The board of Kairos Palestine, the most extensive Palestinian Christian ecumenical movement, today sounded the alarm on the dire consequences of Israel’s new coalition government on Palestinians and the region.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and Bennie Gantz’s Blue and White, two of the most right-wing parties in Israel, entered on April 20 a deal that directly threatens Palestinians’ freedom, health, and human rights, said Kairos Palestine in a statement.
“Described as an ’emergency government’ to address the impacts of COVID-19, and under the cover of a so-called ‘coronavirus cabinet,’ the State of Israel is empowered to continue its policies of home demolitions, closures, arrests, child detention and settler violence” against Palestinians in the occupied territories, it said.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinian Christians that nobody is talking about https://t.co/X5FvH1rD8P pic.twitter.com/O1TXj1aptg
— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) October 29, 2019
It warned that the deal also allows Netanyahu to pursue his long-standing promise to annex substantial portions of the occupied West Bank as early as July 1.
“For the past few years and especially during the administration of both (US President Donald) Trump and Netanyahu the foundations of the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis have been sabotaged by the different policies and announcements that both administrations have unilaterally adopted. This annexation is only one of these moves,” said the Palestinian Christian group.
Palestinian Archbishop Atallah Hanna, who is an outspoken critic of the occupation, says he believes Israel attempted to assassinate him using a chemical substance. https://t.co/nqd2JPKdLx
— Dan Cohen (@dancohen3000) January 2, 2020
Kairos Palestine called on “people of faith and all those of conscience around the world to “plead with your elected representatives to hold the State of Israel accountable to international law and human rights; demand that your governments do not recognize Israel’s annexations of East Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan, that your governments express their disapproval of Israel’s further plans of annexation, and that your governments pressure Israel with concrete measures to comply with international law and UN resolutions,” and “protect Palestinians’—and all people’s—right to resist, including Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, until Israel complies with its obligations as an occupying power.”
Who is Archbishop Atallah Hanna, and why does Israel hate him? | Opinion by: Ramzy Baroud https://t.co/et56iBkOne
— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) January 2, 2020
“It must be understood that Palestinian Christians are neither aliens nor bystanders in Palestine,” wrote Palestinian author and editor of The Palestine Chronicle Ramzy Baroud.
“They have been victimized equally as their Muslim brethren, and have also played a major role in defining the modern Palestinian identity, through their resistance, spirituality, deep connection to the land, artistic contributions and burgeoning scholarship,” Baroud added.
(Palestine Chronicle, WAFA, Social Media)
