Tag: West Bank

Why is Israel’s Occupation and Annexation of Palestinian Land Illegal?

I won’t go into the various ways in which Israel has taken over (“expropriated”) privately owned Palestinian land in the West Bank (and even within Israel itself). But they do it on a regular basis.

In this post I will focus on the provisions of International Law being violated by Israel’s steady encroachment into the Occupied Territory/West

Israel’s Annexation/ Separation Barrier separating Palestinians from Israel. Observe that it’s not hard to climb. It was not built to stop terrorism, but to steal more land.

Bank.

The Geneva Convention declares that land conquered through war (1) cannot be kept by the conquering power. (2) Neither can it be incorporation as a part of the victorious country. (3) Nor can the conquering country move its own citizens into the occupied region for colonization.

Israel is violating all of these legal requirements.

Here is what International Law says:

Article 49, paragraph 6 of the 1949 Geneva Convention IV says, “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”

Article 85(4)(a) of the 1977 Additional Protocol I adds that “the transfer by

Palestinians live under military occupation. Trump’s plan will expand and deepen its oppression

the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies” is a serious breach of the protocol.

Article 8(2)(b)(viii) of the 1998 Statute of the International Criminal Court states that “[t]he transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies” is a war crime.

Why were these restrictions on the ancient attitude of “to the victor goes the spoils” put in place?

The answer is simple. And you’d think Israel might be especially sensitive to this part of the story.

Adolf Hitler.

As I will explain in my next book, during the Second World War, Adolf Hitler

Hitler’s plans for population transfers throughout Eastern Europe — remove the natives and replace them with ethnic Germans

undertook ethnic cleansing in parts of eastern Europe.  He then resettled these areas with ethnic Germans, planning to incorporate the newly settled territories into an expanded German state.

For only one example, the Nazis expelled nearly 122,000 Poles from German occupied Pomerania in 1939-40. They were replaced by 130,000 ethnic Germans who were resettled in place of the former Pomerania population.

German settlement expansion in eastern Europe was a part of Hitler’s “Germanization” program, referred to as Generalplan Ost (the GPO).

The Geneva Convention, at the instigation of the United States, hoped to prevent (or, at least, to outlaw) similar population transfers via warfare in the future.

Israel first violated this part of international law in 1948-49 when it conquered 50% of the territory allotted by the United Nations for a Palestinian state.

Israel continues its violation of international law in the West Bank, which Israel captured from Jordan during the 1967 war.  The West Bank has remained under military occupation ever since, hence its identification as Occupied Territory.

Now it becomes United States policy to endorse the violation of international law. Only a few weeks ago Trump announced that the US considers all Israeli settlements in the West Bank as “legal.”

This week’s Apartheid Plan endorses the illegal annexation and Jewish settlement of the entire Jordan Valley, displacing the many Palestinians farmers from their own property.

All of the Palestinian lands stolen by Israeli fiat, and built up by illegal

Illegal Jewish settlers in the Jordan Valley. They have been breaking the law for a long time. Trump now says it’s OK

Israeli settlers, throughout the West Bank will be officially annexed as a part of Israel.

I know this will offend some and appear an exaggeration by many, but facts are facts. They don’t change because some folks are offended.

  1. Israel is a rogue nation. The international community must condemn its avaricious, illegal, inhumane behavior now.
  2. The United States is the world’s most far-reaching enabler of such rogue behavior, not just in the Middle East, but around the globe.
  3. Sadly, nobly intentioned international law has failed to stop the ghost of racist, ethnic nationalism from stealing from and oppressing other human beings.
  4. The ghost of Hitler hangs heavy over the United States, Israel, Donald Trump, and Benjamin Netanyahu.

Professor Erakat Talks About Trump’s Middle East Plan for Israeli Apartheid

Noura Erakat is assistant professor of criminal law at Rutgers University, specializing in international and humanitarian law. You can check out her faculty page here.

Her most recent book, which I read not long ago and highly recommend, is entitled Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine (Stanford, 2019). In this book, she examines the modern history of Palestine through the lens of international law. (I’ll give you a head’s up: Israel has regularly violated, and continues its violations, of international law flagrantly and persistently.)

