Palestinians in the West Bank say they are being driven from their homes by a campaign of terror waged by armed civilians determined to take their land

The girls, aged 14 to 16, have come for settler training to learn how to occupy Palestinian land — breaking international law. “God promised us this land and told us if you don’t take it, bad people will try and take it and you will have a war,” says Emuna Billa, 19, one of the camp supervisors. “Why do we have a war in Gaza? Because we don’t take Gaza.”

Their guru is Daniella Weiss, a 79-year-old grandmother in a long skirt and patterned headscarf. Founder of the Nachala or Homeland movement, she has been setting up illegal settlements for 49 years and was recently put under international sanctions. “You will be the new emissaries,” she tells the 50 or so girls at the camp. “I call it redeeming, not settling and this is our duty.”

She unfurls a map of Israel and the Palestinian territories dotted with vivid pink house symbols to represent existing and proposed Jewish settlements. Not only are these all across the West Bank, but also in Gaza. Already 674 people have signed up for beachside plots there, she tells me, and “many more want to join”. When someone asks her about settling Lebanon she smiles and says, “Yes, there too”.

  • @[email protected]English
    -2•19 days ago

    Yes, the Oslo accords also had resistance in Israel. However Israel still made a peace offer and Arafat refused and launched the second intifada. Look up Intrafada to see political murders among Palestinians of the time.

    Sure settlers suck and need to be stopped.

    The number of dead is asymmetric because Palestinians send their children to attack, including as suicide bombers. Israel is vastly superior in equipment, training, and organization. Of course less Israelis are killed. This tells you nothing about morality, only which side is stronger. Would you be happier if the numbers were equal?

    And about Nakba, I really wonder if tomorrow Russia expels 700K Ukrainians, and tell them that they cannot return to their homes you will again shrug it off and say that it is war and that’s what happens in war.

    Do you think the great-grandchildren of Ukrainians who fled to Poland today will massacre Russians at a festival in 70 years?

    German terrorists don’t shoot unguided rockets at Danzig. Polish terrorists don’t blow up buses in Lviv.

    Yes, the human rights situation for Palestinians is bad. It’s especially bad under the Islamist dictatorship of Hamas and the police state of Abu Mazen.