Israel Has In One Week Committed Terrorist Attacks, Expanded Settlements And Killed Children
In just over a week since Israel’s State-sponsored act of terrorism, which resulted in the murder of Iran’s top scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Israel managed to murder a Palestinian child, approve over 9,000 settler units, demolish Palestinian homes and the International Community still refuses to act.
If International Law is to be taken seriously and if the United Nations are to be considered as a legitimate International body, they must act to ensure racist double-standards are discarded and all nations be judged on their merits rather than power.
On Friday, November 27, Israel was accused of being behind the terroristic assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran’s top nuclear scientist. This act was condemned, even by the likes of the former head of the CIA, John Brenan, who called it an act of “State-Sponsored terrorism”. After such a high profile assassination of a non-combatant employee of a foreign government, in what amounts to an act of war, which Iran has vowed to respond to, Israel did not stop escalating the violence there.
On the 29th of November, Israeli occupation forces brutally kidnapped 16 year old, Mohammed Moqbel, from the al-Arroub camp (North of al-Khalil) and tortured him to such an extent that the teenager had to undergo surgery at the Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem. Mohammed’s jaw was broken by the beating Israeli forces had given the minor. His family have attempted to get the word out about the abuse Mohammed had suffered, yet there has been little to no International pushback. Mohammed now remains chained to a hospital bed, like a prisoner, despite having not committed any crime.
Immediately after, Israel continued on with its illegal home demolition campaign, in Jerusalem, which has this year forced almost 400 Palestinians out of their homes in East Jerusalem, more than half of them children. On November 30, Israel forced Palestinians to destroy their own properties in Silwan (East Jerusalem). That same day Israeli gunboats also opened fire upon unarmed Palestinian fisherman in the sea off of the al-Sudaniyeh area, to the North of the besieged Gaza Strip.
On the 2nd of December, two Palestinian men, Ziad Ali Hussein Abiyat and Jaafar Omar Abaya, were reportedly killed and five others injured, by an Israeli bus, at a checkpoint in Bethlehem. Shaher Saad, the Secretary General for the Palestinian Workers Union, had stated that he holds Israel accountable due to it failing to “rehabilitate special garages to transport Palestinian workers to their work sites”. This incident, having affected Palestinians from the West Bank who work for Israelis, shows the way in which Israel refuses to deliver the basics for Palestinians who are working for Israeli businesses.
On the 3rd of December, an Israeli court decided to let Israeli police officers walk free after the shooting of a young Palestinian boy, discarding all evidence against the officers in question. Malik Issa, then 8 years old, was shot in the head by an Israeli police officer in the al-Issawiyeh area, in East Jerusalem, this February. The attack cost little Malik his left eye and caused severe head trauma. However, despite the eyewitness testimonies and forensic evidence having suggested the Israeli munition, claimed by eye-witnesses to have been used, would match up to the impact caused, the Israeli court threw out the case and investigation. Malik Issa’s family were quoted as having said that there has been a second crime committed against their son and that “there is no justice in this world”.
Then, the very next day an Israeli illegal settler attempted to commit a terrorist attack against ‘The Church of All Nations’ in East Jerusalem, setting fire to the church before being stopped and detained by Palestinian security guards. Despite Israel having incentivised illegal settlers to live in illegally occupied East Jerusalem, Israel took no responsibility for this act of extremism committed by a Settler quite literally pandered to and inspired by the actions and words of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as other far-Right Israeli MK’s.
During the week, Israeli forces had continually clashed with Palestinian non-violent protesters, having injured tens of demonstrators with live ammunition, physical assault, rubber bullets and tear gas.
Later that day on the 4th of December, Israeli forces shot a 13 year old Palestinian, Ali Alia, through the stomach with live ammunition. Ali was later declared dead after being transported to hospital. On the issue, all Palestinian political factions called on the International Community to step in. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) released the following statement on the issues which occurred that day: “The occupation’s act of committing this heinous crime against the child Ali Abu Alia, and the settler’s attempt to burn the Gethsemane Church [Church of All Nations], as well as the continued crimes of prosecution, arrest, settlement expansion, demolition of homes and siege [on Gaza], come within the framework of consecrating its [Israel’s] occupation as a reality on the ground and completing the Judaization and annexation project.”
Since last Friday, Israel has not stopped its aggressive actions, this week already having approved 9,000 new illegal settler units to be built in East Jerusalem. The construction of these 9,000 settler units are planned to go ahead, as an expansion of the ‘Atarot’ settlement area. Atarot is supposed to be a redline for the International Community and will – once the expansion is complete – cut East Jerusalem off from the West Bank city of Ramallah. But as you’ve probably guessed, as was the case when Israel announced it would expand the illegal settlements of ‘Givat Hamatos’ and ‘Ramat Shlomo’, the International Community did nothing but a little talk.
On Monday, Israeli forces prevented Syrian farmers from reaching their lands in the Golan Heights, preventing these people from reaching their livelihoods. Israeli occupation forces also raided the Qalandia area (North of Jerusalem), in the West Bank, seriously injuring four young Palestinians, before later that day shooting a Palestinian man at the Qalandia checkpoint, who was on his way to play a football game. The Israeli’s accused the man, who was travelling to play as a goalkeeper for his football team, of attempting a knife attack, despite not presenting any evidence and the video showing the shooting, clearly shows the man is within no distance to attack.
Later on that same day, Israel also revealed plans to expand an illegal West Bank settlement called ‘Yitzhak’, which is located to the North of Nablus and has led to Palestinians having been handed notices that hundreds of Dunoms of Palestinian land is to be confiscated.
Despite these war crimes having all been committed in just one week, the UN, EU and wider world superpowers have refused to act. If this lack of action continues, it will only further prove that the West sees itself and its allies as above the law, therefore indicating they don’t actually believe in International Law at all. This understanding, that Western governments are racist when it comes to delivering justice, will inevitably push the region into taking matters into their own hands.
If the International Community is honest, they must acknowledge these double-standards that they have, sanctioning and committing war crimes, solely against countries and peoples who do not conform to the pro-American agenda. This is a racist and flawed system of International Injustice and the Global South will never take them seriously until they realise that if they seek peace, they must judge each country on its deeds, not on its ability to fuel Western capital.
