[Marxism] "Every night is Kristallnacht in occupied Hebron City Center"

[Dbachmozart at aol.com]

Israeli Repression in Hebron -
 
A Case History of Separation, Forced  Displacement and Terror
By STEPHEN LENDMAN 
B'Tselem is the independent Israeli Information Center for Human Rights  in 
the Occupied (Palestinian) Territories (OPT) based in Jerusalem with a  
well-deserved reputation for accuracy and integrity. It was founded in 1989 to  
"document and educate the Israeli public, policymakers (and concerned people  
everywhere) about human rights violations in the (OPT), combat the phenomenon of  
denial prevalent among the Israeli public (and elsewhere), and create a human  
rights culture in Israel" to convince government officials to respect human  
rights and comply with international law. 
Its human rights work is wide-ranging, carefully  researched, and thoroughly 
cross-checked with relevant documents and other  official government sources. 
It also relies on additional information from  Israeli, Palestinian, and other 
human rights organizations. From them, B'Tselem  publishes scores of reports, 
some quite comprehensive in scope. One of them was  107 pages in length and 
prepared in May, 2007. It's titled: "Ghost Town -  Israel's Separation Policy 
and Forced Eviction of Palestinians from the Center  of Hebron." It recently 
came out in print form and is available on request.  
This article summarizes its findings. They're from  a joint effort between 
B'Tselem and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel  (ACRI), Israel's 
leading human and civil rights organization and the only one  addressing all rights 
and liberties issues. ACRI was founded in 1972, is  independent and 
nonpartisan, and leads the struggle for these issues in Israel  and the OPT through 
litigation, legal advocacy, education, and public outreach.  ACRI believes civil 
and human rights are universal. They must be "an integral  part of democratic 
community building and.... a unifying force in Israeli public  life" for 
everyone, especially those most marginalized, disadvantaged and  currently 
persecuted by state authorities.
The IDF protects Israeli settlers who freely  attack Palestinians with 
impunity. Offenses include physical assaults and  beatings (at times with clubs), 
stone throwing, and hurling of refuse, sand,  water, chlorine, and empty 
bottles. Settlers also loot Palestinian shops and  commit acts of vandalism against 
them and other owner property. Killings also  occur as well as attempts to run 
over people with vehicles, fruit trees chopped  down, water wells poisoned, 
home break-ins, and hot liquids poured on  Palestinian faces. IDF forces are 
positioned everywhere in the area. They  witness settler acts and do nothing to 
stop them.
Soldiers also commit violence and use excessive  force as do police. In 
addition, they engage in arbitrary house searches at all  hours of the day and 
night, house seizures, harassment, and random detentions  and humiliating searches 
and treatment overall. These actions violate  international and Israeli 
administrative and constitutional law. They persist  nonetheless.  
Israeli authorities have known of the problem for  years, yet it persists and 
is quietly condoned. Ian Christianson, head of the  international observer 
force in Hebron (TIPH), was quoted saying "settlers go  out almost every night 
and harm whoever lives near them, break windows and cause  damage...." Many 
attacks are carried out by minors and for a reason. Under  Israeli law that 
applies in the OPT, persons under age 12 aren't held criminally  liable. Settlers 
know this and exploit the loophole by using their children to  throw stones, 
break walls and commit other violent acts they can get away with.  Violence is 
commonplace throughout the Territories in spite of IDF presence, and  when 
children commit it they're immune from the law affecting adults that exists  but 
isn't enforced. 
The Procedure for Enforcing Law and Order on  Israeli Offenders in the West 
Bank states: security forces must "take every  action necessary to prevent harm 
to life, person, or property (and) to detain  and arrest suspects who might 
flee from the scene." Section 6(3) of the  Procedure states that the IDF must 
enforce the law until police arrive and take  over.  
Unfortunately, the Hebron Police Department has an  appalling record. Instead 
of enforcing the law, it acts with "abominable  helplessness" to show its 
contempt for residents while supporting settlers. It  doesn't investigate violent 
incidents against Palestinians and ignores them when  their officers are on 
the scene. A Yesh Din human rights organization study  showed that 90% of 
police investigations were closed without charges being  filed. This lets settlers 
break the law and get away with it. The IDF and police  support them by 
refusing to uphold the law for everyone. 
Soldiers and police also break the law routinely  and often. Throughout 
occupied Palestine and in Hebron City Center, every night  is Kristallnacht, and so 
are days. It makes life for residents intolerable  because any time for any 
reason they're subject to daily house searches and  seizures, random 
detainments and humiliating treatment and harassment along with  security 
force-committed violence that ranges from slapping and kicking to  bloody beatings and 
killings. They serve no purpose except to harass and punish,  break the law, and 
