Speaker 1: Hello, this is it could happen here, and I am Sharine,
Speaker 1: and today it's just me. It's me and I am alone,
Speaker 1: So that means I am probably going to tell you
Speaker 1: about some fucked up shit that happened in the Middle East,
Speaker 1: which is exactly what I'm about to do. I just
Speaker 1: think some things are purposely underreported, and even when they
Speaker 1: are seldom reported about, it's always a bit skewed and biased.
Speaker 1: So I just try to draw attention to certain countries
Speaker 1: and their people as best as I can because of this,
Speaker 1: and today I think we're due for an update on Palestine.
Speaker 1: Israel continues to do humanize Palestinians daily and blatantly, and
Speaker 1: it's not just through murdering them. Last year, under new
Speaker 1: Israeli restrictions on foreign entry into the West Bank, foreigners
Speaker 1: romantically involved with Palestinians must declare their relationship to the
Speaker 1: occupying Israeli government. You have to tell them if you
Speaker 1: are involved the Palestinian Why. I don't know, because they're
Speaker 1: treated as less than human. And this is one of
Speaker 1: many laws that deny Palestinians of basic human rights and
Speaker 1: keep them under apartheid rule. I want to talk about
Speaker 1: all that's happened in just these first few months of
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, because this cycle of violence in Jerusalem
Speaker 1: and the West Bank in particular has suddenly surged to
Speaker 1: levels that we have not seen in years. As of
Speaker 1: this recording on March seventh, at least sixty six Palestinians
Speaker 1: have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers since the
Speaker 1: start of twenty twenty three, and at least seventeen of
Speaker 1: those killed have been children. For comparison, in twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: which was the deadliest year in the West Bank in decades,
Speaker 1: forty eight Palestinians were killed in the combined months of January, February,
Speaker 1: March and April. The deaths are increasing day by day,
Speaker 1: and there is a scene to be a stop to
Speaker 1: them at all. Twenty twenty two saw the highest number
Speaker 1: of civilians killed by Israeli security forces in the past
Speaker 1: seventeen years, and the highest number of Israelis killed since
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen. Renewed violence flared up between Palestine and Israel
Speaker 1: and January of this year for many reasons, and it
Speaker 1: continues to build and intensify. After a cascade of concerning events,
Speaker 1: and before we jump into those events that happened in
Speaker 1: January and onward. I think we need to look back
Speaker 1: on twenty twenty two in order to understand this a
Speaker 1: bit better and to hopefully provide some context. So let's
Speaker 1: take a look at twenty twenty two and how we
Speaker 1: got here. We are going to be focusing on the
Speaker 1: West Bank with the majority of the data in this episode.
Speaker 1: In particular, the one tomorrow will be more broad. I'm
Speaker 1: going to explain a little bit about what the West
Speaker 1: Bank even is, just for some more context. The West
Speaker 1: Bank is a landlocked territory near the coast of a
Speaker 1: Mediterranean in western Asia that forms the main bulk of
Speaker 1: the Palestinian territories. It is ordered by Jordan and the
Speaker 1: Dead Sea to the east, and by Israel to the
Speaker 1: southwest and north. The West Bank includes East Jerusalem. It's
Speaker 1: been under Israeli military occupation since nineteen sixty seven, and
Speaker 1: its area is split into one hundred and sixty five
Speaker 1: Palestinian quote unquote islands. These islands are under total or
Speaker 1: partial civil administration by the Palestinian National Authority or the
Speaker 1: PNA or PA. There are also two hundred and thirty
Speaker 1: Israeli settlements into which Israel law is being pipelined. The
Speaker 1: West Bank initially emerged as a Jordanian occupied territory after
Speaker 1: the nineteen forty eight Arab Israeli War before being in
Speaker 1: xed outright by Jordan in nineteen fifty, and it was
Speaker 1: given its name during this time based on its location
Speaker 1: on the western bank of the Jordan River. This annexation
Speaker 1: was widely considered to be illegal and was only recognized
Speaker 1: by Iraq, Pakistan and the UK. The territory remained under
Speaker 1: Jordanian rule until nineteen six seven, when it was captured
Speaker 1: and occupied by Israel during the Sixth Day War. The
Speaker 1: Oslo Accords, which were signed in nineteen ninety three between
Speaker 1: the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Israel, created administrative districts with
Speaker 1: varying levels of Palestinian authority. In specific areas. In the
Speaker 1: West Bank, there was Area A, which is administered exclusively
