The Joke of a Settlement Freeze

As you might know or have heard, Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has put in effect a ten month settlement freeze in the West Bank, as an act of restarting peace talks. This settlement freeze will stop all new settlements and housing, however, any houses that are being built are not to be halted. Also, public buildings such as synagogues, schools, and the such will also not be included in this "freeze". And the whole settlement freeze is aimed at restarting the peace talks like I mentioned above, and is so full of "honesty" and "integrity" and the Prime Minister and the Government of Israel only have peace in their minds as they put this into effect.

The Israeli Government now says that it has come the time for the Palestinians to contribute to the peace process and start negotiations. But as I had stated in a past article, Israel seems to offer all of the "generous" peace treaties, yet the Palestinians seem to be rejecting the whole of them every time, and for no apparent reason, or so they say, but since we've uncovered the truth of that all, let us look specifically at this move. This whole ten month settlement freeze only concerns the West Bank, and not East Jerusalem, since, as they say, "cannot stop building in our sovereign capital." This is yet another flaw in this so called "move for peace" that seems insignificant but is probably one of the biggest roadblocks to peace. Anyway let us examine the true motive of the Israeli Government's decision.

I'm positive this is just another scheme by the Israelis to cover up and better their profile in the International Community. Israel's corruption is now slowly being uncovered to the world, and the first step to this vast uncovering was seen during the Gaza offensive and after with all the protests and the global outcry. And Israel has full knowledge of this, and now wants to do anything to redeem its image. Of course, in terms of financial and militaristic support, the United States would never relent, but the image is what matters here. This was only proposed and put into effect because Israel wanted to show the world that it was not in opposition to peace, it was the side that started the peace. And now, I don't expect the Palestinians to respond at all to this so called "proposition of peace" because it is false and corrupt. Just yesterday, the Israeli government approved of 28 new settlements to be built in their beloved "Judea and Samaria" (West Bank), despite the freeze that was publicized to extremes. And not only that, but the Minister of Tourism vowed to build more settlements and to "unfreeze" this freeze on settlements soon.

Hypocrisy, foul, and corrupt are some of the words that come to mind when thinking of this whole issue and the Israeli government. With numbers like 28 new settlements, being offered on a regular basis, the West Bank will have no more Palestinians, and no more Palestinian land. Palestinian land is dwindling at a frightening pace, because the land that the settlements are built on is confiscated Palestinian land. And on top of all of this, Israel expects the Palestinians to come forth and bow down to this "generous" offer.

Jerusalem Capital of Arab Culture 2009

This news was extremely surprising to me, yet I was ecstatic. Finally, Jerusalem can be recognized as an Arab city. However the Israelis are far from pleased. They have had huge numbers of policemen around the city, stopping any festivities or celebrations. The government of Israel wants to prevent these people from celebrating their culture, and they want to deny the fact that Jerusalem was an Arab city, and East Jerusalem now, is still an Arab city. This is what I'm talking about in my past articles. The Israelis wiped out all traces of Palestine from the beginning of the occupation in 1948, yet it did not succeed in doing so to Jerusalem.
However, right now they are trying to rid all of Jerusalem of the Arab presence, for example, home demolitions, impossible permits, and the list goes on and on.
Since the Israeli Government did not let the Palestinians celebrate this special day, of marking Jerusalem as the Capital of Arab Culture 2009, they celebrated it in various cities in the West Bank, such as Bethlehem, and Ramallah, and Nablus. The Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbass said a speech in Bethlehem, remarking about how the Israeli Government. He said that the Israeli government should recognize Jerusalem as the future capital of any Palestinian state that should form, and in preventing their celebration of this day, they are showing that they do not want peace.
I read an article about this in Haaretz, and I also read the readers' comments on it too. One that I found very interesting stated: "When the Muslims let us celebrate a Jewish national holiday in Mecca, then we will let this celebration go on".
My response to this is that Jews do not make up any part of the population in Mecca, and I'm sure no Jews live in Mecca as well, so there would be no point of celebrating a Jewish holiday there. However, in all of Israel, 20% are Arab Palestinian citizens. And East Jerusalem is a Palestinian territory that was occupied in 1967, therefore there is no comparison. This is another way to wipe out all traces of a Muslim or Arab presence in Jerusalem. But the will of the Palestinians is much stronger than the Israeli governments ridiculous policies.

