Today, some students are celebrating the establishment of the
state of Israel 57 years ago. For Palestinians, however, this day
marks the anniversary of the end of life as they had known it for
centuries. The creation of Israel ushered in an era of oppression
of the Palestinians that persists today.
Israel was established without due consideration for the
indigenous Palestinians living there. Prior to 1948, the land known
today as Israel belonged to a people already living there: the
Palestinians.
During this time period, soon-to-be Israelis carried out
countless massacres, including the bombing of the King David Hotel
in Jerusalem on July 22, 1946, killing 91 people, and the massacre
at Deir Yassin on April 9, 1948, killing approximately 120
Palestinian civilians.
When Israel was created in 1948, 750,000 Palestinians were
displaced from their homeland either by forceful removal by, or in
flight from, what would soon become the Israeli military.
This pattern continues today. Along with the ruthless military
occupation that Israel used to hold on to Palestinian lands since
1967, Israel violates international law by illegally establishing
and expanding numerous civilian settlements in these territories.
In fact, over 400,000 Israelis currently live in these illegal
settlements.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention specifically
prohibits these actions, stating that an occupying power must not
transfer any of its own civilian population into the territory it
occupies. Recently, Israel has talked of withdrawing some
settlements from Gaza, but at the same time it has expanded its
illegal settlements in the West Bank.
Israel also continues its construction of an eight-meter-high
concrete wall that seizes Palestinian homes, farmland and water
resources. In the West Bank alone, Israel is annexing nearly 10
percent of the land, turning thousands more Palestinians into
refugees.
This action directly violates the Hague Relations of 1907, which
specifically prohibits any seizure of land in occupied territories.
Israel’s wall also breaks international law according to
Article 47 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that
occupying powers must not make changes to property in occupied
territories.
In addition, thousands of Palestinians have been killed in the
occupied territories for ridiculous reasons, or even no reason at
all. As reported on RememberTheseChildren.org, deaths of innocent
Palestinians are frequent, including incidents such as the death of
13-year-old Eman al-Hams, who was shot by an Israeli soldier five
times in her head and 15 times in her body on her way to school on
Oct. 5, 2004.
In fact, according to IfAmericansKnew.org, since Sept. 29, 2000,
118 Israeli children have been killed, compared to a whopping 680
Palestinian children killed, among a total of 1,049 Israelis and
3,606 Palestinians killed.
Even amid these undeniable facts, some still fallaciously
portray Israel as a country seeking justice and peace. Drawing
attention away from their horrid actions against Palestinians,
Israelis often make grand claims about their accomplishments and
contributions to the world.
Rather than focusing on mere superficial accomplishments, we
must turn our eyes to the more important issue ““
Israel’s blatant disregard for human rights and international
law. We must recognize the truth about Israel and stand against its
deliberate crimes against the Palestinians.
Sheets is a first-year electrical engineering
student.