Palestinian Farmers Struggle against Annexation and the Pandemic // Ahmed Erekat was Killed at Israeli Checkpoint in Palestine on way to Sister’s Wedding

By Salena Fay Tramel–  Opendemocracy.net  It has not been an easy year for Palestinians, if there ever was such a thing. With the turn of a new decade in January, the U.S. administration unveiled the paradoxically branded “deal of the century” plan—calling for Israel to unilaterally annex about a third of the West Bank. Then the coronavirus slipped through the checkpoints into Bethlehem in March, sending millions of Palestinians into lockdown. And in April, Israel formed a unity government with an eye on the immediate annexation of the Jordan Valley in direct violation of international law.

Today, just weeks before that land grab is set to be pushed through in July, many Palestinians worry that it could go largely unnoticed with the world’s attention focused squarely on defeating the virus and curbing its economic fallout. Palestine is often presented as an anomaly in global politics. Apologists of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories have been able to effectively present a narrative of exceptionalism by emphasising the relatively small size of this hotly contested corner of the Mediterranean, and insisting that there are irreconcilable religious divisions. 


The fight against COVID-19 has demonstrated similar dynamics, as the Israeli government has received lavish praise for its response to the pandemic within its own borders, while letting it spill over into the occupied territories essentially unchecked....
https://www.juancole.com/2020/06/palestinian-struggle-annexation.html

Ahmed Erekat was Killed at Israeli Checkpoint in Palestine on way to Sister’s Wedding

( Middle East Monitor) – For Palestinians, Israel’s military checkpoints are made for its colonial violence and perpetual dehumanisation of the occupied population. In the latest grotesque spectacle of extrajudicial killing, Ahmed Erekat, a 27 year old Palestinian man and nephew of the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s Secretary General Saeb Erekat, was killed by Israeli soldiers after losing control of his vehicle close to a checkpoint at Abu Dis. Erekat was on his way to pick up his sister as her wedding was taking place that evening. Israel claims that his intention was a car-ramming attack.
Yet again, justice will probably be elusive as Israel’s security narrative will determine the outcome of any investigation if, indeed, one takes place. Israel does not question its extrajudicial killings policy, which provides the backing for state, soldier and settler impunity when it comes to eliminating Palestinians...
https://www.juancole.com/2020/06/colonial-checkpoint-palestine.html





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