Last night in Jerusalem, new clashes saw more wounded Israelis and a Palestinian shot dead, as tensions continue to rise in Israel and its Occupied Territories.
Not surprisingly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is blaming this fall’s wave of violence on the native Arabs and foreign countries who support them. He blamed recent violence on the Palestinian Authority that (sort of) controls the West Bank, and of course he blames Hamas in Gaza, claiming that their “incitement and libels and lies” have set off unrest.
“All of us, we’re in the midst of a wave of terrorism… terrorists that are incited, filled with hatred and trying to hurt people,” said Netanyahu.
Israel continue to suppress any effort for an independent Palestine.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has stated he does not want the current situation to escalate. Many feel that Abbas is holding back a new intifada, but wonder for how long.
Fearing the symbolic power of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Netanyahu has declared a ban on any Arab-Israel MPs from going to the mosque, as well restricting Palestinians’ access to the holy site.
In a bid to calm tensions, Netanyahu has barred members of parliament and ministers from visiting the Old City’s Al-Aqsa mosques compound, which has seen repeated clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian youths in recent weeks.
Israel are also still reeling from last week’s UN flag ceremony which recognized Palestine in the ‘community of nations’ – moving it one step closer to statehood – something Netanyahu and others Israeli Zionist fundamentalists have vowed never to allow. UN head Ban Ki-Moon said at the time, “This is a day of pride for Palestinians around the world. It is a day of hope. It’s a reminder that symbols are important,” he said. “May the raising of this flag give rise to the hope among the Palestinians and the international community that Palestinian statehood is achievable.”
Meanwhile, Netanyahu (pictured left) continues to crow, “The radicals, the terrorists will not achieve anything… we will prosecute them, and we will be victorious!“, which sounds very much like another flamboyant despot in history, who also said, “We will be victorious, because we have to be victorious!”
What Netanyahu will not admit publicly, is that Israeli is running a full-blown, militarized colonial police state, and its heavy-handed treatment and over-the-top force is routinely used against all Palestinians, and also against any non-Jewish protesters, media or bystanders.
Last week two AFP journalists, covering clashes between Palestinians and IDF were assaulted by thuggish Israeli soldiers. RT explains:
“Israeli soldiers reportedly pointed their weapons at the Italian video journalist Andrea Bernardi and his colleague, Palestinian photographer Abbas Momani. Both journalists were wearing body armor clearly marked “Press.” According to AFP, Bernardi was thrown to the ground, jabbed in the side with a weapon, and held by a soldier until he showed his press card. The journalist suffered bruised ribs and an eye injury.”
“The soldiers reportedly smashed a video camera and a stills camera and took away another camera, and a mobile phone.”
In addition, Israel has also been using sniper rifles against stone-throwing Palestinians. Watch:
Killing Fields
Many now believe that the IDF are preparing to mount one of their biggest killing sprees since last year’s genocidal cull in Gaza. The moralists and human rights community in Washington DC seem all too willing to see history repeat itself, again.
Despite the scale of the violence against civilians last year, the West effectively turned a blind eye to Israel’s role during its decidedly vicious incursion, where the IDF slaughtered nearly 2,200 Palestinians and injured many thousands of others, as well as destroying 10,000 homes and severely damaging another 30,000. As the conflict seemed to wind down over last summer – the IDF bombed several large civilian buildings without any justifiable reason according to Amnesty International.
Over the last two weeks, the situation been on a knife edge. Tensions exploded over this past weekend in East Jerusalem following a number of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli paramilitary police, including one which took place near the town center Beit Furik two weeks ago following the funeral of Ahmed Khatatbeh, 26, who died after being shot by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near Nablus in the West Bank. As a result of the killing by the IDF, thousands of Palestinians marched in his funeral – which predictably stoked even more tension.
After this, tensions began to escalate again, before protests erupted following the IDF demolishing two homes in East Jerusalem homes which the Israeli government claim belonged to the families of two alleged ‘militants’ accused of murder by Israeli officials. Both men were said to have been shot and killed during the attacks.
Finally, this week, clashes came between the IDF and Palestinians, mostly youths in Bethlehem, after a funeral for Abed al-Rahman Obdeillah, a 13-year-old Palestinian killed on Monday by Israeli soldiers. In addition, three other Palestinians were murdered by IDF forces during protests.
Many pundits are now predicting a new intifada will almost certainly will emerge out of the current maelstrom in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Judging by past Israeli killing sprees by Israel in its occupied territories, if the violence does not de-escalate quickly, then it’s likely the bloodshed will increase exponentially by next week.