Speaker 1: by the PA, there is Area B, which is administered
Speaker 1: by both the p and A and Israel, and then
Speaker 1: there's Area C, which is administered exclusively by Israel. And
Speaker 1: this Area C, which is controlled exclusively by Israel, accounts
Speaker 1: for over sixty percent of the West Bank's territory. Twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two was the deadliest year for West Bank Palestinians
Speaker 1: in nearly two decades. Israeli forces killed more Palestinians in
Speaker 1: the West Bank in twenty twenty two than in any
Speaker 1: other year. The United Nations began systematically recording Palestinian fatalities
Speaker 1: in two thousand and five, and they started doing this
Speaker 1: after the last major Palestinian uprising aka these get Intifada
Speaker 1: that lasted five years. And knowing that, I want you
Speaker 1: to keep in mind that, unfortunately, the number of Palestinians
Speaker 1: that have been killed by the IDF is far greater
Speaker 1: than some of the numbers I'm going to say in
Speaker 1: this episode. And again that is because I am focusing
Speaker 1: particularly on the West Bank. I want to talk about
Speaker 1: Israel's twelve month crackdown that has been happening in the
Speaker 1: West Bank. Nearly twelve months ago, Israel begana has become
Speaker 1: a year long violent crackdown in the West Bank. Israel
Speaker 1: last year prompted a sweeping Israeli military campaign that they
Speaker 1: called Operation Breakwater beginning March of two and twenty two.
Speaker 1: It was created after attacks occurred by Palestinians against Israeli
Speaker 1: settlers Since then, Operation Breakwater has conducted nearly nightly IDF
Speaker 1: raids in the West Bank, which of course causes heightened
Speaker 1: friction between the IDF and the Palestinian population. So far,
Speaker 1: Israeli security forces have made over two thousand arrests, and
Speaker 1: that's way too big of a number, just to give
Speaker 1: you an idea of the terrifying scale of this operation.
Speaker 1: Operation Breakwater is the biggest IDF operation in the West
Speaker 1: Bank since the Second Instifaba that I mentioned earlier that
Speaker 1: lasted from two thousand to two thousand and five. Since
Speaker 1: the start of this operation last year, nearly every day
Speaker 1: Israel has conducted raids in the West Bank, which is
Speaker 1: part of the Palestinian territory which encompasses the Gothas Strip
Speaker 1: in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. And this whole
Speaker 1: territory has been illegally occupied by Israel since nineteen sixty seven.
Speaker 1: In spite of this, because Israel does whatever the fuck
Speaker 1: it wants, because it's already founded upon existing illegally in
Speaker 1: the first place, thousands of Palestinians, many of them young,
Speaker 1: have been arrested, and nearly every week more Palestinians are
Speaker 1: being killed. Last year, this all resulted in the highest
Speaker 1: cumulative death toll in the West Bank since two thousand
Speaker 1: and four. Palestinian rights groups and UN experts have said
Speaker 1: that the bloodshed is due to Israel's excessive use of
Speaker 1: force and open fire rules during near daily military operations,
Speaker 1: as well as rising assaults by settlers in the West Bank,
Speaker 1: where again Palestinians are living under illegal Israeli occupation. Israel
Speaker 1: justified their intensifying violence because of the fatal attacks on
Speaker 1: Israelis by Palestinian militants, which also spiked last year, which
Speaker 1: is also very bad. But blaming the people you've been
Speaker 1: oppressing for nearly a century for being angry and fighting
Speaker 1: back people without an army faced against one of the
Speaker 1: most powerful armies in the world, it just does not
Speaker 1: sit right with me. In twenty twenty two, Israeli security
Speaker 1: forces killed at least one hundred and fifty two Palestinians
Speaker 1: in the West Bank and predominantly Palestinian East Jerusalem, compared
Speaker 1: with seventy five Palestinians in twenty twenty one. These are
Speaker 1: figures provided by the UN Office for the Coordination of
Speaker 1: Humanitarian Affairs or OTCHA. Four Palestinians in the West Bank
Speaker 1: were killed by Israeli settlers, not soldiers. Settlers, settlers that
Speaker 1: have been emboldened and even encouraged in their hate and
Speaker 1: violence by the Israeli far right, and the Israeli far
Speaker 1: right is basically the Israeli government at this point. And
Speaker 1: we're going to get into some of the extremes that
Speaker 1: these settlers go through in their hate and their violence
Speaker 1: more tomorrow, but for now, let's focus on twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1: Most of the Palestinian deaths occurred during Israeli military raids
Speaker 1: and clashes in the West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus.
