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Occupation magazine - Activism

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Vigil at Prime Minister’s Residence: “Say no to legalized land robbery!”
Starting this morning (Thur. Dec. 8), concerned Israeli citizens are holding
a protest vigil outside the Prime Minister’s residence (corner of Aza and
Balfour Streets, Jerusalem). They will stay there every day between 10:00 to
17:00, during the coming week.

The Settlement Legalization Bill, which the right-wing Knesset majority is
vigorously seeking to enact, is a manifestly illegal measure, by which the
seizure of privately-owned Palestinian land would be declared “legal”. The
government’s own Attorney General, the Knesset’s own legal counsel, have
stated it clearly and unambiguously.
So did the United States Government and the European Union leaders.

Knesset Member Benny Begin, son of the late PM, a lone voice of decency
among government supporters, voted against this bill and called it “The
Theft Law” (for which he punished by the government). In the teeth of all
protests, the government amd extreme right go on with their campaign of
steamrolling it through the successive stages of legislation. The initiators
- Minister Bennett and MK Smotritch of “The Jewish Home Party”, make no
secret of their aim – annexation of the West Bank and perpetuation of the
Israeli oppressive rule over the Palestinians.

If this monstrosity is enacted into law, Israel’s Supreme Court is expected
to annul it declare it to be in violation of basic human and civil rights.
It might even come under the purview of the International Court at the
Hague. But all that might take a long time, and we do not have the luxury of
tolerating such an ugly blot on the Israeli Legal Code.

So, we are coming to make our protest loud and clear. We will stand in the
streets of Jerusalem, holding aloft the sign “No to the Land Theft Law! No
to Annexation!” as well as Israel’s National Flag. There will be no banners
of any specific political faction or formation – just those of Israeli
citizens deeply anxious and concerned for the future of their country.

Among scheduled participants will be public figures, some of them with
distinguished military careers - such as Shaul Givoli, who had been both an
IDF Brigadier General and later an Israeli Polce Comissioner, as well as
Knesser Member Omer Bar-Lev, who before entering politics was the commanding
officer of the Sayeret Matkal elite commandos. Other participants include
Amos Oz and other writers, Uzi Baram – a government minister in Yitzchak
Rabin’s government, and laureates of the Israel Prize.

Having been deeply involved in Israel’s political and cultural life as well
as in the country’s armed forces, the protest’s initiators fully realize how
deeply the government’s reckless policies not only endanger democracy,
but also undermine the very foundations on which Israel was erected.

Conact: Naftali Raz, +972-54-5494172


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