(Image: www.thepeoplesvoice.org)
NEW YORK — ‘Israel cannot stop fighting because they cannot stop oppressing. That’s what it means to have a Jews-Only state.’ That was one of the comments made by Anna Baltzer at a presentation she made at the Fordham Law School (N.Y.C.) during Israeli Apartheid Week. On November 9th, CodePink and the Fordham Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild sponsored the meeting about Life in Occupied Palestine: Eyewitness Stories and Photos. The presenter, Anna Baltzer, a Jewish-American granddaughter of Holocaust refugees, wrote the book, Witness In Palestine. She has discussed the subject on television over 100 times and has spoken at over 300 universities, schools, synagogues, churches, and mosques around the world. While teaching in Turkey, as a Fullbright scholar, she met Palestinians but wouldn’t believe the stories they told her – she had grown up defending Israel. When she started traveling to Palestine she saw that the terrible descriptions she had heard were accurate.
Baltzer began her talk by defining the differences between being Jewish – part of a religious group, being an Israeli – coming from the country of Israel, and being a Zionist – believing in a certain political philosophy. To be a Zionist one need not be a Jew, there are Christian Zionists. She said that the things she saw happening on the West Bank (Palestinian territory) had nothing to do with being Jewish and a critique of Israel is not anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic.
She went on to explain what it means to live under an occupation, which is how all non-Jews live on the West Bank. There are 2 sets of roads, old (in terrible disrepair) and new (excellent). The new roads are to be used by Jews only so they can move around quickly and easily. The old roads are for the Palestinians. There are hundreds of checkpoints located between the Palestinian towns and villages where Palestinian people are held up for hours. They make getting to jobs, schools, and access to medical care impossible to get to. When mobility is so impeded functioning in life becomes almost impossible. It can take 8 hours to travel 20 miles. There are countless stories about people who have died in their cars while trying to get through a checkpoint on the way to a hospital. Israelis and Palestinians even have different license plates on their cars.
The settlements (colonies) being built throughout the West Bank are for Jews only. There are about a quarter of a million Jews living there. Palestinians are not allowed to live there even though it is their land. The colonies are illegal under international law. The Israeli government is paying people to move to the West Bank. About 80% move there for financial reasons while the other 20% go for ideological reasons. That 20% behave very aggressively/violently toward the indigenous Palestinians. They destroy their crops, attack their homes, and beat them up. The Israeli government supports the violence of the zealots. Baltzer raises the question, if you wanted to secure your citizens, why would you give them money to move to the territories? How safe is that? She also points out that ISRAEL HAS NEVER DEFINED IT’S BORDERS. The occupation doesn’t create safety. IT IS A PROGRESSIVE LAND TRANSFER (theft).
In 2005 the Israeli colonists were withdrawn from Gaza but the occupation did not end because OCCUPATION IS ABOUT CONTROL. Israel completely surrounds Gaza on land and sea, and controls everything going into Gaza and coming out of Gaza. During “Operation Cast Lead” last winter, Israel invaded Gaza and killed 1387 civilians, including hundreds of children. The International Edition of Newsweek, which is read in Israel, reported what was happening there, but in the U.S. edition the story was omitted.
Israel has built a wall weaving throughout the West Bank. In populated areas it is made of concrete and is 25 feet high, while in unpopulated areas it is built with razor wire. 80% of the wall is deep within Palestinian territory. Using the wall, Israel has stolen land, people have been separated from their crops, families, schools, cultural institutions, medical facilities, and their source of water. By building the wall Israel has gained control of 99% of the water. The water is then rationed and sold back to the Palestinian people at double the price it is sold to the Jews living there. There are people, both Israeli and Palestinian, that regularly and peacefully, demonstrate against the wall. They have been attacked by the zealot colonists and the Israeli military.
Baltzer gave a brief history of the founding of the Israeli state and explained that there was an enormous amount of “ethnic cleansing”. Palestinians did not leave willingly, they were driven from the land and many were killed in the process. In the late 1980’s the Israeli military opened their archives and the entire history was laid bare, complete with quotes from the Zionist leaders stating that the Palestinians must be removed from the land. Baltzer concluded by saying that everyone should know exactly what the price for the Palestinians was in establishing the state of Israel. She added, once known, we are free to justify it and believe that it was worthwhile. But, she added, don’t lie to yourself. Be honest.
* Anna Baltzer has a website: www.AnnaintheMiddleEast.com She also distributed a list of suggested reading.