Recently, Ms. Erakat was interviewed by Aaron Mate, one of my favorite journalists for his independence and investigative abilities, on the Grayzone program, Push Back.

Their conversation concerns the practical effects of President Trump’s recently announced Apartheid Plan for Israeli/Palestinian relations.

Please take the time to watch the complete interview here. It is approximately 15 minutes long.

Her summary: “This plan is much more dangerous than I originally thought.”

Kairos Palestine Responds to Trump’s Middle East “Peace” Plan

Kairos Palestine is an organization made up of Palestinian Christians living in the West Bank who advocate for peace and justice on behalf of all the Palestinian people.

Some years ago I had the opportunity of visiting their offices and speaking with several of their volunteers. Our time together was delightful as we discussed the ethics of Israel’s military occupation and its consequences.

Today Kairos Palestine released a press statement in response to Trump’s unveiling of his administration’s obscene pretense of a “peace plan.” (You can read a few of my thoughts about Trump’s plan  here.)

Below is an excerpt of Kairos Palestine’s press release. You can read the entire statement here:

“Peace, peace, they say when there is no peace”

(Jeremiah: 6:14)

The position announced by the U.S. administration regarding what they termed as the ‘deal of the century’ was in fact an insult to history, humanity, the Palestinian people, and the American dignity itself.

The American-Israeli proposal is premised on consolidating Israeli control over all of Palestine’s land, making sure that the Palestinian people are subjected to this control, in return for economic promises that are closer to a deal for buying the people and their spirit with money.

This proposal seeks to legitimize the Israeli occupation and revoke the history of the Palestinian people and their legitimate inalienable rights, particularly the right of return for the Palestinian refugees and the right to self-determination in an attempt to eliminate the Palestinian question completely and definitively…

…Through this declaration, the U.S. has proclaimed itself clearly as a party to the conflict rather than a peace broker, as it considered this deal, that has no reference to the international law or the UN resolutions, as the final offer to the Palestinians holding them fully responsible, should they reject it, for all the ensuing repercussions.

Israel and the U.S. are yet to listen to the voice of God commanding them, here in the Holy Land and in the world as a whole: do not steal, do not kill, in order to stop killing the Palestinian people and stealing away their lands.

Israel and the U.S. are yet to listen to God’s voice, to the voice of conscience, and realize the truth that cannot be subdued: the Palestinian people are alive, consistently demanding their rights over the past hundred years till this date. The Palestinian people will continue to demand their rights until they obtain them. The only path to peace is that of full equality between the two peoples. Israel peace is preconditioned by Palestinian peace, in fact, Israeli mere survival is based on the just peace for Palestinians. Otherwise, Israel, despite all its power, will live in fear and anticipation of an unknown future. As we already stated in the Kairos document ‘Moment of Truth’ , “our and their future are but one. Either a cycle of violence whereby we all perish, or peace whereby we all thrive.” 

Observations on the Trump/Netanyahu Apartheid Plan for the Middle East

Trump and Netanyahu unveil the “plan of the century” — remembering, of course, that the century is merely 10 years old.

The Impeached and the Indicted are on the campaign trail together with a shamelessly ridiculous plan for permanent apartheid in Palestine, all under the guise of an Israel-Palestine peace plan producing a viable two-state solution.

Well, attention Mr. Impeached President and Mr. Indicted Israeli Prime Minister — a two-state solution died long, long ago.

Israel’s continuous multiplication of illegal Jewish-only settlements throughout the occupied West Bank put a stake through that two-state dream like a knife cutting through butter.

And the US stood on the sidelines and watched.

Take a look at the map provided with the plan (which you can read for yourself here). By the way, the extremely right-wing Jerusalem Post is thrilled that Trump’s plan comes with a map. They absolutely gush, It is the first plan to come with a map!

Oh joy, I guess the editors at JP like their books to come with big two-tone pictures.

But the map does illustrate one thing clearly. There ain’t no Palestinian state with contiguous borders (as Jared Kushner, the plans’ main presenter, insists there is).

Perhaps someone in the White House needs to explain the meaning of “contiguous” to Mr. Kushner.