Speaker 1: More than half of the Palestinians who were murdered were
Speaker 1: under the age of twenty five. They never even had
Speaker 1: a chance to live their lives with their families and
Speaker 1: their loved ones. Each one of these individuals that were
Speaker 1: killed have people mourning them and missing them every day,
Speaker 1: and I never want anyone to forget that. Among those
Speaker 1: killed last year were also US citizens El Jazeero, journalists
Speaker 1: Sharina Buakle, and seventy eight year old Omaas and because
Speaker 1: of their US citizenship, their deaths gained rare worldwide attention
Speaker 1: and briefly sharpened international criticism of Israel. Sharine, if you remember,
Speaker 1: was shot in the head while wearing a press vest.
Speaker 1: She was there as a reporter doing her job. No
Speaker 1: violence was taking place around her. She was targeted and killed.
Speaker 1: Israel says she was probably killed by a soldier's gun
Speaker 1: fire unintentionally, and that was that. The world moved on.
Speaker 1: I did an episode last year about Sharin Abuachhm and
Speaker 1: how Israel murdered her in broad daylight, So if you
Speaker 1: guys want to revisit that, that is there. Back to
Speaker 1: the episode. I don't want us to forget that this
Speaker 1: data is regarding the West Bank. Only hundreds of Palestinians
Speaker 1: die at the hands of Israel's terrorist organization that they
Speaker 1: call an army every year. In May of twenty twenty one,
Speaker 1: if you can remember that far back, at least two
Speaker 1: hundred Palestinians were killed in a week of israel The airstrikes,
Speaker 1: just one week, and the deaths included fifty nine children
Speaker 1: and thirty five women, with nearly thirteen hundred people wounded.
Speaker 1: Women and children made up nearly half of the casualties.
Speaker 1: Fifty nine children fifty nine children that were just taken
Speaker 1: with families that will never be the same. I just
Speaker 1: want people to remember these things. When I mentioned numbers,
Speaker 1: that each number is an actual living child or person.
