In this episode of “Palestine In Perspective”, host and Toronto-based writer for The Palestine Chronicle, Paul Salvatori talks, with Palestinian human rights defender and activist, Issa Amro.
From an undisclosed location where he’s had to take refuge to ensure his safety, Amro shares his experience of being the ongoing target of harassment, violence, abuse and arbitrary detention—on the part of the Israeli military—as well as of Israeli settlers who terrorize him similarly, often with both the protection and support of the military itself.
They do so because he, alongside other peaceful activists in the West Bank, is attempting to stop the further development of illegal Israeli settlements.
Paralleling the United Nation’s urgent call for the assault against Amro to stop, as well as for Israel to lift the “closed military zone” it has established around his home—in violation of international humanitarian law—Amro suggests how listeners can pressure their governments to ensure the call is heeded.
This involves making the illegal occupation of Palestine “costly” such that the same governments, or anyone else for that matter, lose more (economically, politically, etc.) than they gain by supporting the occupation. Similar to a modern-day Gandhi, Amro advocates this be done non-violently and through civil disobedience, publicly exposing the inhumanity of the occupation—from the destruction of Palestinian homes and agriculture to the killing and bombing of defenseless Palestinian civilians.
“Palestine In Perspective” is a newly featured podcast on The Palestine Chronicle and a sub-series of the social justice and human rights-focused podcast, The Dark Room.
Through candid interviews and discussions with pro-Palestinian voices—from scholars and activists to artists and intellectuals—“Palestine In Perspective” illuminates key issues of Palestinian justice, resistance, and the international struggle against Israeli apartheid. The show is hosted by Toronto-based writer, activist and musician Paul Salvatori.
(Thank you Peter Restivo for the sound mixing of this episode.)
