Re: Activist presents skewed perspective (St. Albert Gazette, Feb. 11).
I would like to respond to Mr. Benlolo’s letter to offer a perspective of someone who has just returned from Palestine/Israel. I had an opportunity to meet with Rania Lahim-Grayeba from Mossawa, the Advocacy Centre for Arab Israeli Citizens, during my three-month human rights placement in East Jerusalem.
Arab citizens of Israel is the Israeli government's designation for non-Jewish Israeli citizens, the majority of whose cultural and ethnic identity is Arab or Palestinian. Ms. Lahim-Grayeba was very clear in describing what life is like for Arab citizens of Israel who live within the boundaries designated to Israel in 1948.
Two things stuck in my mind from her presentation. Today, a Jew from any country can move to Israel, while a Palestinian refugee, with a valid claim to property in Israel, cannot. This was validated in speaking to many Palestinians who were made refugees in 1948 and are currently living in the West Bank.
Secondly, although Palestinians make up about 20 per cent of Israel’s population, the 2012 budget allocated less than seven per cent for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel. I would encourage readers to read the book, The Other Side of Israel, which was written by Susan Nathan. Ms. Nathan is a Jewish-Israeli citizen who resides in Tamra, an Arab populated town in Israel.
In her book, she describes the difference in status and citizenship between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs based on her own experiences. What Mr. Halper focused on during all five of his presentations while in Edmonton were the “facts on the ground” in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, not on the situation of Arab citizens of Israel.
The facts are that home demolitions and settlements in an occupied territory are illegal under International Humanitarian Law. According to the figures released by the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Israeli authorities destroyed 590 Palestinian-owned structures displacing 1,177 people in 2014. This is the highest level of displacement in the West Bank since OCHA began systematically monitoring the issue in 2008.
As well, settlement expansion continues. Although Canada is not perfect as evidenced by our own history with the indigenous peoples, we have acknowledged our past and are beginning to figure out how to move forward to address our present and future. However, to date, there has been no indication on the part of Israel to discontinue home demolitions or stop settlement expansion.
Debbie Hubbard, St. Albert
