Transcript Diapozitiv 1

For almost 2000 years,
Palestine-Israel was the home
for Arab-speaking Palestinians,
as well as smaller populations
of Druze, Christians and Jews.
The spread of the Nationalistic movements in Europe, in the 19th century had created a
situation in which many European Jews felt separated from the rest of the population.
Some of them chose to try to integrate into their nationals in Europe: Jews in Germany
declared themselves German, Jews in Italy declared themselves Italian and so on.
Many other Jews became supporters of a new theory, Socialism. They believed that the
best way for Jews to integrate into the general society is by the promotion of class
struggle.
And a small group of Jews, led by Herzel (a Austro-Hungarian Jew), created an ideology
called Zionism. Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people should all move to Palestine
from all corners of the earth, to create a Jewish nation there.
In the years to follow, Jewish immigration into
Ottoman Palestine increased. Wealthy Jews
bought land from their Palestinian owners, and
settled Jews in these lands. Publications called
for Jews to immigrate to Palestine, claiming it to
be
“A land with no nation, to a nation with
no Land”.
However, most of the Jews did not wish to
immigrate to such an “Asiatic” country, and
Zionism was considered an un-realistic theory
by the majority of European Jews.
• Increasing Anti-Semitism pushed many Jews to Immigrate to Palestine,
which was under British Mandate.
• The Palestinians were not happy with the Zionist plans to create a Jewish
state on their territory, and so clashes and hostility began between both
sides.
• After the holocaust, much sympathy was given to the surviving Jews,
including these in Palestine. As a result, the UN passed in 1947 a resolution
dividing Palestine into 2 new states: Israel and Palestine.
• After the UN resolution passed, clashes began between the Palestinians
and the Jews. The Zionists conquered some towns in central Palestine
(Jaffa, for instance) and deported the local Palestinians.
• After the British withdrawal from Palestine, the Zionist leaders
unilaterally declared independence, without agreeing on a
permanent border.
• Local Palestinians, aided by the armies of the neighbouring
countries, began fighting against the Zionists. Weapons and
ammunitions for the new Israeli army were given by both the U.S
and the U.S.S.R.
• The Israeli army was ordered by its leadership to deport all
Palestinians in central Israel (From Lod, Ramla, Jaffa, etc’), and in
some cases massacres of Palestinians population occurred
(Tantura, Dir Yassin). Many other Palestinians fled in fear, to
become refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
After invading Egypt already in
1956, Israel attacked Egypt,
Syria and Jordan in June 1967
due to a sea blockade by
Egypt. Israel conquers the
West Bank, The Gaza Strip,
The Golan Heights, Jerusalem
and the Sinai Peninsula.
Settlements
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Starting from 1968, Israeli
colonists have moved into the
West bank and the Gaza strip, to
live on occupied Palestinian land.
Over 400,000 Israeli colonists live
in more than 282 settlements in
the West Bank.
The Settlements are racially
segregated, with Palestinians
banned from buying houses there.
The settlements are connected by
Israeli only bypass roads cutting
through Palestinian territory and
intersected with Israeli military
checkpoints (Machsom).
The settlements are illegal under
international law and a direct
violation of the Geneva
Convention
The Intifada
The First Intifada 1987-1993
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Intifada in Arabic means “Shaking off”
and refers to the two spontaneous
Palestinian uprisings against the
Israeli military occupation of Palestine
in the past 20 years.
The first Intifada or the so called “War
of the stones” exploded in 1987 after
20 years of constant Israeli military
occupation.
The Israeli army was told to “break the
arms” of any Palestinians they
believed to be throwing rocks as
punishment and arrested and held
thousands of Palestinians without trial
for years.
1,392 Palestinians were killed,
130,787 were injured, and 40,000
were arrested.
The Intifada and the brutal pictures of
Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian
children and peaceful protestors
brought Israel to the negotiating table
for the first time, and in 1993 the
Intifada ended with the Oslo Accords.
Machsom’s (Checkpoints)
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There are over 100 manned Israeli
military checkpoints in the West Bank.
The are called “Machsom’s” (From the
Israeli root “To block”). At each of
these checkpoints all Palestinians are
stopped, searched, and humiliated
while Israelis go straight through. A 20
minute drive for a Palestinian can take
up to and beyond 3 hours due to
stoppages at every checkpoint.
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In addition to manned checkpoints
there are hundreds of roads that have
been physically blocked by Israeli
bulldozers making rubble barricades.
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Checkpoints also detain Palestinian
ambulances and emergency crews and
countless numbers of Palestinians
civilians have died in ambulances held
up at checkpoints waiting for medical
treatment. This includes pregnant
woman and their babies and other
civilians wounded by the Israeli
Occupation Forces.
Apartheid Roads
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Israel has built “bypass” roads to connect the
illegal settlements together and to Israel. The
roads are racially segregated (only Israelis can
travel upon them) and built upon Palestinian
land seized by the Israeli military. The roads
are strategically designed to cut off Palestinian
majority areas and urban centers.
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The building of segregated roads systems on
illegally occupied land is in violation of the
Geneva Convention which states in Article 49
Part IV: No acquisition of land purposed for
settlement or to provide services to settlers.
And in Article 53 “Any destruction by the
occupying power of real or personal property is
prohibited.”
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The Apartheid roads, together with the
Machsom’s and the new Apartheid Wall ,
divides the West bank into small Ghettos,
preventing the moving of students, hospital
patients, family members and Palestinan
products and goods – From one area to
another.
Home Demolitions
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Since the beginning of the occupation in 1967 excluding the 1967 war) the
Israeli military has demolished over 9,000 Palestinian homes leaving 50,000
plus Palestinians homeless
Israel has recently embarked upon a campaign of collective punishment by
bulldozing the homes of relatives of suicide bombers.
The Israeli policy of home demolition is in violation of the Geneva convention
and international law.
Israel demolishes any and all houses in the way of its military operations inside
the occupied territories, and often Palestinian civilians are trapped in the
buildings and killed by debris.
The Al-Aqsa Intifada 2000-present
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The second Intifada started On September
28th 2000, when Israeli war criminal Ariel
Sharon (who’s murderes of Palestinians date
back to 1953 and including the Sabra and
Shatila massacres of 1982) , went with an
escort of 1,000 heavily armed soldiers to the
holiest Muslim sight in Palestine, the Al-Aqsa
Mosque, to demonstrate “Israeli sovereignty
over the area”
The Intifada broke out the next day, Friday
September 29th, as Ehud Barak surrounded
the Al-Aqsa mosque with armed soldiers and
police, leading to clashed when the worshipers
left the building leaving 7dead Palestinians and
200 wounded.
Clashes began all throughout Palestine, with a
few Palestinian extremists killing Israelis in
Suicide attacks.
Almost 4000 Palestinians were killed by Israeli
forces since 2000, including 813 minors. Israel
invades Palestinian cities on a regular basis,
killing and shooting many Palestinian citizens.
The Wall
•The construction of the wall started in 2002, and is not finished yet. The
purpose of the wall is to physically separate Palestinians from Jews in the
West Bank.
• The Wall does not follow the “Green Line” – The border between Israel and
the West bank. Instead, it cuts off Palestinian land and annexes it to the
nearby Jewish Colonies.
•The wall annexes 10% of the West Bank, and prevents Palestinian farmers
from working on their lands. It also create “enclaves” in which many
Palestinians will be trapped, unable to go out of their village without the
Israeli’s army approval.
• The International court in the Hague has declared the entire wall illegal
according to international law, however the construction of the wall and the
Land theft continues.