persist at all hours of the day and night.  
A systematic pattern of abuse and harassment is  part of daily life in the 
Territories, and in Hebron's City Center it's intense.  Unjustifiably seizing 
Palestinian houses occur, and at the time of the study,  security forces held at 
least 35 residential dwellings. Typically, here's what  happens. Soldiers or 
police take over a private home for a security outpost. Its  inhabitants are 
affected, their lives are disrupted, they're excluded from  occupied rooms, and 
can only use spaces allotted to them - in their own  home. 
They're also harassed, routinely searched,  threatened and even beaten; 
soldiers or police cause damage (sometimes  deliberately); they play loud music; 
scatter refuse and even urinate where they  want. In some cases, the abuse goes 
on for years making normal life impossible.  Early last year, this writer saw 
a chilling documentary on this practice. It  showed soldiers abusing families 
and how traumatized they were from the  experience. 
The pattern of harassment also includes searching  homes and shops, random 
detentions, and demanding identity cards from passersby  on any pretext. Even 
when lawful, privacy and dignity are severely interfered  with, and it can 
happen any time for any reason. In Hebron, it's routine,  especially for 
Palestinians living near settlement points. In those areas,  nearly every home has been 
searched more than once by either the IDF or police  at any hour. 
In Hebron's City Center, delays and harassment are  common daily practices 
because Israeli settlements are there. Security forces  are everywhere, their 
patrols are frequent, and dozens of annoying checkpoints  and permanent 
positions have been set up for control. For Palestinians in the  area or who have to 
go there, it's nightmarish. They must pass through  checkpoints and army 
positions, and have to show identity cards whenever they  do. Even so, delays are 
frequent and can last for hours at times. Everyone is  affected - the sick and 
elderly, anyone on the street including where they live,  shoppers, children 
going to school and back home, or anyone else for any  reason. 
In the US, the Bill of Rights Third and Fourth  Amendments ban these 
practices. The Third Amendment states: "No soldier shall,  in time of peace be 
quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner,  nor in time of war, but in 
a manner to be prescribed by law." The Fourth  Amendment prohibits 
unreasonable searches and seizures and specifically says:  "The right of the people to 
be secure in their persons, houses, papers and  effects, against unreasonable 
searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and  no Warrants shall issue, but 
upon probable cause, supported by Oath or  affirmation, and particularly 
describing the place to be searched, and the  persons or things to be seized."  
They exist because of and at the behest of  settlers' presence in the city 
whose rights and demands are paramount even when  they violate the law. All 
Israeli settlements in the OPT are illegal, and  consider Article 49 of the Fourth 
Geneva Convention. It states: "The Occupying  Power shall not deport or 
transfer parts of its own civilian population in the  territory it occupies." This 
applies as well to organizing or encouraging the  transfer of its own 
population to the occupied territory that displaces legal  residents forced to move. 
International law also renounces colonialism. By  encouraging and financing 
Hebron City Center and other OPT settlements, Israel  violates international 
law as well as UN Resolutions 465 and 476 that addressed  Israel's illegal 
occupation of Palestine and the Syrian Golan Heights. Since the  Security Council 
passed both resolutions in 1980, Israel flagrantly violated  them and continues 
to build new settlements in the OPT wherever it wishes, the  actions are 
illegal, and they displace legal residents throughout the  Territories. 
It's no surprise and nothing new because two  nations stand out above all 
others as serial UN resolution and international law  abusers for the past 50 
years - Israel and the US. In the case of Israel, its  record is appalling for 
flagrantly and willfully ignoring over five dozen UN  resolutions condemning or 
censuring it for its actions against the Palestinians  or other Arab people, 
deploring it for committing them, or demanding, calling on  or urging the 
Jewish state to end them. Israel refuses and has never been held  to account 
because of its powerful ally in Washington. All US administrations  for the past 
half century allowed Israel to be lawless and get away with  it. 
Israel's High Court of Justice is equally culpable  by ignoring international 
law and for its one-sided support of injustice despite  occasionally ruling 
otherwise. International and Israeli law are clear. Yet the  Court supports 
illegal settlements, the separation wall (seizing over 10% of  West Bank land) 
declared illegal by the International Court of Justice at The  Hague, targeted 
assassinations, the right of settlers to destroy Palestinian  property, and 
Israel's right to protect settlements regardless of the cost to  Palestinians. 
full analysis of the report -  _http://counterpunch.org/lendman01252008.html_ 
(http://counterpunch.org/lendman01252008.html)  



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