When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
- Leviticus 19:33-34
Showing posts with label Occupation of Palestine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Occupation of Palestine. Show all posts
Saturday, 13 March 2010
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Israel, diplomacy and possible paths to a resolution
Donald Mcintyre in an article in the Independent presents discussion of developments with regard to Israel and the context for diplomacy around the conflict with Palestine that is of a quality and breath that we rarely get in the Australian media.
Thursday, 14 January 2010
The human face of Israel's Occupation
Christian Peacemakers Team bulletin - just one human face, one story of the reality of Israeli occupation.
For information on Christian Peacemaker Teams see: http://www.cpt.org/
The Palestinian shepherd arrested last week after soldiers attacked his family and CPTers (see http://tiny.cc/cpt1) was tortured before being released by police.
The same eight soldiers who arrested Raba’i and attacked his family took him to a military base at the nearby Suseya settlement. For four hours, soldiers struck him in the back, in the face, and slammed him into walls. The soldiers questioned him about his brothers. Raba’i refused to give any information and refused to speak Hebrew with the soldiers, which infuriated them. The soldiers told him that they would come to his house in the following days and beat or kill him and his brothers. They tried to force him to say that they were the best soldiers in the IDF and beat him when he would not. Raba’i told CPTers the soldiers tied his hands and feet, blindfolded him, and sat him on a chair. Raba’i put his head in his lap, in an attempt to protect his head and his genitals, and refused to lift it. He said that at one point, a soldier cocked his rifle and told him to lift his head or he would shoot him. Raba’i refused. When another soldier tried to bring him food and water, as the military is legally obligated to do in such situations, the soldiers who were torturing him swore at the soldier and told him to leave. The soldiers also refused to allow Raba’i to pray.
After four hours of this interrogation and torture, they took Raba’i to Israeli police station in Kiryat Arba settlement. The Israeli police told him that they usually offer detainees food and water, but were giving him nothing because they wanted to punish him. They said that if they ever saw his face again, they would kill him. After thirty minutes, the police tied his hands and feet, blindfolded him, drove him to a location unknown to him and threw him out of the jeep. Fearing that soldiers, police or settlers might see him, he hid in a bush until he saw his family's car.
Raba'i was able to call his family, who, accompanied by CPTers, found him and brought him home.
For photos of Raba'i’s injuries see here: Injuries-caused-by-soldiers.
Please share this story with your community and consider other ways of supporting CPT's work in Palestine: http://www.cpt.org/participate
For information on Christian Peacemaker Teams see: http://www.cpt.org/
The Palestinian shepherd arrested last week after soldiers attacked his family and CPTers (see http://tiny.cc/cpt1) was tortured before being released by police.
The same eight soldiers who arrested Raba’i and attacked his family took him to a military base at the nearby Suseya settlement. For four hours, soldiers struck him in the back, in the face, and slammed him into walls. The soldiers questioned him about his brothers. Raba’i refused to give any information and refused to speak Hebrew with the soldiers, which infuriated them. The soldiers told him that they would come to his house in the following days and beat or kill him and his brothers. They tried to force him to say that they were the best soldiers in the IDF and beat him when he would not. Raba’i told CPTers the soldiers tied his hands and feet, blindfolded him, and sat him on a chair. Raba’i put his head in his lap, in an attempt to protect his head and his genitals, and refused to lift it. He said that at one point, a soldier cocked his rifle and told him to lift his head or he would shoot him. Raba’i refused. When another soldier tried to bring him food and water, as the military is legally obligated to do in such situations, the soldiers who were torturing him swore at the soldier and told him to leave. The soldiers also refused to allow Raba’i to pray.
After four hours of this interrogation and torture, they took Raba’i to Israeli police station in Kiryat Arba settlement. The Israeli police told him that they usually offer detainees food and water, but were giving him nothing because they wanted to punish him. They said that if they ever saw his face again, they would kill him. After thirty minutes, the police tied his hands and feet, blindfolded him, drove him to a location unknown to him and threw him out of the jeep. Fearing that soldiers, police or settlers might see him, he hid in a bush until he saw his family's car.
Raba'i was able to call his family, who, accompanied by CPTers, found him and brought him home.
For photos of Raba'i’s injuries see here: Injuries-caused-by-soldiers.
Please share this story with your community and consider other ways of supporting CPT's work in Palestine: http://www.cpt.org/participate
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Two sides or two stories? Talking about the Israel and the occupation of Palestine
I have spoken about Israel/Palestine to numerous groups in the U.S. during the past five years. People frequently ask me at these presentations, "Well, aren't there two sides to the Palestinian story?
Let me ask a question before trying to answer that question. Would you have told Gandhi that we have not yet heard the British side of the story before deciding whether we think colonialism is a good or bad idea? If not, then why do people continue to tell me that there are two sides to our Palestinian story, when it comes to the Occupation? (PALESTINE REFLECTION: Not two sides, but two separate stories by Tarek Abuat) http://www.cpt.org/node/7900
Let me ask a question before trying to answer that question. Would you have told Gandhi that we have not yet heard the British side of the story before deciding whether we think colonialism is a good or bad idea? If not, then why do people continue to tell me that there are two sides to our Palestinian story, when it comes to the Occupation? (PALESTINE REFLECTION: Not two sides, but two separate stories by Tarek Abuat) http://www.cpt.org/node/7900
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