Chickens Coming Home to Roost

Chickens Coming Home to Roost

by Stephen Lendman

Over six and a half decades are enough. What can't go on forever won't. Chickens eventually come home to roost. More on this below.

Israeli apartheid exceeds the worst of South Africa's. Reflcting longstanding police state ruthlessness.

Two intifadas expressed Palestinian outrage. Some observers believe a third began. Nonviolent solidarity days of rage show it. The latest December 12 incident suggests more violence to come.

A 45-year-old Palestinian identified as Ab al-Majid Ghayatha threw acid in a car of settlers.

Reports called him a hitchhiker. Picked up by a family of five. Some accounts said six. A father. A woman perhaps his wife. Three young girls. Another man.

He threw acid on all five (or six). Allegedly tried attacking the father with a screwdriver. Fled the car. Another Israeli civilian shot him in the leg. As he was fleeing.

Victims felt a burning sensation on their skin and eyes. Plus shortness of breath.

Palestinians called Ghayatha unstable. Had earlier mental health care. Was arrested before. Was taken to Hadassa Hospital for treatment.

Separately, reports said a West Bank Palestinian driver crashed into concrete barriers. At a hitchhiking post. Near Samaria Regional Brigade's army base.

One report said he sped toward two soldiers. At a bus stop south of Nablus. The driver was held for questioning.

On Wednesday, Israeli soldiers murdered Palestinian legislator/Settlements and Annexation Wall minister Ziad Abu Ein. Using rifle butts, helmets, tear gas, and a chokehold as weapons.

Widespread outrage followed. Justifiably. Abu Ein was widely respected. On the front lines for Palestinian justice. Imprisoned by Israel earlier for doing the right thing.

Israeli brutality killed him. While planting olive saplings. On privately owned Palestinian land. Stolen for settlement development.

With dozens of volunteers. Farmers. Solidarity activists. In Termis'ia village. North of Ramallah. On Human Rights Day.

Demonstrating to regain access to land rightfully theirs. After numerous other efforts proved futile. Including letters to authorities. Legal action.

Involvement of international organizations. Media reports. Much more. To no avail. Dispossessed landowners acted justifiably on their own behalf. Taking Abu Ein's life.

Israel calls legitimate nonviolent Palestinian protests "terrorism." Participants are ordered to disperse on command. Resisters are violently attacked. Deaths, injuries and arrests follow.

Free expression, assembly and nonviolent resistance are universal rights. Israel prohibits them lawlessly. Revealing its dark side. B'Tselem saying this "is what…occupation looks like. Ruthlessness writ large.

Premeditated brutal force is longstanding Israeli policy. Abu Ein supporters demand justice. Wanting those responsible held accountable. Virtually never. No matter how heinous the crime.

On arriving to plant seeds, Israeli forces preemptively attacked.
Without just cause. Using tear gas. Other repressive methods.

Abu Ein approached a soldier. Violence followed. H lost consciousness. Shortly later died at Ramallah's medical complex.

Supporters strongly condemned his death. So did human rights groups.Murdered by Israeli brutality. Martyred in Palestine's long struggle for justice.

On Thursday, an Israeli military court sentenced 64-year-old exiled Jerusalem lawmaker Mohammad Abu Tier to 25 months imprisonment.

He was held illegally under administration detention. Since July 2, 2013. Uncharged. Untried. His status renewed multiple times.

In 2010, he was arrested along with other Palestinian legislators. For entering East Jerusalem without permission.

Israel stripped them of residency rights early. Lawlessly. Banished them to Ramallah. Prohibited them from living in or entering Jerusalem.

Israel is systematically ethnically cleansing West Bank/East Jerusalem areas. Locations it wants exclusively for Jews.

From mid-1967 to mid-2010, around 14,000 East Jerusalemite Palestinians had their legitimate residency rights revoked.

Israel's longstanding Jerusalem master plan aims to banish its Palestinian residents entirely. Replace them with Jews only development. Tourist areas.

According to B'Tselem, "Israel treats Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem as immigrants who live in their homes at the beneficence of the authorities and not by right."

"The authorities maintain this policy although these Palestinians were born in Jerusalem, lived in the city, and have no other home."

"Treating these Palestinians as foreigners who entered Israel is astonishing, since it was Israel that entered East Jerusalem in 1967."

Israel dispossesses Palestinians lawlessly. Bulldozes their homes. Revokes their legitimate residency rights.

Brazenly violate international law. Accountably. Western leaders able to intervene responsibly sit on their hands.

Stay silent. Support Israel's worst crimes. Numerous ones occur regularly.

On Friday, Israeli forces attacked around 1,000 Palestinians. Demonstrating peacefully. In Hebron.

Using live fire. Tear gas. Stun grenades. Rubber-coated steel bullets.

Marchers celebrated Hamas' 27th anniversary. Around 100,000 did so in Gaza.

Israeli forces raided the celebratory area. Smashed a stage erected for the occasion. Confiscated flags, signs and other symbols. Clashes between both sides followed. At least one Palestinian was shot.

Since mid-November alone, Israel bore full responsibility for dozens of violent incidents. Reports indicate retaliatory Palestinian attacks took 11 lives.

On December 4, 1963, (less than two weeks after JFK's state-sponsored assassination), Malcolm X delivered an address titled "God's Judgement of White Americans."

Sometimes called "The Chickens Come Home to Roost." Malcolm referred to JFK's death this way. Violence he failed to stop came back to haunt him, he said.

Malcolm's address discussed the "enslavement of millions of Black people in…White America."

Bringing it closer to its "hour of judgment, (Its) downfall as a respected nation."

"(E)ven those Americans who are blinded by childlike patriotism can see that it is only a matter of time before White America too will be utterly destroyed by her own sins, and all traces of her former glory will be removed from this planet forever," Malcolm said.

"The time is past when the White world can exercise unilateral authority and control over the dark world."

"White America refuses to study, reflect, and learn…from history." Israel is blinded the same way. Malcolm warned about chickens coming home to roost. Sooner or later expect it, he said.

A Final Comment

Previous articles discussed Rasmea Odeh's politicized persecution. A Palestinian/American human rights champion.

Feminist. Activist. Educator. Community leader. For over 40 years. The past 11 in Chicago. Widely respected and loved. A living legend.

Victimized by Israel decades earlier. Wrongfully charged with unlawful procurement of naturalization.

For allegedly lying on her 1994 US immigration application. Failing to disclose her lawless Israeli imprisonment. Despite having committed no crime.

Convicted unjustly. Denied bail during appeal. Mistreated horrifically in Port Huron, MI's St. Clair County Jail. For a month since her November  10 conviction.

Holding her in solitary confinement - 23 and a half hours daily. Despite back and dental pain. Complicated by other health problems.

Her lawyers petitioned for her release. Pending sentencing next March. Days earlier, federal Judge Gershwin Drain ordered her release.

Federal prosecutors tried blocking it. For political reasons. Rasmea Defense Committee lawyers prevailed. On Thursday, she was released on $50,000 bond.

After a month in jail. Under brutalizing conditions. Home in Chicago at last. Supporters said she looked strong and upbeat. Thrilled to be back. Welcomed by friends and family.

Her defense committee thanked everyone for actively working on her behalf. Rasmea expressed love and appreciation to all.

Graciously asked supporters to ready for the next round. Gear up for more struggle. Win her appeal. Gain full exoneration. Stay free. Keep fighting tirelessly for justice.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen [at] sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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