Fear Controls the State of Israel

As an intelligent person, that focuses on both sides of the conflict, I decided to study the Israeli side. Everyone that visits this blog, and everyone I know, know that I am Pro-Palestinian, however we need to understand what the Israelis think, however, we do not have to agree with them.
The popular Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, was the first place I started. I went on its website and read several articles. The one that stuck out to me was an article explaining the Hamas rockets raining on Israeli cities, This is an excerpt:

"But the world should know this: No matter how progressive the government in Israel, no matter how grave the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza, without an end to the rockets, there will be no peace process and certainly no peace. While the rockets are flying, nothing else moves. Nothing that Israel has tried, neither diplomacy nor brutality, has been able to stop the rockets. Only Hamas can do that. The world and Washington could have made the rockets a priority years ago, and perhaps brought this to resolution. But the world has other things to think about, and Washington as well. "

I have many comments on this part of the article. The Israelis are living in total fear of destruction and are trying to prevent another Holocaust (that will never happen) from happening, or that is what they think. But the truth is, no one is trying to wipe the Jews from the face of the Earth. The rockets launched by Hamas are there to resist the occupation, to resist the thousand of home demolitions, the thousands of innocent deaths and prisoners, the Wall, the checkpoints, all the aspects of the occupation.

I truly want to believe that if Hamas stops these rockets, then peace will find its way to that region, but it's very complicated. Another comment: The "nothing Israel has tried, neither diplomacy or brutality". The Israelis should know why these rockets are raining on their cities. The brutal occupation that has been in effect since 1967 and has been tightened in the past few years is the cause, as well as the failing of finding a solution to this problem. And Israel tries diplomacy to gain on its part, and not to gain peace. The many peace processes that have occurred in the past all have one common denominator. The West Bank is split into many parts, some settlements will not be removed, and the Palestinians cannot control their airspace, harbors, borders, water and other vital things to a country. The question is why? Because Israelis don't want to see the Palestinians prosper, or rather they do not want to deal with a threat of a powerful country sitting next to them, only the Palestinians in the occupied territories have to deal with that. All the diplomatic solutions Israel has tried is stripping Palestinians of their rights to a REAL country. Not a country that is controlled by another, then that would be occupation all over again.

I can understand the Israelis' fear of these rockets, and the threats from Iran, but I should think that these fears should drive them to a peace process, not to more tightened occupation. I would like to see a cease-fire, a real one this time, which insures rights on both sides. Hamas shouldn't launch rockets, and Israel should loosen its occupation [for now, it should actually end it, but that's not going to happen overnight] and to tear down the Apartheid Wall. Then peace will be reached, because one group cannot be asked to stop the violence with the other group still using it. Both sides should stop.

One Palestine of Jews and Muslims

Imagine the land, from the coasts of the Mediterranean to the Jordan River, peaceful. It is like a normal country, no walls, no barriers, no checkpoints, no military in the streets. Orthodox Jews and Muslim Shaikhs walk in the same street, to the same holy site. They converse, laugh and then part, the shaikh to the mosque and the Jew to the Wailing Wall.

Why could this not be a reality. Why did the Israelis have to establish their own state. They would have been welcome to live in Palestine. Look at Lebanon now, there's an almost even percentage of Christians and Muslims, and they are united under one name, Lebanese.

The Jewish argument would be, because their holy book promised the land "to the sons of Abraham". We don't know if that's true or not, because we cannot have a conflict involving two different religions and base the solution on a one sided resolution. If that was true though, they could live in the holy land. But I don't think any religious book would justify the expulsion and suffering of millions of Palestinians. When the state of Israel was established, it was the twentieth century. It wasn't like a thousand years back when there were crusades and religious leaders conquered half the world. I think it was very extreme of how they came in and established their state on stolen Palestinian land.

Anyway, my dream is to see a unified Palestine, 50% Israelis, 50% Palestinians. There has to be religious tolerance in that region, specifically that region, since it is the holy land. Three different religions claim it, there used to be Israeli kingdoms, Palestinian kingdoms, Christian kingdoms, the three Abrahamic religions had a claim.

If Israel will remain in this path, its future will not be ensured in any way. The Palestinians can come back and conquer the land, (just like the Israelis had done), and then they will show the Israelis how their hellish lives were. Israel is going nowhere towards peace, but rather to war. Wars have sparked in the past, and will remain to take place because peace has to be built on justice, it has be built between people, not governments; it is not merely a piece of paper.

The Violent Raids in the Occupied Territories

There are many treacheries and cruel behavior surrounding the Israeli occupation, but one of the cruelest can be the surprising home raids by the Israeli Defense Forces, IDF. They can come at any moment of the day, and break down an innocent Palestinian family's door to just destroy everything in their way. That is their nature. The Israeli military wants to make its presence known by going through with these raids.
One example, is Zaid. He was sitting with his wife and children in his living room, watching a television show, when all of a sudden he hears a loud bang, and immediately after that the front door had collapsed. In the doorway stood three soldiers, and one after another, they began filing into the house. Zaid's wife began screaming and running to the adjacent room, because she didn't have anything covering her hair. The children began screaming and crying. They wet their clothes. Zaid started asking the soldiers for a warrant. They began laughing and continued with their "playtime".They were destroying anything that lay in their path. Television sets, plates, vases, paintings. One soldier made his way to the roof of the house and destroyed the satellite dish. This is considered amusing to the IDF.
For no particular reason, they enter a Palestinian home, and demolish it's contents. No person on Earth has the right to go through another's personal possessions without a search warrant. The innocent family lay there helpless, watching their valuable possessions scattered, destroyed, and laughed upon.
Imagine someone going through your things. You watch the photo albums that had pictures of your dead grandparents being destroyed and laughed upon. You feel desperation and helplessness, and you hate these monsters to a degree you've never felt before.
These raids have a long term affect on people, and can scar them. No matter how long this occupation has been in effect, no one will ever get used to this sort of behavior.
Going back to Zaid's story: After the soldiers were finished, and there was simply nothing left to destroy, they fire hundreds of bullets through the wall and made a hole, so that they can exit the house. After a few days, Zaid found out why the IDF were in his home. They wanted to arrest a man two buildings beside Zaid's home, and the IDF soldiers did not want to risk their lives by walking in the dark streets. Instead, they cut holes in people's houses and have some "fun" while they are at it.

