When you wonder how Israel can perpetrate such vile outrages & human rights crime against Palestinians look no further than media coverage like in the NY Times whose choice of language alibis the crimes--as it did for apartheid in the US South & in South Africa. What delicacy they employ describing Israeli atrocities; what inflammatory adjectives they use describing Palestinian resistance! What big lies they tell!
Despite the linguistic delicacies to cover for ethnic cleansing, an atrocious crime was committed Monday when a unit of Israeli border cops in armored vehicles entered Qalandiya refugee camp near Jerusalem at 3:00 am to arrest Yousef al-Khatib, a Palestinian prisoner released two years ago after spending 10 years in an Israeli prison for rock throwing & who Israeli cops now label “a hostile terrorist activist.” For throwing stones again!? For speaking out against ethnic cleansing!? For protesting occupation!? According to an Israeli spokesperson, “After his arrest a mob of about 1,500 residents began a disturbance, throwing petrol bombs & stones, endangering the lives of force members, who responded with riot dispersal means." Another Israeli spokesperson said, The mob had become "so large & violent that it was vital for forces to assist in containing it."
The Palestinian version of events--which is actually credible--is that al-Khatib escaped to a neighbor’s house but was caught up with by the Israeli border cops & beaten. In his defense residents surrounded the Israeli cops who then called in military patrols waiting outside the camp for reinforcement. Three Palestinian men were killed when Israeli forces opened fire on the crowd with live ammunition. At least 19 were wounded, with six now in critical condition. Most of the injured were shot in the head, chest, & upper body, according to medics. That is called a shoot to kill mission. More broadly, it is called ethnic cleansing.
The funerals of Robeen Zayed, 32, Younis Jahjouh, 22, & Jihad Aslan, 20, were held yesterday after the military rampage. After the funeral, Palestinian youth threw stones at Israeli soldiers at the Qalandiya checkpoint, the main crossing between the West Bank & Jerusalem where Palestinians routinely face abuse. Israeli border patrol responded with volleys of tear gas & rubber bullets. Here a Palestinian protester is lobbing a Molotov cocktail at Israeli troops. Some may call stone-throwing a provocation. Others call it intifada--or as the rebelling prisoners of Attica once called it, “the sound before the fury of those who are oppressed.”
It’s regrettable to report that after a brief recess the phony-assed US-brokered Israeli-Palestinian negotiations will resume to establish a Palestinian bantustate in the areas occupied by Israel--after Israel just announced plans for more settlement construction on the West Bank, despite continuing arrests of Palestinians ‘suspected of planning terrorist acts,’ & after gunning down three young, unarmed Palestinians.
Support Palestinian human rights by boycotting all Israeli products (barcode beginning 729), by supporting the cultural boycott of Israel, & by demanding "No US aid to Israel!"
(Photo by Darren Whiteside/Reuters)
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