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty two, in a statement to The Washington Post,
Speaker 1: Israel's military said that Israeli soldiers used live fire when
Speaker 1: quote necessary during counter terrorism activities in response to quote
Speaker 1: violent riots, which often include explosive devices, molotov cocktails, and
Speaker 1: rocks hurled at the IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians. Are
Speaker 1: you kidding me? One of the most powerful and supported
Speaker 1: armies in the world is saying that it's killing people
Speaker 1: in response to rocks being thrown at them armed and
Speaker 1: protected soldiers covered in swat gear with all the weapons
Speaker 1: they could ever fucking dream of fighting against to people
Speaker 1: without an army at all, blaming them in an official
Speaker 1: statement to the Washington Post for throwing rocks, I mean,
Speaker 1: just just get the fuck out of here. The IDF
Speaker 1: are all fucking clowns. And maybe I shouldn't be cursing
Speaker 1: and I should pretend to be professional, but they make
Speaker 1: me fucking mad, and I think we should all be
Speaker 1: fucking mad because I don't think it's fair, and I
Speaker 1: know life isn't built to be fair, but to terrorize
Speaker 1: and genocided population, drive them into a corner, and then
Speaker 1: blame them for having the audacity for fighting back and
Speaker 1: the only ways accessible to them is fucking ludicrous. You
Speaker 1: can't both sides a conflict when one of those sides
Speaker 1: has one of the most advanced and supported armies in
Speaker 1: the world that oppresses the other side that has no
Speaker 1: army and no support of any kind, a side who
Speaker 1: has rocks in their hands, resorting to violence because absolutely
Speaker 1: no thing and no one is helping them. A total
Speaker 1: of two hundred and twenty four Palestinians were killed in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, including the forty nine people that I
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier that were murdered during a three day Israeli
Speaker 1: assault on the besieged Gaza Strip. Seventeen were children, and
Speaker 1: I'm emphasizing this because Palestinian children have started keeping goodbye
Speaker 1: letters in their pockets in case they're killed by the
Speaker 1: Israeli army. No child should have to live in fear
Speaker 1: that they might be killed at any moment, but that's
Speaker 1: the reality for Palestinian children. Nearly every day, Palestinians wake
Speaker 1: up to news that the Israeli military has killed yet
Speaker 1: another Palestinian. This daily violence against Palestinians has traumatized generations
Speaker 1: of Palestinian children, and their parents have no way to
Speaker 1: protect them. Many of the casualties in the West Bank
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two were young Palestinians who have only
Speaker 1: ever known military occupation and the oppression of the Israeli government.
Speaker 1: The West Bank also has to deal with the repressive
Speaker 1: politics the Romala based Palestinian Authority the PA, which was
Speaker 1: set up as a caretaker government three decades ago and
Speaker 1: is now widely unpopular among Palestinians. And I'll get into
Speaker 1: this more after a quick break, so brb Okay, we're back.
Speaker 1: As I mentioned earlier, the West Bank has to deal
Speaker 1: with repressive politics of the Romala based Palestinian Authority, which
Speaker 1: was set up three decades ago and is now widely
Speaker 1: unpopular among Palestinians. A spokesperson from the Palestinian rights group
Speaker 1: Al Huck said people are very, very fed up, whether
Speaker 1: it's in Jerusalem or Jenin or Nablus. The last twenty
Speaker 1: years have not shown any improvements in the situation. This
Speaker 1: spokesperson spoke only on the condition of anonymity. For fear
Speaker 1: of reprisal by Israeli security forces, because the Israeli security
Speaker 1: forces raided the organization's headquarters in Romola last August. The
Speaker 1: spokesperson explained that quote the near daily raids in areas
Speaker 1: under control of the PA showed that the sovereignty of
Speaker 1: the PA does not exist. So they're saying that the
Speaker 1: Palestinian Authority is basically useless. If these Israeli raids are
Speaker 1: happening in areas that are supposedly under control or quote
Speaker 1: care of the PA, then what the fuck are they
Speaker 1: even there for. Tour Wensland, the UN Special Coordinator for
Speaker 1: the Middle East Peace Process, told the Washington Post last year,
Speaker 1: quote we have a new dynamic in the West Bank
Speaker 1: and around Jerusalem, with a quote new generation of Israelis
Speaker 1: and Palestinians in conflict. There is an urgent need to
Speaker 1: de escalate. He also cited the quote growing tension and
Speaker 1: so called friction zones, which are areas Whereasraeli settlements continue
Speaker 1: to encroach on Palestinian lands and where violence is mounting,
Speaker 1: probably in part due to the frust ration with the
