Israel evacuates hundreds of Palestinians to conduct army training

[cpwm17]

Source: Ma'an News Agency

Hundreds of Palestinians are being evacuated from the northern Jordan Valley to make way for an Israeli military training exercise, local officials told Ma'an.

Villagers received orders this week from the Israeli army to leave their homes for the duration of the exercise, which begins on Sunday.

Daraghmeh said some families would be permitted to return after a two-day exercise, while others were told to leave their homes permanently.

He said several Israeli departments were working together to pressure Palestinians to leave the Jordan Valley in order to build Jewish settlements and military bases.

Read more: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=535050

---

This is ethnic cleansing at work, on land that Israel has no right to be in. This is news, but unfortunately it happens below the US radar, and by the country that receives far more support from the US than any other.

[atreides1]

1. Question

How many of those homes will be standing at the end of this "training"?


Another sign of the opressed becoming the oppressor!

[cpwm17]

2. That's a good question

Israel plays a lot of pseudo legal games to expel the Palestinians. This can't ultimately end well for the ME.

[Brooklyn Dame]

3. Bibi won't be happy...

...until he can drive the Palestinians out altogether. And next? Iran.

http://borderlessnewsandviews.com/2012/11/peace-not-on-bibis-watch/

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

5. Cue up the march of the apoligists to say nothing is wrong with this.

Israel is an apartheid state.

[frylock]

6. this thread has been up for several hours now..

the apologists have fuckall to say about this. there is no way to spin this as positive for poor widdle israel.

[Hydra]

7. I'm dead surprised not to see the usual flurry of

"This isn't really what it looks like!"

If I got kicked out of my home for 2 days, I'd be homeless until they decided to give it back to me.

[snagglepuss]

10. +1

[Mosby]

12. ma'an is not a reliable news site.

[Violet_Crumble]

14. It is a reliable source. I'm not sure where you get the idea it isn't...

It's used regularly by both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli DUers in the I/P forum...

[Mosby]

17. two other outlets I found that are reprinting the ma'an article

Are presstv and mondoweiss.

Other than that and a couple antisemitic blogs no one else in the entire media world is reprinting this article from ma'an.

Hmmmm.

[Violet_Crumble]

18. And how does that show that Ma'an isn't a reliable source?

Shall we start judging Ha'aretz based on who picks up their articles and runs with them? That would be just as silly as doing it for Ma'an.

Maybe you could explain exactly what it is in the article that makes you doubt it's true? I read it and it sounds very much like what Israel would do in the Jordan Valley...

[Mosby]

27. I'm playing the odds

A Jew spits on a little girl, or a Jewish soldier kicks a Palestinian kid and it is reported around the world in thousands of mainstream newspapers/websites and blogs.

For a lot of reasons (including a large helping of Jew hatred) the world media is obsessed with Jews and Israel, if this story passed the "smell test" it would have already been reprinted in papers around the world.

But I could be wrong, like I said I'm just playing the odds, you know kinda like nate silver does.

[cpwm17]

28. You can claim that Israel is the victim of bad press

If what the press says is true, then whose fault is that?

Many Israel supporters demand that Israel be given special treatment. Israel gets far more support from the US than any other country. What Israel does reflects badly on the US. Israel was stolen from the natives, on land that is sacred to three religions. Israel is a war mongering Apartheid government. Of course Israel will get a lot of attention.

In the US, the Palestinians are the victims of bad press. Most of the nasty behavior done by Israel isn't reported. Which is strange, since the US Government and media are obsessed with Israel.

So if the US media doesn't report it, I guess it didn't happen. Playing the victim card doesn't cut it. The Palestinians are victims of much more than bad press.

[Violet_Crumble]

33. So there's absolutely nothing at all in that article that is suspect. Okay...

btw, when you say 'a Jew' and 'a Jewish soldier' yr actually talking about Israelis, not Jews. See, when someone criticises Israel they're not criticising Jews, despite what some people claim to the contrary...

