50 reasons to resist the occupation in its 50th year

Fifty reasons to join a growing coalition united in creating a more just future in the region, in order to make the 50th year of the occupation its last.

By Talia Krevsky and Isaac Kates Rose

A Palestinian woman passes through concrete blocks that were installed by Israeli police in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal Mukaber, October 21, 2015. (Lior Mizrahi/Flash90)
A Palestinian woman passes through concrete blocks that were installed by Israeli police in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal Mukaber, October 21, 2015. (Lior Mizrahi/Flash90)

1. January 1: The onset of the 50th year of violating the Fourth Geneva Convention through Israel’s military occupation over Palestinian territories, would have been enough.

2. January 3: Demolition of 49 structures by the IDF’s Civil Administration on land belonging to the village of Khirbet Tana, would have been enough.

3. January 3: Withholding 20 percent of asylum seekers’ salaries until they leave the country, would have been enough.

4. January 4: Demolition of Palestinian water cisterns and farming structures in the village of Tuqu’, would have been enough.

5. January 4: Knesset legislation to annex the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, would have been enough.

6. January 5: The stabbing of a Bedouin man in Ashdod by a religious Jewish man, would have been enough.

7. January 8: A truck ramming attack by a resident of East Jerusalem, killing four Israeli soldiers and wounding 13 others, would have been enough.

8. January 8: Settler violence against activists from the NGO Ta’ayush, would have been enough.

9. January 8: Netanyahu’s illicit deal with the publisher of the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, would have been enough.

10. January 10: The destruction of 11 homes in the Arab town of Qalansuwa, would have been enough.

Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrate at a mass rally following the demolition of 11 homes in the Arab town of Qalansuwa, central Israel, January 13, 2017. (Keren Manor/Activestills.org)
Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrate at a mass rally following the demolition of 11 homes in the Arab town of Qalansuwa, central Israel, January 13, 2017. (Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

11. January 11: Preliminary approval of a Knesset bill to ban Israeli NGO, Breaking the Silence, from lecturing in schools, would have been enough.

12. January 18: Violent clashes in Umm al-Hiran that killed two and wounded leading Arab Knesset member, Ayman Odeh, would have been enough.

13. January 20: The inauguration of Donald Trump, who promised to unilaterally move the Israeli Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, would have been enough.

Police began violently dispersing those present, using shock grenades, pepper spray and sponge-tipped bullets. Among those injured by the latter was Joint List head Ayman Odeh, who was allegedly struck in the head and back. Police assert that Odeh was struck with a stone thrown by protesters, but eyewitnesses dispute this claim. Umm el-Hiran, January 18, 2017. (Keren Manor/Activestills)
Joint List head Ayman Odeh, who was wounded as police violently dispersed demonstrators prior to home demolitiosn in Umm el-Hiran, January 18, 2017. (Keren Manor/Activestills)

14. January 22: Construction approval for an additional 566 homes beyond the Green Line in Jerusalem, would have been enough.

15. January 25: Collective punishment in Jabal Mukaber through home demolitions, raids, arrests, and revocation of permits, would have been enough.

16. January 26: The High Court’s ruling that the Civil Administration may demolish Palestinian structures in Firing Zone 918, would have been enough.

17. January 26: The Shin Bet’s detainment and interrogation of three Bedouin activists on the way to a friend’s funeral, would have been enough.

18. February 1: Uprooting 1,000 Palestinian-owned olive trees to build a bypass road for settlers in order to “serve the public good,” would have been enough.

Israeli authorities uproot olive trees in order to pave a settler bypass road, Izbat Tabib, West Bank, January 16, 2017. (Keren Manor/Activestills.org)
Israeli authorities uproot olive trees in order to pave a settler bypass road, Izbat Tabib, West Bank, January 16, 2017. (Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

19. February 2: The simulated evacuation of Amona in exchange for a new settlement with 3,000 homes, would have been enough.

2o. February 6: The passing of Israel’s land expropriation bill to retroactively legalize thousands of housing units in 16 settlements, would have been enough.

21. February 6: Cyclical violent escalation on Israel’s border with Gaza involving rocket fire and retaliatory IDF attacks, would have been enough.

22. February 8: Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat’s decision to close down Barbur Gallery in Jerusalem, for having hosted a lecture by Breaking the Silence, would have been enough.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat attends an Knesset Economics Committee meeting, Jerusalem, August 2, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat attends a Knesset Economics Committee meeting, Jerusalem, August 2, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

23. February 9: The detainment of the New Israel Fund’s Vice President, Jennifer Gorovitz, at Ben Gurion Airport, would have been enough.

24. February 12: The advancement of the ‘Muezzin Law’ to ban loudspeakers from mosques throughout the country, would have been enough.

25. February 13: The Israel Police’s dissemination of deceptive text messages to thwart Arab schoolchildren from nonviolently protesting, would have been enough.

26. February 15: Routine night raids by IDF soldiers, warning residents against participating in protests and demonstrations, would have been enough.