Protesting for Release of Gilad Shalit

Recently, there have been a lot of protests about the kidnapped soldier, Gilad Shalit. Hundreds of Israelis have gone out and protested in front of Ehud Olmert's home, where a tent has been erected. Shalit's family had moved from their home in Galilee to this tent, to pressure the Israeli government and Olmert to find a deal of his release. Gilad Shalit was abducted in 2006 by Palestinian militants that crossed the border from Gaza.

Well, let's just hope that Israel doesn't call an all out war on the Gaza strip once again, just like in 2006. The media is making this a huge deal, and are once again looking at one side of the story. There are thousands upon thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, most of them are innocent and were targets of cruel raids conducted by the IDF and Jewish Settlers. Why doesn't the American Media, or the International media present these pieces of information. From 1967 to 2005, there have been 650,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons. In late 2006, there were 400 Palestinian children imprisoned in Israel. There are 3,500 Palestinian children that have been arrested in the occupied territories. In 2006 alone, there have been 5,666 Palestinians taken prisoner because of ridiculous raids.

With all these statistics and numbers, the media wants to make a huge riot for 1 soldier! This is unbelievable. Before the Israelis start protesting and using violence, look at these numbers, and then they will know why the Palestinian militants did this. There is no comparison I know, but as always, the Jewish superiority has played a role. One Israeli soldier abducted is about the equivalent of thousands of Palestinian civilians imprisoned. And when the families of those imprisoned Palestinians protest peacefully, the IDF come in and start shooting rubber bullets and tear gas, or worse, they open fire. It just looks ridiculous to me that everyone is protesting for one soldier, when thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians, including children are imprisoned. Anyway, the lives of Israelis are more important to the Jewish state. That's no surprise, just like in the Gaza offensive. 1 Israeli life meant one hundred Palestinian ones. The Israeli government said it themselves. What else do I have to write to capture the racism and discriminatory policies.

The Agonizing Death of the Two State Solution

With the building of these Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Israel is slowly putting the two state solution to sleep, or rather to death. The two state solution calls for a Palestinian state alongside an Israeli state. The Palestinian one shall be formed in the West Bank and Gaza, yet look at the West Bank now. How on earth is this going to be a Palestinian state with thousands of settlements dotting the whole map. Not only that, but the Apartheid Wall that is being built certainly does not help the cause, but it is making it worse. The wall does not follow the Green Line, which is the official border of the West Bank. There are hundreds of checkpoints in the territory. East Jerusalem is an occupied territory, yet Israel has annexed it, going against International law. Israel is building settlements right now, and it doesn't seem to want to stop. With the building of these settlements, Israel is securing its land, Judea and Samaria. They connect these settlements with each other on modern roads and they separate the Palestinian people from each other. These settlements are being built on tall hills overlooking Palestinian towns and cities, and they are circling around East Jerusalem, not to mention the whole of the West Bank. Jewish settlers have a clean and constant supply of water, versus the Palestinians, that barely do, and it is dirty water, full of disease. The Jews have a modern road system that goes straight into Israel, yet the Palestinians have dirt roads that they have to walk, and checkpoints that they have to pass and stand hours under the sun. Everyday, Israel is sending settlers into the occupied West Bank, which is illegal under international law, as is all the other things they are doing. The United Nations states that it is illegal to move populations in or out of the occupied territories. Israel is doing both. They are expelling the Palestinians out of the West Bank, and settling Jews in. It's unbelievable. With that said, how are we going to have two states? How is Israel going to remove the settlements and half a million settlers from the West Bank. The answer is it cannot, even if the government wants to, which it doesn't. They settlers will revolt against the government and there will be violent clashes. The Israeli government knows this will happen, yet it is still building and moving settlers in. And the amounts of money Israel is spending on the wall is tremendous. It's not going to tear it down with ease when the time comes, I'm sure.

