PLO is destroying Israeli heritage

The regional council of Gush Etzion warns the PLO's destroying antiquities in the Judean desert:

The Gush Etzion Regional Council, along with the "Shomrim al Ha'Netzach" (Keepers of the Eternal) organization, on Thursday said that in addition to the illegal construction and the permanent damage being done to the Judean Desert, the PA is also destroying archeological sites, where antiquities from various periods were found, including from the Iron Age – or the times of the First Temple.

According to Gush Etzion sources, the area has never been studied in depth, aside from a number of preliminary surveys. About 40 years ago, Professor Yizhar Hirschfeld conducted a survey in which diverse archaeological findings were discovered, including various buildings from the Byzantine period, agricultural structures from the First Temple period, and ancient graves from prehistoric periods. In addition, several roads passed through the area which were important in ancient times, and which were severely affected by the illegal development taking place.

Researchers say that the construction seriously harms the ability of scientists to understand important parts of world history that took place in the Judean desert, which was an integral passage between the Land of Israel and neighboring countries.

Naftali Bennett, along with Yair Lapid, have considerable blame to shoulder for leading to this horrible situation locally, after the former performed a coup détat in the past 2 years. Now, we're bound to have a whole fiasco destroying morale upon us as a result of all this corruption.

Illegal PLO construction needs to be stopped

A Gush Etzion mayor is determined to put a stop to illegal Islamic construction in the Judean desert area:

As part of his routine visits to areas throughout Gush Etzion, Gush Etzion Regional Council Mayor, and Yesha Council Chairman, Shlomo Ne'eman, today (Tuesday) stopped at the illegal PA town under construction in a strategic area, within a nature reserve, between Gush Etzion and the Judean Desert. Ne'eman discovered that construction at the site has progressed rapidly.

Ne'eman witnessed firsthand the trucks and other heavy equipment with PA license plates paving an access road to the new community.

According to Ne'eman, his visit proves how the PA is determined to quickly establish a new town in full view. The site is located not far from the Herodion National Park.

The Gush Etzion Regional Council recently launched a campaign titled: "Nothing is out of scope, as the PA builds," whose goal is to immediately stop the illegal PA building within the eastern Gush nature reserve.

During his visit today, Ne'eman said: "The enemy's heavy machinery continues to work full force. The tractors and trucks are their tanks – they are using them to conquer our land. Last Shabbat they paved another road. This is a nature reserve and we will keep it that way."

Ne'eman added: "The sounds of construction here are the sounds of destruction, they are destroying the desert, and creating a barrier between Gush Etzion and the Dead Sea. We see that the work to build a new city continues in full swing - one direction a house is being built and on the other side a mansion is already up, with Herodion in the background. If we sit idly by, this area will be transformed into a new Arab city. We will not allow this to happen. We will fight against it with all our might and we will stop this immediately."

Let's hope the authorities will be willing to confront the issue as quickly as possible.

2005 disengagement law repealed

Steps have been taken to mend an injustice from nearly 2 decades ago, which the since reviled traitor Ariel Sharon engineered:

The Knesset on Tuesday voted 31-18 to repeal articles of the 2005 Gaza Disengagement Law banning Israelis from entering and residing in four communities in northern Samaria.

The Gaza disengagement led to the destruction and evacuation of the Israeli communities of Sa-Nur, Homesh, Ganim and Kadim in northern Samaria, as well as 21 communities in the Gaza Strip.

In addition to rolling back the articles (23-27) banning movement into and out of, and residence in, northern Samaria, the amendment stipulates that Article 28, which canceled rights regarding real estate in vacated territory, will not apply to rights established there starting from the date of the bill's approval.

"There is no longer any justification to prevent Israelis from entering and staying in the evacuated territory in northern Samaria, and therefore it is proposed to state that these sections [of the disengagement law] will no longer apply to the evacuated territory," reads the introductory text to the bill.

The bill's passage erases "to some extent" the "the stain on the garment of the State of Israel" left by the disengagement, it continues.

Those who voted in favor of repealing the offensive law did the right thing. But we can't rest on laurels, as Limor Son-Har Melech noted. There's still much more that needs to be done to mend the damage.

The Wanker And The Wall

Earlier today I thought I would listen to an old classic, but I ended up deleting it from my files as I got so pissed off about the hypocrisy of one of its former members.

So here good folks

"The end of apartheid stands as one of the crowning accomplishments of the past century, but we would not have succeeded without the help of international pressure-- in particular the divestment movement of the 1980s. Over the past six months, a similar movement has taken shape, this time aiming at an end to the Israeli occupation". Desmond Tutu

The following statement, signed by 54 international figures in the literary and cultural fields, was published in the International Herald Tribune on May 8, 2008:

“Even after fifty years of living the Palestinian exile I still find myself astonished at the lengths to which official Israel and its supporters will go to suppress the fact that a half century has gone by without Israeli restitution, recognition, or acknowledgment of Palestinian human rights and without, as the facts undoubtedly show, connecting that suspension of rights to Israel’s official policies. … the Palestinian Nakba is characterized as a semi-fictional event … caused by no one in particular.”

