Brutal occupation

Israel has never hidden its disdain for the Palestinian people and it is now getting more brazen than ever. On Friday, it fired stun grenades and tear gas at worshippers who had gathered at the Al-Aqsa mosque – one of the holiest sites in Islam. Israeli forces raided the mosque and arrested at least 50 worshippers. They then sealed of the mosque with iron chains for most of the day. Once again Israel used the excuse that Palestinians were throwing rocks at its soldiers. Even if that were true, it does not justify the disproportionate response. Israel has long targeted worshippers at the mosque. In fact, the Friday incident marked the one-year anniversary of peaceful protests held at the mosque after Israel installed metal detectors there. This latest outrage should be seen as the latest attempt by Israel to deny Palestinians of all rights and make Israel itself an apartheid state. On the same day as its attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Israel’s Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced the construction of 400 new settlement homes on occupied West Bank land. He said this was in retaliation for the killing of an Israeli citizen in a knife attack. This kind of collective punishment, where thousands of Palestinians are evicted from their homes after a single act of violence, is typical of how Israel maintains its illegal and increasingly brutal occupation.

Not only is Israel ramping up its occupation, it is making Palestinians feel even more unwelcome than before within Israel too. Earlier this month, the Knesset passed a law stripping Arabic of its status as an official language. More than one-fifth of the population of Israel is Palestinian – primarily those who remained in their homes after the 1948 war and their descendants. The legislation also promoted Jewish settlements as a national value. This is now the situation Palestinians find themselves in. In the occupied West Bank they are being driven away from homes they have lived in for decades. In Gaza, they are denied food, power and other basic services because of Israel’s illegal blockage. Within Israel itself, they are treated like second-class citizens and increasingly segregated away from the Jewish population. They cannot pray in their mosques without fear of attack and any response to Israeli provocation is met with brutal force. The rest of the world needs to wake up to the fact that Israel has colonised territory and established an apartheid state. Only international action can force this rogue state to change its behaviour.