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Israel destroying Palestinian homes in violation of International Law
Tim McCown
Philadelphia Progressive Examiner. February 22, 9:09
http://www.examiner.com/x-3629-Philadelphia-Progressive-Examiner~y2010m2d22-Israel-destroying-Palestinian-homes-in-violation-of-International-Law


An Israeli Court will decide the fate of the Palestinian farming village of Khan al-Ahmar. This is so Israeli settlements can be built on these West Bank Palestinian lands.

This is a clear violation of article 49 paragraph 6 of the Fourth Geneva Convention that defines these Israeli settlements as illegal. The demolition of Palestinian homes is illegal under the Geneva Conventions as well, which forbids the destruction of private property except when absolutely necessary for military operations.

Regavim, a Right wing settler group has been the lobbying force behind this move. This would leave 100 Palestinians homeless

A UN report indicates demolition of Palestinian homes is an increasing problem. They believe as many as 300,000 Palestinians may be made homeless in this manner. This has been largely unreported in the American press despite this study being done by The United Nations Committee for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

On 2/22/10 Richard Miran, chief Public Information officer for UNSCO stated that, ` I would like to see more positive steps by Israel to enable Palestinian development and state building in the area throughout the West Bank, reflecting a genuine commitment to the two state solution.`

I think its past time to ask if Israel is even committed to seeing the Palestinians as independent people let alone a two state solution. They have increasingly just appropriated the West Bank or at least the choicest land there even if they must remove the Palestinians from their land.

While Palestine is a long way from Philadelphia it affects us because this part of the world is a flashpoint for the Muslim world. Thus Israel`s behavior and our acquiescence in it, makes us more susceptible to terrorist acts because of our unquestioning support of Israel. Therefore our silence on the destruction of Khan al-Ahmar can mean some attack against Americans somewhere. This should matter to us.

Just as Israel has a right to a homeland so do the Palestinians. You would think the Israeli`s of all people would understand this.



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