– fordi tiden kræver et MODSPIL

12. Jul 2006

Apartheid på plads

 
Israel trak sig ud af Gaza og ophævede hermed besættelsen af området, hørte vi for ikke så længe siden, hvilket man kunne formode ville betyde, at palæstinenserne nu sådan mere eller mindre må være herrer i eget hus.

Sådan er det dog ikke helt. Israel har hele tiden beholdt kontrollen med grænseovergangene, hvormed jeg både mener grænsen til Israel og den til Egypten, og deres fortolkning af, hvad der måtte slippe igennem har reelt svaret til en økonomisk embargo (en embargo, som var på plads allerede før den reelle embargo, som blev resultatet af Hamas' valgsejr).

Samtidig har det været meget vanskeligt for udlændinge at komme til Gaza, eftersom alle potentielle turister skulle godkendes af de israelske myndigheder først.

Sandheden er, at den militære besættelse af Gaza reelt aldrig har været ophævet.

Israel planlægger nu at øge isolationen af de palæstinensiske områder, idet man vil formene udenlandske statsborgere adgang til Vestbredden:
The Gaza Strip has already been made virtually inaccessible to foreign nationals; those who wish to enter must apply to the Israeli authorities, weeks in advance, to receive elusive permits. The effect is that the plight of the Palestinian civilian population living under Israeli occupation becomes all the more invisible to the international community.

The recent trend of deportation of foreign nationals (including foreign passport-holding Palestinians) working in Palestinian civil society, studying at Palestinian universities, and those living with Palestinian family gives further cause for concern that West Bank Palestinians will no longer be allowed visitors to their open-air prison. Of course, this policy of isolation is being justified under the guise of "security." The rightist Israeli daily Maariv reports, "According to the plan, the IDF will declare the Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] closed to foreign nationals. Denying entry to ... activists has been defined as prevention of political subversion and involvement of members of the movement in acts of terrorism, and limitation of friction with Jewish settlers."
Faktisk har vilkårene for udlændinge i de besatte områder altid været præget af ren og skær chikane, også overfor mennesker, som man skulle mene havde en vis ret til at være der:
Amongst expatriates living in Ramallah, there were stories of spouses of West Bank ID-carrying Palestinians who have been continuously getting the three-month B-2 tourist visa for as many as twenty years, by coming and going to Jordan several times a year. These individuals had acquired the status of legends amongst the expat community, though the precarious situation of international passport-holders (including Palestinians living in the diaspora) who marry and have families with Palestinians holding West Bank or Gaza ID cards is all too real. Thousands of Palestinian families perpetually live in fear of a family member being deported -- a worry shared by my corner shopkeeper with an American passport-holding wife who goes to Jordan and back every three months, and a friend whose American sister-in-law simply overstayed her visa for five years, knowing this would mean she could never return once she left.
Vel, Fayyad fra den udmærkede palæstinensis-amerikanske blog KABOBfest har fundet en artikel fra den sydafrikanske (!) avis The Mail & Guardian of South Africa, der gør opmærksom på, at den israelske "apartheid" er værre, en den sydafrikanske apartheid-politik nogensinde var:
The "apartheid Israel state" is worse than the apartheid that was conducted in South Africa, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Willie Madisha said on Monday.

He said Palestinians were being attacked with heavy machinery and tanks used in war, which had never happened in South Africa.
(...)
Professor of political science Virginia Tilley said South Africa was one of the only places where a vision had been brought forward to address collective punishment of perceived inferiority.

"I can't imagine a better beacon in that struggle than this country and it has stood back. If there is any moral authority in South Africa, it must come into play now," she said.

Madisha said Israel should be seen as an apartheid state and the same sanctions must be applied that were established against South Africa.
Men noget sådant vil, naturligvis, aldrig ske. Palæstinenserne i de besatte områder vil kunen blive ved med at lide i årevis, og intet vil ske. Som det ser ud lige nu i al fald ...

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