Palestine: Israel's Threat Of Annexation

[Image by Hosny Salah from Pixabay]

Palestine is in Danger

The state of Palestine, located in Western Asia, is under threat of annexation proposed by the Israeli government. This has led to an outcry from the Palestinians who are protesting this injustice.

What is Annexation?

According to Wikipedia, annexation “is the administrative action and concept in international law relating to the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state and is generally held to be an illegal act.” In other words, annexation is the illegal seizure of another country’s land.

There have been many disputes over the events that have led to this critical tension between the Palestine state and the Israeli state.

Israel was established as a Jewish ethno-state in 1948 by Zionists who believe in the ideology of Zionism. The UN had declared Zionism to be "a form of racism and racial discrimination", however this was later revoked in 1991 (for more information, click here).

Yet many still believe Zionism to be “a racist settler-colonial ideology”.

Zionism “[proposes] the re-establishment of and support of a Jewish state in the territory as defined as the Historic Land of Israel (roughly corresponding to Canaan, the Holy Land, or the region of Palestine)” (Wikipedia). For there to be a “Jewish ethno-state”, the demographic of Palestinians cannot be in the majority. Therefore, for this to be, there must be an ‘ethnic cleansing’.

How does this endanger Palestine?

Since February 1948, Palestinians have been subjected to exiles and have been attacked, with five villages having been destroyed within a day. This spiralled into a war, that lasted 6 days, between the Arab countries of Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Jordan against the Israeli state. As a result, Israel was able to claim the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Additionally, the Israeli state was able to absorb “over one million Palestinian Arabs [with] several hundred thousand Palestinians later [fleeing] Israeli rule, worsening a refugee crisis that had begun during the First Arab-Israeli War in 1948 and laying the groundwork for ongoing political turmoil and violence.” (Sky History)

Today, Palestinians are still being displaced and exiled from their homes.

The Proposed Annexation

The Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, of Israel, issued the proposal of annexing the Israeli settlements located in the West Bank from the beginning of July. This annex would give Israel official control over those settlements.

If the Israeli government goes through with this annexation, many Palestinian lives will be at stake of having “greater difficulty accessing essential services like education and health, and humanitarian access may also be hindered” according to the UN.

The UN human rights office has also stated that:

“Palestinians would come under even heavier pressure to move out of the annexed zone, and entire communities that are currently not recognised under Israel’s planning regime, would be at high risk of forcible transfer”.

On Monday, the Israeli government had been cautioned not to follow ”the dangerous path” of annexation by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet.

Ms. Bachelet even went further to declare Annexation “[as] illegal. Period. Any annexation. Whether it is 30 per cent of the West Bank, or five per cent.”

The people of Palestine are in devastation as for many “history is repeating itself”.

To help, click here, to sign petitions and donate if you can.