Blog by Sr. Roberta Miller, OP[/caption]
In the beginning was Al-Nakba (the Catastrophe) in May 1948. The Zionist forces (Irgun and Haganah) invaded Palestine to establish the Israeli state. The conquest is now an occupation in 2018 of the land. The Zionist ideology formulate by Theodore Herzl back in 1897 was to have a Jewish nation-state to counteract European anti-Semitism.
The Israeli state models England’s government set-up with Prime Minister, Parliament and several political parties vying for voting power. Jewish citizens are governed under Civil law and Palestinians under Military law. The list of violations of Palestinian human rights (Muslim and Christian) over the 70 years of Israel’s existence would be a book now with the blatant disregard for human rights getting worse as the U.S. exercises its protective power on behalf of Israel in the United Nations and here at home. As former Israeli soldiers are coming forth to speak out publically to the world (“We were the Terrorists”), egregious acts of disregard of human rights and violence have been committed against Palestinians as they are pushed off their lands, out of their homes, deprived of the basic necessities of life such as water, privacy and safety. Medical care in hospitals and formal education become non-accessible with the roadblocks, check points, and secure roads only for Jewish settlers and citizens. Under military rule Palestinians live in an apartheid state, one in which the lives of their children are always in danger. Youth between 12 and 17 are arrested, detained, questioned in Hebrew not Arabic and without counsel or family, kept in solitary confinement and tortured either physically or verbally. Children under 11 have been shot by soldiers coming home from school.
We stand up for of justice and mercy for the Palestinians by understanding protesting Zionism is not anti-Semitic; by supporting the peaceful movements such as BDS (Boycott, Divest, and Sanction) to pressure international corporations to not benefit from the systemic deprivation of Palestinian land and resources; by becoming more informed and active to stop Israeli violations of the basic human rights of all peoples in Israel. 