August 9, 2016
That pretty hard. Google has literally removed the name “Palestine” from Google Maps for Israel who has been illegally taking over their land in an extremely slow manner, much like Chinese water torture. This has been referred to as the world’s “most intractable conflict”, with the ongoing occupation of Palestine reaching 49 years. The U.S. Government has been supporting this with $8,000,000 a day for many years and let me tell you who is paying for this. The tax payers.
The world largest search engine is under attack after it removed Palestine from its maps. Geographically, the land is still there, however it appears under the name of Israel. According to Business Recorder, a statement released last Friday by the Palestinian Journalists Front (PFJ) condemned Google’s action, and denounced it as
“Part of the Israeli scheme to establish its name as a legitimate state for generations to come and abolish Palestine once and for all. The move is also designed to falsify history, geography as well as the Palestinian people’s right to their homeland, and a failed attempt to tamper with the memory of Palestinians and Arabs as well as the world.”
U.S. Jewish groups called this ad “offensive” and “anti-Semitic”
Palestinian journalists and activist have demanded an immediate replacement of this action from Google, for being a violation to all international norms and conventions.
My own screenshot image via Google Maps/Google Earth of the area:
No water scarcity in West Bank — Palestinians suffer from Israel’s induced scarcity, an act of “hydro-apartheid”.
In the Middle East, water resources are of great political concern. Since Israel receives much of its water from two large underground aquifers which continue under the Green Line, the use of this water has been contentious in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Israel withdraws most water from these areas, but it also supplies the West Bank with approximately 40 million cubic meters annually, contributing to 77% of Palestinians’ water supply in the West Bank, which is to be shared for a population of about 2.6 million.
Water shortages are not new for Palestinians. Whether in the occupied Gaza Strip or the West Bank including East Jerusalem, the supply of water flowing into Palestinian homes is strictly capped or obstructed by Israel.
As temperatures climb during the summer, taps run dry, Clemens Messerschmid, a German hydrologist who has worked with Palestinians on their water supply for two decades, calls the situation “hydro-apartheid.”
“The current so-called water crisis is not a crisis at all. A crisis is a sudden change, a new turn or a turning point in development. The reduced supply of Palestinians is desired, planned and carefully executed. The “summer water crisis” is the most reliable feature of the Palestinian water calendar. And the amount of annual rain, or drought, has no bearing whatsoever on the occurrence and scale of that ‘crisis.’ … Israel needs to constantly teach Palestinians a lesson. Any water procurement, any drop delivered should be understood as a generous favor, as an act of mercy, not as a right…. Israel demands nothing short of a full surrender: Palestinians should agree that the water under their feet does not belong to them, but forever to the occupier…. What was needed then and now – and everybody knew it – was political pressure to extract the minimum well-drilling permits guaranteed under Palestinian-Israeli accords. This pressure never came. Never did the EU or my German government issue even a public statement in which it ‘deplores’ or ‘regrets’ the obstructions in the water sector. This is a true scandal.”
Messerschmid calls the situation “hydro-apartheid.” His criticism of the failure of the international community to pressure Israel to cease obstruction of Palestinian’s water supply dovetails with Canada’s failure to pressure Israel over its repeated violations of Palestinian rights.
K. Timothy Lippert
Editor/Columnist
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