Is Israel Using Violence to Confiscate More Land?
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Since they began building the concrete wall that they cleverly label “a fence,” Israelis argued that the wall was intended to provide a secure barrier against continued terrorist attacks and was not intended to confiscate more land.
The wall was declared illegal by the International Court of Justice in The Hague on July 9, 2004 but with the support of the American government, and apathy of most Americans, Israel has again ignored international law.
Three weeks ago, many Israeli leaders step out from behind that lie, acknowledging the wall will become the “new border,” and even admitting their plans to confiscate the eastern part of the West Bank, the Jordan Valley.
But the most urgent concern involves Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christianity that most Americans Christians seem to have forgotten.
This week, Israel will complete the wall that supposedly separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem, but the reality of the wall is that it is separating Bethlehem’s residents from large portions of the city and its surrounding lands.
The ultra-orthodox Kever Rahel Fund, which represents one of Israel’s most extremist organizations, announced last year plans to build 400 Jewish-only apartments at Bethlehem’s Rachel’s Tomb. The group began work this week as the wall in there nears completion.
If Israel were really concerned about security and preventing terrorism, they could have built the wall without creating a new settlement there, but security is not Israel’s priority. It’s confiscating land. The wall could have been built on the border that divided Palestinian land from Israel until 1967, the Green Line, rather than inside the West Bank on Palestinian lands.
Building this new illegal settlement and Israel’s expansion of existing illegal settlements even during the height of the failed peace process, has destabilized the conflict, provoked extremists to more violence, and undermined future peace.
“The recent land confiscation and work around Rachel’s Tomb are illegal and have no security basis,” said Dr Victor Batarseh, Bethlehem’s Christian Palestinian mayor.
“This is an act of land expropriation. It is a serious threat to the economic and social life of the town. … We call on all religious and political leaders, to intervene and protect the lawful rights of the town of the Nativity. The ghettoization of Bethlehem is not only destroying ancient communities, but is destroying the prospects of peace in the Middle East and the whole concept of international law.”
The economic strangulation of Bethlehem by Israel’s military and its settlers has destroyed the city’s economic base. Some 72 of the city’s 80 largest businesses have been forced to close, according to Bethlehem’s mayor.
Israelis can’t have it both ways, and Americans concerned about fighting real terrorism can’t become accomplices in allowing Israel to terrorize the Palestinians. Israel’s actions such as its policy of land confiscation provoke the religious extremists. Israel then uses the violence as a justification to confiscate more land.
Bringing peace to the Palestine-Israel conflict would be a major victory in the war on terrorism, but it requires American Christians to apply their faith with compassion. American ambivalence to the tragedy engulfing Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus and modern-day Christianity, is shameful evidence that they have abandoned justice in favor of political expediency.
Source Daily Herald