Speaker 1: lack of action by the Palestinian authority. Twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: also saw the emergence of two new Palestinian militant groups,
Speaker 1: the Genin Battalion and the Lions Den, both led by
Speaker 1: disaffected young men with local support networks. Meanwhile, Israel's military
Speaker 1: has repeatedly declined to provide the number of internal investigations
Speaker 1: they supposedly opened last year regarding their misconduct related to
Speaker 1: the Palestinian deaths. In September of last year, Israel announced
Speaker 1: the results of its inquiry into the death of Charine
Speaker 1: Abu Akhle, who again was shot in the head while
Speaker 1: covering a military raid near Jenin last May. The IDF
Speaker 1: said that a quote found a high possibility that Miss
Speaker 1: Abu Akhle was accidentally killed by IDF gunfire towards suspects
Speaker 1: identified as armed Palestinian gunmen during an exchange of fire,
Speaker 1: though it has not released any evidence whatsoever showing the
Speaker 1: presence of gunmen in the area. An investigation by The
Speaker 1: Post contradicted the i's claim that there was an exchange
Speaker 1: of fire in the minutes before Abu Aklei was killed
Speaker 1: and surprising absolutely no one. The IDF said it would
Speaker 1: not pursue criminal charges against its soldiers. No one is
Speaker 1: being held accountable for the killing of Palestinian life, including
Speaker 1: Palestinian children. Israel has continued to operate as though they
Speaker 1: have immunity, which in a way they do thanks to
Speaker 1: the United States, who does nothing but give Israel more
Speaker 1: money and weapons and good press. Even more concerning, far
Speaker 1: right politician at Tamar Ben Gvid, who was Israel's new
Speaker 1: National security minister, has proposed giving police and soldiers wider
Speaker 1: latitude to use live ammunition and putting laws in place
Speaker 1: that would shield them from criminal prosecution for killing or
Speaker 1: injuring Palestinians. And this should be a red flag for everybody.
Speaker 1: The other Hawk spokesperson said that many of those killed
Speaker 1: in Israeli raids last year appeared to be either bystanders
Speaker 1: or victim of excessive force. Let's not forget that they
Speaker 1: also killed members of the press who clearly wear press
Speaker 1: vests in a moment where no violence was ever taking place,
Speaker 1: just a camera and reporters trying to raise awareness that
Speaker 1: the crimes that Israel commits. An early December Israeli fire
Speaker 1: killed a teenage girl in Jenin who was on her
Speaker 1: roof as a raid unfolded nearby. Days earlier, Israeli forces
Speaker 1: fatally shot a sixteen year old boy who was throwing
Speaker 1: stones at a checkpoint outside Ramula. We're getting to the
Speaker 1: end here, so let's take our last little break and
Speaker 1: we'll be right back. And we're back talking about how
Speaker 1: the IDF shoots Palestinians as though they're basically playing a
Speaker 1: video game. They had shot a teenage girl and then
Speaker 1: a sixteen year old boy, and there are many disturbing
Speaker 1: videos of idea of soldiers shooting Palestinians like they are
Speaker 1: playing a video game. There's one video in particular that
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about that is so fucking disgusting, where one
Speaker 1: soldier is crouching down and aiming his gun at a
Speaker 1: Palestinian who was hiding behind a dumpster. I know that
Speaker 1: the Palestinian is hiding behind a dumpster because the soldier
Speaker 1: says something to the effect of what does he think
Speaker 1: he's doing behind that dumpster? And then the soldier shoots
Speaker 1: and jumps up in pure elation, cheering for himself because
Speaker 1: he shot this person. There's another soldier in the frame
Speaker 1: next to him who seems to be more aware of
Speaker 1: the camera that is recording them, who keeps telling his
Speaker 1: annoying murderer friend to we professional instead of jumping up
Speaker 1: and down like he just scored a point in a game,
Speaker 1: because that is all this is to them. There is
Speaker 1: much more evidence of this infuriating and horrific attitude and
Speaker 1: culture of the IDF and Abbey Martin's two nineteen film
Speaker 1: Gaza Fights for Freedom, which I've probably already recommended a
Speaker 1: million times and will continue to recommend. It is free
Speaker 1: on YouTube Tour Wensland. We mentioned earlier, the UN Special
Speaker 1: Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process said, quote, the
Speaker 1: continued killings of Palestinians by Israeli security forces and incidents
Speaker 1: where they did not appear to present an eminent threat
Speaker 1: to life are disturbing. He went on to say that quote,
Speaker 1: I am increasingly concerned by the fragility of the current
Speaker 1: political and security dynamics, particularly in the occupied West Bank,
Speaker 1: including East Jerusalem. Vulker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for
Speaker 1: Human Rights, said, for this violence to end, the occupation
Speaker 1: must end on all sides. There are people who know this.
