This has become a very usual, and somewhat expected, occurrence for Palestinians living in the West Bank. The population of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinians lands have risen by 25% (The Washington Post). These settlements are deemed illegal as they are a violation of the Fourth Geneva Accords. Many activists notice striking similarities between the apartheid system in South Africa in the 90's and the treatment of Palestinians in comparison with Israeli settlers in the West Bank. For example, settlers in the west bank have separate and segregated roads that Palestinians cannot access. Also, Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to Israel's military law while settlers are subject to its civilian law (Haaretz).
Palestinian citizens who have been living in the west bank for generations, even prior to the creation of the state of Israel, are at risk of being uprooted from their homes in order to make room for Jewish settlers. Just as the cartoon show, the Palestinians' connection to the land is disregarded in order to favor another nation's link to the land. The cartoon portrays natives of the land, such as Jesus, being forced out of their homes. The bulldozer's logo, "West Bank Construction" depicts these Israeli actions in a positive light through a euphemism. Also, this reflects on Israel's policies that have been aimed to shed a favorable light on its west bank settlements in hopes of deferring the public's attention on their illegality. The caption also specifically blames Netanyahu's government for their increasing support for these settlements. What it also illustrates that a lot of Israeli citizens or soldiers that are involved in these actions are merely just doing their jobs and are being blamed while the central government is the one that is making all of these horrible decisions.
YAAAAAAAAS HAYA!!! SPEAK THE TRUTH, SPREAD IT!!!!! I 100% agree with you and think its totally unfair how the Palestinians are being kicked off their rightfully owned land! I love how you cited sources to make this post more credible!!!! :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
ReplyDeleteWOWZA, HAYA! Awesoem job! I loved your cartoon and how you incorporated it into your thoughts. You did a really nice job of incorporating so many sources beautifully and analyzing them without source stacking! Well Done!!
ReplyDeleteIt's so unfair that the Palestinians have little to no say. These problems have been going on for years, but there never seems to be a solution. Hopefully one day there will be peace and coexistence.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Haya!
ReplyDeleteThis is new information to me so it was especially interesting. I loved this post!! It is super cool how you included so much of your own opinion into this post while also keeping it credible through good sources.