Mideast Just Peace

NYT Kristof calls Israeli occupation “morally repugnant”

On July 1 the New York Times published a powerful opinion piece by Nicholas D. Kristof, ‘The Two Sides of a Barbed-Wire Fence,’ in which Kristof slams the Israeli occupation as ‘morally repugnant.’

In the op-ed, Kristof examines how the occupation promotes large disparities between the lives of Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the southern Hebron Hills. In the Bedouin village of Umm al-Kheir for example, Palestinians lack basic necessities and are subject to severe building restrictions while settlers across a barbed wire fence enjoy lush gardens and air-conditioned homes among other benefits. In the village of Tuba, Palestinian farmers similarly lack access to adequate drinking water and struggle to earn a living while settlers nearby have no such difficulty. Kristof also highlights the regular settler harassment of Palestinian elementary schoolchildren from Tuba — a situation which has required protection of the children by foreign volunteers from Christian Peacemaker Teams and Operation Dove.

Kristof maintains that the growth of settlements may be ‘the most odious aspect of the occupation’ and does not mince words when he states with conviction that ‘Israel, is using American military support to maintain an occupation that is both oppressive and unjust.’

For the complete piece see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/opinion/01kristof.html

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 1st, 2010 at 3:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.