The Illegal Israeli Land-Grab, Apartheid Wall Must Be Turned Down

A Lecture By Dr. Hassan A. El-Najjar

ccun.org, November 13, 2008

A Contribution to the International Week Against the Wall Activities,

Organized by the Emory University Advocates for Justice in Palestine,

On November 10-13, 2008.

Greetings & Acknowledgement

It gives me great pleasure to be invited to a second educational event in the Emory University to speak about an important aspect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its effects on peace and US foreign policy in the Middle East.

Let me first thank the Emory University Advocates for Justice in Palestine for organizing this educational event, which involved a direct action in Asbury Circle and screening the movie, "Iron Wall," in addition to this invited lecture.

I also thank Emory University peace activists who made a difference when they did not allow Emory University to be a pad for launching anti-Arab and anti-Islamic hate campaigns.

Last but not least, I thank Emory University administration for creating this atmosphere of civility and tolerance, which has allowed tonight's event to happen.

I. Background

   1. Basic information about the Wall

       Video Clips:

         a.  The Apartheid Wall in Beir Nabala Ghetto (One minute showing the Wall, then Interviews in Arabic)

         b. Israeli occupation soldiers guarding construction of the Apartheid Wall, shooting at protesters in Ni'lin, May 27,

              2008 (1 minute, 36 seconds)

             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a4StsUfodg&feature=related

         c Israeli occupation soldiers guarding construction of the Apartheid Wall, shooting at protesters in Ni'lin, May 25,

              2008 (1 minute, 32 seconds)

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UvIhjldy_I&feature=channel

         d. Israeli soldier shooting at anti-wall protesters in Ni'lin, resulting in injuring one activist (3 minutes) 

         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENFsmDyA2iQ&feature=related

          e. Israeli occupation soldier places a Ni'lin blind-folded, hand-cuffed protester in a position to be shot at by

                another soldier with cold blood, July 20, 2008 (1 minute)

               http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WEcWNc3DQw&feature=related

               http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8ST5m9pREQ&feature=related

          f.  Testimonies of people from Ni'lin in their struggle against the Wall, few minutes of Israeli occupation forces

                cracking down on the peaceful protesters (8 minutes) 

              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDiaBGtpTRo

     Maps and Photos 

              The Sharon Land-Grab Segregation Wall

              April 30, 2004 Map of Apartheid Wall

               Jerusalem Area Apartheid Wall Map

      2. Why was it built?

           Blunt theft of Palestinian land. This has been the case since 1948, as the maps below show. It it were for

            security reasons, as Israelis claim, it would have been built inside the 1967 borderlines.

      3. Positions of the International Court of Justice at the Hague and the UN General Assembly

          ICJ RULING LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF A WALL

          UN resolution Condemning Israel's Construction of the Wall, Text

II. History of Grabbing Palestinian Lands

       1. The 1947 Partition and the 1948 Israeli war of dispossession

            Distribution of population in 1946 Palestine, Map

             Distribution of Landownership in Palestine, 1947 Map

            1947 UN Partition Plan, Map

            Israeli military operations outside UN proposed Jewish state in 1948 war

              Depopulated Palestinian Villages, 1948, 1967 Maps

             Israeli Expansion Post June 1967 War Map

             Palestinian Refugee Camps Map

            Resolution 181 A state for some, occupation for others, an article

III. Enablers of the Israeli Theft of Palestinian Lands

      1. US Zionist political appointees in the executive branch of government

          (Henry Kissinger, Larry Eagleburger, Richard Haass, Dennis Ross, Bob Kimmit, Martin Indyk, Paul Wolfowitz,

           Richard Peale, Feith, Abramson, Sandy Berger, Madeleine Albright, in addition to Secretaries of State, like

           Colin Powell and Condy Rice and their deputies and assistance).

          U.S. Vetoes of UN Resolutions Critical of Israel (1972-2002)

      2. Members of Congress in both houses from both parties, who keep their rubber stamps ready for any resolution

           proposed by AIPAC lobbyists.

           Pro-Israel PAC Contributions to 2004 Congressional Candidates

           A list of members of Congress who have received money from AIPAC (1999-2000)

      3. Presidents and presidential candidates from both parties who never stop announcing their financial, military,

           and diplomatic support for the Israeli occupation government and its practices, with full support from members

           of Congress.

            U.S. Aid to Israel (1949-1997)

       4. Opinion leaders in national and local media, who never criticize Israeli actions, and who constantly support and

             justify these actions.

       5. Christian fundamentalist leaders who use their pulpits and TV broadcasts to preach loyalty to Israel and support

            for anything the Israelis do.

        The Promised Land

        Middle Eastern Jews and Palestinians are genetically almost identical

       6. References about why the enablers are doing so.

IV. Impact on US Foreign Policy

      1. Rising anti-US sentiments in the Arab Middle East and throughout the Islamic world, as the US is seen as supporter of Israeli continuous assault on the Palestinian people through its financial, military, and diplomatic support for the Israeli occupation government.

Through the unlimited US military support for the Zionist state, the Israeli occupation forces have been enabled to continue the killing, injuring, and kidnapping of Palestinians and demolition of their homes and businesses on daily basis, for decades. The US continuous annual financial assistance has enabled the Israeli occupation government to build all the illegal settlements, Apartheid roads, and the Apartheid Wall.

      2. The 2003 unjustified and unwarranted US invasion and occupation of Iraq has pleased Zionist Israeli expansionists, who had a strong Arab state destroyed without shedding a drop of their blood. However, the US has come out from this plunder as the second loser only after the Iraqi people. The Iraq war has added about five trillion dollars to the US national debt, which nobody knows how it will ever be paid. But everybody knows that it is the cause of the collapse of the US-dominated global capitalist system.

      3. The example of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and how Israelis brutally terrorize the Palestinian people told Iraqis, Afghanis, or any other invaded nations that the US invasion and occupation would be the same for them as the Israeli occupation for the Palestinian people. This fact explains the fierce resistance to the US invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the US-backed Ethiopian invasion and occupation of Somalia.

V. Solutions

      2. Most of the Land-Grab, Apartheid Wall should be dismantled, except for small areas near cities, towns, and villages. These parts of the illegal Apartheid Wall should be kept as soveneur, and spots for artists to record the brutality of Zionism, and reminder a reminder for Palestinians, Israelis, and all humanities that tolerance to invasion, occupation, and subjugation of other nations leads to killing people, injuring them, destroying their homes, and dispossessing them of their lands.

       3. If Israelis would still feel better with a wall for protection, then they should build it within the agreed upon borders after a peace agreement decides where these borders are.

       4. But better than walls, Israelis need to reconsider their brutal anti-human Zionist ideology. They and their supporters everywhere should try to think of themselves as humans, who share this planet with other people. They should stop plotting and launching wars around the world. Only then, they may feel safe enough to live without walls.