Brit Tzedek v'Shalom

Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace

Educational Resources

The Occupation

1. A Bankrupt Policy
   By Gideon Levy, Ha'aretz. Approx September 14, 2003
   Levy argues that the policies of targeted assassination have failed to weaken Hamas or prevent terrorism against Israelis. Levy argues that since all else has failed our only alternative is "A true cease-fire, the immediate removal of all the checkpoints in the West Bank, opening the border to Palestinian workers, and a sincere effort to improve the lives of the Palestinians [which] will unquestionably bear immediate fruit."
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2. I can't imagine anyone who considers himself a human being can do this'
   By Chris McGreal, The Guardian, July 28, 2003
   In this deeply disturbing investigative article, McGreal describes numerous cases in which IDF in the Gaza Strip have killed young children for no apparent reason. In many cases the IDF has denied its complicity and failed to punish the soldiers involved.
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3. Primordial Illogic and Primitive Cruelty
   By Amira Hass, Ha'aretz, July 23, 2003
   Amira Hass bitterly describes the twisted logic and cruelty of Israel's continued policy of settlement expansion and Occupation in the Gaza Strip.
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4. Clarifying the Occupation Lexicon
   by Amira Hass, Ha'aretz, June 11, 2003
   Amira Hass deconstruction the language of Occupation and tries to explain the real meaning of commonly used, but inherently deceptive terms, such as closure, checkpoints, and illegal outposts.
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5. Occupation is Destroying Democracy
   By Uzi Benziman, Ha'aretz, May 18, 2003
   Uzi Benziman describes the major findings of an important study by the Israeli Democracy Institute (IDI). That study describes the troubled state of Israeli democracy and the declining support for democratic values in Israel. Benziman argues that the Occupation is undermining Israeli democracy.
   Click here to read the major findings of the fascinating IDI study on The State of Israeli Democracy.
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6. US State Department Annual Report on Human Rights in Israel and the Occupied Territories, March 31, 2003
   The US government's official report on Human Rights paints a bleak picture of the situation in the Occupied Territories. The report states: "Israel's overall human rights record in the occupied territories remained poor and worsened in several areas as it continued to commit serious human rights abuses. Security forces killed at least 990 Palestinians and 2 foreign nationals and injured 4,382 Palestinians and other persons during the year, some of whom were innocent bystanders."
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7. Terrorism by Any Other Name
   by Gideon Levy, Ha'aretz, March 16, 2003
   Levy argues that Israelis choose to focus only on the Palestinian terrorist attack against them, while linguistically sanitizing the IDF attacks that kill Palestinians.
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8. Only Sderot. Only Us
   by Gideon Levy, Ha'aretz, February 24, 2003
   Levy describes how Israelis can only feel their own pain and no longer pay any attention to Palestinian suffering. Arguing that our "focusing exclusively on our victims while ignoring the other's victims is morally contemptible."
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9. Half a Democracy
   By Gideon Levy, Ha'aretz, January 26, 2003
   Levy argues that the continuing Israeli Occupation is undermining the future of Israeli democracy.
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10. You Can Drive Along and Never See an Arab
    by Amira Hass, Ha'aretz, January 22, 2003
    Amira Hass describes how the growing number of Israeli-only bypass roads connecting West Bank settlements is erasing the "Green Line" and literally cementing the Occupation in place.
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11. The New Math
    by Tom Friedman, New York Times, January 15, 2003
    The dean of American Middle East columnist argues that Ariel Sharon's "all-stick-no carrot" will get him reelected, but in the long-run the approach of continued Occupation will ultimately undermine Israel's ability to continue as both a democracy and as a Jewish state.
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12. Eyeless in Gaza
    by Gideon Levy, Ha'aretz, December 15, 2002
    Levy describes the sad reality that a few weeks before Israel's election nobody is talking about the Israeli Occupation. He asks in a simple appeal to our consciences: "Does anyone care? [Do] innocent victims - women, children, the aged - exist only on our side?"
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13. The Violence of Curfew
    by Sam Bahour, Tikkun, November/December, 2002
    Sam Bahour describes the violent form collective punishment known euphemistically as "curfew" and how it affects the economic and personal realities of Palestinian daily life.
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14. Operation Defensive Shield: The Propaganda War and the Reality
    by Jessica Montell, B'Tselem Tikkun, July/August, 2002
    The Executive Director of the Israeli Human rights organization, B'Tselem, reports on the violation of human rights in Operation Defensive Shield, particularly in the Israeli attack on Jenin refugee camp. The article also discusses the various forms of collective punishment that Israel has used to punish the Palestinian population for recent terrorist attacks against Israelis.
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15. Forced off the Air in Ramallah
    by Daoud Kuttab, New York Times, April 6, 2002
    Kuttab explains how Sharon's forces destroyed his independent TV station which was helping construct a new Palestinian civil society. Among other things they were broadcasting the Palestinian version of Sesame Street.
    [read more]