Edward Said, commenting on the “Israel at 50” celebrations in the US in 1998

The creation of the state of Israel almost 60 years ago dispossessed and uprooted hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes and lands. With their peaceful lives ruined, society fragmented, possessions pillaged and hope for freedom and nationhood dashed, Palestinian refugees held on to their dream of return, and Palestinians everywhere nourished their aspiration for freedom, dignified living, and becoming whole again.

There is no reason to celebrate! Israel at 60 is a state that is still denying Palestinian refugees their UN-sanctioned rights, simply because they are “non-Jews.” It is still illegally occupying Palestinian and other Arab lands, in violation of numerous UN resolutions. It is still persistently and grossly breaching international law and infringing fundamental human rights with impunity afforded to it through munificent US and European economic, diplomatic and political support. It is still treating its own Palestinian citizens with institutionalized discrimination.

In short, celebrating “Israel at 60” is tantamount to dancing on Palestinian graves to the haunting tune of lingering dispossession and multi-faceted injustice.

There is absolutely no reason to celebrate! But there are myriad reasons to reflect, to engage, to work towards peace and justice.

Signatories:

Mahmoud Darwish (poet, Palestine),
John Berger (artist/author, UK),
Augusto Boal (director/writer, Brazil),
Ella Shohat (author, USA/Israel),
Roger Waters (musician, UK),

Roger Waters,?

PINK FLOYD

Open Letter to Roger Waters

Palestinian Arts Community | | March 7, 2006

Mr. Roger Waters
31 Ruvigny Gardens
London SW15 1JR, England

7 March 2006

Dear Mr. Waters,

The Palestinian arts community received in disbelief the news of your upcoming performance in Tel Aviv in June, at a time when Israel continues unabated with its colonial and apartheid designs to further dispossess, oppress and ultimately ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their homeland. We strongly urge you to cancel your plans to perform in Israel until the time comes when it ends its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and respects the relevant precepts of international law concerning Palestinian rights to freedom, self-determination and equality.

Upon learning of your planned tour, Palestinian as well as several international artists asked in shock: How can the artist whose name around the world was for many years associated with breaking walls of injustice be in any way complicit with the monstrosity of Israel’s Wall, declared illegal by the International Court of Justice at the Hague? Not too long ago, you lent your good name to the War on Want’s effort to collect signatures of public figures against Israel’s Wall. At the time, you rightly stated “The poverty inflicted by the wall has been devastating for Palestinians. It has kept children from their schools, the sick from proper medical care and continues to destroy the Palestinian economy. I fully support War on Want’s campaign, and hope that as many people as possible sign the wall – as a strong message to the UK government that immediate action is essential.”

This same Wall has grown substantially since. It now divides many more Palestinians from their livelihoods and vital health and educational services. The support it garners in Israeli society has also grown – close to 90% of all Israeli Jews support the Wall despite its devastating repercussions on Palestinians under occupation.

Furthermore, as you may know, Palestinian civil society has almost unanimously called upon international civil society to engage in acts and campaigns of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it fully complies with international law and recognizes the fundamental human rights of the people of Palestine. The Church of England, the US Presbyterian Church, a group of top British architects, among many other groups and institutions in the West, have all heeded the Palestinian distress call and considered applying effective pressure on Israel to promote peace and justice in our troubled land. Is it too much, then, to expect conscientious international artists to uphold the values of freedom, equality and justice for all?

Ironically, when you were invited last year to perform in the Palestine International Festival 2005, the theme of that festival was “Another BREAK in the Wall!” The following lyrics for a song which was to be performed by school children were inspired by your timeless song:

We don’t need no occupation
We don’t need no racist wall
No more siege and no more curfews
Soldiers leave us kids alone
Hey! Soldiers! Leave us kids alone!
All in all you’re just another brick in the wall
All in all we’ve just made another BREAK in the wall

These words still express our collective view of the Wall, of our oppressors, and are still inspired by you. Do they still mean the same to you?

We appeal to your moral compass, your record of standing up for principles of human dignity and equality. And we sincerely hope that you shall be another brick in the bridge to liberty and justice, not another concrete slab in Israel’s Wall of shame.


Truly,

The Undersigned:

Full list here

We don't need no occupation: Roger Waters graffitis the Israeli Wall in Palestine

British wanker and Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters spray-paints the words "No Thought Control" on a section of Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank