Israel Palestine Infos
Uri Avnery
May 1, 2010
A
Cloud over
EVERYONE HAS the right to change his or her mind. Even Danny Tirzeh.
Colonel Tirzeh was responsible for planning the wall that “envelopes”
And now, suddenly, Tirzeh pops up as the main opponent of the wall he himself
planned. He wants to move it, so as to leave the lands of al-Walaja village on
the “Israeli” side.
The Colonel has ceased acting on behalf of the Israeli army and now represents
private entrepreneurs who want to build 14 thousand housing units for 45
thousand Jewish souls. All this, of course, for the greater good of Zionism, the
Jewish people,
COLONEL TIRZEH is not just anybody. He is a symbol.
For years I kept meeting him in the halls of the Supreme Court. He had become
almost a fixture: the star witness, the expert and the moving spirit in scores
of hearings dealing with the Separation and Annexation Wall.
He knows everything. Every kilometer of the Wall and the Fence. Every hill,
every stone. He always carries with him a large bundle of maps which he lays
before the judges, earnestly explaining why the Wall must pass here and not
there, why the security of the state demands that the Palestinian villages be
separated from their land, why leaving an olive grove in the hands of its owner
would expose Israeli soldiers to mortal danger.
Generally, the judges are persuaded.
After all, he is the expert. He is the man who knows. How can they take
upon themselves the responsibility for changing the route of the Wall, if this
could result in Jews being killed?
There are exceptions. At Bil’in village, the court was convinced that the Fence
could be moved a few hundred meters without causing the security of the state to
collapse and heaps of Jewish bodies to litter the landscape.
So the Supreme Court accepted the plea of the villagers and decided to move the
Fence and --- nothing. The Fence has remained where it was. The government and
the military just ignored the court order.
In vain did the President of the Supreme Court admonish them that her decisions
“are not recommendations”. Like dozens of other court decisions concerning the
settlers, this one, too, is gathering dust.
The case of Bil’in is especially conspicuous, and not only because protesters –
Palestinians, Israelis and others – have been killed and injured there. It is
conspicuous because the motive trying to hide behind the Fence is so striking.
Not Zionism. Not security or defense from the terrorists. Not the dreams of
generations. Not the vision of Theodor Herzl, whose 150th birthday is
being celebrated now.
Just money. Lots of money.
The area lying between the present Fence and the alternative path has been
earmarked for the Orthodox settlement Modi’in-Illit. Giant corporations are to
build many hundreds of “housing units” there, a business worth many millions.
Everywhere, the areas stolen from the Palestinians immediately turn into real
estate. They pass though mysterious channels into the jaws of land sharks. The
sharks then build huge housing projects and sell the “housing units” for a
fortune.
HOW IS this done? The public is now receiving a lesson in the form of the
Holyland affair, a lesson in installments – every day new details emerge and new
suspects turn up.
On the site of an old and modest hotel by this name, a giant housing project has
sprung up – a line of high-rise apartment buildings and a skyscraper. This ugly
monster dominates the landscape – but the part of the project which can be seen
from afar is only a fraction of the whole. The other bits have already received
the blessing of all the relevant municipal and government authorities.
How? The investigation is still going on. Almost every day, new suspects are
being arrested. Almost everybody who has had anything to do with the
authorization of the project, up to the highest level, is suspect – ministers,
senior government officials, the former mayor, members of the municipal council,
and municipal officials. At present, the investigators are trying to trace the
bribe money all over the world.
Holyland is located in
The question naturally arising: if things are done this way in the West of the
city, what is happening in the East? If those politicians and officials dare to
steal and take bribes in West Jerusalem – what do they allow themselves in
ONLY A few minutes drive separate Holyland from the village of al-Walaja.
One could write volumes about this small village, which for more than 60 years
has served as a target of abuse.
Briefly: the original village was occupied and annexed to
Now the land sharks are ogling this succulent piece of land, which is worth a
lot of money for building projects. They follow the proven Zionist routine.
First of all, the Arab name of the place is replaced with a pure Hebrew one,
preferably from the Bible. Much as nearby Jebel-Abu-Ghneim became Har Homa,
before the eyesore monster housing project was erected there, thus al-Walaja has
now become Giv’at Yael. Clearly a place called Hill of Yael must belong to the
Jewish people, and it is a divine duty to build another settlement there.
So what if this necessitates the moving of the Wall? One can always find a used
army officer who will justify this on security grounds.
FOR YEARS now I have been suggesting that this side of the settlement enterprise
should be examined more closely.
The public debate was always about lofty ideals. The divine promise as against
the human vision. Greater
And somebody was laughing all the way to the bank.
The settlements are growing rapidly all the time. All over the West Bank and
Among the settlers there is a hard core of ideological zealots. But many of the
builders are just clever businessmen, whose only god is Mammon. They easily make
friends with the leaders of Likud and the chiefs of Labor, not to mention the
Kadima crowd.
The massive settlements in
What is needed is a judicial board of inquiry to investigate all the permits
issued in
Everything must be investigated from the beginning. And every new project must
be stopped until its propriety has been established beyond any doubt.
THESE THINGS are grave enough in themselves, and they are even more serious when
they are located at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the
Israel-US crisis.
For the sake of the Israeli housing projects in East Jerusalem, the Netanyahu
government is endangering our lifeline to the
Shall we endanger the future of
Do the patriots who are sharing out
Is there a connection between the rampant corruption, of which the Holyland
affair is only the tip of the iceberg, and historic national decisions?
In short, will we allow the future of the holy land be sacrificed on the unholy
altar of the profits of corruption?