Latest news with #landconfiscation
Al Jazeera
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Israel is proceeding with annexation, and there is only one way to stop it
My brother recently sent me a copy of an Israeli military order that was found by farmers on our land and nearby plots in the occupied West Bank. The document, accompanied by a map, states that the land is being seized for military purposes. It does not specify how long the land will be held and offers the landowners and users only seven days from an upcoming field visit – coordinated between the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority (PA) liaison office – to file an objection with the Israeli army's legal adviser. This field visit typically serves to demarcate the boundaries of the confiscated land. From our family's past experience, confiscation under the guise of 'security reasons' often precedes the establishment of a colonial settlement. This happened in 1973 when our family received a similar military order for land along the Jerusalem-Hebron Road. Within a week, a military post was established. Months later, a civilian settlement, Elazar, was erected in the same location. What's shocking this time is that this new order has barely made headlines despite the size of the land being slated for confiscation. According to the military order, it amounts to 5,758 dunums, or more than 5.7sq km (2.2sq miles). The confiscation is not arbitrary. At the centre of this particular area is the outpost of Sde Boaz, which was illegally established on private Palestinian land in 2002. The residents – about 50 families – are not fringe extremists. They're middle-class professionals, including doctors, engineers and accountants. This confiscation is one of many that have taken place in the past 21 months. Under the shadow of the genocidal war in Gaza, Israel has accelerated its annexation drive in the West Bank. The objective is to formally annex parts of what the Oslo Peace Accords designated as Area B, which is 21 percent of the West Bank, and the whole of Area C, which constitutes 60 percent of the West Bank and includes the whole of the Jordan Valley and Jerusalem countryside as well as other areas. Most Palestinian farmland and pastures fall within this area as do a large number of Israel's illegal settlements. My town, al-Khader (St George), owns more than 22,000 dunums (22sq km/8.5sq miles) of land, of which more than 20,500 (20.5sq km/7.9sq miles) are classified as Area C, 500 (half a square kilometre/0.2sq miles) as Area B, and less than 1,000 dunums (1sq km/0.4sq miles) as Area A. Israeli settlers play an active role in advancing this annexation plan. This is not limited to seizing strategic hilltops but also includes systematic violence against Palestinians. The settler attacks on Palestinian property, the torture and killings of Palestinians are all part of an organised campaign intended to uproot Palestinians from Areas B and C to facilitate annexation. This strategy aligns with what Israeli policymakers refer to as 'voluntary transfer', a euphemism for ethnically cleansing Palestinians from their homeland. All of this is illegal, according to international law, and goes against repeated resolutions by the United Nations and a 2024 ruling of the International Court of Justice. So who will stop Israel? The PA, which nominally administers Area A in the occupied West Bank, will certainly not. Since its establishment as part of the Oslo peace process, the PA has not only failed to resist Israeli moves towards annexation, but it has also arguably facilitated them by working with Israel to stem out armed and even peaceful resistance that does not support its political agenda. The international community is also unlikely to take decisive action. For decades, Western governments, in particular, have offered rhetorical condemnations while simultaneously providing security and economic support to Israel. These same actors who have failed to stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza are unlikely to object if Israel formalises its de facto annexation. This was most recently evident during a diplomatic visit to Taybeh, a Palestinian village located northeast of Jerusalem and Ramallah. The visit, which included more than 20 diplomats from around the world, including European and American representatives, came in response to repeated attacks by Jewish settlers, who burned parts of the village's land, including property belonging to the local church. That was all these countries were willing to do – send representatives to the area for a couple of hours to utter a few words of condemnation. Beyond that, it is business as usual in their relations with Israel. What remains then is the resilience and agency of the Palestinian people and their principled political movements. In the current context, the mere presence of Palestinians on their land is an act of resistance. To sustain this presence and strengthen their struggle, Palestinians must continue to mobilise global progressive and freedom-oriented movements to support their cause – not only in solidarity but also as part of a broader global fight against the far-right, racist, anti-justice forces that support Israel and simultaneously threaten civil rights and social justice in their own countries. Solidarity activities at the global level should be strategic and impactful. They should focus on disrupting all components of the supply chain that benefit the Israeli occupation in general and settler colonialism in particular. This means citizens around the world in different sectors of society can contribute to the struggle for Palestine as both producers and consumers by heeding the call to boycott and divest from Israel. Direct actions from the working class are crucial. Workers can integrate the Palestinian cause into their demands for better working conditions. For instance, public strikes in solidarity with Palestine, such as those organised by rail workers in European countries, might pressure governments to reconsider their support for Israel. Similarly, port workers could strike to disrupt shipping linked to Israel, pushing governments to reassess their positions. Employees in high-tech industries can play a critical role in supporting Palestinians by demanding their companies align products, services and partnerships with international law, refusing to support technologies complicit in the Israeli occupation or settler violence. If companies refuse, workers can escalate to protest action, such as disrupting supply