FACTS
ISRAEL | PALESTINE

Israel has attempted to sell an image of itself to the international community in which it is a bastion of democracy and human rights, surrounded by aggressive Arab countries dedicated to its destruction. This idealised image of the country conflicts with Israel’s record of violent upheaval of the native Palestinian population, its oppressive policies against the people it occupies and its flagrant disregard for international law.

Instead of addressing the paradox of Israel’s supposed commitment to human rights and the realities of occupation, Israel and its supporters have employed the tactic of ‘proof by assertion’. According to this technique, a falsehood is repeated until it is popularly believed to be true or “repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”. Facts become the battle ground and omission, distortion and lies become Israel’s chief weapons in its public relations war against the Palestinians.

Did You Know
Around the time the Balfour Declaration was made in 1917

• the area of historic Palestine had a 90% Palestinian Arab population, with just 56,000 Jewish people residing there.
The Balfour Declaration states “that nothing shall be done

• which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”.
In the lead up to the Israeli declaration of independence,

• Arabs were forced out of their villages upon threat of death by Jewish paramilitaries. 531 villages were completely cleansed of their Arab populations. Deir Yassin, a small village near Jerusalem was ethnically cleansed in April 1948 when 107 of its inhabitants were massacred by members of the Irgun and Lehi militias.
The Irgun was also involved in the bombing of the King

 • David Hotel, which killed 91 Jewish, Arab and British civilians. The organisation was later integrated in to the Israeli Defense Force and its commander, Menachem Begin, would later become an Israeli Prime Minister.

Four Israeli Prime Ministers are confirmed to have taken parts in terror attacks, massacres or ethnic cleansing; Begin, Shamir, Sharon and Rabin.If the Bible is used as a source, the Holy Land is promised to both sons of Abraham, for the descendents of Isaac (Jews) and Ishmael (Arab/Muslims). According to the Bible, God said to Abraham: “Unto thy seed, I will give thy land.” The Bible even identifies Ishmael (the Arab son): “And Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abraham called his son’s name, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael” (Holy Bible: Genesis 16:15). There is more in Genesis 17:23, 17:25, 17:26, 25:9, 25:12. Thus there can be no exclusive Jewish claim to the land.

The early Zionist movement was known to be antagonistic towards religious Jews. Theodor Herzl, the founding father of Zionism, had initially supported a mass-conversion of Jews from Judaism.

 

The 1967 War, during which Israel began its occupation

 • of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, began when Israel pre-emptively attacked Egyptian forces.Israel’s annexation of Jerusalem, which followed the 1967

• War, was universally condemned and is illegal under international law. The UN has issued numerous resolutions against Israel’s appropriation of the city, however, Israel continues to ‘Judaize’ the city. Palestinian Jerusalemites live under draconian restrictions, are forced from their homes and settlement activity in and around the city is cutting them off from their families in the West Bank.The Occupied West Bank is dotted with more than 120

• permanent checkpoints which impact on the daily lives of Palestinians. Further to these, there are numerous temporary checkpoints, which can be established on whim. Road blocks effectively divide the West Bank into roughly 300 different segments, making travel within the area arduous and sometimes impossible.
Palestinians in need of medical attention, including pregnant women, often suffer from Israeli restrictions placed on their freedom of movement. The ongoing
blockade of Gaza means that pregnant women are forced
to spend days at crossings, even when in need of urgent
attention. From the start of the Second Intifada in September 2000 through to 2006, 68 Palestinian women gave birth at check points. There were 34 miscarriages and
four mothers died due to failure of the Israeli forces to allow them to reach medical help.
Ambulances have been stopped or delayed whilst trying to reach wounded Palestinians.Palestinian children who throw stones are imprisoned by

•Israel for approximately one year, in adult prisons, breaching provisions of UN Conventions. IDF soldiers have on numerous occasions shot and killed children for throwing stones.

License plates of cars owned by Palestinians are colour coded to distinguish them from cars driven by Israelis living in the West Bank.

Israel appropriates 80% of water resources belonging to • Palestinians. The average Israeli gets four times more water than the average Palestinian, with some Palestinians getting less than 15 litres of water per day. Water poverty is a daily reality for many Palestinians whilst settlers have enough for swimming pools and lush gardens.

Israel’s Separation Wall not only further restricts Palestinian • freedom of movement but also effectively annexes huge swathes of Palestinian land. 9.7% of the land in the West Bank is now on the Israeli side of the wall. Businesses and homes have been demolished to construct the wall and villages have lost access to wells they relied on.Israel is the only country in the Middle East to have a nuclear arsenal, with up to 400 nuclear warheads. This is enough to destroy every major population centre in the Middle East.
During the War on Gaza, Israel used the banned chemical  agent, White Phosphorous, on a civilian population. The incendiary weapon causes deep burns and inhalation can be fatal.
After the Gaza War, a considerable number of Israeli soldiers • testified to witnessing or hearing accounts of human rights abuses against the Palestinian population there. Incidents included the shooting of unarmed women, children and elderly people.