Cruelty of the Jewish Settlers

Most of the time, you will hear that Palestinians and Arabs in general are being racist Jews and are violent with them. And this is a very hard stereotype to break in the West because of their one-sided media coverage. However, the very opposite is true.
The Jewish settlers that live in the West Bank are the cruel and racist ones, not the poor Palestinians. And this is what the world has to see. For example, in this photo, a group of Jewish settlers had fired a crude rocket into this Palestinian family's home, after the Gaza cease-fire had been set in place. The world knows nothing about it, because these settlers are not convicted and are not tried. They are probably detained by the police for about a week or less, and then are set free, to do whatever they want.
This example is one of the many that goes on in the West Bank. Palestinian families that live close by to settlements are subject to house raids, and harrasment that never ends. One example of this treachery is Noor's story. Jewish settlers broke into her house and beat her children until they are unconscious. After that they destroy her belongings: dishes, television sets, furniture. Then they leave, which is something lucky. Many times, the Palestinian family living in that house is kicked out of their home and the Jewish Settlers occupy it. How can anyone, and the state of Israel, justify these horrors.
Palestinians don't have any protection and are in constant fear of these raids. Military law is enforced on them, however for the settlers, it is Israeli civil law. A Palestinian can be detained for about 250 days without a trial or a reason for imprisonment. A Jewish settler can only be detained for 8 days. This is absolute discrimination, yet the United States supports the state of Israel because it is "a democracy, and recognizes human rights". It's a mockery, and I can't help but feel sorry for the Israeli government because it knows what its doing but chooses to lie to itself.
I found two videos on youtube that demonstrate the violence and treachery of these Jewish settlers. The first one is of a Palestinian woman in Hebron being harrased by a Jewish settler, here this is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2AaDg7-zD0
The next one is of a British film crew trying to shoot a documentary of a Palestinian family but is interrupted and harrased by two young Jewish settlers saying: Get out, this is our land, (a lot of swearing.)
WARNING: this video includes offensive material.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSAvaYY-y7Q

From Scapegoat to Villian

From day one, Zionists have used the the excuse of the Holocaust to establish and create their own state. They used the tragic holocaust to form their own tragedy: the expulsion of the Palestinian people, and the expropriation of their land.

The State of Israel was formed because the Jews did not feel safe anywhere if they did not have their own land. They considered Uganda and Cypress as a location for a Jewish state, but once World War I was over and the British occupied Palestine, their eyes reverted to that prize: the Holy Land.

The Jews immigrated in huge numbers from Europe and came into Palestine, but they were still a very small minority in Palestine. And that is the truth, a truth the Israelis currently do not want to believe. The Israelis think they came into Eretz Israel and found nothing, no people, no houses, nothing! It's extremely ridiculous, these claims. So we go now to the partition of Palestine in 1948 and then to the war. Israel gains more land and expels the Palestinian population from their homes. Now, in 1967 it occupies the West Bank and Gaza. Now they begin to systematically make life difficult for the Palestinians, by closing the borders, building checkpoints, and now the final touch is the Apartheid Wall that is not yet complete. So here we have these poor people being prosecuted by Hitler, and now they come to Palestine, create a Jewish state (solely Jewish), expel the Palestinians and their goal is the annexation of Gaza and the West Bank, once the "demographic problem" has reached a solution, as they say. Who are they to expel the rightful owners of the land and force them to go the neighboring countries? Those were the people that faced the fear of death from Hitler, and now they are imposing that fear on the Palestinian population if they choose to stay in the West Bank. The problem with the Jewish people is they think they are so superior and that all the holy land belongs to the Jews, yet in reality Christians and Muslims have a very strong claim, if not stronger than the Jews. Israelis don't want anyone to live in Israel unless they are Jewish. And in that racist and discriminatory policy, the State of Israel has just prevented millions of people from seeing their homeland, yet the world thinks that justice is served.

The Palestinians would have welcomed the Jews if they chose to live there, but why make their own state? Well the answer rests in every Israeli: because of their greed and their state of mind. The holocaust was a very sad event, but it passed and now it's time to start a new life, a life that is not based on cruelty and injustice.

A Jewish State If You Like it or Not

The State of Israel's top priority is to keep its status as a Jewish State, in other words ethnic cleansing. What else would you call it when they don't allow the rightful owners of a house in Haifa to live there, but welcome Jews from Eastern Europe that have never seen Haifa or probably heard of it all their lives? This is a reality Palestinians must face. Racism, racism, and more racism. I am going to give you an example:

A woman is pregnant. Her husband lives with her in Jerusalem. They are expecting a baby within three months. When their child is born, they could barely register the child in Jerusalem. The couple needs to prove that Jerusalem is their "center of life", as the Israelis call it. The couple has to retrieve electric bills, water bills, heating bills, and proof of the home ownership. And these documents all have to go back at least fifteen years. Who on Earth saves their electric bills over the course of fifteen years. That is impossible for Salma, because she recently moved from her parent's house, to Ahmad's house. And she has been living with Ahmad for a year, not fifteen. Since she left her parents house for a year (which was the only proof of her living in Jerusalem) and she has no official proof of living with Ahmad (because residency papers are extremely difficult to obtain), the Israeli government expels Salma from Jerusalem because she has "abandoned" it, when she was actually living there her whole life. Ahmad and their child can stay, but the child has to leave when he reaches the age of fourteen. Ahmad would have to follow Salma to the West Bank in order to live with his family. One family expelled, thousands more to go.

