Bernie on Israel
Bernie Sanders: The U.S. Must Stop Being an Apologist for the Netanyahu Government
“Israel has the right to defend itself.”
These are the words we hear from both Democratic and Republican administrations whenever the government of Israel, with its enormous military power, responds to rocket attacks from Gaza.
Let’s be clear. No one is arguing that Israel, or any government, does not have the right to self-defense or to protect its people. So why are these words repeated year after year, war after war? And why is the question almost never asked: “What are the rights of the Palestinian people?” ...
The whole thing is worth a read.
“Israel has the right to defend itself.”
These are the words we hear from both Democratic and Republican administrations whenever the government of Israel, with its enormous military power, responds to rocket attacks from Gaza.
Let’s be clear. No one is arguing that Israel, or any government, does not have the right to self-defense or to protect its people. So why are these words repeated year after year, war after war? And why is the question almost never asked: “What are the rights of the Palestinian people?” ...
The whole thing is worth a read.
posted by crystal | 5:55 PM
3 Comments:
I got paywalled out of the NYT article before I got to the end, but I get where he's going. I think he's right. What I can't understand is how Israel gets away with evicting Palestinians off their own property. I realize that US laws regarding property are different than theirs. But over here that wouldn't stand up in court. Even if the local or state government claims right of eminent domain, they have to compensate the property owner. Do they not have a system to legally register deeds of ownership? Maybe they just ignore legal claims to property.
Here is a pretty good BBC article about the west bank and the settlements ... https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-52756427 ... it seems that Israel wants to "annex" the land, which basically means taking it through military power, in the same way Russia annexed Croatia from Ukraine. Israel says it needs the land for safety reasons, etc. The US under Trump was supporting Israel's right to do this. Biden is opposed to annexation, according to the article, and so is the international community. But I don't know if they can or have the will to stop Israel from continuing to take the land.
And here's another article that is older but gives more details about the settlements and their impact, from NPR ... https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/12/29/507377617/seven-things-to-know-about-israeli-settlements
Post a Comment
<< Home