Tony Murphy 2 hrs · Im really incensed at the News coverage today of the Jewish people murdered in a Synagogue. While I dont condone murder, what has annoyed me, is the amount of coverage this is getting and there is little or no coverage of acts of murder, terrorism harassment and plundering of Palestinian land. I wrote this letter to head of RTE News Irish Television this evening. I inserted some Pictures also: Dear Kevin Many thanks for your very prompt response to my recent email. I have heard on todays news bulletins at length about the murders of Jewish people in a Jerusalem synagogue. However, I never heard of any coverage of the Palestinian Yousef Rammouni who was hanged during his work as a bus driver in Jerusalem by Zionist extremists. This report by Press TV: Israeli settlers have hanged a Palestinian man in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) in another incident of brutality against Palestinians in the occupied territories, local sources say. Hassan Yousef Rammouni, 32, a Palestinian bus driver, was driving back home from work on Sunday when he was abducted and then hanged by Israelis in his bus in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood. Signs of strangulation on Rammouni’s neck as well as signs of violence on his body were apparent, sources said. The residents staged a protest against the killing in the area with clashes breaking out between Israeli forces and the Palestinian protesters, according to reports. Tensions have been running high in East al-Quds after Israeli troops shot dead a young Palestinian man in northern occupied territories last week. Israeli forces claim Khair al-Din Hamdan was shot during a raid, but video footage released after the incident shows an Israeli soldier getting out of his car and shooting directly at Hamdan. Following the unrest sparked by the killing, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a harsh crackdown on protests. Palestinians have vowed to keep holding demonstrations in protest at Hamdan’s killing until the Israeli soldier who shot him dead is brought to justice. . Or that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered authorities to demolish the assailants homes, (after the attack this morning on the Synagogue) following an emergency security meeting convened in his office after the attack. In addition, the PM also instructed to push forward the demolition of the homes of the perpetrators of previous terror attack, and to significantly increase the enforcement of the law against incitement to terrorism. Do you know of any other government who orders the demolition of the family homes of people who have committed crimes whether they are acts of terrorism or other crimes? Or do we ever hear of these acts of violence by Jewish Settlers against Palestinian farmers. Have a look at this video: youtu.be/any-sn1J_PY. Report by 972 Settlers attacked a small group of Palestinian farmers from the village of Ash-Shuyukh who came to work their land near the settlements of Pnei Kedem and Metzad on Saturday. As can be seen in video filmed by an Israeli activist with Ta’ayush, a direct-action solidarity group, the settlers threw stones and physically assaulted the farmers while a group of soldiers stood between the two and attempted to stop the attackers. The soldiers, however, refrained from detaining the settlers. “Farmers have been prevented from accessing the land for nearly 10 years,” says Danny Kornberg, an activist with Ta’ayush who witnessed the attack. “They say that every time the settlers come, they either attack the farmers or call the soldiers who detain the farmers for hours. The landowners were granted permission by the court regarding these specific lands, which proved that the land indeed belongs to them. This is the first time that we accompanied them to the area — I hope it isn’t the last.” The video, which is edited, shows soldiers coming down to the valley and asking for identification documents from the farmers. Eventually the settlers arrive and waste no time before they begin throwing rocks at the farmers and physically assaulting the activists who are filming. All the while, the settlers yell racist epithets at the Palestinians (“you nasty Arab, you have no right to be here) and demand that the soldiers remove them from the vicinity of the settlement. The soldiers attempt to separate the two groups, but refuse the activists’ demand to detain the attackers. When soldiers witness such acts of settler violence, they can summon the police and detain the settlers until police arrive. In practice, however, that rarely happens. Eventually the soldiers get confirmation over their radios that the farmers are allowed to work their own land, and the settlers leave. Or do we even hear of these reports, This report from Anti War. Com Israeli military officials are tonight defending the attack and potentially fatal wounding of a 10-year-old Palestinian civilians at the Kissufim checkpoint, aftertroops shot him in the neck for “loitering.” The military insists that loitering near the checkpoint is forbidden, and that shooting the child in the neck for doing so was consistentwith the military protocol. Israeli military forces routinely shoot and kill people who are even a little close to checkpoints into the Gaza Strip, though it is rare for one to be such a young child. The Israeli military continued to refer to him as a “suspect” in all statements, andsuggested he might have been working for terrorists. The boy, as yet unnamed, was confirmed to be unarmed, and was described as “gravely wounded” by Israeli sources. The incident is the second time Israeli forces have shot a young Palestinian child in the past few days, and will doubtless escalate tensions in both Gaza and the West Bank. Or the continuous building of illegal settlements by the Israeli government: Israel will never stop its settlement constructions in occupied East Jerusalem, according to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. “One thing should be clear: we will never accept the definition of building in Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem as settlement activity,” Lieberman told a news conference. “We wont accept any limitation on building in Jewish areas of [East] Jerusalem.” Lieberman’s comments come just four days after Israel approved plans to construct some 200 homes in Ramot, despite clashes in the region prompted by settlement expansion. Settlement expansion has been a controversial issue; Palestinians regard the holy city of Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, and strongly oppose any Israeli expansion. Washington responded to the news negatively, reasserting its opposition to the construction of settlements in East Jerusalem. It stated that Lieberman’s announcement may “exacerbate this difficult situation on the ground and...will not contribute to efforts to reduce the tension.” Lieberman’s comments were made during a meeting with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who later expressed hope that peace talks be reignited. “Unilateral decisions pose an obstacle to the success of negotiations,” Steinmeier said, according to Reuters. Or the continuous harassment of Palestinians in East Jerusalem and Gaza. This report from Aljazeera: Jerusalem - After months of unrest, municipal officials in Jerusalem have begun a widespread crackdown on the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, enforcing the finest points of the law in what rights groups have dubbed an act of collective punishment. Small businesses have been shuttered for unpaid bills, or for lacking the proper licenses. Livestock have been confiscated. One resident of the Old City, Sa’eed Shaloudi, was even ordered to remove his home’s water heater because it was installed without permission. Akram Jadallah, a resident of Beit Hanina in northeast Jerusalem, was two payments behind on his arnona, a bimonthly municipal tax levied on property owners here. Late payments are not uncommon in Israel; cities have the right to seize the property of delinquent landowners, but punishments are typically light - a small monthly fine for all but the worst offenders. In East Jerusalem, though, residents say back taxes and insurance payments have been used as a pretext to seize dozens of cars. They towed my car, and I couldn’t get it back until I paid the taxes and the towing fine, Jadallah said. I don’t think they do this in Talpiot, a Jewish neighbourhood in the west. I can go on and on, but as I said in my previous mail you are a busy man. However, I would like to see a more balanced reporting of the Palestinian issue. Have you ever reported on the poverty and living conditions of the children and their families who are homeless after the recent attack on Gaza “Protective Edge” ? The conditions these people live under are horrendous and no one seems to care. All I’d like to see is that the Irish Public are given a balanced view on life for the Palestinian people. With best wishes. Tony Murphy.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 19:46:31 +0000