The world media isn't obsessed with either Israel or Jews, no more than it was obsessed with East Timor, or Iraq, or any of the other areas in the world where there's occupation and conflict...

[Mosby]

35. I don't feel like going over every word in the article

If you don't think the media is obsessed with Israel then you are not paying attention, its gotten so bad people are writing books about it.

"Often Israel does this without warning as a way to terrorize the Palestinians. Their crime: they belong to the wrong religion. This is Zionism."

Seems like some DUers on your side missed the memo about
Keeping it about people not religion. The above poster thinks that the PEOPLE of ISRAEL(not the gov) are trying to kick out the MUSLIMS.

I'm really sick of the antisemitism here at DU so feel free to get in the last word. I'm done.

[cpwm17]

36. Clearly Israel bulldozes Palestinian homes to terrorize them

and also to expel them. Israel shows up without warning and doesn't even give the Palestinians a chance to remove their stuff.

The land doesn't belong to Israel. Israel has no right to destroy the Palestinians' lives. Obviously you're not Palestinian.

I'm a liberal because I believe in the Golden Rule. I can't relate to your inability to feel for others.

[Violet_Crumble]

44. That would be because there's nothing setting off suspicion in the artlcle...

And the media's no more obsessed with Israel than it has been with Iraq or Iran or other areas of conflict in the world. And of course people write books about the I/P conflict. Why wouldn't or shouldn't they?

I just checked and you were doing the 'Jewish soldier' thing in a reply to me, and I hadn't said anything about religion.

The antisemitism here at DU? Let me guess. You think people daring to criticise Israel's policy towards the Palestinians is antisemitic. Actually I don't need to guess, given this post I read earlier today.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/113420849#post19

[oberliner]

65. The article is very suspcious

Ma'an, like Ha'aretz, sometimes has good reporting and sometimes not.

Ynet is the same way.

[Scootaloo]

51. It doesn't say what Mosby wants it to say, so = unreliable

Tomorrow it'll say something he agrees with and will be unimpeachable.

[King_David]

42. Apartheid entity ?

Labeling Israel "The Apartheid state or entity" is all the rage from far left to far right nowdays ..

It's "in" and everyone's doing it.


... Israel the Apartheid State :

In Tel Aviv They put French Fries in their Shwarma...gross..Israel the Apartheid State

In the Knesset they have Coca Cola Machines not Pepsi ....Israel the Apartheid State

They have in supermarkets Milky and Milky afooch....Israel the Apartheid State

Pesach time the Bakeries sell Kosher Lepesach Bread Cakes and Bagels...Israel the Apartheid State

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

49. Apologizing for Israel's lack of ethics in some matters is all the rage for some...

[HankyDub]

4. The Likud party are terrorists

You can't negotiate with terrorists.

[Odin2005]

8. Ethnic cleansing is right.

I find it disgusting that Israelis are acting more and more like the folks that tried to exterminate their ancestors 70 years ago.

[snagglepuss]

9. My sentiments exactly.

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

11. and just where are they supposed to go?

this just boggles the mind.

[riderinthestorm]

13. Indefensible if true. Anyone have a different source? Maan isn't a great source

I can't find this reported anywhere else.

[Violet_Crumble]

15. The source is fine. It's every bit as good as Ha'aretz...

As I said further up in the thread, it's a source that's used by both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli DUers in the I/P forum.

Having read the article, I'm not seeing anything in it that would make me doubt that it's true. The Jordan Valley is Area C, which is under full Israeli control, and Palestinians living in that area have been living under travel restrictions and other rules imposed by the Israeli military that are designed to make their lives a living hell...

[cpwm17]

22. This is consistent with Israel's long term strategy

MAP WIPING

[Puregonzo1188]

74. Thank you for posting! I try to post this picture on DU as much as possible.

Funny the Israeli apologist never respond...

