When Israel became a state in 1948, it was contingent upon upholding the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights which guarantees in Article 13 that:
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
Israel encourages any Jew without any pre-existing historical tie to the land to migrate under the Law of Return and all receive immediate citizenship and all rights and privileges including state-financed language and Jewish history immersion, free and subsidized housing, job placement and welfare assistance while seeking employment, medical, dental and other benefits.
Israel abetted by USA blind allegiance has blatantly refused to uphold UN Resolution 194, which guarantees the Right of Return-or compensation to the indigenous population which was forced from their homes in 1948 and 1967.
Clinton is unmoved by the facts on the ground that the indigenous peoples of that land have been denied human rights and dignity and that they are illegally dominated and oppressed with the aid of USA's "$1.8 billion a year in military aid and $1.2 billion in economic aid, plus another $1 billion or so in miscellaneous grants, mostly in military supplies, from various U.S. agencies. Tax exempt contributions destined to Israel bring up the total to over $5 billion annually." [3]
Clinton continued to satisfy the ignoble lusts of AIPAC as she continued to deny the truth,
"Israel is a beacon of what's right in a neighborhood overshadowed by the wrongs of radicalism, extremism, despotism and terrorism. We need only look to one of Israel's greatest threats: namely, Iran. Make no mistake; Iran poses a threat not only to Israel, but to the entire Middle East and beyond... U.S. policy must be clear and unequivocal. We cannot, we should not, we must not, permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons. And in dealing with this threat as I have said for a very long time, no option can be taken off the table."
On Feb. 10, 2007, during a SABEEL [Arabic for THE WAY] Conference in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, Dr. Phyllis Bennis, a secular Jew, journalist, prolific author, Mid East analyst and Co-founder and Co-Chair of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation stated,
"Iran has signed the NPT, which allows them the right to have nuclear power and to enrich uranium. The 185 non-nuclear states have agreed to give up the right to have nuclear weapons and the five nuclear powers that signed the NPT agreed to get rid of their nuclear weapons... Iran is not in violation of the NPT, but America is! The USA has been in violation ever since the day they signed it. The USA is acting like a rogue state. The rhetoric out of Washington, the arresting of Iranian diplomats in Iraq, are deliberate provocations hoping that the Iranians will take the bait and respond."[4]
At her AIPAC fundraiser, Clinton continued her pimping for AIPAC funds as she persisted in denying the facts on the ground,
"We also know that the dangers posed to Israel have been compounded by the rise to power of Hamas, an avowed terrorist group that has assumed the reigns of the government in the Palestinian Authority and Hezbollah, the terrorist group that is represented in the Lebanese government. I have long said that Hamas must not be recognized until it renounces violence and terror and recognizes Israel's right to exist...Hamas terror campaigns have claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians and its leaders have refused to disarm, to reject violence, or even to recognize the right of Israel to exist. We must insist that Hamas and indeed all Palestinian parties renounce terror and recognize Israel"[1]
Not only did the Palestinian Authority agree in 1988 to recognize Israel and reaffirmed this in 1993 during the Oslo Accords, Israel instead, has persisted in its unabated relentless seizure of Palestinian land, building of illegal settlements and pilfering of the indigenous peoples resources.
On November 15, 2005 , Senator Hillary Clinton stood on the Jerusalem side of The Wall and was quoted in Ha'aretz, expressing support for The Wall because it "is against terrorists" and "not against the Palestinian people." [5]
Senator Clinton,-as most of Congress- have NOT ventured to the other side of The Wall to view the economic and psychological effects of The Wall, which has been deemed illegal and must come down by the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
But, this reporter has, four times since June 2005.
After reading Senator Clinton's inaccurate, insensitive and pandering remarks in Ha'aretz, I immediately contacted her through her website, but my email bounced back, for I am no longer a New York constituent.
This really got my Irish up, for unlike Senator Clinton, I was born and bred in New York and I am more New York than Hillary will ever be.
Not being one to ever give up, I then snail mailed Hillary a respectful letter expressing my distress over her obvious pandering and blatant denial of humanitarian and International Law and informed her of the many gaps and lack of 'security' along The illegal Wall that I knew about from my visits to Israel Palestine in June 2005 and in January, March and November 2006. Every taxi driver, would be 'terrorist' and I knew the way into Jerusalem from Bethlehem without going through security checkpoints and The Terminal.
The only response I received from Senator Clinton was to be put on the DNC's mailing list soliciting funds.