27. February 20: Israeli ministers voting down three bills concerning the LGBTQ community on the eve of LGBT Rights Day, would have been enough.

28. February 20: The mayor of Petah Tikva’s decision to cut off electricity to dozens of apartments that house Sudanese and Eritrean asylum seekers, would have been enough.

29. February 21: IDF Sgt. Elor Azaria’s 18-month sentence for manslaughter, would have been enough.

Elor Azaria, the Israeli soldier who shot dead a disarmed and injured Palestinian attacker in the West Bank city of Hebron on March 24, 2016, is surrounded by family and friends as he awaits to hear his sentence in a courtroom at the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, on February 21, 2017. (Jim Hollander/POOL)
Elor Azaria, the Israeli soldier who shot dead a disarmed and injured Palestinian attacker in the West Bank city of Hebron on March 24, 2016, is surrounded by family and friends as he awaits to hear his sentence in a courtroom at the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, on February 21, 2017. (Jim Hollander/POOL)

30. February 22: Indefinite detainment of Palestinian journalists, among them Omar Nazzal, without trials, would have been enough.

31. February 23: The fact that permits to exit Gaza have dropped by 44 percent, would have been enough.

32. February 24: Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked’s political appointment of four right-wing Supreme Court Justices, would have been enough.

33. February 24: Israel’s refusal to grant Human Rights Watch’s Israel and Palestine director a work permit, would have been enough.

34. February 24: The 23rd year since the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in Hebron, where Shuhada Street remains segregated, would have been enough.

Open Shuhada Street demonstration in Hebron, February 24, 2017. (Activestills.org)
Open Shuhada Street demonstration in Hebron, February 24, 2017. (Activestills.org)

35. March 3: Ongoing unbridled settler violence against civilians in the occupied territories, would have been enough.

36. March 8: Banning entry and residence visas to non-Israelis who call for a cultural, academic, or economic boycott of Israel, would have been enough.

37. March 8: Women human rights defenders’ call for action to halt the ever-shrinking space for Israeli civil society organizations, would have been enough.

38. March 9: Legislation by Netanyahu’s Communication Ministry to give his government exclusive control over broadcast media, would have been enough.

39. March 9: Gaza’s unemployment rate rising to over 42 percent, would have been enough.

Fisherman sit on nets at the Gaza harbour, Gaza city, March 22, 2017. Israel unilaterally enforces a narrow maritime zone preventing fishermen from accessing areas they are entitled to according to previous peace agreements. The Israeli Navy routinely fires upon, arrests and confiscates the boats and equipment of fishermen even when they remain inside these limits. (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)
Fisherman sit on nets at the Gaza harbor, Gaza City, March 22, 2017. Israel unilaterally enforces a narrow maritime zone preventing fishermen from accessing areas they are entitled to according to previous peace agreements. The Israeli Navy routinely fires upon, arrests and confiscates the boats and equipment of fishermen even when they remain inside these limits. (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

40. March 13: Construction approval for yet another new settlement, Geulat Zion, would have been enough.

41. March 16: Awarding the Israel Prize to the director of the City of David Foundation, which seeks to ‘Judaize’ East Jerusalem, would have been enough.

42. March 22: Education Minister Naftali Bennett’s refusal to grant left-wing Israeli artist, Yair Garbuz, the Israel Prize, would have been enough.

43. March 22: MK Gilad Erdan’s ongoing incitement against Arab citizens, BDS supporters, and Israeli media sources, would have been enough.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Chief of Police Roni Alsheikh attend a ceremony for Israeli police at the Police National College, Bet Shemesh, September 22, 2016. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Chief of Police Roni Alsheikh attend a ceremony for Israeli police at the Police National College, Bet Shemesh, September 22, 2016. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

44. March 24: The U.S. Senate’s approval of staunch settlement supporter, David Friedman, as ambassador to Israel, would have been enough.

45. March 24: An Israeli police officer assaulting a Palestinian truck driver, would have been enough.

46. March 26: Israeli authorities’ baseless charges against nonviolent peace activist, Issa Amro, would have been enough.

47. March 27: Displacement of families from the shepherding community of a-Ras al-Ahmar for military training, would have been enough.

Palestinian nonviolent Issa Amro. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Palestinian nonviolent peace activist Issa Amro. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

48. March 28: Culture Minister Miri Regev’s new McCarthyist committee to increase government oversight of films critical of its policies, would have been enough.

49. March 28: Religious right-wing lawmakers’ insistence on visiting the Temple Mount immediately, would have been enough.

50. Enough of despairing lists like these. Join the coalition this Saturday night in Jerusalem. On April 1 we start writing the List of Resistance: united for peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all.

Talia Krevsky is the former Foreign Relations Coordinator at Breaking the Silence, a translator for Kerem Navot, and a member of Standing Together. Isaac Kates Rose is a Jerusalem-based member of All That’s Left, Free Jerusalem, and an organizer with the Center for Jewish Nonviolence.

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