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Violent clashes broke out in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem that involved Palestinians and Jewish settlers lobbing fireworks and stones at one another.
The clashes come at a tense time in the region that is focused on the eviction of Palestinians from their homes. These Israeli settlers claim that they have the legal right to evict these families from their dwellings.
Al Jazeera reported that Israeli police eventually used stun grenades and skunk water on Palestinians that resulted in 20 people being injured in the fighting. Some people were also arrested.
The issue has been a growing problem for Tel Aviv and threatens its relationship with the U.S. Dozens of House Democrats penned a letter to President Biden calling on the administration to firmly consider Israeli settlements illegal and the West Bank occupied.
The letter—which was signed by 72 members, including 7 Jewish reps– read, “make clear that the United States considers settlements to be inconsistent with international law by reissuing relevant State Department and U.S. customs guidance to that effect.”
The letter was praised by J Street, the pro-Israel group, as a start in helping to undo “the damage caused by former President Trump and to stop the ongoing deterioration of the Israeli-Palestinian situation.” It was referring to the Trump administration’s decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and to no longer consider settlements in the West Bank to be illegal, i24news.tv reported.
The letter to Biden also called on the administration to dump Trump’s plan that included Israel’s annexation of part of the West Bank and to apply pressure on Israel to stop evicting families in eastern Jerusalem.
This Land is My Land
The New York Times reported that an expanding, unauthorized settlement in Evyatar, which is in the West Bank, has added more strain on Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s fragile coalition government.
The paper reported if Bennett backs the settlers there he will “alienate the leftist and Arab members of his coalition. If he permits them to be evicted, he will allow the Israeli right to paint him in a corner. An eviction could come as soon as Sunday, but could be delayed by legal proceedings.”
Yoav Kisch, a lawmaker from Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, told the paper that if Bennett is a leader who actually has “right-wing ideology in you, stop this wrong, twisted and fraudulent evacuation of Evyatar. This is in your hands.”
The paper said Netanyahu, who vowed a quick return to office, set Bennett up for another political minefield by approving a flag march in Jerusalem. (SEE: “ISRAEL’S NEW GOVERNMENT: BOMBS VS. BALLOONS”). However, Bennett said If he spoke out against the flag march that started outside the Damascus Gate and snaked through the Old City towards the Western Wall, it is said he would upset his supporters, thus he gave approval for the march.
As described by CNN:
“Thousands of far-right, ultra nationalist Jewish activists are marching through the streets, waving Israeli flags and chanting inflammatory slogans like ‘Death to Arabs,’ or ‘I hope your villages burn.’
“The annual event celebrates Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem in 1967 and the area later annexed. This is not recognized internationally, obviously. But the marchers are singing and dancing, chanting things like ‘Jerusalem is ours.’
Heating Up…Again
Today, Al Jazeera reported that Israeli forces demolished a Palestinian business in the al-Bustan area of the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan.
Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett, reporting from Silwan, said Israeli soldiers arrived in large numbers early on Tuesday and there were “significant confrontations”:
“We spoke to the family [that owned the butchery] and they said Israeli forces came in and attacked them using tear gas and other means – a violent start to these demolitions. But this is not just about one shop. There are 20 other units that are in the same situation in this neighbourhood.”
TREND FORECAST: As we have forecast, the media tide is shifting from “Israel right or wrong,” to clearly stating that Israel’s occupation “is not recognized internationally.”
And as we reported during the attacks in the 11 day Gaza War last month, according to the United Nations, Israel killed some 260 people, including 66 children and 40 women, and wounded some 2000 including 600 children and 400 women.
Thus, with these vivid reports anti-Israeli sentiments have escalated to a degree that those who oppose the war torn actions are not being labeled “anti-Semites.” Indeed, in addition to the dead and wounded civilians, Israeli bombings reportedly destroyed 1,148 housing and commercial buildings and damaged 15,000 others, forcing over 100,000 civilians whose residences were bombed out to live in United Nations-run schools and other public facilities.