The dark blue areas are the holes in the tiny piece of Swiss-cheese that Israel has left for the Palestinians to nibble on. These very non-contiguous dots are what is being called “a Palestinian state.”

They are like tiny Indian reservations linked together by underground tunnels and elevated bridges, all of which will be heavily monitored by the Israel military. So much for freedom of travel and assembly in the new Palestine.

Trump also made it very clear that those ungrateful Palestinian mice ought to be darn thankful for the meager crumbs of cheese left to them by their oh-so generous benefactors, Israel and America.

Take a moment to scan this map tracking the loss of Palestinian land ownership throughout the years of Israel’s settlement expansion and illegal occupation.

A few other details to remember include:

  • The new state of Palestine is prohibited from having any treaties or diplomatic connections with other countries. This is Israel’s idea of Palestinian national sovereignty.
  • Palestine is prohibited from having its own, independent security forces. Whatever forces they have must always support Israeli security interests.
  • None of the Palestinian refugees inhabiting the camps of neighboring nations since their displacement in the wars of 1948 and 1967 may return to Palestine. The Israelis insist, No more of your refugees jumping on the bed!
  • There is a strong likelihood that many Israeli-Palestinians, possessing Israeli passports and citizenship, will be stripped of those possessions and forcibly transported to the new “state.” (Which, by the way, is a violation of International law. But Israel excels at such illegal dealings.)
  • Along with all the other stolen land, Israel has also decided to annex the entire Jordan Valley, displacing all the Palestinian farmers who have owned and cultivated that land for as long as anyone can remember.

And the list could go on.

President Carter called for Palestine, Peace Not Apartheid in his 2006 book by the same name. But I am afraid that forcing brutal apartheid onto the Palestinian people has been the name of the game in Israeli and American politics for decades.

For the one-two punch of ethnic cleansing and apartheid are Israel’s favorite original sin. They just can’t break their national addiction to war crimes, racism and oppression.

And there is no sign of national repentance anytime soon.

Palestinian outrage over the Trump plan is already evident throughout the region, and justly so.  I expect that we may see a Third Intifada on the horizon sometime soon. Frankly, I’d love to be there to join them.

Heck, if I weren’t a Christian and a pacifist, I would be stockpiling rocks and organizing revolutionary resistance right now.

Israel’s Culture of Killing

Today’s edition of Haaretz contains another moment of truth from Gideon

Israeli journalist, Gideon Levy

Levy about Zionist racism, lies, and the currency of anti-Palestinian hatred throughout Israeli society.

The piece is entitled “If There’s Such a Thing as a Murderous Culture, Then It Exists in Israel.”  I have excerpted the piece below, or you can read the entire article here:

“This is what the editor of Haaretz’s Culture and Literature supplement, Benny Ziffer, wrote on his Facebook page upon returning from paying a condolence call in the settlement of Ofra: ‘En route I looked at the Palestinian villages alongside the Jewish communities, and I thought of how for the Palestinians murder is a type of sport or enjoyment, perhaps a substitute for erotica. From that perspective we will never have anything culturally in common with them.’

“And if that weren’t enough, Ziffer also wrote, ‘Regarding this evil and undignified people living among us, we can only yearn for the land to vomit it out, because it isn’t worthy of this land, which is full of Jewish blood that it has spilled.’

“His post generated no comment. Ziffer has apparently exhausted his allotted attention. By contrast, Yaron London succeeded in raising a bigger momentary storm with less serious remarks: ‘Arabs are savages … they don’t only hate Jews, they kill their own first and foremost.’

“More than one straight line connects London and Ziffer. Their comments reflect the spirit of the times in Israel…

“More than they are racists, London and Ziffer are disseminating lies. I was sitting in London’s studio when he said his piece; I tried to respond in real time but to no avail. So I will try here.

“We examined the past decade; those murderous, bloodletting Palestinians, have since January 2009 killed 190 Israelis. How many Palestinians were

An Israeli soldier detains an unarmed Palestinian man following a weekly nonviolent protest against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel, Kfar Qaddum, West Bank, August 23, 2019. Credit AFP

killed by Israel, the seeker of peace and goodness, which will never have anything culturally in common with the Arabs? Some 3,500. Israel was 18 times more murderous. Was it for sport? Erotic pleasure? Of course not, but the blood speaks: Israel draws far more of it.

