The veto'd resolution is about these Israeli crimes:
2 Aug. '09: Two Palestinian families evicted from Sheikh Jarah; settlers move into their homes
On 2 August 2009, the police evicted two Palestinian families from their houses in the Sheikh Jarah neighborhood of East Jerusalem : the extended Hanun family, 17 members who lived in three apartments, and the extended Alghawi family, 29 members who lived in six apartments. Immediately following the eviction, settler families took over the houses under heavy police guard. The evicted families refuse to be removed from the neighborhood and have stayed in the street since then.
Several of the Hanun family members in the street after the eviction. Photo: Kareem Jubran, B'Tselem, 5 Aug. '09.
The two families are the descendents of refugee families from 1948, the Hanun family from Haifa , and the Alghawi family from Sarfarand (Tzrifin). These families were part of a group of 28 families, which now amount to 550 persons, who were settled in the neighborhood in 1956 by the Jordanian government and UNRWA.
The eviction followed the Israeli Supreme Court's determination that the families were living in property belonging to the Jewish community that lived close to the tomb of Simon the Just until the 1930s. This property is registered to the name of the Sephardic Community Committee and the Knesset Israel Committee. These committees transferred their rights in the land to the Nahalat Shimon settlers' organization, which has been engaged over the past decade in evacuating Palestinian families in the neighborhood from their homes, and holds five other compounds in the neighborhood....
B'Tselem - East Jerusalem - 2 Aug. '09: Two Palestinian families evicted from Sheikh Jarah; settlers move into their homes
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These evictions only go in one direction. I've never heard of a Jewish family getting the same treatment for taking over a Palestinian home. If this was fair, then millions of Palestinians should get their property back too.
Israel is using whatever excuse they can to remove Palestinians from their homes and awarding them to immigrants who belong to the right religion.
That's just what's happening in cities like East Jerusalem. But all Palestinians are vulnerable to loosing their property to the Zionist state throughout the West bank.
Here is another example:
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Discover Bil'in
Bil’in is a Palestinian village that is struggling to exist. It is fighting to safeguard its land, its olive trees, its resources… its liberty.
By annexing close to 60% of Bil’in land for Israeli settlements and the construction of Israel’s separation wall, the state of Israel is strangling the village. Every day it destroys a bit more, creating an open air prison for Bil’in’s inhabitants.
Supported by Israeli and international activists, Bil’in residents peacefully demonstrate every Friday in front of the “work-site of shame”. And every Friday the Israeli army responds with violence, both physically and psychologically.
Bil’in residents have continued to withstand these injustices despite the frequent night raids of Israeli soldiers in the town followed by an increasing number of arrests of inhabitants and of activists. But now, the army has toughened the oppression by systematically arresting members of the Bil’in committee in charge of organizing the non-violent resistance actions. The aim of the arrests is to discourage Bil’in residents and reduce their resistance to the occupation.
By supporting Bil’in, you will help its inhabitants to continue their struggle and maintain hope in their fight for liberty. This site is dedicated to all people of good will - Palestinian, Israeli and the internationals who fight side by side against the injustices endured by the people of Bil’in.
Bil’in, an example of the injustice inflicted on Palestine
It is important to realize that what is going on in Bil’in is emblematic of the situation in all of Palestine:
- The occupation of Palestine by the Israeli armed forces was condemned by United Nations’ Resolution 242, and by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
- The colonization of Palestinian lands, whether dubbed legal or illegal by Israel, was also condemned by UN Resolutions 242 and 338.
- The construction of the Wall and annexation of lands to be converted into military zones are also condemned by the UN and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
- According to the UN, the presence of armed forces on a foreign territory, which the village of Bil’in is experiencing, is an illicit situation punishable by an international military intervention (as in Kuwait in 1991), as well as being a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
- Armed repression during the demonstrations in Bil’in, equally prohibited by all international courts and bodies, is a violation of human rights, and is also prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention.
- All forms of collective punishments are punishable, according to the Fourth Geneva Convention, and are considered as war crimes by the UN.
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eao:
What's interesting about Bi'lin is how the people are fighting back. They are using non-violent means:
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The Palestinian popular resistance movement is suffering from the ongoing violence of both the Israeli occupation forces and the settlers. The Israeli authorities want to crush the non-violent struggle and to break the unity created among Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals, who for more than four years have been demonstrating together in Bilin, Nilin and other occupied villages, exerting their legitimate right to defend their land against further colonization and to struggle for the full restitution of the land annexed by Israel, disregarding international obligations and violating human rights.
In the past months we have seen an escalation of systematic arrests and kidnappings of activists in the movement by the Israeli army. This week, non-violent leaders from the West Bank village of Bilin and Al Masara have been arrested for peacefully demonstrating against Israeli separation wall and are still being held in prison.
Faced with this painful reality, the Palestinian people are committed to continuing and developing their non-violent popular struggle. This struggle has become an emblematic example not only for Palestinians but also for activists worldwide who fight for freedom, justice and self-determination. Last December, the Bil'in Popular Committee was awarded the 2008 Human Rights Medal of the International League of Human Rights in Germany.