The girls, aged 14 to 16, have come for settler training to learn how to occupy Palestinian land — breaking international law. “God promised us this land and told us if you don’t take it, bad people will try and take it and you will have a war,” says Emuna Billa, 19, one of the camp supervisors. “Why do we have a war in Gaza? Because we don’t take Gaza.”
Their guru is Daniella Weiss, a 79-year-old grandmother in a long skirt and patterned headscarf. Founder of the Nachala or Homeland movement, she has been setting up illegal settlements for 49 years and was recently put under international sanctions. “You will be the new emissaries,” she tells the 50 or so girls at the camp. “I call it redeeming, not settling and this is our duty.”
She unfurls a map of Israel and the Palestinian territories dotted with vivid pink house symbols to represent existing and proposed Jewish settlements. Not only are these all across the West Bank, but also in Gaza. Already 674 people have signed up for beachside plots there, she tells me, and “many more want to join”. When someone asks her about settling Lebanon she smiles and says, “Yes, there too”.
When someone asks her about settling Lebanon she smiles and says, “Yes, there too”.
Great, more war crimes.
As a Lebanese, I advise them that we are already destroying our country by ourselves!
Israeli invader*
Settler is more accurate, and is a subset of invader. America were invaders in Iraq, but didn’t invade to set up permanent settlements. Israel is invading Palestine in order to set up permanent settlements
Coloniser?
Coloniser is probably the best term, yeah
That’s actually the word I wanted, but couldn’t remember!
It’s not clear to me that the fundamental ideals of a liberal democracy are compatible with a state where one race or religion is held above all others; or with a state where some races or religions are considered less equal.
Arguably the US is still working on recognizing this idealism and didn’t fully reckon with it until the 1960s.
