The Untold Story of #Sheikh_Jarrah -
▻https://original.antiwar.com/?p=2012342809
[...] the “logic” through which Jews claim Palestinian properties as their own should not be associated with a few extremist organizations. After all, the ethnic cleansing of #Palestine in 1948 was not the work of a few extreme Zionists. Similarly, the illegal occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967 and the massive settlement enterprise that followed was not the brainchild of a few extremist individuals. Colonialism in Israel was, and remains, a state-run project, which ultimately aims to achieve the same objective as that being carried out in Sheikh Jarrah: the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and Palestinians to ensure a Jewish demographic majority.
This is the untold story of Sheikh Jarrah, one that cannot be expressed by a few sound bites on the news or in social media posts. However, this most relevant of narratives is largely hidden. It is easier to blame a few Jewish extremists than to hold the entire Israeli government and establishment accountable. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is constantly manipulating the subject of demographics to advance the interests of his Jewish constituency. He is not only a strong believer in an exclusive Jewish state, but also fully aware of the political influence of Jewish settlers. For example, shortly before the 23 March General Election, Netanyahu gave the green light for the construction of 540 illegal settlement units in the so-called Har-Homa E Area – Mount Abu Ghneim – in the occupied West Bank, in the hope of acquiring as many settler votes as possible.