What Do You Know About the Palestinian Problem?
Ξ February 9th, 2010 | → 2 Comments | ∇ Life |
America is a country familiar with and accepting of transient lifestyles. It isn’t at all uncommon for our children to grow up and ‘move away.’ Many of us have moved so often in our careers that it’s almost expected that our kids will do the same. However, for a Palestinian family living in Israel, this is rarely the case. Not only do the children remain at home, often after marriage they build their house on top of their parent’s home. When you’re ‘land-locked’ , and Israel forbids you from moving, you build up, not beside or across town.
Here’s an interesting statistic: 50% of all suicide bombers in the lands held or occupied by Israel are victims of having had their home destroyed! What is it that caused their homes to be destroyed? A program instituted by Israel.
And this is why the home demolition program carried out by the Israelis is so devastating. It is not just the loss of property that Palestinians experience, but the loss of identity. In a document from Amnesty International we are told that “The largest single wave of destruction carried out by the Israeli army was in Jenin refugee camp in April 2002” when more than 800 families – equaling over 4,000 people – were driven from their homes.
The practice of ‘communal’ punishment, something prohibited by international law, is when a person involved in civil disobedience not only is punished by the destruction of their home, but also the homes of those related to this individual are destroyed as well. Imagine having your home destroyed merely because one of your children (or even a distant relative) was ‘accused’ of having committed a crime – not convicted, mind you, just accused. Not only that, but in addition to your home, several homes of other family members were destroyed. Do you think that would compel you to action, to retribution, to an act of terrorism?
Imagine a bulldozer arriving at your home, unannounced, and begins leveling it. The time it takes to bring a home to rubble can be as few as five minutes. For an apartment complex of five homes, it takes only a few hours to bring it to the ground.
As well, the net result of such demolitions is that more and more the Palestinians are ‘herded’ onto smaller islands of communal living if not driven out of the country altogether. It is clear that by taking the land, Israel not only displaces the people on it but also forever ends their right to self-determination.
Once a home is destroyed, a permit to rebuild must be applied for. The cost for such a permit is prohibitive, let alone the fact that denial is assured. In an instant and without proof of any wrongdoing, an Israeli bulldozer can arrive at your home and in minutes you can witness your entire world crumbling down.
The net result is that Israel gains effective control over the country by confining the 3.6 million Palestinians of the Occupied Territories to small enclaves comprising just 8% of the country; enclaves that are often encircled by a massive concrete wall.
In the name of peace, we ask all Jewish citizens to petition the Israeli government to cease their systematic home demolition program. And we ask all American citizens reading this blog to petition their U.S. congressmen and Senators to address the illegal and immoral problem so that peace might be one step closer to arriving for all the citizens of Palestine/Israel.
Stumble it!
on February 9th, 2010 at 3:53 PM
A few points…
“Not only do the children remain at home, often after marriage they build their house on top of their parent’s home.”
–The case may be different in Palestine but this also occurs in Peru, where my extended family is from, which may be due to financial hardship as a third world country. My uncle built a third floor on top of my grandparents home because they couldn’t afford one of their own. Everything is inherited there.
–I admit I know very little about the Palestinian situation but I do know it is THE issue to Muslims worldwide and is a defining factor as to how they view the U.S. (i.e. the West)
–I hate to be a grumpy Gus but most Americans don’t care about the Palestinian/Israel conflict, unless it affects the price of gas. Then it’s personal!
on February 9th, 2010 at 9:15 PM
I decided to do this post after reading Rossing’s book on the rapture and discovering the depth of the connection between dispensationalism & and its link to Israel. You may well be right about Americans not caring about the conflict…unless they’re dispensationalists.