What is the deal with the violence in West Bank ?

[notsoready4school]

why does a mentally disabled child throwing stones deserve to be shot from 150 metres away ? The stones couldn’t have even reached them? They can’t possibly be fearing him, he is by himself, they are tons of them and they have cars and guns. How is this justifiable to all these people going on and on supporting a country where these things go on. How is this a country the west considers a democratic ally? How do these values reflect the values of the west?

I understand the outrage of parents wanting the hostages back but Fouads parents will never ever have him back.

The link is to Channel4 reporting Matt Frei

https://x.com/Channel4News/status/1722715554274783247?s=20

Apologies as this is an account in Spanish. The video shows idf using a Palestinian person as shield

https://twitter.com/HoyPalestina/status/1722836032767324554

Well they are bombing various parts of the West Bank now, and as people keep saying theres no Hamas there. It’s just their moment ethically cleanse the area and repopulate with their over zealous trigger happy settlers.

I think in some cases the IDF are going in in order to target Palestinian fighters and their weapons caches (not much compared to Israel or even what Hamas has amassed). Sadly the IDF do not give the tiniest shit about who else may be killed in these missions.
In other cases they are just blatantly supporting West Bank settlers expropriating Palestinian land.
amp.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/09/palestinian-town-split-in-two-by-israel-huwara

They also arrested Ahed Tamimi’s dad a couple of weeks ago and then raided her house and took her. She was the blonde kid who famously threatened to punch an IDF soldier and then when older slapped one, eventually tried by a military court while a minor. It’s only reading about her recently I discovered her mother and other family members were shot dead in front of her by the IDF.

I don’t mean to diminish what you posted but I think it is part of the problem with the narrative. He wasn’t just a ‘Palestinian person’. Fouad was a real person, with special needs his life must have been hard enough. His parents must have really fought for his right to exist and then to keep him alive and help him the best they could. They must have invested a lot in his upbringing just for it to be taken away for a stone throw. With the main news being silent on him being a real human being with real feeling and real people who loved him. He wasn’t just another Palestinian person.

The narrative just needs to change. The Israeli people have a right to have their hostages back but they cannot belittle the rights of Fouad. Why is his life worth so little in their eyes ?

”But Hamas are not in the West Bank!!”

For its part, Palestinian Authority officials say Hamas is funding some armed cells in the West Bank, in part to weaken the PA, and Israeli officials say they are also closely watching Hamas' moves in the West Bank.

Hamas's theory, I believe, is to relatively maintain calm in Gaza in return for (economic) improvements while escalating resistance against Israel's occupation in the West Bank," he [Gaza analyst Talal Okal] said, referring to possible improved access to jobs in Israel and an easing up of the economic blockade.

"We see that the prime mission that we are doing is to reinforce resistance in the West Bank and support it with what it needs to pursue its work and develop it," said Zakaria Abu Maamar, a member of Hamas's political office.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-sees-west-bank-battleground-with-new-israel-govt-2023-01-18/

Guardian, 31st Oct:
Israeli troops on Tuesday destroyed the family home of Saleh al-Arouri, the exiled commander of Hamas forces in the occupied West Bank. His house, which local residents said was not occupied, was blown up in the early hours of the morning.

As you clearly care so very much for the Palestinians, I hope you’ll consider joining Kiva and doing some micro-lending to Palestinians in the West Bank. Maybe you’d like to make a tangible difference rather than just staring endless threads on MN.

Security minister Ben Gvri has made it clear that Judea and Samaria (ie the West Bank) should belong to the Jewish people by hook or by crook. The IDF and settlers (who seem to be even worse than IDF) will continue to torment and kill Palestinians, under the guise of 'security'. The world knows this happens but no one does anything. Israel doesn't listen anyway, so they continue to get away with it.

People are going to come into this to derail this thread but please can we try and post about the Fouads of this conflict.

Please can we share names and stories of real people. We will find easily this ones of Israeli victims from 7 October and we should welcome them too as they are hurting as well and have a right to feel that. But please can we post the lives and stories of the other victims here which haven’t had their chance to be remembered, recognised beyond being part of a statistic.

I don’t think money will solve their problems. You can ask Fouads mum how much money she wants in exchange for his life. I don’t think anyone will give you a number. Not an Israeli mum and nor a Palestinian.

But you can continue on this with your keyboard warrior tactics to derail any chance for their stories to be told. Because then they will become people. And it’s not as easy to say it’s fine for self defence to kill them.

Is there a link to her full story?