Thousands of people have to endure this racism in East Jerusalem. Let us remind the Israelis that East Jerusalem is an Occupied Territory and shares the status of the West Bank and Gaza since they were all captured in 1967. However Israel annexed East Jerusalem, and is slowly expelling the Palestinian population. They also built the separation wall along the border of the West Bank with the farthestmost suburbs of East Jerusalem. Now, a West Banker can never enter East Jerusalem.

A Jewish European family, Jewish being the key word, arrives from Ukraine, and they are immediately granted citizenship and residency papers as well as on option to live in "Judea and Samaria", or the rest of Israel. This family, that has never seen Jerusalem or Palestine in all its life, comes and within half an hour they are granted everything the Palestinians are rejected.

Israel is slowly expelling all the Palestinians from East Jerusalem, so the city would unanimously be Jewish. Isn't that racism, and discrimination against religion and nationality. Other than that, it is ethnic cleansing (well that sounds familiar doesn't it, hint hint: The Holocaust). which is extremely illegal internationally, not that all of the other things Israel is doing is legal. However the international community, being the United Nations chooses to keep its mouth shut. The United States however, plays an active role, and continues to supply weapons and financial support to the Jewish state because they think justice is served, and are very, very sympathetic with the Jews because of the Holocaust. Why not go build a Jewish Nation in California and save the world this trouble. I'm sure the Americans would "LOVE" that.

Racism in the Israeli Occupation

I will describe to you what is happening in this photo. An IDF soldier feels threatened by the presence of this three year old. Therefore he chooses to retrieve his gun (if you could call it a gun) and aim it at the little boy. This way, the 20+ year old IDF soldier can ensure his safety, his life, and his well-being.

What the Israelis are doing to the Palestinians is in all meaning apartheid. The whole formation of this Jewish state goes against anything we learned in life. Let me explain what I mean. Little children learn to share, to communicate, not be violent. Not to be greedy, or selfish, but to be polite and understanding. All of these characteristics stick with the person for as all long as he/she lives. Yet here we have an exception. The Israelis. No not all Israelis are bad, but the majority of them think that what the Israeli government is doing is correct, politically and morally. Why doesn't the world see these acts of racism, I do not know. And I am extremely perplexed at the state of the world. The United States ended racism and segregation of African Americans, yet here we have the IDF treating these poor people like insects. And Israel is so proud of it's military, and the world is impressed with how dedicated these soldiers are to their country. Well think again, I surely am not proud of what these people did and are doing to this population.

Racism is a big crime in the world, but the International community chooses to ignore what's happening in the West Bank and Gaza. Half the population is under the poverty line, they can't eat or sleep (they don't have a house). They can't go to work, because of the checkpoints that are sprouting up everywhere. First they expelled them from their homes and land. They made them flee into the West Bank and to neighboring countries. Next they want "Judea and Samaria", because it's the promised land in their holy book. Well, if the world was going to go on claims of their holy books, the world would be a stage for wars and crimes. We'll have the Holy Wars and crusades all over again. But in the world's eyes, Israel has the right to exist. Alright, and if it does, why does it not stick to its original borders? No, it wants to expand. All those characteristics that I mentioned above don't describe the IDF and the Israeli government. But the opposites would. They are greedy, selfish, rude, cruel. They want everything, all the holy land. They even wanted the Jolan Heights which belonged to Syria. And now they got it, the West Bank, Gaza, and the Jolan Heights. I came across a photo of the Jolan Heights today labeled, "The Land God Promised to Us [Jews]. Why not claim the whole earth while they are at it. The Jolan Heights is part of Syria and will always be part of Syria. But their greed is blinding them, and their state of mind, that everyone is inferior to them, isn't helping anyone. They choose to ignore the people that are already living on it, and even have the nerve to say that the land was barren and it was waiting for the Jews to come (for two thousand years). This is unbelievable. And I hope people that have a different stand than I should open their eyes to the horrors. What next are the Israelis going to occupy, Jordan, or Syria? Israel can justify anything it does with the United States behind it, even the illegal settlements and the ethnic cleansing that is almost complete in Jerusalem.

