it, reminding the kafirs that they are second-class subjects for refusing the Islamic truth. The tax was regularly collected through Islamic history, fading out only in the nineteenth century.
But Islamists, in keeping with other retrograde ideas, like reviving slavery, would like to re-impose the jizya. Hamas has long wanted non-Muslims in “Palestine” to pay it and as it approaches the corridors of power, this abstract wish takes on new vitality and importance. “We in Hamas intend to implement this tax someday,” says a Bethlehem city council member, Hassan El-Masalmeh. “We say it openly—we welcome everyone to Palestine but only if they agree to live under our rules.”
mmm, wonder if the threatened impostitin of a dhminni tax (thats a special tax on jews and xtians and other non muslims) might have something to do with the desire of xtians to flee “palestine”? or, it could be the desire of xtians to avoid being murdered by crazed muslims – ya think just maybe?
30 years ago, the Palestinians were among the most secular societies in the Arab world. Israel, particularly under Likud rule, supported the formation and rise of Hamas as a counterweight to the PLO. This has had consequences for both Israel — Hamas pioneered and is the main practitioner of suicide bombings, and is less likely to seek rapprochment with Israel and Israeli society — and for Palestinians– Hamas’ grass roots success in running schools and social services has led to the Islamicization of civil society, and the growth of political islam.
Here’s a couple pieces on Israel’s role in the rise of Hamas: this is by Palestinian Christian Ray Hanania, who writes often for Yediot Aharonot and has a Jewish wife: http://www.counterpunch.org/ha…
http://www.upi.com/inc/view.ph…
Analysis: Hamas history tied to Israel
Israel and Hamas may currently be locked in deadly combat, but, according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials, beginning in the late 1970s, Tel Aviv gave direct and indirect financial aid to Hamas over a period of years.
Israel “aided Hamas directly — the Israelis wanted to use it as a counterbalance to the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization),” said Tony Cordesman, Middle East analyst for the Center for Strategic Studies.
Israel’s support for Hamas “was a direct attempt to divide and dilute support for a strong, secular PLO by using a competing religious alternative,” said a former senior CIA official.
[…]
In the end, as Hamas set up a very comprehensive counterintelligence system, many collaborators with Israel were weeded out and shot. Violent acts of terrorism became the central tenet, and Hamas, unlike the PLO, was unwilling to compromise in any way with Israel, refusing to acquiesce in its very existence.
But even then, some in Israel saw some benefits to be had in trying to continue to give Hamas support: “The thinking on the part of some of the right-wing Israeli establishment was that Hamas and the others, if they gained control, would refuse to have any part of the peace process and would torpedo any agreements put in place,” said a U.S. government official who asked not to be named.
###
A quote from a Palestinian in Gaza from the NY Times:
Talal Okal, said, “Israel worked to weaken the secular P.A. in the second intifada, and the P.A. performed badly… The failure of the political process created an atmosphere for the renaissance of Islamic doctrines and ideologies… When the P.L.O. … carried the flag of negotiations and the so-called peace process, Hamas picked up the flag of resistance.”
http://www.zmag.org/content/sh…
Ami Ayalon, a former head of Israel’s powerful domestic intelligence services the Shin Bet, told Le Figaro in France, “Hamas’ victory on Thursday in the West Bank is the result of Sharon’s policy.” Because of Sharon’s treatment of Fatah and the PA, “most Palestinians are convinced that the Fatah has failed and Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip is the result of terror.”