Clinton has continued to fuel the fire of my Irish ire during her hustling of AIPAC funds as she purred,
"I've been a strong supporter of Israel's right to build a security barrier to keep terrorists out. I have spoken out against the International Court of Justice for questioning Israel's right to build that fence of security...I was deeply saddened and outraged by the suicide bombing in Eilat this week. Some are saying that Eilat was bombed because Israeli's efforts at self-defense through its security fence have been so successful. But Eilat is a tragic reminder of the threats that Israel faces everyday and underscores the importance of our continued support for Israel's right to protect and defend her people. The highest priority of any government is to ensure the safety and security of its citizens and that is why, as I have said, I've been a strong supporter of Israel's right to build a security barrier to keep terrorists out. I have spoken out against the International Court of Justice for questioning Israel's right to build that fence of security."[1]
If The Wall were actually built on Israeli land, Clinton could get a pass, but any map of The Wall clearly illuminates that The Wall is all about grabbing land and resources and dividing the indigenous peoples of that land from their families, jobs, land and holy sites.
Reported in the august, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs,
"Financed with U.S. aid at a cost of $1.5 million per mile, the Israeli wall prevents residents from receiving health care and emergency medical services. In other areas, the barrier separates farmers from their olive groves which have been their families' sole livelihood for generations."[6]
Clinton continued selling out we the people seeking truth, peace and justice as she pandered for AIPAC funds,
"On my trip to Israel a little over a year ago, I went to see the fence with my own eyes. During a trip to Gilo, a Jerusalem neighborhood, I was greeted by Col. Danny Tirza, who was overseeing the construction of the security fence."
The facts on the ground are that Clinton's Orwellian spun 'neighborhoods' are all ILLEGAL colonies for everyone exist on legally owned Palestinian land.
This reporter also went to see "the fence" which in actuality is composed of 25 to 30 foot high concrete slabs with razor wire, trenches, sniper towers, electric fences, military roads, electronic surveillance, remote controlled infantry and buffer zones that stretch over 100 miles wide that deny Palestinians access to their land, families, jobs, and resources.
Clinton's Jewish only colony of Gilo is less than a mile away from the ancient indigenous Christian village of Beit Jala , which is a five minute car ride from downtown Bethlehem. The Wall will soon completely separate Bethlehem and her sister villages of Beit Sahour, and Beit Jala from the northern parts of the West Bank. Because of Bethlehem's significance to and historic ties with Palestinian East Jerusalem, Bethlehem 's economic demise may well mark the beginning of the end of any viable Two-State solution.
If The Wall is completed in this area, 4000 dunums of the areas most fertile land will be isolated in order to accommodate for the expansion and the building of the ILLEGAL colonies/settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo. This means ancient indigenous villages have no potential for expansion.
This growing ghettoization of Bethlehem is not only destroying ancient communities, but the influx of nearly 900 new settlers, and plans for 30,000 new settlers to colonize the occupied West Bank, violates International Law and the Road Map, which prohibits settlement expansion.
The Wall and all of Israel's settlement colonies are illegal under International Law, but Clinton cares naught for the rule of law and the truth is The Wall is an APARTHEID Wall for it divides, separates, humiliates, dominates, controls and denies inalienable human rights to the indigenous people of the Holy Land.
Clinton continued in her denial of reality,
"Col. Tirza's explanation in his graphic depiction of what was part of the daily life of people living in that one neighborhood, gave me an even greater appreciation for the imperative of the fence and the need to do everything possible to protect Israel against these continuing attacks."
The truth is the militant attacks are rooted in frustration of the now 40 years of Israeli Occupation and the illegally settled Jewish inhabitants that continue to encroach upon the land and rights of the indigenous people of Holy Land.
International Law states occupation is to be temporary and the occupiers are not to transfer their population into occupied territory.
What Clinton is apparently clueless of, or cares nothing about, is the fact that in the year 2000, in Beit Jala, some hopeless militants who had given up on the peace makers of the West to demand Israel adhere to International Law, UN Resolutions and the UN Declaration of Human Rights, infiltrated this previously peaceful Christian village to shoot into the illegal colony of Gilo. The Israeli Defense Force immediately retaliated and the bedroom of George of Beit Jala was decimated.
The shrapnel that pierced the wall of George's sanctuary read "Made in USA" and was delivered from American made Apache helicopters that buzzed over his innocent head. If George had been in his bed, he would be dead.
I first met George of Beit Jala in June 2005, shepherded by an Internet connection, George Rishmawi, a Palestinian Christian, who met with the USA delegation from the interfaith, non-profit Olive Trees Foundation for Peace/OTFFP, of which I am a member. The OTFFP is dedicated to raising awareness and funds to help replace the over one million olive trees The Wall has destroyed.