Expulsion of Palestinians, An Introduction

The horrors that Israel is casting upon the Palestinians is unbelievable. I'm reading another book right now on this subject, and it's titled "Palestine Inside Out", by Saree Makdisi. It's a brilliant book that outlines the lives of the Palestinians living under the Israeli occupation, in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. I couldn't control my emotions while reading this book. Anger swept over me, and I was clutching the book so hard. The material is unbelievable, but it is true. The lives of these poor people that were expelled from their homes is terrifying. They are under control, they cannot move about freely. They have to carry numerous permits just to accomplish everyday tasks, such as grocery shopping, going to work or school, and that such. The checkpoints however, are the hardest part of the Palestinian life. There are about 600 checkpoints in the West Bank. They are operated by the IDF soldiers, and they have to be obeyed. It's ridiculous, the whole ordeal that they have to go through. And Israel's sole goal, is to expel the Palestinians from their land so they can annex the West Bank to Israel, and finally include "Judea and Samaria", as they call the West Bank, in the map of Israel. I just can't grasp the concept, of these foreign people coming into this land that was called Palestine, and establishing a state, in vain, expelling the current population, and they are still not satisfied. They want the whole land, yet they don't want the people on it. Right now, after 2,000 years, the Jews remember that they had ancestors living in Palestine, and right away they wanted to establish a state, that already housed a nation, which is Palestine. And currently, the Israelis want to keep the status of their state, as Jewish, and the problem lies in the occupied territories. They are at a point where their ambitions have reached an obstacle, which is the Palestinian population in the West Bank. Israel calls them the "demographic problem". I believe this whole campaign is racist. Any Jew, from all over the world, as the right of return to Israel, yet the Palestinians, that were living on this land for generations on end, don't. A Jew from Latvia, in Eastern Europe, can come into Israel and within half an hour he could have his residency papers, and citizenship granted, as well as the option to live in Israel or the West Bank (in the numerous ILLEGAL settlements that are being established). Yet a Palestinian does not have this right. A whole generation of Palestinians haven't seen Jerusalem, because of these ridiculous checkpoints, yet any Jew from anywhere in the world can come with ease and buy a house right next to the Dome of the Rock mosque. It's unbelievable, and I'm surprised the world as stayed quiet about this for so long. To anyone that has opposing views, what argument can you bring forth that makes sense, and defends the state of Israel for these acts of apartheid and racism.

Hillary Clinton in the Middle East

Recently, Hillary Clinton has toured the Middle East, specifically Israel and the West Bank city of Ramallah. she met with various Israeli leaders on Tuesday to discuss the current situation with the Palestinians and the possible solutions. Benjamin Natenyahu, the current Prime Minister who is in the process of forming a government, does not support the Two-State Solution, involving a Palestinian State to be created in the West Bank and Gaza, and to live side by side with the state of Israel. Natenyahu, however supports the building of illegal settlements in the West Bank, which is right now, the main obstacle standing in the way of this solution. The Prime Minister does not want to achieve peace, in my opinion, he just wants to push the Palestinians out of their homes and land. By building these settlements, he is telling the world that he wants to expand the border of Israel past the pre-1967 borders, past the green line and into the West Bank to the Jordan River. Hillary Clinton however is determined to have this Two-State Solution in effect, and the United States will always support this plan. Everyone knows it is the only way for the violence to end in that region, and for the people of that region to live in peace of mind. But this is wear the United States and the Israelis reach a conflict, and I truly don't know how Benjamin Natenyahu is going to be persuaded to support the Two-State Solution, but I hope it will be done if he likes it or not.
Hillary Clinton also met with Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, and discussed the current situation as well. She assured him that the establishment of a Palestinian State will always be the priority of the American government in that region, after he expressed concerns about Natenyahu's policies.
I believe that currently, the United States has to condemn the building of illegal settlements, as it is the first step in this long Two-State solution. It will only be more difficult to add to the number of already high settlers in the West Bank, and to remove them when the time comes of establishing a Palestinian State.

