Despite all efforts to block it, a conference entitled “This is how transfer is carried out: Palestinian communities under attack” was held in the Knesset, initiated by Hadash MKs Aida Touma-Suleiman and Ofer Cassif. Fascist right-wing MKs and other forces have been trying to obstruct and prevent the conference from taking place.
Hadash holds conference on issue of Palestine
The conference, held on the 2nd of June, came amid a dangerous and ongoing escalation of settler attacks and terrorism against Palestinian citizens in the occupied West Bank, including burning property, physical assaults, stealing livestock, establishing settlement outposts, pursuing Palestinian families even after they have been displaced from their original places of residence, ethnic cleansing and de facto transfer under the auspices and participation of the army, and with the support of government policies that enable these crimes.
As Al-Ittihad reported, MK Aida Touma-Suleiman opened the conference by emphasizing that what is happening in the West Bank is not a series of isolated attacks perpetrated by a small group, but rather part of a systematic policy aimed at transforming the occupation from a temporary military situation into a permanent and ongoing colonization. She stated, "The attacks we are witnessing today are uprooting people from their homes, lands, and livelihoods, forcibly displacing them. All of this is happening under the protection of the army and with the settlers' accompaniment. In many cases, these attacks are carried out by settlers wearing military uniforms." She added that holding the conference in the Knesset is part of a political and moral duty to break the silence about what is happening in the West Bank.
For his part, MP Ofer Cassif said that what the West Bank has been witnessing recently is "daily terrorism practiced by settlers under the protection of the occupation forces," stressing that this terrorism is no longer just isolated attacks on trees or fields, but has turned into bloody attacks and pogroms, killings and intimidation, without serious accountability and without arresting those responsible for them. Kassif added that the lack of accountability is what allowed this violence to expand and become policy. He asserted that what is happening is "institutionalized terrorism, funded and supported by the state, and carried out in full cooperation with the occupation forces," emphasizing that "ethnic cleansing and terrorism have become an actual policy, the results of which are being implemented on the ground and have spread to wider areas of the occupied West Bank."
Among the speakers were Hadash MK Ayman Odeh, head of the Joint List, and MK Samir Ben Said, in addition to a video message from Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. Journalist Oren Ziv, co-founder of the Activistels group, also participated, presenting a report by Sicha Mekomit and +972 magazine on the increasing displacement of Palestinian communities and the persecution of families even after their displacement.
Attorney Roni Peli, director of the legal department at Yesh Din, presented the organization's report, "Settlers in Military Uniform," which documents violence perpetrated by Israeli civilians in military uniform against Palestinians in the West Bank. The conference also included testimonies, interventions, and the participation of activists and representatives from human rights organizations, including Issa Amro, Aviv Tatarsky, Ayla Metzger (a prominent activist in the movement to recover kidnapped Israelis), and other activists. Their presentations addressed settler violence, military protection, and the failure of existing complaint mechanisms to protect Palestinians.
Several right-wing activists were present outside the hall, and a number of right-wing members of parliament, particularly from the Likud and Otzma Yehudit parties, including coalition chairman Ofir Katz, stormed the hall. They attempted to disrupt the proceedings, verbally abuse participants, and prevent the presentation of testimonies. This was accompanied by fascist chants, threats to expel Arabs, and direct incitement against them, all in an attempt to silence any voice exposing the occupation's policies and its projects of displacement and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians.
Photo: Al-Ittihad