1996 Yasser Said’s "The Hidden Israel"
The Hidden Israel
by Yasser Said
1. During the 1967 war, Israel executed hundreds of unarmed Egyptian prisoners and buried them in mass graves, a violation of the rules of war set down by the fourth Geneva Convention, which Israel signed.
2. After the 1967 war, Israel defied the Camp David peace accords by building a resort on the Sinai that sits partly on Egyptian territory.
3. Israeli citizenship is officially categorized into those of “Jewish descent,” which is defined as a person born to a Jewish mother or a convert to Judaism, and those of “Arab descent.” The Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that there is no “neutral” citizen, as this violates the concept of a Jewish homeland. Here are how these two categories differ in the rights they have:
–Jewish citizens can serve in the military, Arab citizens cannot. This is extremely important since many job/housing opportunities are coincidentally only open to those who serve in the military.
–Jewish citizens are subject to a civilian code of law, whereas Arab citizens are subject to a different, more harsh military code.
–Jewish citizens may bear arms in their defense, yet Arab citizens may not, as set forth by law.
4. Israeli Defense Forces frequently torture and mistreat both Jewish and Arabic prisoners, as documented by Amnesty International.
5. While waffling on peace negotiations, Israel continues to construct buildings and buy land in East Jerusalem while making it as difficult as possible for native Palestinians to do the same. This policy of “gradual economic takeover” of Jerusalem raises tensions between Israel and Muslim countries, because Jerusalem is the third holiest city in Islam.
This document has been distributed to increase awareness of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by presenting a rarely glimpsed side of Israel, a country the USA supports with at least 6 billion tax dollars annually. It is important to know that this is a deep-rooted problem, and part of that is due to the inflammatory actions of Israel, which falsely claims to be a democratic country.