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Syrian Refugees Call Israel Their Main Enemy |
By
Stephen Lendman |
| If views expressed by some Syrian refugees represent majority sentiment,
Israel is the region’s main enemy. According to some polls, it’s the world’s
most hated country along with America. On September 12, Times of Israel contributor Rossella Tercatin said despite their hazardous journey and cruel treatment en route to a Milan, Italy refugee reception center, they “view Israel as their real enemy.” One arrival named Adman said he respects all races and religions. “(W)e are all brothers, but Israel is the ultimate enemy…But I want to stress, Jews are not my enemy. Zionists are my enemy.” He expressed surprise to be interviewed by a Jewish publication. “I’ve never met a Jew before,” he explained. “Why should an Israeli paper be interested in stories about Syrian refugees,” he asked? He warned Tercatin not to tell other refugees she’s Jewish. They might “react badly,” he said. Another refugee named Inaia called Israel a “colonial power, that’s it. They stole the Palestinians’ land.” Her daughter Mais explained why they left Syria, saying “(o)ur house was bombarded three times and the road my brother and I used to take to go to university does not exist any more. There was no future in Syria.” They preferred living in another Arab country, but were mistreated and had to leave. An Italian NGO Arca employee named Rima moved to Italy from Syria. She called Palestinians “our relatives, our friends, our neighbors.” Israel is “Palestinian territory.” Jews are “a religion, not a people…(A) Jewish state has (no) reason to exist.” Syrians and Palestinians have good reason to hate Israel. Its 1967 Six Day War stole Syrian territory never returned. Its warplanes terror bomb Syrian targets unaccountably. It aids Islamic State and other takfiri terrorists. It brutalizes Palestinians daily. On Friday, an extremist settler attacked eight-year-old Zaid Abu Qweidir in East Jerusalem’s Silwan community. Its Wadi Hilweh Information Center said clashes followed. Other settlers pepper-sprayed Palestinians, including a five-year-old boy. Israeli police refused comment. Settler security guards and Israeli soldiers arrived to protect aggressive settlers - forcibly entering Palestinian homes, firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades indiscriminately against justifiable protesters. Scores of moderate to severe injuries were reported. A pregnant woman was wounded. So were young children aged seven months to 13. Israel’s regime under Netanyahu is its most extremist in history - a lawless, racist, fascist rogue state, waging war on defenseless Palestinians daily, rampaging through their communities, aggressively stealing their land, bulldozing their homes, expelling them extrajudicially. In August alone, B’Tselem reported its Civil Administration and military conducted “a demolition rampage in 29 villages and communities” throughout Area C, comprising over 60% of the West Bank. Scores of homes and other structures were destroyed, hundreds of Palestinians displaced, part of Israel’s maximum Jews and minimum Arabs policy. Along with multiple daily terrorizing pre-dawn community raids, Israel does everything possible to make life miserable for Palestinians. B’Tselem explained Jordan Valley Palestinian woman Khadiheh Bsharat’s anguish, quoting her comments after Israel demolished her family home, saying: “We live in a single-room mud hut with a ceiling made of plastic sheeting and tin. In the winter, our house turns into a pool and all our belongings get flooded.” When that happens, we have no shelter.” “My husband and I decided to build a house next to our mud hut, which was practically falling apart. With difficulty, my husband managed to borrow some money, and we managed to build a structure from cinder blocks and tin with very little money. We were hoping to finish construction and move into the new place.” “We make a living farming and shepherding, but our situation gets worse day by day. The military won’t let us take our livestock through the pastures in the area.” “I finished a degree in art at the university and I was hoping to find a job to help bring in some more money to give my daughters a better life, but everything went wrong.” “On the morning of the demolition, I was on my way to a job interview in Jericho. At 9:30, my husband phoned to tell me that Civil Administration and military bulldozers were demolishing everything we’d built and there was nothing left.” “I just froze where I was and began crying. I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t think about anything else. I didn’t care about the job interview anymore and I went home.” “When I got there, I saw my daughters sitting by the rubble, and my husband just standing there, confused and at a loss. The whole family just looked at the wreckage, heartbroken.” “I felt as if my whole world had fallen to pieces and that I was living a nightmare. Instead of having our lives advance and move a step forward, we slid several steps back.” “I had hoped to free ourselves of that room that was set to topple right on top of me and my daughters, and where snakes and scorpions constantly come in. I had hoped to live a more normal life, like other people. Now every morning when I wake up, I see the ruins and my heart breaks.” Khadiheh Bsharat’s anguish repeats multiple times daily throughout Occupied Palestine. A ruthless Israeli regime bears full responsibility. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs. |
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