Israel's Excuse for War

Israel, always "acting in defense of its citizens" has a lot of different tactics to spark war in the region. One of them being to push the surrounding Arab countries to the limits of their patience, until they say enough and resort to violence. In response, Israel launches an all out war, and the IDF destroys anything in their way, being houses or innocent children. Let's take the example of the 1967 Six Day War. The start of this war was not in June, but in April, two months before the official Six Day War. Israeli Settlers were advancing deeper and deeper into the heart of the Golan Heights in Syria and they were plowing land, in an area known as the demilitarized zone. The Israeli government was pushing these people further and further. And this strategy was well thought out beforehand. They wanted a reaction from the Syrian Government, they wanted them to shoot at the Israeli Settlers and that's exactly what happened. Because in this situation, there are only two choices the Syrian government could take, and only one choice to defend Syrian land. If they didn't shoot, the Israeli Settlers would advance more and more and settle in Syria, just like they are currently in the West Bank. But they did shoot, and the Israelis launched a disproportionate offensive. This is what Israel's Defense Minister, Moshe Dayan said at the time to the New York Times, "If they didn't shoot, we would tell the tractor to advance further, until in the end the Syrians would get annoyed and shoot. And then we would use artillery and later the air force also". So the Israeli Defense Minister at the time, said it himself, that this advancement of settlers was to trigger a reaction from the Syrians, and in response Israel would be justified to attack Syria, as an "Act of Defense for the Israeli Citizens". And they did exactly that, causing heavy Syrian casualties as well as the shooting down of several planes over the city of Damascus. These are their tactics, provocation, violence, and lies. And this cycle will never end. We saw it just recently with the Gaza offensive. Israel blockades, Hamas shoots rockets, and Israel announces a war "to ensure the safety of the citizens of the State of Israel", and kills around a thousand and a half people in the process. And I don't have to mention the state of destruction the Gaza strip is in right now, and all of that just for home made rockets being launched and barely killing 5 people and doing any damage. Israel's disproportionate offensives and attacks will never end. The world witnessed in 2006 how Israel bombed Rafik al Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon. Why, because Hezbollah imprisoned two Israeli soldiers and won't release them, in comparison with the hundreds of innocent war prisoners in Israel. Not only did it bomb the airport, but this whole issue became a month long war that destroyed a portion of Beirut. So before the world points fingers at the Palestinians and neighboring Arab countries, they should recognize what Israel had done, what it is doing, and what it will do in the near future.

Israel's Disproportionate "Retaliations"

Much of the time, the Western World, and the United States most importantly, persuade themselves that what Israel is doing, and all the attacks and offensives that take place are a reaction to Palestinian violence and attacks. Let's take the example of the Gaza Offensive, which just ended a little over a month ago. Because of the rockets that Hamas was launching into Israel, Israel decided that it was enough and attacked the small, yet heavily populated Gaza Strip, first from the air and then on foot. Yet the Israeli government, or the world at that matter, never asks why they started attacking Israel in the first place. Maybe it was resistance to the occupation, but in my opinion it was an outcry to the ridiculous blockade that Israel has cast on all the Gaza strip. It controls what comes in and what goes out. There is barely any food, no electricity, no clean water. What could the Palestinians do other than launch rockets. I see these rockets as flares, fireworks that get the attention of the population around them. They were used as signals of desperate and immediate help, just like the sinking Titanic used flares to signal to ships in the distance. After this "Act of Defense for the safety of the Israeli people" was over, the result would be the slaughter of about 1,300 people and more than a fourth of these victims are innocent women and children. When the world confronts the Israeli government with this information, all it can say is "Hamas is using innocent civilians as human shields". If I were to ask the Israeli government to explain what they mean, they would say that "Hamas is hiding in heavily populated areas to get the sympathy of the world when there is a huge number of casualties". However, where can the ruling group of an area live, or hide in that matter. Gaza is one of the most heavily populated areas in the world, with about 1.5 million people living there. I won't deny the "Acts of Humanity" that Israel has done by releasing flyers to the Gazans reading "We Will Destroy Your Home Tomorrow, Go Somewhere Safe". But where is safety? Where is safety in a strip that barely measures 139 square miles that is bombarded by white phosphorous and other lethal bombs every two minutes. Where is the family that just received this flyer going to go? Out on the streets, where it's even more dangerous due to the land offensive, because there is no way out of the Gaza Strip. This is what Tzipi Livni said "We are not telling them to go out of Gaza, we are just telling them to go to a safer place in Gaza". As if the poor innocent families had a copy of the IDF's agenda on what to destroy next.

The West Bank: Reaching Prosperity

In the first part of this series of articles, I wrote about the awful checkpoints and the results of the Separation Wall Israel has built around the West Bank. Now I want to write about the possibility of prosperity reaching the land. There is only one obstacle in the Palestinians way of reaching prosperity, and that is Israel. (Shocking, right?) The Israelis, when building this wall, didn't even stay on the path of the Green Line, which is the official borders of the West Bank. They chose to take their own path and zigzag around the original borders, taking a huge amount of land from some villages. For example, in the village of Bi'lin, Israel took 50% of the land, where all the farming fields and vegetation was, originally belonging to the village, and built modern settlements for the Israelis. It's so ironic, to have beautiful houses sitting on lush valleys on one side of this wall, and on the other, poverty-stricken villages, with dirt roads and crumbling houses. The Israelis would say, why not let the Palestinian Authority invest in infrastructure. First of all, the financial issues. The neighboring Arab countries, including Saudia Arabia and the gulf states could donate and aid them. Now they have the money. Next thing is, how are they going to bring in building supplies and steel and all the necessities of building, with a wall this size. There is no way in or out of this area for some. And how can the Palestinians be sure that Israel will not take these buildings away from them, just like they did in 1948. They wouldn't want to build for nothing. And if they build homes and new buildings, who would buy them. At the level of poverty the Palestinians are in because of Israel, there is no hope for the occupants to increase their wage, and live a better lifestyle. The West Bank is not even a country! When the Palestinian Territories become a fully independent state, then they can build and prosper their new land. But not now, when Israel is controlling what comes in and what goes out, including water, electricity, and food. People often point out the success of the young state of Israel. But we can point our fingers to the United States, for all the financial aid, and the modern military aid, that helped them acquire this land, violently and with force, in the first place.

