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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 - Activism Home page  back Print  Send To friend Palestinians reopen East Jerusalem road to protest land-grab Moriel Rothman +972, January 20 2012 http://972mag.com/palestinians-reopen-e-jerusalem-road-to-protest-land-grab/33436/ Issawiya, East Jerusalem- On Friday morning, around thirty Israeli Jews joined Palestinian residents of Issawiya in an attempt to clear a road leading out of Issawiya that was blocked last week by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Together, we worked with shovels, picks, and bare hands to break down the pile of rubble blocking the path. Following a petition submitted by the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement to the Jerusalem Municipality, the construction work was frozen, but much of the damage has already been done. The INPA, a governmental body charged with the protection of nature, landscape and heritage in Israel, destroyed a road and piled the rubble in a way that would prevent the residents of that part of Issawiya to travel on this road. “They destroyed and blocked off a road, we will reopen it.” Clearly, the INPA has the advantage of powerful tools and the backing of a state whose mechanisms explicitly favor Jewish settlement over the basic rights of Palestinian residents. But as we stood there, struggling to move the pile of rubble with our hands and shovels, it was clear that we also have an advantage: the advantage of being right. Moriel Rothman is an American-Israeli writer and activist. He lives in Jerusalem, and is active with Rabbis for Human Rights. bz Links to the latest articles in this section Israelis support Russian opposition to the Ukraine War All to Burin this Friday! Stand with the Palestinians against settler violence! The burial of ashes - an emotionally loaded day