Friday 17 April 2009

there are good tunnels and then there are bad tunnels

LinkPosted on April 16, 2009 by marcy/مارسي newman/نيومان

more and more i have come to believe that one reason for the savagery targeting gaza for 23 days in december-january by israeli terrorists was to distract us from the creeping ethnic cleansing in al quds and elsewhere in the west bank and naqab. while israeli terrorists continue to bomb palestinian tunnels–now with the help of their egyptian zionist partners–they are building their own tunnels. of course, their tunnels are the tunnels which are illegal, on occupied land. but those don’t get bombed (and not that they should given that this is a densely populated palestinian neighborhood). but clayton swisher on al jazeera does a great job of illustrating exactly what this tunneling in al quds looks like as well as its effects on the palestinians in the silwan neighborhood:



swisher interviews a lawyer from the zionist entity who makes an interesting statement about how to solve this problem: “take the matches away from the pyromaniacs.” hmmmm. but what to do when the state gives the pyromaniacs the matches to begin with. and then another state (my country, the u.s.) gives them even bigger lighters and such?

meanwhile, just an hour ago i learned that israeli terrorists are on their way to attack al aqsa. i’m heading there directly after school today as friends have asked me to come and help. this is what i will be up against:

Right-wing Israeli religious groups have threatened to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, raising the specter of violence on Thursday.

The messianic Jewish movement Chabad called on its followers to go to Al-Aqsa to “conquer and Judaize the holiest place on earth, which is being desecrated in such a disgraceful and shameful way.”

The Islamic Movement inside Israel also called on Palestinians to demonstrate at the Al-Aqsa Compound and defend it from Israeli attack. The Movement said it was sounding a “general alarm in Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem.”

Fearing riots, the Israeli police impose restrictions on who is allowed inside the compound on Thursday. Palestinian residents of Jerusalem who are under the age of 50 are barred from the area, the police said.

Ma’an’s correspondent, reporting from the scene in Jerusalem said the Israeli police had deployed heavily in the area of the Al-Aqsa Compound.

A top Palestinian Authority official on Jerusalem Affairs, Hatem Abdul-Qader said Israeli authorities who control Jerusalem are responsible for preventing violence, but nonetheless urged Palestinians to take part in the demonstrations.

”We called on the people and all the national and religious institutions to demonstrate to prevent such an action from happening,” he said.

The third holiest site in Islam, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is also the location of the iconic Dome of the Rock and a major symbol of Palestinian nationalism. The area on which it rests is also claimed by Jews who believe it to be the location of the ancient Second Temple.

Israeli settlers have entered the Al-Aqsa compound at least twice in the last week. On Sunday, some 50 settlers entered the compound during a time-slot reserved for foreign tourists.

The second Palestinian Intifada (Uprising) was sparked by a visit by right-wing Israeli leader Ariel Sharon to the compound.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it, claiming the whole city as a part of its “eternal undivided capital.” The international community does not recognize Israeli control over the area.

meanwhile palestinians who just want to pray today will not be able to do so at al aqsa if they are male and under the age of 50 (because, of course, the invaders must be able to rule the spaces the colonize in an unhindered fashion):

As extremist right wing Israeli groups are planning to flock to the Al Aqsa mosque, the Israeli police decided that barring Palestinians less than 50 years old from entering the mosque, is the way to deal with the issue.

Local sources in Jerusalem reported that hundreds of Israeli policemen were deployed in the yards of the Al Aqsa mosque and in different part of the Old City in an attempt to bar clashes between the Palestinians and the extremist settlers.

An Israeli police sources said that the police also plans to limit the entry of worshipers into the compound. This could mean that some Palestinians who are 50 or more might not be allowed through.

The police order states that Arab men with blue identity cards (Israeli ID cards) who are over the age of 50 would be allowed into the mosque. The police did not place restrictions on the age of women.

The Israeli measures, clearly directed against the Palestinians, were made as several right wing Jewish groups issued calls to their supporters to flock to the Al Aqsa mosque yards.

One of the extremist groups, calling itself Habad, said that “The time has come to conquer and Judaize the holiest place on heart”, referring to the Al Aqsa mosque.

The Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel called on the Muslims to flock to the mosque and protect it.

Kamal Al Khatib, deputy chief of the Islamic Movement, told the Israeli Ynet News that the Muslims will protect the mosque and “will not allow anybody to do anything in it”.

He also said that the police should take a stand and bar the settlers from entering the mosque yards.
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