Palestine Update 630
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Israel mounts a glut of cruelties on Palestinians
The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a watered-down statement strongly opposing Israel’s continued construction and expansion of settlements Monday. The vote came after high-stakes negotiations by the Biden administration succeeded in derailing a legally binding resolution that would have demanded a halt to Israeli settlement activity. The deal averted a potential diplomatic crisis, with the U.S. almost certainly vetoing the resolution, which would have angered Palestinian supporters at a time when the U.S. and its Western allies are trying to gain international support against Russia for its war with Ukraine. But U.S. support for the presidential statement angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Meanwhile Palestinians face the heat of Israeli malice. Palestinians in the West Bank town of Huwara were left to deal with burned-out buildings and cars after hundreds of settlers ran riot while soldiers protected them. The attack by the settlers was billed as an act of revenge after a Palestinian gunman opened fire at a traffic junction near Huwara, killing two brothers who lived in a nearby Jewish settlement. That assault itself was likely retaliation for an Israeli military raid on the city of Nablus last week that saw 11 Palestinians – including militants and civilians killed. Elsewhere, Israeli forces killed at least 11 Palestinians and wounded more than 100 Wednesday in a daytime raid in the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian officials said. The operation, the deadliest such raid in years, left Nablus’s Old City riddled with bullets and was another escalation in counterterrorism tactics by Israel under its new far-right government. Israeli police violently dispersed protesters on as thousands marched in different cities to protest against a controversial government plan to overhaul the judicial system, amid growing political turmoil. Protesters warn that Israeli headlines have begun to read like a manual for future autocracies, with ministers seemingly handpicked to undermine the departments they run. The new justice minister intends to strip away the judiciary’s power.Palestinians living in East Jerusalem have for decades seethed under Israeli restrictions designed, residents say, to push them out of the disputed city. Palestinians living in East Jerusalem have for decades seethed under Israeli restrictions designed, residents say, to push them out of the disputed city. Since 1967, an estimated 58,000 settler homes have been built on the city’s east side compared to just 600 Palestinian dwellings, according to Daniel Seidman, an Israeli lawyer specializing in Jerusalem.
On behalf of MLN Palestine Updates
Ranjan Solomon
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Huwara reels after night of settler terror under army’s watch
Palestinians in the West Bank town were left to deal with burned-out buildings and cars after hundreds of settlers ran riot while soldiers protected them.
“By Monday morning, Huwara, a centrally located town through which thousands of Palestinians and settlers travel every day, looked like a battlefield. The town council reported that settlers had torched eight homes, broken windows in 35 others, and set fire to 250 vehicles. More than 120 people were wounded, including one Palestinian with a serious head wound who is currently hospitalized in Nablus. An Israeli shot and killed Sami Aktash, 37, from the nearby village of Za’atara. It is still unclear whether he was gunned down by settlers or soldiers. Immediately following the murders of the two Israelis, which took place early Sunday afternoon, the army closed Tapuah Junction, a major traffic artery nearby, as well as the entrance to Huwara used by Israelis living in the Yitzhar settlement, just northwest of the town. However, despite these closures, numerous eyewitnesses reported that the army allowed settlers to enter Huwara on foot, while preventing journalists, medics, and Palestinian aid workers from doing the same. On Monday morning, after the rampage had ended, the roads were strewn with stones, tear gas grenades, and burned tires, which the settlers reportedly used to set homes on fire. Residents said they could not remember any comparable event ever taking place in their town.”
Read more in 972 Mag
Israel’s far-right government at the heart of a surge in violence
“The attack by the settlers was billed as an act of revenge after a Palestinian gunman opened fire at a traffic junction near Huwara, killing two brothers who lived in a nearby Jewish settlement. That assault itself was likely retaliation for an Israeli military raid on the city of Nablus last week that saw 11 Palestinians — including militants and civilians — killed. On Monday, there were reports of new Palestinian attacks on Israeli-owned vehicles in the West Bank. The bloody wheel turns, the cycle of violence continues. But such logic obscures more immediate forces at play. The installation of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history at the beginning of the year has been accompanied by the marked rise in violence. Since the start of the year, Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed at least 61 Palestinians — civilians and militants. A new wave of militancy is stirring in the West Bank, which analysts say is fueled by anger at the Israeli military occupation and mounting settler violence as well as disillusionment with the prevailing political status quo represented by the deeply unpopular Palestinian Authority.”
