Israel’s brutal actions in the occupied territories are
designed to consolidate and entrench the
occupation and expand Israeli colonization, and
are therefore, by definition, not defensive in
nature.
The Israeli claim that its attacks on the
Palestinians constitute “self defense” ignores the fact that its posture in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip is, by definition, not
defensive.
Since 1967, Israel has maintained tens
of thousands of heavily armed troops outside its
borders for the purposes of stealing land from the
Palestinians and forcing them to live as
non-citizens under a foreign military
dictatorship.
Seized Palestinian land has been used to build
Jewish-only settlements linked by a network of
Jewish-only roads, in flagrant violation of UN
Security Council Resolutions and the Fourth Geneva
Convention.
This colonization is, and can only be, carried out by the violent suppression of any and all Palestinian resistance to the occupation.
Throughout the years of the “peace process” during the 1990s, Israel continued to construct settlements, doubling the number of settlers in the West Bank from about 100,000 to 200,000 according to the Israeli group “Peace Now.”
At least 34 new settlements have been built since
Sharon took office.
The entire international community has recognized
that Israel’s military occupation must end, and
that its continuation, along with the settlement
policy, and the massive repression they entail is
a guarantee of continued bloodshed.
Israel’s brutal actions in the occupied territories are
designed to consolidate and entrench the
occupation and expand Israeli colonization, and
are therefore, by definition, not defensive in
nature.
Author: Ali Abunimah and Hussein Ibish
News Service: The Electronic Intifada
URL: http://electronicintifada.net/coveragetrends/6myths.shtml#2
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