RSS Feeds
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 - Commentary

Home page  back Print  Send To friend

Red Rag column - Murder in broad daylight in Umm al-Hiran - Racists of the world, unite!
By: Gideon Spiro
31 January 2017 (English translation posted 11 February 2017)

Murder in broad daylight

The story of the destruction of the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran includes elements of Ku-Klux-Klan-style police lynching, with an admixture of blood-libel from Israel Police General Commissioner Roni Alsheikh and Interior Minister Gilad Erdan, which are reminiscent of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

The police murdered Yaaqub Musa Abu al-Qian, who according to all accounts had left his house with the little property that was important to him in order not to be present when his house was demolished. They framed him as having struck a policeman with his vehicle and being a Daesh sympathizer, before an investigation was conducted. And ironically the policeman who was struck was himself also a victim of the light finger on the trigger when it comes to the lives of Arabs.

Based on information that has been disclosed, the ramming took place because the driver lost control of the vehicle due to police shooting that preceded the ramming. According to the government pathologist’s report, his life could have been saved if he had received medical attention on the spot, but the police let him bleed to death. Which makes this premeditated murder.

The destruction of the village, in order to build in its place a Jewish settlement called Hiran, is part of the Israeli government’s policy of apartheid and racism. No effort should be spared in the framework of a nonviolent public struggle to prevent the creation of the settlement. There are more than enough human-rights activists in Israel, Jews and Arabs, who can adopt Ghandi’s method of “sit-in” and prevent the preparation of the ground for the construction of the settlement.

Such a struggle will be an inspiration for opponents of apartheid all over the world, who will surround Israeli embassies with human chains as a sign of solidarity with the struggle in Israel.


Like attracts like

The Chairman of the Likud youth movement, David Shain, has met with Nicolas Bay, general secretary of the French extreme right party led by Marine Le Pen, who was visiting Israel. All that can be said to this is: like attracts like. Racists of the world, unite! Israel under the Netanyahu-Bennett leadership and supported by the Messiah Trump is seen as an ally by more and more antisemites all over the world, and they are making the pilgrimage here.

We must tear the mask off the face of the governmental Israeli Right and its supporters, and tell the truth: we have an antisemitic government that hates Arabs overtly and hates Jews under the guise of “love of Israel”. [1] The Likudiada celebrations in Eilat on International Holocaust Remembrance Day are one manifestation of this.


Translator’s note

1. “Love of Israel” – Ahavat Yisra’el: The religious commandment for Jews to love their fellow Jews. Used in this context, the word “Israel” is normally understood to refer to the Jewish people, not the modern State of Israel.


Translated from Hebrew for Occupation Magazine by George Malent

gm
Links to the latest articles in this section

Is there still a chance to break the cycle of revenge and bloodshed?
Israelis Against Apartheid Statement Following ICJ Hearing
Three weeks into the Gaza War - a somber and sober assessment, with some historical perspectives