REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – Land grab and house demolition are common practices towards Palestinian, especially living in West Bank, to clear the land for Israel settlement. George Galloway calls Israel treatment towards Arabs a form of discrimination. Again, here he raises the issue of human rights based on ethnicity.
“The fact that Jerusalem has been ethnically cleansing now, by which means because Jerusalem in annexed, Palestinians living in Jerusalem have special identity card (ID) as Jerusalem residency card, they don’t get citizenship. It means -maasya Allah- they do not get permission to build their houses. So when their sons get married, they have to leave Jerusalem. There’s no land -all taken by the settlers- so once they leave, their are ejected and they cannot come back,” Galloway said to Republika, recently.
He continued, “Arab houses are routinely demolished to make the land for illegal settlements. It’s kind of not normal because it implies some frontier of wood or low cabin or even tents.”
“These are human rights issues, there’s nothing religious about them, even nothing anti-imperialist about them, just human rights question or ethnic cleansing or discrimination based on ethnicity and that’s not the speak of constitutionalized discrimination inside the green line built in 1948 which they intended to call ‘a Jewish state’, but the 20 percent of the population are not Jewish,” he added.
The non-Jewish residing in occupied area, Galloway said, were being asked to sign an oath that they are the citizens of Jewish state even they are Christians or Muslims. Moreover that Jewish state is ruling over 43 years. Millions of Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank are being asked to recognize a Jewish state. “This is human rights question”.
Galloway also criticizes international human rights organizations that seemingly pay less attention to Palestine issue. “I don’t believe the Human Right Watch get nearly enough attention (on Palestinian issue -ed). The Human Right Watch has quite politicized approach. Human rights in some places are more important than human rights in the other,” he said.
On the other hand, he said, Islamic human rights group also had difficulties to express their opposition since “no human rights in some Islamic countries. So it’s difficult for them to criticized human rights.”
Galloway mentioned that 55 members of the parliament of Palestine were in Israel prison. “And the deputy speaker of parliament elected by the people was again sent to prison. That’s only because he is a Hamas member. No other reason! I never read this thing in the Western media. And I don’t read that in hear very much, in the East,” he said.
“I’m a supporter of Marwan Barghouti who sent to prison for 99 years! Everybody respect him if he run for election, he will outstandingly win but he is in prison for 99 year. But I don’t hear any campaign to release him. There was a campaign to free Mandela (Nelson Mandela –ed) but no campaign to free him. This is human right question,” Galloway added.
Note:
George Galloway (born 16 August 1954), a founder of the worldwide Viva Palestina movement, visits Indonesia from January 23 to February 3. This is a two week speaking tour of the Far East in support of the Right of Return of all Palestinians whose families were driven from the country by the Catastrophe of 1948 and subsequently.
During his tour, the British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1987 to 2010, makes an effort to visit Republika on January 26. He shares his ideas on Palestine during his short yet fruitful visit. And this report is a series articles based on our interview with Galloway.
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