“Is it permitted to say that it’s Israeli culture to spill blood wholesale? According to London, yes. There is something called national culture, even if it’s a culture of killing. But when one speaks about genetic characteristics, it’s racism. One can even generalize, as London said, a generalization will always be unjust to the individual and the exceptional. But it has to based on reality, and the reality is that the enlightened whites have, in the past 100 years, massacred more people than all the Muslims and savages combined. Not only were Hitler and Stalin not Muslims, since World War II the United States, the land of the free, is guilty of more killing than any other country. Most of its mass killers are decidedly non-Muslim.

“Someone who generalizes isn’t necessarily a racist. But he may turn out to be a liar. If there’s a culture of killing, it actually exists in Israel. Soldiers and policemen who shoot to kill as a first choice testify to a warped morality. Fear, hatred, self-pity, the security cult, dehumanization and an itchy trigger finger are all Israeli cultural traits that lead to this mass blood-letting, but woe unto anyone who dares define Israel as having a murderous culture. He’d be condemned as an anti-Semite. The Palestinian people, on the other hand, are one of the most restrained people in history in its violent resistance to occupation and injustice. That’s the truth, there’s no denying it.

“Israel actually likes cultural and national generalizations, especially when they glorify its image. The ‘Jewish genius,’ ‘the chosen people,’ ‘Jewish morality,’ and ‘eternal Israel,’ are evidence of baseless arrogance. Ziffer has every right to think that the Palestinians enjoy murder and London can think they are savages compared to us, the enlightened and developed. It is our right (and duty) to answer them: There are no lies more abominable than these.” (emphasis mine)

Another Brave Editorial from Gideon Levy on Israeli Apartheid, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar

Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy has become the journalistic conscience of Israel.  And he continues to receive regular death threats as a result.

Rep. Tlaib, with family, being sworn in as a Congresswoman

His column today applauds the bravery of Reps. Tlaib and Omar in continuing to unmask the oppressive, undemocratic, and racist nature of Israel. And, ominously, the death threats against Tlaib, Omar and their families continues to rise, as well.

Levy’s piece is entitled, “Tlaib and Omar Make Things Clear About South Africa’s Successor.”

Of course, Israel is the “successor” to South African apartheid.

Below is an excerpt. You can read the entire article, complete with an

Rep. Omar, with her family, being sworn in as a Congresswoman

embedded video interview with Tlaib’s grandmother, here.

“Two American lawmakers helped reveal the truth about Israel to their country and the world. Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar should be thanked for this. And President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in their own way, helped uncover the truth. They are also to be thanked. The two of them, who banned the two legislators from entering Israel, saved us from another false representation.

“After all the human rights activists who have been barred from entering Israel, it took the ban on two American congresswomen to show that Israel is one of the only countries in the world that turns visitors away based on political views or opposition to a country’s regime.

“The Zionist left did its part as well. Stav Shaffir and Tamar Zandberg were distraught over the “damage to Israel’s image” that would be caused, so they advised the government on how to keep defrauding the world and claim that there is no apartheid while there is indeed democracy. Shaffir, who called Netanyahu a coward – he’s certainly far less a coward – wanted to explain to her American colleagues the “complexities of the conflict,” that wretched expression that serves the cowardly Zionist left, whose members love to use it to obscure the loss of their way and the clear fact that nothing is complex about apartheid.

“No one thought that the situation in South Africa was complex but the white nationalists and their sympathizers. Neither should anyone around the world make a mistake and think this about South Africa’s successor. Black-white, occupier-occupied – it’s not complex at all…

“These two courageous members of Congress, one from Minnesota and one from Michigan, have challenged the people in Israel who declare themselves against the occupation. Were these Israelis shocked by the entry ban because of damage to Israel’s image, or because of the representatives’ determination to work against Israel? Are they only declaring opposition to the occupation, or do they support activists like Tlaib and Omar and other BDS sympathizers?

