Perceptions of the Current Catastrophe in Gaza and the West Bank
In Jeffs' view, there could not be a single-state solution, because Israel is unable to assimilate 4 million Palestinians into its territories. Nor is a two-state solution now possible: to detach a viable Palestinian state cannot be done because Palestinian land has been seriously fragmented by the building of the Wall, Roads and Settler communities (whose populations - like those of Maale Adumin in Jerusalem are too big to uproot).
Israel, he claimed, avoids accountability by presenting itself as a victim: all its measures, it proclaims, are in self-defence. It is in their interest to present themselves as weak and vulnerable. We must counter this image by showing how
powerful Israel is, especially militarily. Israel specialises in counter-insurgency warfare in which cities have become the battleground; counter-insurgency is the cutting-edge of the work there. The OT provide a laboratory for Israel to experiment with high-tech weaponry.
Bi'lin is being used for the testing of sprays and chemicals in crowd -control - invariably the IOF/ police inflicting violence on non-violent protestors. The W. Bank is used for experimentation in urban-space warfare and these Israeli methods are then transported: the USA army was trained for the Iraq war in the Negev Desert. There is no international monitoring or oversight of these training grounds, equipment or methods. The BMA, Jeff suggested, could initiate a medical researcher to investigate these "experiments".
Source: here.
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Jeff Halper (57) is the Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House demolitions (ICAHD) and a Professor of Anthropology at Ben Gurion University. He has lived in Israel since 1973. He blogs at Tikkun.
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