Joe Biden has announced sanctions on Israeli settlers in Palestinian territory. But the sanctions themselves are toothless — a way to signal displeasure with the Israeli government without actually doing anything to change the situation.
Source: Biden’s Sanctions on Israeli Settlers Are Just for Show
Settler violence escalates when the world is distracted. The Israeli Panzer Division is its illegal settler invaders who rapidly advance, and illegally push forward to occupy Palestinian land killing, and terrorizing the rightful owners off their property which then Israel claims as their own.
This week, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet also addressed the issue of killed children: “On 5 November, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy was shot with live ammunition in the abdomen, and killed, by Israeli forces stationed about 50 meters away, during demonstrations in Deir Al-Hatab near the illegal Israeli settlement Elon Moreh. This year, Israeli forces have killed 16 children in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These and all other killings, as well as all incidents of excessive and unwarranted use of lethal force by Israeli forces, must be thoroughly and effectively investigated, and those responsible held to account.” Bachelet further noted that Israeli squatters were responsible for 480 deaths, injuries, or significant property damage this year in attacks on Palestinians, “the highest incidence of settler violence ever recorded by the United Nations.” Not a day goes by, she observed, but that squatters attack Palestinians. She worries about the spiraling increase in violence, with “four Palestinians killed and 167 injured by settlers, including seven with live ammunition.”
According to two witnesses, settlers shot Tubasi after they began setting fire to Palestinian-owned fields and trees in al-Rihiya. The eyewitnesses said Tubasi and other Palestinians had headed to the fields to try and put out the flames. There, settlers armed with guns, axes, and batons began chasing him, after which the witnesses heard a number of gunshots. Get Our Weekly Newsletter One of the witnesses, Tubasi’s nephew, said that he saw his uncle laying on the ground after being hit by a bullet, yet did not see any wounds on his face. The nephew then fled the scene out of fear that the settlers, who were approaching the wounded Tubasi, would come after him next. When Tubasi was evacuated to a hospital half an hour later, however, his face was bloodied by fresh and deep wounds, which were not there when he was shot. According to the testimony, Tubasi was allegedly attacked by a sharp object while incapacitated.
Source: Settlers shot Palestinian and mutilated his body as he lay dying
Instead of attending to protesters wounded by settlers, including an Israeli photographer pushed off a five-foot terrace, a man dressed as a medic assaults another protester. By Oren Ziv / Activestills.org Israeli settlers, including one wearing part of a uniform of Israel’s national emergency and ambulance services, attacked demonstrators and photographers on Friday during a protest in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. Israeli soldiers present did nothing to prevent the violence. [tmwinpost] After several months during which there were no weekly protests in the village, local residents, along with Israeli and international activists, marched toward the village spring,…
Source: Israeli soldiers stand by as settlers attack civilians in West Bank village | +972 Magazine
A UN report says Israeli settlements violate human rights and could be prosecuted as war crimes, but many Israeli settlers consider themselves patriots. So what hope is there for peace in the Middle East?In a country where settlers are now one of the biggest and strongest political movements, Dani Dayan, a Netanyahu advisor and the outgoing chairman of the Yesha (Settlers) Council, says there is no two-state solution to the conflict and that he is happy with the status quo.Dayan has been a major in the Israeli army, a successful IT entrepreneur, and a University lecturer. In 1999 he became an executive committee member of the Yesha Council, which represents the settler movement, and in 2007, its chairman until February 2013. He completely revitalised the movement until his resignation to campaign openly for Binyamin Netanyahu.Mehdi Hasan goes head to head with Dayan at the Oxford Union, discussing whether Zionism is a colonialist project, whether the so-called apartheid roads are just an urban legend – and more importantly, what is the solution to this protracted conflict?Dayan claims settlements are irreversible but preaches in favour of dismantling the wall. With a lively audience and robust debate from the expert panel, Head to Head is tackling the hard issues surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Are the settlements a natural extension of the Israeli state or the single biggest obstacle to peace in the Middle East? Will the Palestinians ever be able to build an independent and viable state?Joining our discussion are: Dr Ghada Karmi, an academic and the author of The Palestinian Exodus (1999), In Search for Fatima (2002), and Israel’s Dilemma in Palestine (2007); Sam Westrop, a former director of the British Israel Coalition, and a fellow of the New York-based Gatestone Institute; and Hannah Weisfeld, the director of Yachad, a pro-peace, pro-Israel NGO based in London.
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