The West Bank: An Open Air Prison?

What we most often hear Israeli politicians say and repeat over and over again is this: Instead of spending so much money on rockets and war material, they can invest in infrastructure. It's very easy to say that, but when it comes time and the Palestinians want to do exactly that, we will see the Israelis taking back their words. Before I write about the infrastructure issue, let me write about the possibility of a Palestinian state existing on the other side of this fence. This picture, reminds me of a concentration camp, not a "wall to ensure the safety of Israeli citizens". It's three times the height of the Berlin Wall, and so much times longer, engulfing the whole West Bank when it will be complete in 2012. The United Nations has to wake up to this nightmare and order Israel to stop building this Apartheid Wall. It is in all sense apartheid and the West Bank is now a huge prison. People living in the West bank can't go to other villages without stopping hours on end at ridiculous checkpoints, operated by obnoxious teenage boys serving their military service. They have no citizenship, and no nation, they are simply a forgotten people on this earth. No one can cross this wall and go into Israel without a special permit, a permit that is impossible to get by most occupants of this territory. Most people are poor in the West Bank because what jobs in an area that's closed off by a fence would pay a good amount of money. The Israeli's don't give them a chance to work on their side, calling them terrorists and that such. I am fully against the idea of suicide bombing against innocent civilians, and that is not what Islam orders, (anyone can interpret anything in their own way). The suicide attacks are what caused this wall to be built. I could kind of see where they're coming from, but the most they could have done is build checkpoints at some locations on the West Bank because this is just absurd. The West Bank isn't even a country to be closed off by walls like these. Anyone challenging this idea, what do you call what Israel is doing to the Palestinians; protecting their civilians?, no I do not think so at all, and this wall that was built will only increase the tension between these two peoples and will cause more violence as a result. I once compared this wall to the wall that the US wants to build on their border with Mexico. But then I remembered one key fact, Mexico is a country of its own, that is responsible for it's own trade, import and export, economy, infrastructure and a lot more. The West Bank and Gaza have nothing! Wake up everyone, and condemn this act of apartheid, of this imprisonment of the innocent people that are stuck in a poverty-filled area with barely any money, and barely any education for their kids.

The Two State Solution

Sixty years have passed since the birth of the State of Israel, yet to this day, no Palestinian State has formed. My original solution to the Palestinian-Israeli crisis, was one unified and independent state in which Jews and Arabs coexist peacefully in Historic Palestine. Yet, that is never going to happen. So now I resort to the two state solution. This solution, as many people have been talking about for many years is to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. However, to some Palestinians, and Arabs in general, this is giving up to Israeli Occupation, and to accept this solution would be an act of cowardice. However, after I have given this issue a lot of thought, and researched into the history of this region, I think this is the only thing that will solve all the violence and terror that is going on in the Holy Land. When we talk about this solution, the Right of Return of Palestinians is always discussed and always seems to complicate the already tangled plan. Why should Jews from all over the world have the right to come to Israel and establish their homes, yet Palestinians do not. Some people that leave Jerusalem for example, can never enter it, even if it is their birthplace. All Palestinians were expelled from their homes in Palestine after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and went to the West Bank. These people lived in poor infrastructure, refugee camps, a place where no person can tolerate. However, now could be the chance to change all that. By working to establish a Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza, the Palestinians can then modernize their lives, elect a government, build airports and modern cities, thrive tourism and most importantly live in peace. But, another flaw that tends to creep up into these discussions is the amount of land. If this state was to be created, Israel would have 78 percent of Historic Palestine, and Palestinians would have only 22 percent. Another flaw are the vast numbers of settlements in the West Bank. Those are to be removed before this process can ever take place, yet the Israeli Government is very reluctant to take such a step, because the settlers are not willing to go. And by taking such a step, the Israeli Government could see an uprising from their people. The most important topic to be discussed is Jerusalem. Many Palestinians are looking towards East Jerusalem as the capital of the new Palestinian state that is to be established. However, it is crazy to cut in half this holy city, which means cutting in half all the sacred sites of the Muslims, Jews and Christians alike, as in the case of the Temple Mount, or the "Haram al Sharif" as known to Muslims. This is the third most sacred site in the world for Muslims, and they want to be its custodians, its keepers. However Israel wants the same site, and is not willing to give it up. My opinion on the issue of Jerusalem as the capital of both states is preposterous. Jerusalem should not be cut in half like a peace of meat. This city should be under the rule of the United Nations, as an international city, not belonging to any state, just like the Vatican. People, Muslims, Jews, and Christians should be able to move freely, with full safety and re-assurance. The first step in this peace process, is the recognition of both sides, and to stop all the violence from both sides.