We were approached by a young man who said he was opposed to what we were saying.\u00a0 Given that we were arguing for peace, we were a little taken aback.\u00a0 It turned out that he objected to one of the placards.\u00a0 It said \u2018Free Gaza\u2019.\u00a0 He then stated why he believed the slogan was wrong. \u00a0 We could have just dismissed him as ill informed.\u00a0 However given the vast misinformation in the media, we would dismiss a huge chunk of the British population if we adopted that approach. It was clear that we were not going to win him over to a solidarity position there and then.\u00a0 What we did was to flag up where we disagreed.\u00a0 We asked him to check a number of things that showed that Israel was an expansionist, racist state, that was oppressing the Palestinians.\u00a0 It would have been nice if he had asked us to accept \u2018facts\u2019 that were uncomfortable to us.\u00a0 He declined to do so.<\/p>\n
This blog is intended to highlight some of the key facts that Israeli supporters don’t like but cannot hide.<\/p>\n
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- \u00a0Israel was born with the ethnic cleansing of 700,000 Palestinians<\/strong>.\u00a0 The ethnic cleansing was well under way before any Arab army intervened.\u00a0 See for example \u201cDaniel Blatman, an Israeli historian and head of the Institute for Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, penned an op-ed for the Israeli daily Haaretz<\/em> stating that ethnic cleansing \u201cis exactly what happened in 1948.\u201d To support this, \u201cdetermined that most of the Arabs in the country, over 400,000, were encouraged to leave or expelled in the first stage of the war\u2014even before the Arab nations\u2019 armies invaded<\/a>\u201d or \u00a0 The ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Illan Pappe\u00a0 The UN passed a resolution<\/a> stating that the Palestinian refugees should have a right of return to their homes.\u00a0 This right was denied by Israel.<\/li>\n
- Israel is expansionist \u00a0 <\/strong>
![\"Disappearing-PalestineL\"](\"http:\/\/www.sheffieldpsc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Disappearing-PalestineL-300x241.png\")
(From PSC) \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Israel won wars in 1948 and 1967. It has expanded its illegal settlements ever since.\u00a0 The UN security council stated<\/a> \u20181. Reaffirms that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace;\u2019 2334 December 2016<\/i> \u00a0 <\/i>Israel ignored the resolution and just over a month later announced a new settlement. <\/a>There are between\u00a0 600,000<\/a> and 800,000 illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank.<\/li>\n- Israel has established an Apartheid state<\/strong> There is a definition here<\/a>. \u00a0 If there are separate laws, separate courts, separate areas, separate roads then there is Apartheid.\u00a0 This is the ex Israeli Ambassador to South Africa Alon Liel <\/a>\u201cIn the situation that exists today, until a Palestinian state is created, we are actually one state. This joint state \u2014 in the hope that the status quo is temporary \u2014 is an apartheid state,\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 A UN sub committee stated<\/a> that \u201cThis report concludes that Israel has established an apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian people as a whole. Aware of the seriousness\u00a0 of this allegation, the authors of the report conclude that available evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that Israel is guilty of policies and\u00a0 practices that constitute the crime of apartheid as legally defined in\u00a0 instruments of international law\u201d.\u00a0 Desmond Tutu<\/a>: \u2018U.S. Christians Must Recognize Israel as Apartheid State\u2019<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Israel mistreats Palestinian children.\u00a0 Sarah Champion has described the abuse of Palestinian in Israeli courts here<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- \u00a0Israel steals Palestinian water.\u00a0 Israel won the war in 1967.\u00a0 Its military dominance lets it take 80% of the water that Palestinians need.\u00a0 Israelis get four-fifths of scarce West Bank water, says World Bank<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Blockade of Gaza \u201cGaza is a prison camp\u201d Davis Cameron \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span><\/a>\u201c…the policy of blockade that preceded the operations and that in the Mission\u2019s view amounts to collective punishment intentionally inflicted by the Government of Israel on the people of the Gaza Strip.\u201d and \u201cU.N. Goldstone report. \u201c and \u201cdeeds by the Israeli armed forces and words of military and political leaders prior to and during the operations indicate that, as a whole, they were premised on a deliberate policy of disproportionate force aimed not at the enemy but at the \u201csupporting infrastructure.\u201d In practice, this appears to have meant the civilian population.\u201d The Goldstone report<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
We had hoped he would return a little less ill-informed and ready to continue the discussion.\u00a0 Sadly, he did not.\u00a0 I am putting this as a blog in the hope that he and other pro Israelis will read it.\u00a0 I am human, I may have made a mistake.\u00a0 Please point out any errors.\u00a0 If you read it and find no errors, surely you should join us and demand justice for the Palestinians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Blog bullet points On Saturday 17th February, I was, with others, giving out leaflets for the Stop the War Coalition meeting\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0( 1st March at the Central United Reform Church 7pm. Our Chairman Mushier Al Farra is speaking). We were approached by a young man who said he was opposed to what we were saying.\u00a0 … Continue reading Facts are important<\/span>
- Israel is expansionist \u00a0 <\/strong>