[cpwm17]

77. I've posted this a few times in the past

Thank you for posting this picture also. This is the central fact of the conflict, which our news media doesn't care to mention.

You can't get to a "two-state solution" from here. It's impossible. It's essentially one state now. And it will always be one state. It's Israel's responsibility to grant all people under its current control equal rights. Anyone that says Israel must remain a Jewish state is a bigot.

[Freddie Stubbs]

16. At least they are giving them a chance to leave rather than just bombing the area

[ForgoTheConsequence]

19. Yes.

How generous of them...

[cpwm17]

23. And free air to breath

and Israel even lets the Palestinians keep a little of their water.

[Freddie Stubbs]

40. They have it pretty good, actually

They have a life expectancy higher than either Egypt or Jordan.

[cpwm17]

76. I'm familiar with your type of racist thinking

Americans have heard that type of talk in our racist past. Palestinian lives are controlled by illegal usurpers:

Apartheid Israel:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_and_the_apartheid_analogy

Critics of Israeli policy say that "a system of control" in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including Jewish-only settlements, separate roads, military checkpoints, discriminatory marriage law, the West Bank barrier, use of Palestinians as cheap labour, Palestinian West Bank enclaves, inequities in infrastructure, legal rights, and access to land and resources between Palestinians and Israeli residents in the Israeli-occupied territories resembles some aspects of the South African apartheid regime, and that elements of Israel's occupation constitute forms of colonialism and of apartheid, which are contrary to international law.

[Violet_Crumble]

45. You forgot the sarcasm tag on that one n/t

[loudsue]

20. May Netanyahu rot in the worst kind of hell.

Fuck him and his LIKUD government.

[bunnies]

21. Must have been too many for the Israeli army to kill or kidnap...

Palestine Today 11 01 2012

(snip)
In other news The Ahrar Center for Detainees’ Studies and Human Rights reported that Israeli soldiers kidnapped 292 Palestinians in October from different parts of the West Bank, including 26 children.

Fuad al-Khuffash, head of the Ahrar Center, stated that nine of the kidnapped Palestinian are from the Gaza Strip, while the rest (283) were kidnapped from their homes, and on roadblocks, in different parts of the West Bank.

The Center said that Jerusalem witnessed the highest leveled of arrests as the army kidnapped 103 Palestinians, including seven children, five women, and five journalists.

It is worth mentioning that the army killed fifteen Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in October, in repeated Israeli air strikes and bombardments.
(snip)

http://www.imemc.org/article/64491

[cpwm17]

24. More ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians

This goes on all of the time, unreported in the US media. Israel refuses to allow the Palestinians to build on their own land, and then Israel often destroys their much needed homes after they build. Often Israel does this without warning as a way to terrorize the Palestinians. Their crime: they belong to the wrong religion. This is Zionism.

A fair percentage of humans do not believe in the Golden Rule. This is more evidence.

[Mosby]

26. Judaism is bigoted against other religions?

Is that your point with this statement:

Often Israel does this without warning as a way to terrorize the Palestinians. Their crime: they belong to the wrong religion. This is Zionism.

Or are you trying to say that Jewish nationalism (zionism) is racist?

[cpwm17]

29. A lot of religions are bigoted against other religions, including Judaism and Christianity

Last edited Wed Dec 12, 2012, 10:57 PM - Edit history (1)

Christians think that those that believe differently than themselves deserve to be infinitely punished for eternity!

Of course Zionism is racist. The proof is in the pudding.

[Mosby]

31. thinking vs doing

Sure Christians think non believers are going to hell but in your post you are asserting that Israelis are bulldozing homes because the residents are Muslim. I think a sentiment like that veers into anti-semitic territory.

What makes the Jewish national liberation movement different that say the Chechans or Tibetans? Why are those groups nationalistic aspirations OK but not the Jews?

[cpwm17]

32. Don't pull the anti-Semitic card on me

If those home were occupied by Jews Israel wouldn't be bulldozing them.

