Israel Denies 45,000 Palestinians Water

By Stephen Lendman
3-9-14

The Middle East Monitor (MEM) reported it. More on what it said below.

Fascists run Israel. Democracy is verboten. Peace is a convenient illusion. Ongoing talks are a sham. Chance for peaceful conflict resolution is ZERO.

Militarism defines Israeli policy. Belligerence enforces it. So does state-sponsored terrorism.

Human and civil rights abuses are extreme. Arabs are a target of convenience. They're considered subhuman.

They're ruthlessly persecuted. Institutionalized racism shows it. Occupied Palestinians bear the greatest cross.

They're terrorized. They're marginalized, denied, persecuted and brutalized. Multiple daily neighborhood incursions target them.

Illegal arrests follow. World leaders able to make a difference turn a blind eye. Israeli lawlessness is ignored. Media scoundrels are longstanding apologists.

They're mindless of Israel's worst crimes. An entire population is held hostage. Every day is Kristallnacht in Palestine.

Israeli forces terrorize Palestinians daily. They do with impunity. Anything goes is policy. Gross hypocrisy whitewashes truth.

Collective punishment is institutionalized. Peaceful demonstrations are assaulted. Free expression and movement are prohibited. Population centers are isolated. Borders are closed.

Normal daily life is denied. Economic strangulation and state-sponsored racism are imposed. So are curfews, roadblocks, checkpoints, separation walls, electric fences, and other barriers.

Neighborhood incursions, land, sea and air attacks, bulldozed homes, land theft, ethnic cleansing, slow-motion genocide, targeted killings, mass arrests, torture, and gulag imprisonment reflect daily life.

Fundamental civil and human rights are denied. Crimes of war and against humanity repeat without redress. Wanting to live free in sovereign Palestine is called terrorism.

Punitive taxes are imposed. Few services are provided. Vital ones are lacking or inadequate. Palestinian lawmakers are imprisoned for belonging to the wrong party.

Fishermen are attacked at sea. So are farmers working their land. Trying at the wrong time risks arrest, injury or death.

Children are used for target practice. They're murdered in cold blood. Some are shot in the back. Most are killed or injured at close range.

Crops and orchards are destroyed. Settlers commit regular attacks. Courts provide no help.

Gaza's seven year siege is suffocating. It's slow-motion genocide. Coverup suppresses what's ongoing. Reality is polar opposite vicious lies.

Netanyahu heads Israel's most extremist government in history. He's a world class thug. He's an unindicted war criminal. His coalition partners are militantly hardline.

They're racists. They're ideologically over-the-top. They abhor peace, stability, equity and justice.

They prioritize occupation harshness. They ruthlessly enforce it. Washington provides full support.

On March 3, John Kerry addressed AIPAC's annual conference. He ludicrously called America and Israel "examples" of "democratic values…to the world."

Both countries partner in each others crimes. Their agenda is imperial lawlessness. Their contempt for human and civil rights is unmatched. They threaten world peace.

"Israel's security is our first priority," Kerry stressed. Washington will counter all boycott attempts, he added.

His so-called peace plan mocks responsible conflict resolution equity. It's entirely one-sided. He lied claiming otherwise.

He's a longstanding Israeli apologist. His Senate pro-Israeli voting record was second to none.

He supports unwavering commitment to a special relationship. He turns a blind eye to Israel's worst crimes.

He once called Jerusalem "Israel's indisputable capital." In 1999, he signed a letter criticizing Clinton for not moving America's embassy there.

He's vying to become Washington's worst ever Secretary of State. His agenda matches the worst of his predecessors.

He's mindless of human suffering. He represents imperial arrogance writ large. He supports war. He deplores peace.

He flaunts rule of law principles. He's an embarrassment to the position he holds. Netanyahu's agenda is openly fascist.

Kerry calls him his good friend. He praised his "courage" and "commitment" for peace he deplores.

Both men represent two sides of the same coin. Rogue leader viciousness describes them.

On March 6, the Middle East Monitor (MEM) headlined "Israel cuts off water to 45,000 Palestinians."

For nearly three days, Shuafat refugee camp residents had no water. Nor did suburban Jerusalem's Ras Shehadeh, Ras Khamis, As-Salam and Anata.

Two weeks ago, Israeli water company Gihon began reducing supplies. Stopping them entirely followed.

On March 5, Shuafat's popular committee member Khaled Al-Khalidi said 23,000 camp refugees had no water for three days.

The above suburban Jerusalem Palestinian areas had none for 20 days.

Al-Khalidi demanded "UNRWA, the camp's service provider, fulfill its obligations towards the refugees and prosecute the Jerusalem municipality and Gihon to oblige them to return the water supply."

"UNRWA and Jordan signed an agreement in 1956 to provide water service to the Palestinian refugees without charge, and in 1967 the Israeli Civil administration joined the Convention," he explained.

"However in 1988, when Israel tried to cut off the water supply to the camp residents, the refugees prosecuted the company and forced it to return the water supply."

Jameel Sandouqa heads the Ras Al-Khamis development committee. He denounced Gihon's action. Educational and health institutions are paralyzed, he said.

"We addressed the Association for Civil Rights and filed a complaint against Gihon. We also contacted Gihon's Deputy Director General Eli Cohen, but he denied any cut off in the water supply," he added.

He contacted Knesset minister Effie Cole. He asked her to hold an urgent meeting.

He wants Knesset members to demand Gihon restore water to deprived areas immediately.

It "cut off water to the region to force us to receive services from the Jerusalem municipality and impose a new (unacceptable) reality in the region," he said.

One more thing, he added. The IDF closed Shuafat military crossing. It's been this way for three days.

Residents are greatly inconvenienced. They're endangered. They have to circumvent the area to get around.

On February 17, 972 Magazine headlined "Jerusalem's refugee camp: Abandoned by the state," saying:

"Although the Shuafat refugee camp is under the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem Municipality, one look at the lack of basic infrastructure, the sewage running in the streets, and the unsafe conditions reveal that it is part of a different world."

It's one of countless examples of Israeli disdain for fundamental Palestinian rights.

Shuafat refugee camp is "hundreds of light years away from" Israeli Jerusalem areas.

Its landscape is polar opposite. It was established in the mid-1960s. Originally it had 1,500 refugees.

It currently has tens of thousands. Reports differ on how many. They're crammed into far too little space. Living conditions are deplorable.

Access roads are closed. Residents are practically imprisoned. Piles of waste and garbage are everywhere.

Foul sewage smell is horrific. Basic services are lacking. Residents live under conditions free people wouldn't tolerate.

They're deplorable. Imagine forced to live this way. Imagine no other choice. Israel's contempt for Palestinians is palpable. Cutting off camp water reflects its viciousness.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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