Speaker 1: The violence of last year reflects a dangerous mix of
Speaker 1: on the ground and generational changes, and this could only
Speaker 1: escalate further as Israel's mostly far right government becomes more
Speaker 1: far right because jewe supremacists who have incited violence against
Speaker 1: Palestinians were recently sworn into office, including Israel's aforementioned new
Speaker 1: Minister of National Security. And he's just one of the
Speaker 1: many cogs in the machine of Israel being controlled by
Speaker 1: far right terrorists. And yes, to me, they are terrorists
Speaker 1: because literally everything they do was either a crime or
Speaker 1: a crime against humanity regardless. At the end of last year,
Speaker 1: Israel's new government was sworn into office. It's nationalist, exclusionist,
Speaker 1: and far far right. It's the most extreme Israeli government
Speaker 1: in the nation's history. Benjamin and Yahoo, who's already the
Speaker 1: country's longest serving prime minister, is at the helm of
Speaker 1: the country for the sixth time, and this time he's
Speaker 1: assembled the most far right cabinet in Israel's history, with
Speaker 1: the most notable posts given to ultra nationalists, one of
Speaker 1: them being the person we mentioned at Tamar ben Gvide,
Speaker 1: the new Minister National aka, a position that oversees the police.
Speaker 1: There's also Bezalel Simotric, who will have significant power over
Speaker 1: Israeli settlements in addition to his role as Finance Minister.
Speaker 1: The government has promised to expand those settlements those already
Speaker 1: illegal settlements. The members of this new coalition have also
Speaker 1: made extensive comments denigrating the queer community. They've also called
Speaker 1: for stricter definitions of who even qualifies as Jewish. In
Speaker 1: making its vision abundantly clear, the government released policy guidelines
Speaker 1: at the end of September, announcing the Jewish people's quote
Speaker 1: exclusive and inalienable right to all parts of the land
Speaker 1: of Israel. Toward the end of January, the policies in
Speaker 1: the Enyaho's newly sorting government coalition brought out about eighty
Speaker 1: thousand protesters in Tel Aviv. The protesters were largely focused
Speaker 1: on the government's proposals to overhaul the judicial system, which
Speaker 1: could weaken the country's democracy and separation of powers quote
Speaker 1: unquote democracy yet right. But the effects of the policies
Speaker 1: the one point six million Palestinian citizens of Israel and
Speaker 1: the five point two million Palestinians living in the occupied territories,
Speaker 1: all of these effects are going to be catastrophic and
Speaker 1: only building upon years of policies that Israeli human rights
Speaker 1: organizations say constitute crimes against humanity. The human rights defenders
Speaker 1: and experts in Israeli politics. Emphasize that this government is
Speaker 1: not a departure from the previous ones, and yes, it
Speaker 1: is Netanyahu's sixth time leading the country, but instead of
Speaker 1: being a new government, it's instead a culmination of Israeli
Speaker 1: politics that are only drifting farther and farther to the right,
Speaker 1: and then decades longer of policies that amount to defacto
Speaker 1: annexation of the occupied West Bank and policies of Jewish supremacy.
Speaker 1: What's different now, however, is how clearly these ideas are
Speaker 1: stated in the new government's coalition guidelines by prominent ministers
Speaker 1: of the fundamentals of how the country runs. This time,
Speaker 1: it is clear it is written in the guidelines. There's
Speaker 1: no longer subtlety to the hate it is in writing.
