I feel somewhat sorry for dmreed...
To see him thra****ng about trying to find evidence of the alleged
Israelite nation and coming up with a romantic "mention" here or there.
It would appear he's in hyper-active mode right now, but very frustrated.
No evidence, eh? Don't feel bad. Many have been trying for centuries.
--
Rothschildlania is a racist state to its very core.
ADL should pack up and move there. That's where Christian-hater Foxman
belongs.
Ř
------------------------
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/palestinians-barred-from-dead-sea-beaches-to-appease-israeli-settlers-846948.html
Palestinians barred from Dead Sea beaches to 'appease Israeli settlers'
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
Saturday, 14 June 2008
Palestinians are being regularly and illegally barred from reaching Dead
Sea beaches in the occupied West Bank, according to a Supreme Court
petition filed by Israel's leading civil rights organisation.
The Association of Civil Rights (Acri) in Israel is challenging what it
says is the frequently imposed ban by the military on Palestinians
seeking to swim or relax at beaches in the northern Dead Sea. The salt-
saturated sea is the only open water accessible to Palestinians from the
otherwise landlocked West Bank.
The petition says that the Israeli military is using the Beit Ha'arava
checkpoint on Route 90 – the only open access route in the occupied West
Bank for travel to the Dead Sea – to turn back Palestinians, mainly but
not exclusively on weekends and Jewish holidays.
Acri says that the ban is to appease Israeli settlers operating
concessions along the Dead Sea's northern shore. They fear losing Jewish
customers if there are large numbers of Arabs using the beaches in
territory seized by Israel during the Six Day War in 1967.
A Palestinian bus driver, Mohammed Ahmed Nuaga'a, described how he was
turned back by the military with a party of children, aged between six
and 12, on a school trip from the Hebron district to the Dead Sea last
month. The outing had been officially co-ordinated with the Palestinian
Authority education ministry and included 10 teachers and 15 parents. He
returned a few hours later in the hope that the soldiers would relent
but they did not do so. "I tried to explain to them that these are young
pupils who came from very far to fulfil a big dream – to see the sea,"
he said.
"But the soldiers were aggressive, and started shouting at us that
Palestinian passage is forbidden, whether children or adults. The pupils
begged the soldiers to let them go for even 10 minutes just to see the
sea and return, but nothing happened."
In the petition a senior Acri lawyer, Limor Yehuda, says: "We are
dealing here with travel bans and entry prohibitions to public places in
occupied territory which are tainted with discrimination and
characteristic of colonial regimes. We have here prohibitions preventing
the protected population of the occupied territory from using its own
resources, while the very same resources are put at the disposal and
enjoyment of the citizens of the occupying power."
The ban came to light after the testimony of two Israeli army reservists
who said that at the beginning of their tour of duty in May they were
told that the purpose of the checkpoint was to "prevent Palestinians
coming from the Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea beaches".
One of the reservists, Doron Karbel, testified that as a "side note",
the Jordan Valley Brigade Commander, Colonel Yigal Slovik, had said the
reason for the checkpoint was that "when Jews and Palestinian
vacationers were sitting on the beaches side by side it hurt the
business of the surrounding yishuvim [Jewish communities]."
Mr Karbel added: "In a conversation I later had with the Brigade
Commander, he told me that he could come up with or find a security
justification if he needed to."
From Ein Gedi southwards, the beaches on the Dead Sea's western side are
in sovereign Israeli territory. But the popular beaches of the northern
Dead Sea are Israeli-run and visitors could easily – but erroneously –
imagine they are also in Israel rather than in occupied territory. In
April this year, the British Advertising Standards Authority required
the Israel Ministry of Tourism to alter the wording of an advertisement
suggesting that Qumran, close to the northern shore, and the site of the
discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, was in Israel.
In the Acri petition, Ms Yehuda says: "The illegality of the actions and
orders of the army cries out to the heavens. This is a clear case of
misusing security considerations as camouflage for achieving other goals
which are unrelated to security matters and unacceptable."
Israel has also been criticised for segregating roads used by Israeli
motorists in the West Bank for stated reasons of security. Israeli
officials reject claims that this is racial discrimination, partly
because Arabs with Israeli citizen****p are permitted to use the roads.
They also frequent the Dead Sea beaches.
The Israeli military declined to comment in detail while judicial
proceedings are under way, but said in a statement that "the network of
security crossings in the West Bank was erected in response to the
extreme terrorist threat and violence during the second intifada." Since
the violence had "ebbed" crossings were "under review".
©independent.co.uk
|