chains and whistleblowing. In addition to expanding and strengthening Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) activities, there are other solidarity actions that could be carried out. In Palestine, individuals and groups can organise to accompany Palestinian farmers to their lands, serving as witnesses to settler and soldier attacks while helping to protect communities. They can also help Palestinian farmers and other communities by assisting them in selling their products. This challenges the dominant business model that exploits small-scale producers. I can attest to the importance of such initiatives as I have begun facilitating the connection of local Palestinian producers with the European market through the Palestine General Cooperatives Union and Cooperatives UK. With governments abrogating their legal obligations to stop genocide and colonisation, grassroots mobilisation for impactful actions is the only way to disrupt Israeli colonial activities. An active global movement can force Israeli citizens to confront and relinquish the racist, apartheid, and colonialist foundations of their society, prompting them to seek real change. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
Russia Today
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Trump backs South Africa ‘white genocide' claims with Congo footage
A screengrab from a video that US President Donald Trump presented as evidence of white farmers being killed in South Africa originated from footage of unrest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Reuters reported on Friday. Trump showed the image during a White House meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday, holding up a printout of an article that featured a screengrab from the footage, which Reuters said it originally published on February 3. According to the news agency, the video shows humanitarian workers handling body bags in Goma, one of the main cities in eastern Congo captured by M23 rebels amid intense fighting in late January. The screengrab appeared in a blog post by conservative outlet American Thinker, which discussed conflicts in both South Africa and the DRC, but did not caption the image. 'These are all white farmers that are being buried,' Trump said. 'You have hundreds of people, thousands of people trying to come into our country because they feel they're going to be killed and their land is going to be confiscated. And you do have laws that were passed that give you the right to confiscate land,' he claimed. Andrea Widburg, the managing editor at American Thinker and author of the post, told Reuters that Trump 'misidentified the image.' She said the article raised concerns about 'increasing pressure placed on white South Africans.' Ramaphosa's visit to Washington was aimed at repairing diplomatic ties amid heightened tensions with the US over land policy, foreign affairs, and Trump's accusations of discrimination against the white minority. During the meeting, the US president played a five-minute montage that included clips of South African political figures and images he claimed show graves of white farmers. Ramaphosa rejected the claims, stating that South Africa is a multi-party democracy and that crime affects all communities. 'There's no genocide in South Africa. That is a fact that's borne out of a lot of evidence,' he said, adding that those shown in the video were not part of his government.
The Herald
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Herald
Top five cringey moments from Ramaphosa's meeting with Trump
The meeting between President Cyril Ramaphosa and US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday had several awkward moments that left many South Africans, including Ramaphosa and his delegation, embarrassed. Here are the top five cringey moments: 1. Trump's ambush with EFF leader Julius Malema's 'kill the Boer' video. Trump played a video of Malema singing the 'kill the Boer' song, catching Ramaphosa and his delegation off guard. While the video was playing, Ramaphosa visibility reacted and was seen clutching onto his chair, wiping his face and trying to interject to defend himself, while Trump interrupted him with claims of land confiscation in South Africa and killings of white farmers. Ramaphosa tried to explain that white farmers aren't the only ones being killed. 'There is criminality in our country. People get killed through criminal activity and they are not only white people. Most of them are black people,' Ramaphosa said. 2. Unverified burial sites of white farmers. Trump played a clip of what he claimed were burial sites of white farmers in South Africa, without providing any context or proof. 'These are burial sites of white farmers. It's a terrible sight, I've never seen anything like that,' Trump said. Ramaphosa looked shocked, asking where the sites were located, but none of his delegation seemed to know. 'I'd like to know where that is because this, I've never seen it,' Ramaphosa said. Trump then pulled out articles about farm murders, trying to support his narrative of white genocide. 3. Trump vs the journalist. When a journalist asked about a luxurious jet gifted to the US government by Qatar, Trump became defensive, telling the reporter to leave and accusing NBC of trying to change the subject. He criticised the journalist, saying they were 'not smart enough' to be a reporter and NBC was a 'terrible network'. 'You don't have what it takes to be a reporter, you're not smart enough. You ought to go back to your studio at NBC, you ought to be investigated. You're a disgrace, no more questions from you. You should be ashamed of yourself. You're such a bad reporter.' 4. Ramaphosa stepping in to answer for Trump. Asked what it would take for Trump to believe there's no white genocide in South Africa, Ramaphosa jumped in to answer, saying, 'It would take Trump listening to the voices of South Africans. I won't be repeating what I've been saying.' Ramaphosa added that if there were a genocide, the white members of his delegation wouldn't be present. Some people on social media welcomed his response, while others wanted to hear Trump's thoughts. 5. Trump dictating who Ramaphosa should bring to the meeting. Ramaphosa revealed that Trump had told him to bring renowned golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen to the meeting. Some South Africans felt Trump was overstepping, dictating who Ramaphosa should bring along. The delegation also included businessman Johann Rupert and minister of agriculture John Steenhuisen.