“Israel almost beat them. Happily, Tlaib came to her senses and didn’t fall into the trap. The shameful proposal to let her visit her grandmother is a manifestation of colonialism: depoliticizing the Palestinian issue, transforming it from a national matter into a humanitarian one, and then portraying the occupation as merciful.”

What U.S. Politicians on the AIPAC Trip to Israel Will Never Learn, And Why Reps. Tlaib and Omar Were Right to Boycott It

The city of Ramallah is the provisional capital of the Palestinian state.  It is located in the West Bank region designated as Area A.

Supposedly, Area A is under the autonomous control of the Palestinian Authority.  Israeli propaganda says that the people living in this area have complete autonomy without the interference of Israeli forces.

Zionist literature, included ALL of the Christian Zionist work that I am reading these days, label Palestinian protesters against Israel as unappreciative, recalcitrant dead-enders who rebel simply because they hate Jews.

The proof, they say, is the supposed freedom and independence Palestinians have been granted by Israel throughout the West Bank in communities designated as part of Area A.

In other words, why else would Palestinians who have been granted their freedom continue to protest against good-natured Israel?  Obviously, they must be ungrateful anti-Semites.

Below is a video of Israeli soldiers harassing and firing tear-gas at a non-violent march of Palestinians near the city of Ramallah in Area A.

Check it out:

This confrontation between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians is something that politicians on a tour of Israel sponsored by AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) — such as the one recently boycotted by Reps. Omar and Tlaib — would never be allowed to see.

Forty-on Democrats and thirty-one Republicans participated in the most recent trip, sponsored annually by AIPAC.

Thankfully, the trip was boycotted by Reps. Omar and Tlaib because they know better.  These women know the truth about Israel.

Israeli public relations people sponsor these tours in order to repeat their government propaganda:

“Nothing to see here in Area A. These people are autonomous and independent. They live in freedom.  Disturbances are addressed by Palestinian police. Israeli soldiers are not allowed here.”

And this smiling gaggle of American doofuses, masquerading as

U.S. politicians being indoctrinated by Zionist propaganda on AIPAC sponsored tour of Israel

knowledgeable politicians, will then return home more ignorant and ill-informed about the plight of the Palestinian people than when they accepted a free trip to Israel from AIPAC.

And they will repeat these lies to their constituents, many of whom  are misguided Christian Zionists, about Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank.

The fact is, there is no place in the West Bank, Gaza or the state of Israel where Palestinians are truly free. They do not enjoy civil rights or genuine equality anywhere that is controlled by the Israeli government.

As you watch the video notice that the only people carrying weapons are the Israeli soldiers.  All of the Palestinians are unarmed. I have never seen any Palestinians carrying weapons at any of the protest marches I have attended in the West Bank.

I recognize one of the marchers as a friend of mine who is unwaverlingly committed to non-violence.

Some months ago he was released from an Israeli prison.

He had been arrested for the horrible crime of protesting the all-too common imprisonment of Palestinian children by the Israeli military.  He dared to stand in public with a home-made sign objecting to the arrest of 17 year-old  Ahed Tamimi for the dangerous act of slapping an Israeli soldier.

A soldier, by the way, who had just finished shooting one of her cousins in the head.

My friend’s arrest for protesting occurred in another section of Area A, where — the Israeli government assures us — the Palestinian people are free.

 

McDonald’s Takes a Stand and Boycotts the West Bank

Below is an excerpt from Gideon Levy’s latest article in the Israeli daily, Haaretz.  His piece is entitled “Thanks McDonald’s for Reminding Israel There is a Green Line, Even a Red Line.”

“McDonald’s presents: a model hamburger. It doesn’t appear on the menu and the company obscures its ingredients, but it’s clearly the flagship item – a boycott of the settlements. There are no Big Macs in Ariel and there will be no McRoyales in Efrat.

“The right is now demanding that this traitorous company be barred from opening a branch at Ben-Gurion Airport. A group called the Disabled Veterans’ Forum for Israel’s Security posted warning signs this week at the entrance to the company’s restaurants in Tel Aviv, modeled after the warning signs that tell Israelis not to enter the Palestinian Authority. It terms the McDonald’s boycott of the settlements “a disgraceful decision” and is urging a boycott of the company.