Speaker 1: The new Israeli government is somewhat of a turn from
Speaker 1: the brief centrist government of last year, but it's still
Speaker 1: seeking to implement policies that are anti Palestinian and anti liberal.
Speaker 1: But again, it is certainly not the first Israeli government
Speaker 1: to do these things. The executive director of the Israeli
Speaker 1: watchdog Bit Salem again apologize probably mispronounced that said it's
Speaker 1: key not to pretend, as many seem to already be
Speaker 1: doing that it'll somehow be a sudden departure from Israeli
Speaker 1: quote unquote democracy. What worries me is that even this
Speaker 1: level of clarity will not be sufficient to trigger an
Speaker 1: adequate international response. And the new Israeli government is shaping
Speaker 1: up just to be extreme as we anticipated. Israel's parliamentary
Speaker 1: system is made up of many fragmented parties, and it's
Speaker 1: slowly been collapsing, and there's been turmoil and whatever, because
Speaker 1: there have been five national elections since twenty nineteen. The
Speaker 1: quote unquote Change government in twenty twenty one brought together
Speaker 1: opposing parties last year to Auston and Yahoo finally once
Speaker 1: and for all, right, But that fell apart last summer,
Speaker 1: and in the ensuing elections Nan Yahoo built a coalition
Speaker 1: of ultra orthodox and religious Zionist parties that returned him
Speaker 1: to power, leading to an even more extreme government. So
Speaker 1: even they tried to get rid of him, but he
Speaker 1: came back worse than ever. And so this extreme government
Speaker 1: is already acting in extreme ways. And again the new
Speaker 1: government's ministers have made long standing attacks on the queer
Speaker 1: community as well as religious freedom and Israeli and Palestinian
Speaker 1: civil society, as well as who can call themselves Jewish.
Speaker 1: Above all, there are going to be drastic implications for
Speaker 1: Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and for the
Speaker 1: civil liberties of Israeli citizens, mostly because then Yahoo's internal
Speaker 1: coalition negotiations have brought settlers into key ministerial posts, and
Speaker 1: only days into the government being sworn in, there have
Speaker 1: been already multip science and signals of how these personalities
Speaker 1: are going to rule. Justice Minister Yarev Levin has introduced
Speaker 1: legislation that would weaken judicial review and the power of
Speaker 1: israel Supreme Court to strike down legislation. Another proposal would
Speaker 1: revamp and politicize the country's longstanding process for selecting judges.
Speaker 1: And of course we can't forget about the fucking new
Speaker 1: National Security Minister aka to Marvin Gavide, who is part
Speaker 1: of the Jewish Power Party. His political ideas are inspired
Speaker 1: by the late radical iconoclass. Rabbi Mayor Kahane Bengavie has
Speaker 1: stepped into a role that is basically tailor made to
Speaker 1: oversee the police both within Israel and the occupied West Bank,
Speaker 1: and in early January he on somehow legal grounds directed
Speaker 1: the police to tear down any Palestinian flag in public spaces.
Speaker 1: And then there's also Finance Minister Bezalel Sumatric. He is
Speaker 1: the head of the Religious Zionism Party, and he's also
Speaker 1: a settler whose anti gay rhetoric is prolific, to say
Speaker 1: the least. He has already sees customs revenues that belong
Speaker 1: to the Palestinian Authority, and he's called the Palestinian Authority
Speaker 1: a terror abetting body that he thinks should fall. He
Speaker 1: also holds newly created authorities that give him oversight of
Speaker 1: the West Bank occupation through a role crafted for him
Speaker 1: in the Defense Ministry. So they're essentially just creating these
Speaker 1: roles and creating these rules that only allow them to
Speaker 1: have more control the corruption one oh one, I suppose
Speaker 1: we can also see clearly howna en Yahoo and his
Speaker 1: partners are going to govern. And the coalitions agreement that
Speaker 1: sets out the new government's guidelines. It's not legally binding,
Speaker 1: but it states plainly in its ideology that quote, the
Speaker 1: Jewish people have an exclusive and in aalegal right over
Speaker 1: all areas of the land of Israel. The government will
Speaker 1: promote and develop the settlement of all parts of the
Speaker 1: Land of Israel, and this includes to them the Occupied
Speaker 1: West Bank. Israeli Human Rights organization A dull La wrote
Speaker 1: and in report this goes further than any previous agreements.
