Palestinian worshippers fleeing Israeli police's grenade explosion near Damascus Gate of old city of Jerusalem (Photo credit: Reuters)

Jerusalem violence is Israel's defiance of international law

Atrocities during occupation,  genocide, war crimes, discrimination, crimes against humanity - Israel is indulging in all possible diabolic practices in the Sheikh Jarrah region adjacent to Masjid Al Aqsa in Jerusalem. It is only natural that the victims of the Zionist effort to evict all Palestinians have come together in solidarity and resistance. However, what the world is witnessing is the Israeli forces crushing this. About 200 Palestinians were injured in the attack by the Israeli forces at Masjid Al Aqsa. It was rather late that when the world started paying heed to the cruelty against the oppressed community during the month of Ramadan. However, it is indeed criminal to passively witness this unjustifiable Zionist violence. The Israeli administration is demanding the Palestinians to evacuate their homes which they have been residing in for over generations across centuries. They are declaring unanimously that it is all part of the territory of the Jewish state. These illegal moves have been validated by Israeli courts including the Supreme Court. They are denying Palestinians the right to make homes on their own land. Existing houses are being scorched. Families (including children) are being separated. They open fire and assault at will. They fling waste at Palestinian homes. Children are woken up in the middle of the night and evicted. They release dogs and capture and punish those out in search of employment. They destroy farmlands. The tactic is to make life impossible and then pressurise the community to leave. Attempts have begun to evict people from the seven homes in Sheikh Jarrah which house 58 people including 17 children. It is certain that it will not end with this and they will not stop until the entire region is evicted.

Almost 7.5 lakh Palestinians had to flee due to Israel's belligerent occupation. In 1948. They became refugees in many places. Jordan housed refugees who reached its territory including Sheikh Jarrah. In 1956, the Jordan government and a UN agency made agreements to transfer ownership of houses to the refugees after three years. In 1959, those houses legally became that of the Palestinians. In 1967, after the western Jerusalem areas came under the control of the Zionist government, During 1970s, Jews moved in gangs to Sheikh Jarrah and got documents documents in their names. Israelis later migrated there and filed cases against Palestinians in Israeli courts. Israeli courts stood with the Israeli migrants, granting legal validity to their muscle power. It is a continuation of this that the Zionists are trying to forcefully evict Palestinians from their homes.

This is not just starkly unjust, but also unlawful.  Israel's laws and legal actions are invalid under international law. East Jerusalem is an occupied territory.  The occupying forces are not allowed under law to evict or displace people from occupied land. The declared intention of Israel is to change the proportion of the population of Israelis to Palestinians in Jerusalem to 70-30. This is illegal. Evictions and land grab are not allowed. In Sheikh Jarrah, the land of the Palestinians belongs to them, even as per UN agreements. Israel's laws cannot overrule this. The UN has not approved Israel's takeover of occupied lands. UN and world countries have the responsibility to stop the exodus of people who had already fled from one disaster called the 'nakba'. The USA, which finances Israel's occupations has not responded to the recent Israeli enormity. Even though these are crimes to be tried by the international Criminal Court, it comes to it that Israel is answerable to no one. The nations of the world which had once stood together against South African apartheid should not give a silent endorsement to Zionist racism.

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