“That’s what happens to a hamburger that seeks to raise its head and do more than just sell an extra-large portion, that chooses to heed its conscience and not just be a hamburger.

“McDonald’s is a senior partner in the crimes of the meat industry and the holocaust of animals. It’s a symbol of globalization and capitalism. Its products are harmful to people’s health and the environment, and it doesn’t let its workers unionize.

“Nevertheless, we must now applaud its policy, which dates back to 2013, when its Israeli franchisee, Omri Padan, opposed opening a branch in Ariel. People of morality must therefore contemptuously cross through the warning signs that the right has posted at the chain’s branches and demonstratively buy a green salad with corn sticks as an act of support for the company’s courage and determination. It must not suffer because it took a step very few companies are willing to take, but that all companies should have taken long ago.

“The company’s official explanation may seem evasive, but it goes to the heart of the matter: “Alonyal [the franchisee] never had a license to open branches in the West Bank.” Boom. There is a Green Line. There’s even a red line.

“It’s true this separation is artificial, and it’s been dead for a long time already. It’s ridiculous to boycott the settlement of Itamar but not Tel Aviv, which funds it, guards it and legalizes its crimes.

“Nevertheless, McDonald’s has issued a resounding statement: The West Bank and Gaza aren’t here. It has said yes to Israel, no to the occupation, which counts for more than 1,000 protest signs at a demonstration. The franchisee never had a license in a piece of land to which Israel also never had a license…

“…Hamburger joints aren’t moral leaders. McDonald’s merely said what should have been self-evident to every commercial company: The franchisee for Israel isn’t necessarily the franchisee for the colonies of the occupation. Many Israeli and international companies ought to follow in its footsteps. Just as every law-abiding company has an obligation not to traffic in stolen property, so too it must not operate on stolen land.

“And there’s no other way to define the occupied territories and the settlements built there in violation of international law except as crime zones. Can a law-abiding company set up a legitimate business in Ofra, a settlement in which more than half the houses are built on privately owned land that was stolen by force from its legal owners? This bears no connection to ideology, or even morality, but only to operating within the law.”

Why My Posts Have Recently Become More Erratic

Perhaps you always thought my posts were erratic (…which reminds me of a story: back in the days when I was working with college students, I once met a young woman for coffee who asked me to define the word erotic. I thought this a bit odd, but answered her question and then asked one of my own.  Why do you ask?  “Oh,” she said. “I was trying to explain an idea to one of my professors. I was getting flustered and said, ‘Sorry, sometimes my thoughts become so erotic.’ I didn’t understand why he blushed and walked away.”  Ok. End of story.)

Even if you have always thought my postings were erratic – yes, I have erotic notions too, but I will never share them here with you – I feel the need to explain why they are now more erratic than usual.

I am trying to work diligently on my current book project, which means less time is available for blogging.  I will continue to post my occasional thoughts on theology, politics, world affairs and the church for you, my readers, who, for some odd reason, find my thoughts worth considering.

But, at least for the time being, the majority of my time will go to a new book addressing the damaging contributions made to the Israel-Palestine conflict by the advocates of Christian Zionism in the American church.

The book will have three interwoven streams of argument.

The first will discuss the history of Zionism and its implementation in Israel. The second will tell a few of the many heartbreaking stories I have personally encountered during my visits to the West Bank and Israel. The third will open up the Bible and explain how Christian Zionists (i.e. Christians who believe that modern Israel is God’s chosen nation) misinterpret Scripture with disastrously immoral consequences.

I am now working on chapter 4 (of a projected 12). After completing the first chapter that includes a personal story of Palestinian suffering, I sent a copy to my friends in the West Bank for their review. I have promised them that I will not publish anything personal without their approval.

So, after writing the story of a friend who was shot in the face, for no particular reason, by an Israeli soldier, I sent off the first draft.

Below is a short excerpt from his response:

You have presented a summary of our plight in the strongest way ever… It’s heart felt with facts and legal dimensions. It’s not biased with empty weak claims, but in defense of justice and humanitarian rights that’s rightfully presented. You made my soul cry and screaming…enough injustice…How the world is really blindfolded intentionally and unintentionally… I could never present our case any better…. thank you, brother…

Completing this book is my mission right now. It is one small thing that I can do. It may not be much, but just think of how different the world could be if everyone did the one small thing that they alone could do to improve the lives of others who were suffering.

