Racist Violence
On May 29th, thousands of Israeli Jews marched through the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City waving Israeli flags in rowdy celebration of “Jerusalem Day,” marking the day in 1967 when Israel began its occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank following the Six Day War. Many of the marchers chanted provocative slogans including “Death to Arabs,” “Mohammed is dead,” and “May your village burn!” Other marchers threw stones at Palestinians while police stood by, as multiple videos confirmed, but Palestinians who responded in kind were arrested. According to an article in the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, “more than 60 people were arrested and detained in the city that day, the large majority of them Palestinian. Only two of the people arrested were Jews.”
This continues a series of provocations by Jewish Israelis and settlers against Palestinians living in the region.
Home demolitions Palestinian homes are being demolished throughout Area C of the West Bank, where Israel’s army has established “firing zones” on Palestinian land. Families whose ancestors have lived in this area for generations are being uprooted and made to watch all they have destroyed.
In East Jerusalem and other Palestinian areas, Jewish settlers are brazenly evicting Palestinian families and moving into their homes. A recent film by Amnesty International captures the heartbreak and agony of families as they experience this displacement and are powerless to stop it. Only the governments that fund this occupation can make a difference, by withholding economic and military aid until this ethnic cleansing stops.
Amnesty International asks that you sign their petition to stop home demolitions and write your Members of Congress to demand an end to US funding for Israel until these blatant violations of human rights are ended.
Another organization, Rebuilding Alliance, is asking for your action to prevent demolition of the village of Al Aqaba, where it has helped build a kindergarten and rebuild homes. You can write to your Members of Congress here and let them know you don’t want your tax dollars used to enable this destruction.