
Breaking the Silence, an advocacy group of Israeli military veterans, has issued a blistering critique of Israel’s policy towards Palestinians following the ICJ ruling on the unlawfulness of the West Bank’s occupation.
Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land was “always immoral” as well as being illegal, the veterans’ advocacy group said.
- “We would know. We were amongst those sent to maintain a military dictatorship over millions,” the group said.
- “We were the ones sent to uphold apartheid in the West Bank and a suffocating siege on Gaza, while the establishment claimed ‘we left Gaza’,” it added.
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“We guarded settlements and outposts while also demolishing houses in the nearby Palestinian villages.”
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“The occupation must end. Not because of the ICJ. Because decades of tyranny are a moral disgrace which corrupts and distorts us all. Because ultimately, the occupation takes the lives of so many innocent souls.”
The occupation has been declared illegal, but it was always immoral. Those politicians who just yesterday called for “annexation” and now suddenly shout ”antisemitism” are just hiding the fact that it’s always been a regime of oppression and discrimination on a massive scale.
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) July 19, 2024
Source: Al Jazeera
Occupation is not Israel’s ‘internal issue’, says Israeli rights group
Yesh Din, which works on rights issues in the occupied territories, said the abuse of Palestinians and occupation of their land is “not an internal Israeli issue”.
In a series of posts on social media following the world court’s ruling that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem is unlawful and must end, the rights group said those in Israel should not be surprised to “find themselves on the defendants’ bench”.
“Those who impose military, forceful, and oppressive rule on millions of people for over 57 years, rob them of their rights, seek to annex their lands, and implement apartheid policies should not be surprised,” the group said.
“The occupation of the West Bank is illegal, and it is the occupier’s duty to end it immediately. The occupation is not an internal Israeli issue,” it added.
[1] The occupation of the West Bank is illegal. Israel aims to turn its control of the WB into a permanent situation. It exploits the powers granted to it by the laws of occupation to harm the rights of protected Palestinian civilians and to exploit the occupied territory while > pic.twitter.com/xD785KVXSr
— Yesh Din English (@Yesh_Din) July 19, 2024
Source: Al Jazeera