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The Ten Plagues
of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine
By Chuck Brucks
ccun.org,
November 16, 2007
THE PLAGUE OF HOUSE
DEMOLITIONS AND COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT
The families of Palestinians who are merely suspected of acting against
Israel, or who reside where gunfire is suspected can be subjected to the
punishment of house demolition. Palestinians denied building permits on
land they already own, can have their homes demolished.
As a result, thousands of Palestinians have been left homeless.
Collective punishment is a violation of the 4th Geneva Convention.
THE PLAGUE OF ILLEGAL
SETTLEMENTS AND BY-PASS ROADS
Since the beginning of the Occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and
East Jerusalem in 1967, 150 Jewish-only settlements and 11 exclusively
Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem have been built in the Occupied
Territories.
Since the Oslo agreement, the Israeli government has built over 200
kilometers of by-pass roads inside the Occupied Territories. These roads
Ñ built on appropriated land Ñ can be closed to
Palestinian traffic. Their purpose is to connect Israeli settlements
with Israel proper, allowing settlers to bypass Palestinian towns and
villages, and to isolate Palestinian villages and towns from each other.
There are now 400,000 Israeli-Jewish settlers who live illegally on
Palestinian land.
The settlements are a
violation of the 4th Geneva Convention.
THE PLAGUE OF INHUMANE
CHECKPOINTS
There are hundreds of checkpoints in the Occupied Territories.
Ostensibly imposed to enhance Israeli security, their primary function
is to harass and humiliate Palestinian civilians, who are delayed for
hours trying to get to work, schools, hospitals, shops, or to visit
friends and families.
In addition, entire closures and sieges of Palestinian villages, towns,
and cities have become an increasingly routine form of punishment. In
the case of illness or child-birth, these checkpoints and closures are
life-threatening. Women have given birth on the road or in their car,
and people have died in ambulances and vehicles, waiting to get through
the checkpoints or driving over back roads during the closures.
These checkpoints and closures violate the most basic of human rights.
THE PLAGUE OF REFUGEE
CAMPS
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, who fled or were forced from
their homes due to the war that established the State of Israel in 1948
or due to the 1967 War, live in extremely crowded refugee camps under
miserable and intolerable conditions.
They have no hope of getting out, or improving their lives, as long as
the Occupation continues.
THE PLAGUE OF F-16
BOMBINGS
The Israeli military is directing lethal U.S. supplied weapons Ñ
in the form of laser-guided missiles fired from F-16 planes and Apache
helicopters Ñ against buildings located in densely populated
civilian areas, killing, injuring and terrorizing the Palestinian
civilian population.
This use of U.S. supplied weapons against civilians is a violation of
U.S. law.
Targeting civilians is a war crime under the 4th Geneva Convention.
THE PLAGUE OF WATER
THEFT
The Israeli government controls all water in the Occupied Territories.
While the Palestinian population finds itself with empty wells, many
Jewish settlements nearby have lawns and swimming pools. Palestinian
villages receive on average one quarter the amount of water per person
as the settlements; in the refugee camps it is one ninth.
The water table in the West Bank has become dangerously depleted, and
Israel continues to control the one resource around which all life
revolves.
THE PLAGUE OF
ASSASSINATIONS
The Israeli military has been carrying out assassinations of suspected
militants and Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza. In addition
to the illegality of these acts, many innocent bystanders have been
killed and injured in these attacks.
The Israeli military has appointed itself judge, jury and executioner.
THE PLAGUE OF UPROOTING
TREES
The Israeli military has uprooted tens of thousands of olive and fruit
trees, depriving the Palestinians from harvests which have traditionally
provided them with food, oil and income. Many of these olive trees are a
hundred years old, and their loss severs a connection to the land
through generations.
Collective punishment is a violation of the 4th Geneva Convention.
THE PLAGUE OF
MILITARISM IN ISRAELI SOCIETY
Militarism has led to a hierarchical, discriminatory, and sexist society
in Israel, with increasing aggression and violence. More and more
Israelis question the moral decay that accompanies the criminal actions
of the military and the dehumanization of the Palestinian people
THE PLAGUE OF CIVILIAN
DEATHS
The death toll from military action and suicide bombings continues to
multiply at a horrifying rate. Since the beginning of the second
Intifada, 18 months ago, there have been over 1000 Palestinian deaths
and over 300 Israeli deaths, the majority of them civilians, including
women and children. Thousands of Palestinians and scores of Israelis
have been severely injured Ñmany of them disabled for life.
To quote a common statement by many
Israelis:
"The Occupation is Killing Us All."
Only an end to the occupation can stop the bloodshed.
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