Israel is expelling the Palestinians due to the mere fact that they aren't Jews, and Israel wants the Palestinians' land for Jews. That is a reality. Please don't call reality "anti-Semitic."

Your lack of concern for the Palestinians is noted.

[King_David]

41. Nope its just anti-Zionist,

Right?

[Violet_Crumble]

46. People can be opposed to Israel evicting Palestinians without being anti-Zionist...

Right?

[Deuce]

25. Bookmarked for later reading.....

[EmeraldCityGrl]

30. This directly puts the US at risk.

With tensions high over the drone incident, this is inexcusable.

Israel far overestimates the support of the American people
given their continued humiliating treatment of Palestinians
especially now.

I do not want Obama's focus to be on Israel. America needs
him to work on the policies we elected him to work on.

[cpwm17]

37. Our support for Israel was one of several motivating factors for the 9-11 attacks

Plus the Israel lobby in the US is one of the main driving forces that push the US to further wars. We were a war-mongering nation before the Israel lobby in the US started supporting US wars, but they certainly are not helping the US improve its behavior.

Currently, the Israel lobby in the US is pushing our corrupt government's confrontational stance against Iran, including our unjustified economic terrorism against the 70 million people of Iran.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

38. You are stating the obvious. Everyone knows this.

Israel no longer has the unconditional support they had from my parents
generation. After watching the ethnic cleansing taking place for so many
years. Holocaust empathy no longer exists to the degree that we will send
our sons and daughters to die in yet another war.

America's presence in Saudi Arabia with corps like ARAMCO were huge components
for bin Laden's rage towards Americans. Israel cannot be blamed exclusively. But
the world is too small aplace anymore for Israels propaganda directed at what
they see as stupid American Christian sentimentality. Enough. They want to commit
the crime of ethnic cleansing, deal with the consequences or sit down at the table
and quit the bullshit.

[cpwm17]

39. Unfortunately, a lot of people deny the obvious

Many Americans think that they attacked us strictly for religious reasons, or that they didn't attack us at all but the US Government actually conducted 9-11 - all completely ridiculous.

Our aggressive military campaign against Iraq from Saudi soil, and our genocidal sanctions against Iraq certainly contributed to the rage.

A large percentage of Americans believe US and Israeli propaganda concerning US and Israeli conflicts. Many Americans have no clue about Israel's Apartheid government, its ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, or the extent of US support for Israel. Our media certainly isn't going to help.

[King_David]

47. "Many Americans have no clue about Israel's Apartheid "

Only the fringe of Americans believe that shit.

Certainly not The Democratic Party or President.

It's become a new tactic of the extreme to delegitimize "the Zionist entity " .. Screech "Apartheid " whenever you can.

Apartheid is just so "in" nowadays .

[fascisthunter]

60. no....most who know the facts see Israel the same way they saw South Africa

your fanaticism in defending the indefensible has been noted, many times already.

[King_David]

61. Says you ... Most Americans disagree .

In most liberal Democratic party places defense of Israel is not fanaticism .. Quite the opposites the rule.. Your fanaticism is noted

[Violet_Crumble]

64. They said most who know the facts, not most Americans...

Last edited Sun Nov 18, 2012, 02:06 AM - Edit history (1)

They're two very different things.

Blind support of Israel which involves dollops of stuff trying to paint Arabs and Muslims as murderous antisemites (think Pamela Geller) is an example of fanaticism, and it's unfortunately a stance that is quite common in the US...

What some Americans have trouble understanding is that not all 'support' of Israel is support at all, and it's possible to support a country without having to resort to bigoted tropes about Arabs and Muslims in order to do it...

[King_David]

66. Agreed nt

[fascisthunter]

68. with your help in spinning shit

[King_David]

69. You mad at someone?

Not used to forum debate ? Only see one side of an issue ?
I get it , my moms like that .