Read more in Washington Post
11 Palestinians killed, 100 wounded in Israeli West Bank raid
“Israeli forces killed at least 11 Palestinians and wounded more than 100 Wednesday in a daytime raid in the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian officials said. The operation, the deadliest such raid in years, left Nablus’s Old City riddled with bullets and was another escalation in counterterrorism tactics by Israel under its new far-right government. Among those killed were a 72-year-old man, a 16-year-old boy and a 66-year-old man who died of tear gas inhalation, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. Palestinian armed groups said at least six of the dead were members of recently formed, loosely organized militant groups, including the Lion’s Den, the Nablus Brigade and the Balata Brigade, based in a neighboring refugee camp.”
Read more in Washington Post
Israel: Police assault protesters during anti-government marches
Demonstrators launch ‘national day of disruption’ as government presses on with controversial judicial overhaul
“Israeli police violently dispersed protesters on Wednesday [3/1/23] as thousands marched in different cities to protest against a controversial government plan to overhaul the judicial system, amid growing political turmoil….Protesters declared Wednesday a “national day of disruption”, blocking vital roads and burning tyres on highways. Marches were set to culminate in a large demonstration in Tel Aviv and in front of the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Police have used stun grenades, water cannons and mounted officers to disperse demonstrators.”
Read more in Middle East Eye
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s Minister of Chaos
“Protesters warn that Israeli headlines have begun to read like a manual for future autocracies, with ministers seemingly handpicked to undermine the departments they run. The new justice minister intends to strip away the judiciary’s power. The communications minister has threatened to defund Israel’s public broadcaster, reportedly hoping to funnel money to a channel favorable to Netanyahu. The minister of heritage has called organizations representing Reform Jews an “active danger” to Jewish identity. No one, however, offends liberal and centrist Israelis quite like Itamar Ben-Gvir. Ben-Gvir, who entered parliament in 2021, leads a far-right party called Otzma Yehudit, or Jewish Power. His role model and ideological wellspring has long been Meir Kahane, a Brooklyn rabbi who moved to Israel in 1971 and…argued that “the idea of a democratic Jewish state is nonsense.” In his view, demographic trends would inevitably turn Israel’s non-Jews into a majority, and so the ideal solution was “the immediate transfer of the Arabs.”…His party, Kach (Thus), was finally barred from parliament in 1988. Jewish Power is an ideological offshoot of Kach; Ben-Gvir served as a Kach youth leader and has called Kahane a “saint.” Ben-Gvir, who is forty-six, has been convicted on at least eight charges, including supporting a terrorist organization and incitement to racism…”
Read more in the New Yorker.com
Jerusalem demolitions gain pace under Netanyahu, enraging Palestinians
“Palestinians living in East Jerusalem have for decades seethed under Israeli restrictions designed, residents say, to push them out of the disputed city. But for Mohammed Bashir, 25, life has now hit “below zero” as Israel’s new far-right government and especially its Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir have stepped up house demolitions and expulsions that could ignite the city just as violence is spreading in the surrounding occupied Palestinian territories… Earlier this month, Ben Gvir, who first made a name for himself in the extremist settler movement, announced a “Bring Back Order” campaign in East Jerusalem targeting buildings constructed without permits, which are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain — even while settlers are allowed to build freely… Since 1967, an estimated 58,000 settler homes have been built on the city’s east side compared to just 600 Palestinian dwellings, according to Daniel Seidman, an Israeli lawyer specializing in Jerusalem… Already in 2023, the rate of home and building demolitions is the highest in years, with 39 structures toppled just in the last month, according to data from the United Nation’s humanitarian agency.” “Palestinians living in East Jerusalem have for decades seethed under Israeli restrictions designed, residents say, to push them out of the disputed city. But for Mohammed Bashir, 25, life has now hit “below zero” as Israel’s new far-right government and especially its Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir have stepped up house demolitions and expulsions that could ignite the city just as violence is spreading in the surrounding occupied Palestinian territories… Earlier this month, Ben Gvir, who first made a name for himself in the extremist settler movement, announced a “Bring Back Order” campaign in East Jerusalem targeting buildings constructed without permits, which are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain — even while settlers are allowed to build freely… Since 1967, an estimated 58,000 settler homes have been built on the city’s east side compared to just 600 Palestinian dwellings, according to Daniel Seidman, an Israeli lawyer specializing in Jerusalem…
Read more in Washington Post
4 March 2023
Source: nakbaliberation.com