Next week, Israel's Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman will decide on
whether to demolish 40% of the Palestinian village Susiya in Area C of the West
Bank. Should he decide to undertake this inhuman act, it would only demonstrate
his and Prime Minister Netanyahu's cruelty and terrifying shortsightedness as to
the implications of such an action. This would be Lieberman's first major
decision since he became Defense Minister, and will foretell what the future has
in store for the Palestinians.
The following is an article published
July 28, 2015, which speaks to this point. I believe revisiting it at this
juncture remains as cogent and as telling about the dark alley that Netanyahu is
treading into...
The pending order to demolish the small Palestinian
village of Susiya in the southern Judean Mountains in the occupied West Bank
represents the most blatant violation of human rights. The order calls for the
forcible removal of several hundred Palestinians who have been living on their
land from the time of the Ottoman Empire and still have the ownership deeds to
prove their claim. Prime Minister Netanyahu, who never misses an opportunity to
remind the world that Israel is a democracy guided by moral principles, seems to
care less about displacing Palestinian women and children for the fourth time.
His excuse is that this dusty village, established in 1830, is the site of
archeological remains both of a 5th century synagogue and a 10th century mosque
and it must be preserved.
The real reason is that Netanyahu is leading a coalition government which is committed to preventing the Palestinians from building anywhere in Area C, which represents 61 percent of the West Bank, and is openly seeking its outright annexation.
This policy is repeatedly reinforced by the government's refusal to grant building permits to Susiya residents, when at the same time it is providing all the funding for facilities and security to a religious communal Israeli settlement established in 1986 with the same name only a short distance south of Palestinian Susiya.
It is hard to express how outrageous the behavior of Netanyahu's government is when only hours after Israel's High Court of Justice ordered the demolition of two illegally-built structures in the West Bank settlement of Beit El, Netanyahu authorized the immediate construction of 300 units in the same settlement.
In response to the Court ruling, Naftali Bennett, the leader of the ultra-conservative Jewish Home party, said: "This is an unfortunate ruling by the High Court...[that] will bring about a wave of construction across the settlements." Bennett's statement was strongly echoed by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, no less, who said that while the Court order must be accepted, they will immediately rebuild. "This is the Jewish way -- you don't lose hope and you keep building, building, building."
The implications of this inhuman action, should it be carried out, transcends the demolition of one Palestinian village. It points out not only the hypocrisy of Netanyahu and his cohorts, but the moral decadence of a government that seems bent on defying the international community and the basic tenets of civilized behavior.
Susiya is but another example of the Netanyahu government's flagrant and callous disregard of the Palestinians' fundamental right to live with dignity -- indeed, I am reminded of a passage in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, which, although about a different time and place, speaks directly to what is taking place in the West Bank: "If it was the law they was workin' with, why we could take it. But it ain't the law. They're a-working away at our spirits. They're a-tryin' to make us cringe an' crawl like a whipped b*tch. They're tryin' to break us... They're working on our decency."
At a time when Israel's image is tarnished, demolishing Palestinian Susiya will only intensify the already massive international condemnation of the Israeli occupation and the Netanyahu government's insatiable thirst for more Palestinian land.
Netanyahu's demagoguery has been time and again put on full display when he talks about a two-state solution, but then continues to expand the settlements by providing them with amenities while at the same time depriving scores of Palestinian villages of their basic need for water and electricity, including Susiya.
The mere thought of demolishing Susiya, not to speak of actually executing it, will be another nail in the coffin of the Israeli peace process. Netanyahu, more than any other Israeli Prime Minister, will be judged harshly for destroying the prospect for peace bit by bit.
There is nothing that he can say or do to justify the demolition of Susiya or any other Palestinian village or housing unit built in the West Bank -- on their own territory -- to accommodate natural growth and enable them to live a life without fear and intimidation.
The Israelis who support the demolition of this poor village are rendering the most ghastly disservice to Israel's image and its very future as a democratic state, and have become complicit in the despicable act of uprooting law-abiding Palestinians. No Israeli with a conscience should remain silent and allow the Netanyahu government to devour what little the Palestinians have left.
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