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The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it

Occupation magazine - Life under occupation Home page  back Print  Send To friend 25 Insanities of the Israeli Occupation in Palestine Paulette Schroeder 26 April 2010, CPT Hebron “That’s insane!” I often insist as Palestinian friends meet one more restriction in their daily lives. The following list I have compiled mentions some of the insanities I see enforced regularly on our Palestinian friends in this land we call “holy.” 1.In Bethlehem workers arrive at the Gilo checkpoint to go to East Jerusalem a few hours ahead of time in order to get to their work on the other side of the checkpoint on time. 2.A 15 yr. old neighbor boy from the Old City, Hebron, accused of throwing a stone, is now serving a sentence in prison and will carry that record for his life. 3.On the first day of school twelve teachers from the boys’ school in Hebron were detained for one hour on their way to school. 4.Adam is an elderly blind Palestinian man who gropes his way through the turnstile and beeper checkpoint. When he finally gets through the beeping machine, he must search to find all of the belongings he is forced to take out of his pockets. 5.After folding up his wheelchair, a disabled man struggles to navigate both himself and his wheelchair through the checkpoint turnstiles. 6.The U.S. government allocates $11,000,000/DAY to Israel to support its oppressive system on the Palestinians and at the same time insists that Israel stop building illegal settlements. 7.A 25-foot “security wall” stretches more than 200 miles around Palestine. It is topped with razor blade rolls of wire and reads “made in USA.” 8.A young Israeli soldier from Cleveland, Ohio, names the 300+ children killed in Gaza during Cast Lead “collateral damage”. 9.While using scissors to cut the rags off the razor blade wire in their front yard, a CPTer is checked by a soldier for carrying a weapon. 10.Every Saturday 8-12 Israeli soldiers lead a group of Israeli visitors through Hebron’s Old City to see homes where Jews lived before 1929; yet Palestinians have never been allowed to revisit their homes in present Israel. 11.Every day little Palestinian children have their bags searched at checkpoints for weapons as they travel to school. 12.Israeli soldiers “advance Israeli security” by detaining numerous young Palestinian men at checkpoints for prolonged periods of time. 13.A young Russian Israeli soldier has a chance to save a Palestinian boy and his father from going to jail. He refuses to tattle on his colleagues who started the row between the soldiers and the two Palestinians. 14.A new Israeli brigade often presses young Palestinian men against the wall, handling them roughly and searching them as a part of their practice drills. 15.CPT’s neighbor must enter her house, carrying groceries, first up a ladder, over the roof entrance, down into her home. She is one of many Palestinians who are not able to use their front doors because their front doors are facing a now settler-only street. 16.A Palestinian mother tells a group of soldiers that settlers are throwing stones at her house. The soldiers respond by arresting her thirteen-year-old daughter for interrogation. 17.The sign on the military side of the huge checkpoint from Bethlehem to Jerusalem reads “Peace be with you”. 18.Inside the notorious Gilo checkpoint, where my friend recently queued with Palestinians for 1.5 hours, an Israeli poster reads “Feel the Glory” 19.In an ancient Palestinian pastoral village located near a huge Jewish settlement since the 1980’s, the Israeli military and settlers have now installed 4 different roadblocks and barriers across the Palestinian road to provide security for the settlers in the illegal settlement. 20. The sight of a settler holding a baby and sporting an M-16 on his side or back. 21 .The ideological settlers living in Hebron using religion and God to justify their acts of violence toward our Palestinian neighbors. 22. The 25 ft. cement security WALL around much of Palestine replaces hundreds of thousand yr. old olive trees. 23. Soldiers lead a blindfolded child playing with/throwing stones behind a military gate, putting a dog near him to breathe down his neck. 24. The Palestinians accused of stealing water for their crops from the nearby illegal settlements. The truth is that these illegal settlements were built as recently as 1980. 25. The Israeli military taking orders from the settlers. P.S. These insanities are driving this CPTer insane also...as you can observe by my sending without pasting--several times now. Links to the latest articles in this section Occupation forces injure mourners following funeral of slain infant Mohammad Tamimi Nabi Saleh village assaulted - toddler shot in the head died in hospital Palestinians in the snow: thrown from home into the snow, throw snowballs and get arrested