I found it. The story is Ahed Tamimi. A 22 year old pretty girl who has been abducted from her home without a trial and with her mum having no knowledge of her whereabouts. No trial, no defence possible, no investigation of this instagram account when even if it was made by her (not saying it was or wasn’t) but in the west it would have just been taken down. A stern talking to by the police maximum.

how is this acceptable in the eyes of western governments who see Israel as a country mirroring our values? There would be outrage if this happened to an Ahed living in the west even if she was Palestinian. Because somehow by existing here she would suddenly meet the definition of being human.

https://news.sky.com/story/amp/prominent-palestinian-protester-ahed-tamimi-detained-by-israeli-troops-over-fake-instagram-post-13002476

It’s worth remembering she was a little girl at one stage who should have had a normal childhood.

Theres an interview with her on youtube I’ll try and find it and link it later. It’s quite an insight into the lives of Palestinian children.

One quote that sticks in my mind (approx) if are 5 and want to be a footballer then that dream is taken away from you as the IDF shoot you in the foot. Your dream is taken away as is your childhood.

I feel that people are failing to see the impact of 30 + days of endless bombing is having on children.

I read a lawyer had call the mum to tell them that she’s being tortured in prison.

https://en.royanews.tv/news/46267/2023-11-09

I actually think this thread is really important to humanise the victims of this war.

I would like to remember a boy, I don't know his name, he was about 11 or 12 but I saw him yesterday being filmed. He was laid on a road near Al Shifa hospital, his leg had just been blown off by Israel's bomb and he was dying (he looked like he was bleeding out) and there were 5-6 journalists recording his final moments. I witness his death as an inhumane tragedy.

Also, a girl who was shot in the head on October 7th, dying off camera in her dining room whilst her family were huddled together, her Mum, Dad, brother and sister being screamed at by Hamas. I witness her death as an inhumane tragedy.

And the horse that was killed near the ambulance at the entrance of a hospital in Gaza.

This is Ahmad and Mirvet, two Palestinian people in the West Bank who applied for micro-funding. No, money won’t solve their problems, but it seems your priority is bolstering your narrative that all Palestinians have zero agency whilst denying them the means to change their lives, improve their homes, build their businesses and fund their education.

The Palestinian population of the West West Bank is around 2.7 million people, who no doubt all wish to go about their lives free of oppression and violence. There is terrible violence in the West Bank, their land and their lives should not be taken, there’s no justification for this, but I rarely see anyone sign posting to practical initiatives to improve life for people living there right now, positive difference you could make today, Why not contribute to a small change that could grow into something so much bigger? I just see you picking over their deaths and misfortunes like vultures with empty words.

I’m sure they’d be thrilled to know there are keyboard warriors like you out there who prefer to keep them trapped in the role of helpless victims so you can save them with your scathing words. I’m sure this thread will make a massive difference to Palestinians in the West Bank so keep up the good work I guess.

That is a very sad and tragic report. Thanks for posting about this man and his senseless death.

It reminds me of the murder of John Pat Cunningham in Northern Ireland in 1974. He had special needs and was murdered by a British soldier for absolutely no reason whatsoever. I remember commentators over the years saying Britain is the only supposedly civilised democracy where a man with intellectual disabilities can be murdered and the soldier faces no consequences for it. Well I guess there's 2 democracies who behave like that.

45 years later the soldier was brought to trial but died of Covid during the process. Since then legislation has been brought in to ensure soldiers will never again face trial for murders committed during the Troubles so that's that.

That might work for some Palestinians, but charging and paying interest is forbidden for Muslims

This isn't the first time the IDF have killed someone with additional needs. Back in 2021 they killed Eyad al-Halaq a 31 year old autistic man, his parents say he had the mental age of an 8 year old. He was on his way to his special needs school when the IDF shot and killed him. The officer who shot him was acquitted. This is why the IDF act as they do, they know there are no repercussions for their actions.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.aljazeera.com/amp/features/2021/5/30/how-a-palestinian-man-with-autism-was-killed-by-israeli-police

That’s a very good point.
The lender doesn’t receive any interest, just the original loan amount back, but in this case, the funding’s delivered through a lending partner, Palestine for Credit and Development (FATEN). If the borrower is charged interest by the lending partner, the blurb says the interest contributes to operational expenses associated with micro-finance and also providing additional services alongside their loan products such as business training, financial literacy lessons, or health services- maybe there’s a workaround?

Thank you for sharing.

It is actually still interest.

Back in the day of the Medici, they practiced usury when it was forbidden by the Catholic church so they also invented lots of convoluted terms to disguise the truth

@Coyoacan Thank you for clarifying, that‘s really helpful. I’m going to have a look at Islamic micro-finance too.

Yes thank you so much for sharing. I just want to know all these people. I want their parents to know we know them. We are so sorry for Elad’s loss and cannot comprehend their pain. We know they lost someone special who can never be replaced.