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Israeli Viciousness After Friday’s UN Vote |
By
Stephen Lendman |
| Every day is Kristallnacht for long-suffering Palestinians, brutalized
mercilessly the way Hitler treated Jews. On Christmas eve, Israeli soldiers attacked a peaceful Santa Claus march with tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and beatings. The event was organized under the banner “Terrorism and Occupation are Two Sides of the Same Coin.” Participants demanded Israeli checkpoints be opened so Christians could celebrate the holiday unobstructed at Bethlehem’s Nativity Church in the Old City. On Sunday, Palestinian Detainees’ Committee head Issa Qaraqe said Palestinian political prisoner As’ad al-Wali, aged 70, died under circumstances remaining unclear. He was incarcerated for building a home on his own land without a near-impossible-to-get permit. Was her murdered by torture, neglect or other brutal treatment?He was prominently involved in activism against Israel’s illegal Golan occupation. On Christmas day, Israeli soldiers ransacked West Bank Palestinian homes, terrifying their occupants, traumatizing young children. They opened fire on Gaza farmers in their fields threatening no one. It’s a common practice, along with shooting Palestinian children for target practice and attacking fishermen at sea. Since October 2015, Israeli security forces murdered over 265 defenseless Palestinians, brutalizing, arresting and imprisoning hundreds more for political reasons alone. On Sunday, 19-year-old Shurouq Dwayyat was sentenced to 16 years in prison and fined $20,000 on trumped up charges. Last year, an extremist Israeli settler shot her, falsely claiming she tried stabbing him. Eyewitness refuted the charge, affirming she was unarmed, harming no one at the time of the incident. She spent 14 months in detention awaiting trial, her sentence affording her no credit for time served, one of many daily examples of Israeli depravity. Commenting on Friday’s Security Council vote, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) said since June 1967, “Israel has tightened its control on the West Bank and seized over 60% of it in favor of the Israeli settlements and annexation wall.” Its ruthlessness “turned the Palestinian cities and villages into cantons due to the establishment of hundreds of military checkpoints tearing the West Bank apart.” “Israel has further intensified its settlement activities, including efforts to create Jewish majority in occupied Jerusalem.” “The Israeli practices have systematically created a new pattern of apartheid, where Israeli settlers are privileged and supported by their government but Palestinians are denied their basic human rights.” Nothing in prospect suggests positive change coming - just the opposite with Trump promising to be the most “pro-Israel president ever.” Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. |