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Emboldened Israeli Ministers Openly Call for Killing Palestinians Israeli Agricultural Minister Uri Ariel wants more injured and dead Palestinians in Gaza. "What is this special weapon we have that we fire and see pillars of smoke and fire, but nobody gets hurt?" he said on local radio. "It is time for there to be injuries and deaths as well." This was reported by Haaretz. Ariel's comments come at a time when, bolstered and emboldened by US support over Jerusalem, Israel is seeking to increase ways in which Palestinians are restricted even further in terms of politics, freedom of movement and resistance to its military occupation. The increasingly threatening rhetoric, combined with its often resultant violence, is a clear message that Israel wants Palestinian existence to be determined according to its own colonial needs. Indeed the minister's remarks are indicative of Israel's need for violence and conflict to sustain its existence. Framing his penchant for more deaths against the narrative of the purported "Palestinian terrorist", he also amalgamated his demands with Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman's comments from 2016. At that time, far-right extremist Lieberman recommended the further fragmentation of Palestinians by suggesting that the homes of those involved in resistance should be demolished, and that those who "desire coexistence" should be rewarded. Lieberman's differentiation of Palestinians, particularly the latter group, is a simplistic approach which negates many of the reasons why not all Palestinians are visibly involved in resistance. One obvious reason which Israel has perpetrated is the juxtaposition of survival due to extreme poverty and lack of basic necessities, and the struggle against several forms of state violence. It also refutes the fact that most Palestinians, unlike the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, do not want to live under colonial rule. Whether Ariel's statement suggests yet another military offensive against the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip remains to be seen. However, there is no doubt that demands for state violence against civilians will become more brazen, as Israel basks in the impunity which is sustained on two levels: that generated by its own actions and absence of accountability under the pretext of "security concerns"; and the international community's endorsement of this false narrative. Another ramification of Ariel's words is the separation of the visible injuries and killings in the occupied West Bank and the silent forms of slow extermination in Gaza as a result of Israeli-imposed deprivation. Clearly, he prefers the macabre spectacle of multitudes of injured and dead Palestinian civilians in Gaza and, what is more, he is allowed to express himself in such a manner without censure of any kind, safe in the knowledge that killing Palestinians has not only become normalised, but also expected. The dehumanization of Palestinians in the Israeli minister's words is also reflective of how statistics contribute to the absence of Palestinians in terms of collective memory. For Israel, the numbers serve to boost the false claims of self-defense. Conversely, statistics for Palestinians depict the cycles of murder by Israeli institutions. The international community, on the other hand, is partial to the anonymity of numbers, particularly when there is no requirement other than for it to turn a blind eye until Israel decides upon the next phase of Gaza's destruction, whereupon the UN will exhort the colonial entity's "right" to defend itself against the colonized. In doing so, it will also affirm its contempt for human rights and resolutions by refusing to uphold the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and, indeed, their right to resist military occupation by any means available. - Ramona Wadi is a staff writer for Middle East Monitor (MEMO) in London, where this article was originallypublished. She contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com. |
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| Leaked: PLO's Central Council Revised Agenda | | | (Photo: Wafa News Agency) |
On Sunday, Anadolu news agency obtained a Palestinian document containing agenda for the forthcoming meeting of the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The agenda has been approved by Political Committee of the PLO and its most important recommendations is to take actions against Israel under the auspices of the Security Council and the International Criminal Court. The document included 21 recommendations, divided into four units, first, at the Arab and Islamic level; second at the level of the UN Security Council; the General Assembly and the International Criminal Court; third the relationship with Israel, and fourth at the domestic Palestinian level. This document contained revised articles which differ from those previously circulated in the press. A Palestinian leader, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Anadolu news agency this morning that the political committee of the organization had revised the recommendations, during its meeting last Thursday, following Arab and international pressures on the Palestinian leadership.. The previous document, which was exclusively published by Anadolu Agency, included important items such as the potential suspension of PLO recognition of Israel until it recognises the Palestinian State. The new wording of the article, however, says, "the PLO Executive Committee is called upon to suspend recognition of Israel until it recognizes the State of Palestine and to ask the countries of the world that have recognized Israel to formally request it to determine its borders. " At the international level, the amended version also includes a recommendation to implement the request for the full membership of the State of Palestine in the United Nations and to continue the work in order to provide international protection for the Palestinian people. It also includes "providing referral on various issues (settlement - prisoners - aggression on Gaza) to the International Criminal Court." It also includes a recommendation to continue "joining international institutions, international pacts and organizations such as World Intellectual Property Organization, and the International Labour Organization". As far as the relationship with Israel is concerned, the document contained an item that renews the Council's decision - issued at its previous session in 2015 - to stop security coordination with Israel and which provides the following: "The Central Council renews its decision to stop all forms of security coordination and break away from the economic dependency relationship established in the Paris Economic Agreement, in order to achieve national economic independence. The Executive Committee of the PLO and the institutions of the State of Palestine are requested to start implementing this."
During its meeting in Ramallah on March 2015, the Central Council decided to stop security coordination with Israel and recommended the restriction of political, economic, and security relations with it. However, nothing was implemented at the time. Among other recommendations is "the Council's affirmation of the transition from the stage of power to the stage of the State and the beginning of the embodiment of the independence of the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital on the 1967 borders." The document also recommended the international community to continue working with all the countries of the world "to boycott Israeli settlements and to thwart efforts to stop aid from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East". The US administration has recently threatened to stop funding for the UNRWA, which threatens the continuity of its work since it depends largely on US support. The recommendations included a call for the adoption of the boycott and divestment of Israel (known as BDS) and a call for countries all over the world to impose sanctions on Israel. (MEMO, PC, Social Media) |
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| Israel Will Hire Its Citizens to Capture and Assist in the Deportation of African Refugees In an effort to resolve the 'African Refugee Problem' in Israel, Israeli civilians will receive cash rewards and generous bonuses if they sign up to serve their country as 'immigration inspectors', a position that includes monitoring, rounding up and delivering people whom the government is referring to as 'infiltrators' to the proper authorities for deportation. The Israel government's immigration ministry, which posted the job opening last week, invited high school graduates to apply and emphasized that combat experience is 'a plus'. Newsweek reported on the story, writing: "The ministry is offering 'appropriate pay' as well as a bonus that can reach 30,000 ($8,700). "The ministry says it is looking to hire 100 inspectors by March 2018. Of these, 70 inspectors will be hired for a two-month period to 'carry out enforcement tasks against illegal aliens and their employers,' including the need to 'locate, detain and monitor illegal persons.' "The immigration ministry also wants to hire 40 people to 'conduct comprehensive questioning and investigation of asylum seekers,' ostensibly to determine the veracity of their claims." Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has preambled the new policy by warning that the illegal infiltrators flooding the country were threatening the security and identity of the Jewish state.
Netanyahu elaborated saying, "If we don't stop their entry, the problem that currently stands at 60,000 could grow to 600,000, and that threatens our existence as a Jewish and democratic state... This phenomenon is very grave and threatens the social fabric of society, our national security and our national identity." (PC, Social Media) |
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