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The Only Democracy? » Entries tagged with "Apartheid"

White Man’s Burden – the Israeli Occupation “Civil Administration” Version

White Man’s Burden – the Israeli Occupation “Civil Administration” Version

(crossposted from the Villages Group blog) Dear Friends, By a miracle of sorts, we had a mostly peaceful day in South Hebron today; such an event is so rare that I thought it might be worth mentioning to you. In lieu of a more substantial report, let me just say that Abu Sharif and Fadil plowed three fields, with an iron plow and a donkey, on one end of the wadi at … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination, On The Ground Reports

Military and Settler Vandalism Escalates as Court Battle over South Hebron Hills Heats Up

We continue to follow, report and support the struggle of the Palestinian residents of the West Bank’s southernmost region, to continue living on their ancestral lands which they legally own. One would think that in an enlightened society such a simple request would be guaranteed beyond doubt. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. For an entire generation, the Occupation regime, aided and egged on by the settlers that regime has introduced into the region, has been trying to uproot a few thousand indigenous residents. The mechanisms have ranged from military edicts, bad-faith legalistic arguments in court, pressure on the ground, and naked violence and vandalism. On the court front, residents have last week achieved what seems like a minor victory. The Occupation regime now insists that “only” 8 Massafer-Yatta villages be evacuated and … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination, On The Ground Reports

Support a Palestinian Family Fighting to Stay Together under Israel’s Citizenship Law

Reprinted with permission from Mondoweiss. Written by Udi Aloni, member of the Jewish Voice for Peace advisory board. There has been a flood of new laws, practices and rules of apartheid in Israel. Sometimes many of us feel paralyzed because of the racist manifestations in the judiciary, legislature and executive and don’t know where to start fighting. Yet when those laws begin to destroy the lives of close friends, we know this is a good place to start. On January 12th, 2012 the Israeli Supreme Court upheld a ruling allowing Israel to prevent Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza, who marry Israelis, to reside with their spouses in Israel. This law further permits the deportation of Palestinians who are currently living with their families in Israel. I remember a year … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination, On The Ground Reports

“Law Enforcement” Destroys Prayer House, Homes, School – Just Because They’re for Arabs

“Law Enforcement” Destroys Prayer House, Homes, School – Just Because They’re for Arabs

Last Thursday, November 24, employees of the Israeli company “E.T. Legal Services”, hired by the deceptively named “Civil Administration” arm of Israel’s military Occupation regime in the West Bank, demolished a mosque. Among other things. To add insult to injury, Occupation forces arrested two young women for passive nonviolent resistance (see the video below). This is not your vanilla American “Occupy” arrest-and-release, get lawyer-and-defendant-rights arrest. The girls were entered into a sealed military vehicle … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination, Featured, On The Ground Reports

Restrooms and Sanitation at Umm-Al-Kheir (a story for Shavuot)

Restrooms and Sanitation at Umm-Al-Kheir (a story for Shavuot)

Mohammed Salem is about 30 years old. He lives in Umm-Al-Kheir, in a home inherited from his late father right next to the fence of the Carmel settlement (sometimes spelled “Karmel”; see picture). In 2005, when Carmel built an expansion neighborhood, Mohammed was beaten by settlers involved in the construction. Since this assault, he has suffered from post-traumatic stress (PTSD). He has stopped functioning, fears and runs away from any stranger, and even from some family … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination, On The Ground Reports

Israeli and Palestinian Women Find New Way to Challenge The Occupation

Israeli and Palestinian Women Find New Way to Challenge The Occupation

I will forgo my tendency for long introductions, and start with the actual news. We Do Not Obey More women follow Ilana Hammerman`s footsteps: we shall not obey illegal and immoral laws. (posted as a paid advertisement in Hebrew on Haaretz, August 6) On Friday, July 23, we went on a trip – a dozen Jewish-Israeli women with a dozen West-Bank Palestinian women and four of their children, one of them a baby. We drove through the interior hill … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination, Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs

Guarnieri: “Israel’s ‘Street Apartheid'”

Guarnieri: “Israel’s ‘Street Apartheid'”

By Jesse Bacon The excellent journalist Mya Guarnieri has a piece for Al Jazeera in which she focuses on the everyday inequality  of street conditions in East Jerusalem. The difference can be as simple as a street light. Al Jazeera found that stoplights that lead to Jewish settlements and neighborhoods stay green for an average of a minute and a half. In Palestinian areas, it’s 20 seconds. One light in predominantly Arab East Jerusalem is … Read entire article »

Filed under: On The Ground Reports