[fascisthunter]

72. you took it to a personal level

I was stating fact... you are going to lose this battle against the truth. There is really nothing you can do about it, but when people figure out who masks the truth, as you do, well have fun with emoticons.

[cpwm17]

71. Most Americans know little about the conflict

and what politicians support often has little to do with right and wrong.

You're using 'argument from popularity' and 'argument from authority.'

[mallard]

43. Re: Our support for Israel ...

... is what kept Israel from being implicated in the evident sabotage of 9-11. You're right about The Lobby using the attacks to push us into wars though.

[cpwm17]

59. Israel was not directly responsible for 9-11

That's conspiracy nonsense.

The US was attacked mostly for our terrible foreign policy (outside of the soulless religious nuttery of the 9-11 attackers), which includes support for Israel's bad behavior.

[King_David]

48. Yes Israel is responsible for

911 ,the Iraq war and Hurricane Sandy.

[mallard]

50. Your sarcasm doesn't effect the truth.

Israel was the chief beneficiary of the event, with Zionists in every step of the equation. Have you seen the collapse of WTC?

[Behind the Aegis]

52. How was Israel was the chief beneficiary of the event?

What steps did the zionists take before, during, after?

I saw the collapse of one tower how is that relevant?

[cpwm17]

58. You are completely wrong about your conspiracy

and conspiracy crap is not allowed outside of the Creative Speculation forum.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1135

[King_David]

62. A large percentage of "antiZionists" or

Whatever some people call themselves now days believe that stuff.
I am pleased to say I agree with you it's crap and pleasantly surprised you said that .

[cpwm17]

63. I have noticed that there are quite a few anti-authoritarian types that fall for that conspiracy BS

and on the flip side, quite a few anti-"truther" types have an authoritarian bent, which includes support for Israel's bullying behavior. That's just how the human mind seems to work.

[King_David]

54. Please elaborate ,

And share your conclusions.

[arikara]

34. I'm glad to see this thread is still up in LBN.

n/t

[magellan]

53. Another source for this story

LiveLeak - Al Jazeera video

[Ash_F]

56. Thanks for the link.

It is good to see reporters care enough to go to the location and speak with the people who are actually affected. I highly recommend watching it.

[Bad_Ronald]

57. Wow! It's not an invasion, it's an "evacuation"

Masterful use of language by the Israelis. Evacuation is also used as a euphemism for taking a shit, which is what the Israelis have been essentially doing all over these people for decades.

[HeiressofBickworth]

67. Am I the only one who sees the

connection between the land-grab by Israel and the rockets from Gaza?

I actually have little sympathy for either side and what I see is a continual war between Israel and Palestine which will only be resolved when both sides destroy each other. The seeds of this conflict run so deep that it is impossible to point a finger at who started it -- it's now one act of revenge against another. There are apparently no peace-makers on either side.

This is a conflict that I believe the US should stay out of. It can do us nothing but harm to take a side since (IMHO) neither side has the proverbial "clean hands".

[cpwm17]

70. Blaming both sides when clearly one side is responsible for this mess is unfair

You're blaming the victim. Israel started, and continues to maintain the conflict. The 1947/48 Palestinian Nakba (The Catastrophe) has never ended. The Palestinians have no power to end the conflict.

[fascisthunter]

73. All folks have to do is look at a map

see how much Palestinian land is being annexed... enough, is enough. This is not a road to peace... nobody wins from this. And yes, I agree with you.

[Agony]

75. Israel has been displacing Palestinians for a long time

1967: Destruction of housing stock during the war included 375 homes in Imwas, 535 homes in Yalu, 550 homes in Beit Nuba, an estimated 135 homes in the Moroccan quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, 1,000 homes in Qalqilya, in addition to thousands of homes of Beit Marsam, Beit Awa, Jiftlik, and al-Burj as well as refugee camps in the Jericho area and the Gaza Strip.

this is from ICAHD The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions

[Marrah_G]

78. Gee...what could go wrong?