Speaker 1: The government has made explicit the coalition's party's long standing
Speaker 1: intent to further entrench Jewish supremacy in Palestinian repression throughout
Speaker 1: the State of Israel and the occupied West Bank through
Speaker 1: a two tiered system of governance on all levels. The
Speaker 1: new government's approach to the occupied West Bank revolves around
Speaker 1: the illegal annexation of Palestinian land. The government plans to
Speaker 1: legalize the illegal outposts that are built on private Palestinian land,
Speaker 1: and the likely result of that is Palestinians being stripped
Speaker 1: of rights and protections and left even more vulnerable to
Speaker 1: violence and the hardships they're already enduring. The Israeli Rights
Speaker 1: Organization of the LUG goes on to say that these
Speaker 1: changes to the judicial system and bestowing ministers like Symatric
Speaker 1: with new authorities over the occupation threatened civil rights and
Speaker 1: individual rights in Israel, but it is mainly going to
Speaker 1: be a big, big issue against the national minority. The
Speaker 1: Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up about twenty percent
Speaker 1: of the country, They are going to be the first
Speaker 1: and most severely damaged by those changes. And clearly the
Speaker 1: Israeli government even before all of this, but now it
Speaker 1: is clearly stated it has all the components of fascism.
Speaker 1: And yet the US still appears to beholding out hope
Speaker 1: that it can somehow work with and Yahoo and his
Speaker 1: fucking government and its fucking ministers. Even now politics are
Speaker 1: all a scam. Everyone fucking sucks. Israel has been violating
Speaker 1: Palestinians human rights with impunity for decades, but this new
Speaker 1: government again just illustrates the most brutal intentions with greater clarity.
Speaker 1: Bits Salem, another human rights group, said the hypocrisy is
Speaker 1: denying that Palestinians have already been living for many years
Speaker 1: under extreme, organized criminal Israeli state violence underwritten by the US,
Speaker 1: and the lack of accountability and the acquiescence of the
Speaker 1: international community is to a great stent responsible for driving this.
Speaker 1: And as we mentioned in this episode, last year twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two was the most deadly year for Palestinians living
Speaker 1: in the occupied West Bank since the UN began recording
Speaker 1: the deaths in two thousand and five, it was also
Speaker 1: the year that the most Palestinians have been held in
Speaker 1: administrative detention, and the attacks on Palestinians throughout the center
Speaker 1: right government leading up to all of this, the governments
Speaker 1: of Ya Lapide and Nefatali Benett cannot be understated. It's
Speaker 1: always been bad. That it's just extremely bad. And in sharpie,
Speaker 1: the US has a role here too, because it continues
Speaker 1: to supply Israel with billions of dollars of military aid,
Speaker 1: and it has also failed to publicly criticize the en
Speaker 1: Yahoo's new political allies. An analyst covering Israel and Palestine
Speaker 1: for International Crisis Group said, there's no way that the
Speaker 1: n Yahoo, as desperate as he is, would have gone
Speaker 1: to form this kind of coalition if it wasn't for
Speaker 1: years and years of US abdication of responsibility for what
Speaker 1: happens here. He just wouldn't have felt that he could
Speaker 1: do it. It would have been too outlandish. And all
Speaker 1: of this brings us to twenty twenty three, which we
Speaker 1: will talk about tomorrow because I like short episodes, so
Speaker 1: I'll see you there. It could happen here as a
Speaker 1: production of Cool Zone Media well more podcasts from cool
Speaker 1: Zone Media. Visit our website cool zonemedia dot com, or
Speaker 1: check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to podcasts, you can find sources for
Speaker 1: It could happen here, updated monthly at cool zonemedia dot
Speaker 1: com slash sources. Thanks for listening.