As people learn about the rockets that Hamas and the Israeli military recently fired on each other, it is easy to lose sight on the underlying friction that produced those rocket launches.
“Hamas began its rocket assault on Monday after tensions over a court case to evict several Palestinian families in East Jerusalem, and in retaliation for Israeli police clashes with Palestinians near the city’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site.”
From Foreign Policy, 10 May 2021:
“Israeli security forces forced their way into Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound in the early hours of Monday morning, firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades at hundreds of Palestinians who fought with police through the night.
The crackdown comes as Israeli nationalists prepare to conduct an annual march through Jerusalem’s Old City to commemorate its capture by Israeli forces in 1967.
Israel’s security services have urged police to alter the planned march route to minimize the possibility of confrontations between marchers and Muslim residents of the Old City.”
“Neighboring Jordan summoned the Israeli envoy on Sunday to protest clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites, over which Jordan has custodianship.
The holy city has been seething with its worst unrest in years since the beginning of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan more than three weeks ago. Israeli restrictions on gathering at a traditional Ramadan meeting place outside the Old City touched off the tensions, but after they were lifted, protests were rekindled by the threatened evictions of Palestinians from longtime homes in the eastern sector of the city that Israel captured in 1967.”
From The Times of Israel, 09 May 2021:
“Prime Minister Netanyahu weighed in on the recent tensions in Jerusalem at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, emphasizing that Israel retains the right to ‘build in Jerusalem,’ after the Biden administration criticized the impeding evictions of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem and Israeli construction in the West Bank.”
As for what the U.S. government should do in response to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a Foreign Affairs headline says it best:
In short, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a religious and racial conflict, and neither side is innocent of wrong-doing. The “the impeding evictions of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem” demonstrates that non-Jewish citizens of Israel can be evicted from their homes just because they are not Jews.
No, Israel does not have the freedom of religion that exists in the USA no matter what Benjamin Netanyahu says. The Israeli flag by itself should be enough to convince you of that.
The “Wanted” posters say the following about David: “Wanted: A refugee from planet Melmac masquerading as a human. Loves cats. If seen, contact the Alien Task Force.”