During my initial visit with George of Beit Jala, I learned that he, his sister and mother all suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome, but Clinton, USA and Israeli government all just consider that collateral damage. George's father told me he has no bitterness about what happened even though the snipers had not even been near their home. The most difficult thing for him is the lack of employment opportunities in Bethlehem and being dependent on relatives and friends to feed his children.
Clinton's delusional descriptions continued,
"Now as a thriving democracy... Israel has also used its strengths to forge alliances throughout the world even when those efforts have not always been welcome."
Jeff Halper, American Israeli, Founder and Coordinator of ICAHD/Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and a Noble Peace Prize Nominee for 2006, informed this reporter:
"Israel is a not a democracy but is an Ethnocracy, meaning a country run and controlled by a national group with some democratic elements but set up with Jews in control and structured to keep them in control.... 1967 the Israeli government has destroyed over 2,000 Palestinian homes. 95% of the cases have nothing to do with security. All these homes are on Palestinian private property. The Israeli government will not grant permits for them to build on their own land, and in reality are quietly transferring the Palestinians administratively from the land. They make conditions so intolerable that the Palestinians give up and leave and this is exactly what they are after. Not only do the Palestinians receive no warning when their homes are to be destroyed they are fined $1, 500.00!
The Israeli government simply does not want to take responsibility and the USA government ignores the situation... Missing from Israel's security framing is the very fact of occupation, which Israel both denies exists...and that "security" requires Israel control over the entire country...rendering impossible a just peace based on human rights, international law, reconciliation.
Israel has no constitution but has a Declaration of Independence which promised that Israel would abide by conditions and UN resolutions. They have not fulfilled the agreement which was the basis of their independence.
"One out of three Israeli children lives below the poverty line. It's probably about 80% for Palestinians. Jews are like everyone else, those who have been abused grow up to be abusers. Things here have been turned on their head: its victim mentality and denial about the occupation. Once Israelis accept the fact that they are occupiers they will have to admit their State Terrorism.
"It has been said that the Israeli's do not love this land, they just want to possess it. There have been three stages to make this occupation permanent. The first was to establish the facts on the ground; the settlements.
"There are ½ million Israeli's and four million Palestinians here. They have been forced into Bantustan ; truncated mini states; prison states.
"It is apartheid and Bush and Hillary are both willing collaborators.
"In 1977, Sharon came in with a mandate, money and resources to make the Israeli presence in the West Bank irreversible. The second stage began in April 2004 when America approved the Apartheid/Convergence/Realignment Plan and eight settlement blocs.
"This is just like South Africa! The Bush Sharon letter exchange guaranteed that the USA considers the settlements non-negotiable. The Convergence Plan and The Wall create the borders and that is what defines Bantustans.
"Congress ratified the Bush plan and only Senator Byrd of West Virginia voted no and nine House Representatives.
"Israel has set up a matrix of control; a thick web of settlements guaranteed to make the occupation permanent by establishing facts on the ground. Israel denies there is an occupation, so everything is reduced to terrorism. It is our job to insist upon the human rights issue, for occupied people have International Law on their side."
"Missing from Israel’s security framing is the very fact of occupation, which Israel both denies exists...and that "security" requires Israel control over the entire country...rendering impossible a just peace based on human rights, international law, reconciliation."[7]
Clinton concluded her hustling by putting her foot in her mouth, "It is not enough for us to say the right things; we've got to be smart and tough enough to do the right things that will protect American and Israeli interests now and forever."
Tough and smart comprehends that the only way to security for Israelis is justice for Palestinians.
Tough and smart would demand an end to the occupation and ensure that all people do indeed have equal human rights.
No enduring peace, no security, and no reconciliation is even possible without the foundation of justice.
Justice requires mercy on the weak and oppressed and is always nonviolent.
During one of my four interviews with Jeff, he told me this 'joke':
"The Israeli government simply does not want to take responsibility and the USA government ignores the situation. Do you know why Israel does not want to become America’s 51st state? Because then they would only have two senators!"
They certainly have one vocal demimondaine and craving consummate pandering Senator who is currently lusting for the American Presidency.
SOURCES:
- http://clinton.senate.gov/... [all quotes from Clinton are from this source]
- Eileen Fleming, Memoirs of a Nice Irish-American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory Chapter 2,
- Page 24, Understanding the Palestine-Israeli Conflict, Dr. Phyllis Bennis. www.tari.org ]
- http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/... /the_way_truth_hope_and_solidarity_agains
- http://www.wearewideawake.org/... sk=view&id=98&Itemid=90
- Washington Report on Middle East Affairs Page 43, Jan/Feb. 2007
- Jeff Halper "Obstacles to Peace, A Re-Framing of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict" page 1. April 2005
PS-I will be offline until 7PM EST. I will read ALL comments and respond to all thoughtful and thought provoking comments.
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