I won’t disappear altogether, but I felt the need to tell everyone what I am up to.

My blog’s home page tells me that I have 485 subscribers. I find that hard to believe, to tell you the truth. I suspect that someone at Bluehost is pulling my leg. But I do appreciate those of you who actually exist out there is cyberspace and take the time to look at what I write.

I am extremely blessed. Yet, every day my blessings remind me of the unjust suffering endured by others whom Terry and I dearly love in the land of Palestine.

I am incensed at the way American Christians can use the Bible and theology to excuse the blatant oppression of an entire group of people. As I work my way through volumes of Christian Zionist literature I must periodically stop and take a break so as not to give myself a coronary.

Healthy theological debate is always worthwhile. But there is nothing healthy about any theology that teaches us, no matter how inadvertently, not to care about others.

No follower of Jesus Christ is ever justified, no matter what his/her theological argument may be, in siding with the strong against the weak; in enabling the powerful to exploit the powerless; in blessing the oppressors standing upon the neck of the oppressed; in using God’s word as a cover-story for murder, racial discrimination, and ethnic cleansing.

So, I’ve got to complete this task while I can.

Thank you for understanding.

Israeli Soldiers Shoot, Nearly Kill, An Unarmed Shepherd Boy

The Palestinian teenager was handcuffed and blind-folded, thrown to the ground.  When he tried to stand a soldier shot him and hit a major artery in his right leg.

He began to run. He was shot a second time, again with live ammunition.

Fortunately, a neighbor filmed the entire event. You can see for yourself in this Ha’aretz article.

The ever vigilant Gideon Levy has a follow-up account, giving more detail in today’s edition of Ha’aretz. Y0u can read the entire piece here, or check out the excerpt below:

“It all started last Thursday with a road accident in which Fatima Suleiman, a local teacher, was killed. Lately most of the access roads to the village have been blocked by the IDF, leaving one entrance, which opens dangerously onto the main road. That’s where Suleiman was killed. Osama Hajajeh attended the funeral, along with most of Tuqu’s residents, who are angry about their village being choked off by roadblocks. After the funeral, the young people went to demonstrate, some of them by throwing stones at military vehicles.

“Suddenly Hajajeh, a shepherd boy who had never been arrested, felt someone grabbing him from behind and throwing him to the ground. Between the olive trees, soldiers from the IDF unit had laid an ambush for the stone throwers. There were four to six soldiers, and after hurling the boy to the ground they handcuffed him behind his back, blindfolded him and began to drag him toward their jeep. At one point he remained kneeling on the ground, a soldier standing over him. The ground was thorny, Hajajeh relates now, from his hospital bed, so at one point he tried to get up for a minute and shake off the thorns. He now tells us, contrary to the published reports, that he had no intention of escaping – only to stand up. “How would I escape? With hands bound behind me and blindfolded?” he asks.

“The moment he stood up, a shot rang out. He says he didn’t feel anyone trying to grab him before the shot was fired at him. The bullet hit him in the right leg. Frightened to death, Hajajeh started to flee for his life. He didn’t yet feel pain in the leg, he says now, but he knew he was wounded. He had stumbled only a few steps before the second shot came, the bullet slamming into his left leg. Both shots struck him in the thigh, by the groin, but the second one hit a major blood vessel. He collapsed to the ground.

“He didn’t black out, but in the video clip he looks stunned. He remembers only that the woman from the village who reached him – also a teacher – removed his blindfold as he lay there.

“Ali-Mohammed Hajajeh, a construction worker of 47 with six other children – Osama is the third oldest – is a smiling man who understands that his son’s life was saved almost by a miracle. Osama remembers lying on the ground as the soldiers fired tear gas and brandished rifles at anyone who approached and tried to get him out of there. He was finally placed in the car of a village resident who rushed him to the local clinic; from there a Palestinian ambulance took him to the hospital. About half an hour passed from the moment he was wounded until he was evacuated.”