THREAD: Last night, Israeli forces terrorized thousands of Palestinian worshipers, unleashing tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades inside Al Aqsa Mosque. Over 200 Palestinians were injured, including 88 who were hospitalized. One Palestinian lost an eye.
The armed invasion of Muslims’ holiest site in Jerusalem came towards the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month.
Palestinians stayed at Al Aqsa after prayers to protest against Israeli plans to evict Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Israeli courts have ruled that Palestinians can be evicted from their homes so Israeli settlers can take them. In total, more than 200 Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah face forced eviction.
Palestinians fear more settler and police violence as Israelis gear up to celebrate “Jerusalem Day” on Sunday night and Monday, when Israelis celebrate Israel’s occupation of the holy city. Settlers typically maraud through the Old City on “Jerusalem Day,” terrorizing families.
Israel’s violence has a clear purpose: ethnically cleanse Jerusalem of Palestinians to allow Israeli settlers to take over Palestinian homes.
Nowhere in Jerusalem is safe for Palestinians. This is the brutality of Israeli apartheid.
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2) Why? Because Israeli courts have ruled that Israeli settlers can move into Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem. These Palestinian families have been living here for decades since 1956.
THREAD: During the 1st intifada (Palestinian uprising) against Israel’s cruel & violent occupation, Israel set up military-manned barriers to Palestinian movement within the occupied West Bank & Gaza. These barriers, or military checkpoints, have only increased in number since.
The primary purpose of these checkpoints is to facilitate Israel’s illegal takeover of the occupied Palestinian territories, serving as a tool of control and oppression to deny Palestinians the ability to live freely on their own land.
Since they were first erected by Israel, checkpoints have served to suffocate, humiliate, & collectively punish millions of Palestinians. Currently, there are nearly 600 Israeli military checkpoints & other physical barriers to Palestinian movement in the occupied West Bank.
🚨IN MAY, FOUR PALESTINIAN FAMILIES WILL BE FORCED OUT OF THEIR HOMES. #SaveSheikhJarrah: Advocates are calling on you to sign this petition & call your elected reps to demand an end to Israel’s settlement expansion in #Jerusalem. @SecBlinken@HadyAmr 👇 bit.ly/StopJerusalemE…
🚨#StopJerusalemExpulsions: In the Silwan neighborhood of Al -Bustan, 105 houses, representing 1550 Palestinians, are facing home demolition as soon as May 11th to make way for King David Park tourist site. Advocates want you to sign this petition:
The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (#JDA) was just released as a response to the incoherent and erroneous IHRA definition of antisemitism -- the one being weaponized to silence advocacy for Palestinian rights -- and here is our quick take on it: jerusalemdeclaration.org
The JDA is a serious improvement over the IHRA definition. Whereas the IHRA definition is a tool used by Israeli apartheid apologists to smear Palestinian rights advocates with false charges of antisemitism, the JDA defends Palestinian rights advocacy from these smears.
As we’ve always said, describing Israel as a settler-colonial apartheid state is a basic acknowledgement of reality. We also insist that opposing Zionism and supporting boycotts of Israel are pro-justice positions. The JDA affirms that none of these is antisemitic.
The ICC decision to investigate war crimes in the Palestinian territories was met with ire by US State Dept officials who claim that the ICC is unfairly targeting Israel, but @StateDeptSpox refuses to answer where else Palestinians should turn for justice.
This is not the first time the United States has stepped in to shield Israel from the consequences of its illegal and reprehensible actions against Palestinians. Time and time again, the US has vetoed UN resolutions meant to hold Israel accountable for its crimes.
When Palestinians turned to peaceful protest via the BDS movement, the US mislabeled the movement as hateful and antisemitic. Several states passed legislation to ban BDS, and both political parties quickly condemned BDS and BDS supporters.
During the current Israeli election campaign, PM Netanyahu once again made a deal to help elect overt racists & fascists to Israel’s parliament in exchange for their support.
Among them, followers of the late Meir Kahane, whose Kach party is considered a terrorist organization by the US because of violent attacks carried out by its members. imeu.org/article/meir-k…
As a member of Israel’s parliament in the 1980s, Kahane proposed a set of racist laws calling for Palestinians & other non-Jews to be enslaved or forcibly deported & strict racial segregation with severe penalties for violators. The proposed laws read in part: