Alwaght- Israeli courts continue their discriminatory rulings and approaches against the Palestinians. An Israeli District Court in Al-Quds (Jerusalem) on Sunday upheld the Israeli demolition of a Muslim graveyard, known as Al-Yusufiyah Cemetery, and also called Obscure Soldier Memorial, by the Israeli municipality of Al-Quds, the ministry of environment, and Al-Quds expansion organization, rejecting a bid by the Committee for the Care of Islamic Cemeteries (CCIC) to protect the site. The ruling led to clashes between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
“Although we have proven that this land is part of the cemetery grounds and there are graves in it, the Israeli municipality insists on building a public park in it,” said Muhanad Jabarah, a member of the CCIC, adding that with this ruling, the Israeli court ignored the respect for the dead and the desecration to the tombs, and rejected a demand to ban the municipality plans for cemetery demolitions.
The Obscure Soldier Memorial, remembering a number of Jordanian soldiers and citizens killed in June 1967 war, is installed near Older Al-Quds wall from the eastern side and close to Al-Aqsa Mosque. An AFP photographer says bones were found following the demolition and exhumation by Israeli forces, followed by clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian youth. The Palestinians hurled stones at the forces, who used batons and sound bombs to disperse the protesters.
Clashes also broke out between Palestinians and the occupying forces following the raid on the city of Bethlehem and the arrest of Raghad Raed Shamroukh, a former Palestinian prisoner. Shamroukh was released in August after serving her prison sentence. During the clashes, a number of Palestinians suffered suffocation by Israeli tear gas, reports further said. The Israeli forces also raided a number of homes for search. In Al-Khalil (Hebron), the Israeli forces raided the home of the former Palestinian prisoner Thaer Halahlah while holding a court appearance notice for him.
Racial discrimination, the land of Apartheid
The recent ruling by the Israeli court is not the first aggressive verdict against the Palestinians. The Israeli courts regularly violate the rights of the Palestinians by issuing unfair verdicts. Less than a month ago, for example, a court in Al-Quds district ruled that the presence of a limited number of Jewish worshipers in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque, a Holy Islamic site, was not a crime, provided their prayers were held in silence. The ruling comes as the Hebrew-language Jerusalem Post wrote in an article last August, after the signing of an agreement to normalize relations between the Israeli government and the UAE, that choosing name of Abraham Accord for the normalization deal with Abu Dhabi was not for nothing. Rather, inter-religious peace requires the right for the Jews to have their prayers at “Temple Mount,” a Jewish name for Al-Aqsa Mosque. However, the ruling was strongly opposed by Palestinians and resistance groups, something forced the Israeli Supreme Court issue a new version withdrawing the previous bid and declaring that settlers were not allowed to hold special religious ceremonies at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. The court retreat came after widespread Palestinian protests at the political and popular levels. Following the escalation of the clashes, the Israeli police also demanded that the ruling be reconsidered.
Earlier this week, government of the hardliner Prime Minister Neftali Bennett took steps to expand powers of the police, meaning that the police can now conduct warrantless searches and arrests at homes of Palestinians of 1948. The Palestinians of 1948 are those who remained at their homes in the first phase of occupation of the Palestinian territories by the Israelis. The bill was drafted by Justice Minsiter Gideon Sa’ar and faced some opposition in the cabinet. However, it was finally approved by a majority of ministers.
Meanwhile, crimes in the Palestinian community of 1948 are Israeli-organized. In recent decades, the Israeli governments have developed mafia gangs and corruption in the 1948 Palestinian community to counter the risks posed by growing Palestinian community in the occupied territories. Usually organized by the Israeli security apparatus, the gangs are entrusted to retired Israeli security officers or security apparatus manages these gangs in association with notorious criminals.
In addition to organization of gangs, the Israelis take advantage of their spies. Those who betray the Palestinians in the West Bank and have no place in Palestinian society by spying for the Israelis are transferred by the security forces to the territories of 1948 and cooperate with these gangs, spreading crimes in the Palestinian communities. All Palestinians know how these gangs are managed and who their members and activists are.
Earlier this year, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the evacuation of a number of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Al-Quds, which was opposed by residents. Settlement advocacy groups claim the Palestinian houses were built on a Jewish land. The Palestinians rejected the argument. Implementation of the court ruling was put on hold after a crushing response from Hamas and Islamic Jihad forces.
History of Palestine is replete with such discriminatory verdicts that over and over violate the Palestinian rights.
In a report titled “Israel: Discriminatory Land Policies Hem in Palestinians” Human Rights Watch on May 12, 2020, said: “The Israeli government’s policy of boxing in Palestinian communities extends beyond the West Bank and Gaza to Palestinian towns and villages inside Israel. The policy discriminates against Palestinian citizens of Israel and in favor of Jewish citizens, sharply restricting Palestinians’ access to land for housing to accommodate natural population growth.”
Resistance the only choice for Palestine
With the discriminatory and racist conditions ongoing in the occupied territories, the Palestinians find out that there is no option but resistance to the Israeli occupiers, as time-tested compromises to Tel Aviv have shown that they bear no achievements. Decades of compromises by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in West Bank only led to Palestinian retreats in favor of the Israelis and encouraged more Israeli violations. An example is the settlement projects that have been proceeded fast and in a larger number despite PA’s compromising negotiations with Tel Aviv.
