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sennettyoung · 4 years

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Palestine is about to be annexed by Israel and we should do something

The Netanyahu government is planning to start the annexation of about 30% of the West Bank from July 1st. This is a violation of international law, coming after years of violations by building settlements on the West Bank. The area Netanyahu has his eyes on has a high concentration of settlements. On top of that the government also plans to take the Jordan Valley. The annexation would further fracture Palestinian areas, which makes a future two-state solution ever more difficult.

Downsides to annexation:

- building settlements becomes easier and more attractive (because annexation officially puts settlements under Israeli sovereignty)

- claiming areas for settlements is often accompanied by land expropriation or destruction of Palestinian civilians’ homes

- settlements are accompanied by separate roads and Palestinians are often not allowed to pass through settlements (or it takes a lot of time to pass humiliating checkpoints). This is a problem because it splinters the West Bank into a patchwork of enclaves. Because Palestinians have to use worse, separate roads moving around the settlements, towns can go from being 10 minutes apart to being an hour apart.

- violent encounters between settlements and Palestinian towns are likely to increase. Peaceful demonstrations are also frequently met with harsh military violence, even against children.

- it becomes more difficult to reach a two-state solution as the Palestinian part of the West Bank shrinks further and further down and is splintered by settlements.

- it will almost certainly exacerbate tensions

- if we allow this to happen, that could well be interpreted as permission to take more land in the future, until the entire West Bank is annexed and the two state solution utterly lost. All Palestinians there would end up living in a state of apartheid.

Sources to read more in detail:

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/12/opinions/israel-has-a-lot-to-lose-by-annexing-west-bank-territory-satloff/index.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-52756427

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=258664238754275&ref=watch_permalink (long discussion)

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/11/israels-annexation-of-the-west-bank-will-be-yet-another-tragedy-for-palestinians

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/explainer-israel-annexation-plan-occupied-west-bank-200627085214900.html

WHAT YOU CAN DO

By all means skip to your country or Everyone at the bottom

United States

I don’t see the US imposing any sanctions on Israel in the next four years to be honest, not now that Bernie Sanders is out of the race. That being said, there’s still a lot to be gained. Under Trump, the US is extremely pro-Zionist, to the point of being a deterrent to other countries. Under Biden, it could at least be more of a neutral than an actively harmful factor. Therefore:

Fucking vote for Biden in November even if you hate the guy, because in almost any policy area he’s better than Trump. You can’t self-righteously abstain from voting, it’ll just put some specks of actual blood on your hands.

Also consider calling your representatives, especially Democrats, because even among them there’s a lot of sympathy for the expansionary ambitions of the Israeli right-wing and reluctance to stand up for Palestinian human rights. Let them know that you care, because the evangelical lobby certainly does.

What to ask:

- for support for sanctions in the future

- for recognition of Palestine as a state

- for conditional aid to Israel in the future (conditional on the end of settlement building)

- for aid to the Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip

- for voting in the UN Security Council on the issue to be guided by international law

European Union countries

The EU is a special case because it cannot impose sanctions unless all member states unanimously agree, which is nearly impossible on this issue. However, the Irish attempted to ban products from the settlements, which could be in line with EU law. (It’s called the Occupied Territories Bill.) The government has dropped that idea recently, but please if you are from Ireland, let your voice be heard that this plan should be revived. If your country is already quite critical of the annexation, consider advocating for similar legislation to be drafted in calls or emails to politicians.

If you live in a right-wing country with close ties to Israel at the moment, please advocate for your government not to block measures against the annexation in the EU. The assumption is that the population is pro-Zionist. Make it clear that there are many who oppose expansionism and human rights violations.

In any country that hasn’t already done so: demand the recognition of Palestine as a state. This can be done without a European consensus.

In pro-Palestinian or ‘neutral’ countries: advocate for new trade agreements and partnerships with Israel to be conditional on the end to settlement policies and annexation.

Other countries

- call your representatives or send them a letter/email demanding the imposition of sanctions if the Netanyahu government follows through with the annexation.

- demand the recognition of Palestine as a state if your country hasn’t already done so (many of ya’ll non-Western countries have, props to you!)

- demand the freezing of trade agreements / partnerships if annexation takes place.

Everyone

organise locally churches, campuses, and trade unions are key allies to Palestine. Try bringing up the topic in any organisation of which you’re a member.

take Palestine into consideration in elections at least most European parties have a position on this issue somewhere on their website. Look it up next election season and take it into account when you vote.

volunteer for local pro-Palestine charities there are many and they need you. Many of them collect money for especially Gaza, which desperately needs medicine, clean water, and food. They also provide information to swing public opinion, as well as talking to politicians. Your city probably has one that you don’t know of.

defend all human rights a frequent criticism levied at those standing up for Palestine is that they’re harsher on Israel than other countries. Therefore, and also because you’re a decent human being, stand up for all human rights issues where you encounter them.

take part in direct action this includes only peaceful demonstrations. DO NOT TAKE PART IN ANY VIOLENT ACTION, ESPECIALLY NOT AGAINST JEWISH ORGANISATIONS OR PEOPLE. Moreover, do not levy your critique of the Israeli government at Jewish people or organisations AT ALL. Not a single Jewish person is accountable for Israel’s actions.

parttake in BDS (very much optional) BDS involves the boycotting, divestment from, and imposition of sanctions against Israel until it ends its occupation of the Palestinian territories, the West Bank and Gaza. The idea if best explained on the website, but the basic idea is inspired by the anti-apartheid movement against South Africa. It is not meant as a punishment, but as a coercive measure that will end the moment the occupation does. You can take part by not buying from certain companies supporting the settlements (see Google), not travelling to Israel, or avoiding Israeli / settlement products in the store (the latter should be labelled in the EU (soon)). The extent to which you want to boycott is up to you, and I will admit that sanctions are a contested policy measure.

donate to pro-Palestinian organisations

national / local ones

Jewish Voice for Peace: https://secure.everyaction.com/b5-NLp5380at34y9v7fS5Q2?am={{LastContributionAmount%20or%20%2750%27}}?ms=link

Breaking the Silence: https://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/

https://bdsmovement.net/donate

http://adalah.org/eng/ http://www.alhaq.org/about-al-haq/about-al-haq http://www.mezan.org/en/ http://www.btselem.org/about_btselem/contact_us http://www.thefreedomtheatre.org/ http://www.justvision.org/ http://www.alternativenews.org/english/ http://cfpeace.org/ http://www.newprofile.org/english/ http://www.theparentscircle.com/

sign petitions

UK https://palestinecampaign.eaction.online/stopannexation Everyone https://www.theotherjerusalem.org/petition US https://www.change.org/p/u-s-senate-oppose-annexation-of-palestinian-land Norway https://www.change.org/p/israeli-ambassador-to-oslo-stop-israeli-west-bank-annexation-sign-the-petition?source_location=topic_page US https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/congress-dont-endorse Belgium http://www.stop-occupation.be/ There are wayyyyy more of them! Please look them up in your own language / country, relevant to where your country stands on the issue, and post a link when you reblog <3

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educate yourself, educate your friends, family, classmates, those at your place of worship, colleagues, any strangers who will listen but be kind, always

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