Straight Goods - Israeli author and journalist speaks out - Gideon Levy says Israel demonizes Palestinians to justify occupation.
Excerpt:
Excerpt:
Gideon Levy was once an army recruit and an aide to former Prime Minister Shimon Peres. He is now a veteran journalist who writes for Haaretz, Israeli's oldest daily newspaper. He said that he feels compelled to tell his fellow Israelis a story they don't like to hear about their country's brutal occupation in the occupied territories of the West Bank and in Gaza.
"I was brought up as a typical Israeli," he says, "but in the late 1980s I started to travel to a place a half hour from my home, a trip that most Israelis never make. I started to go into the occupied territories, our own dark backyard."
"The rest of the world must raise its voice against the occupation."
Levy spoke recently in an Ottawa university auditorium while on a seven-city Canadian tour to promote his most recent book, The Punishment of Gaza. A group called Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East sponsored the event. Levy said he was surprised that about 300 people attended his talk. "In Tel Aviv not this many people would show up to hear me," he said.
What follows here are quotes from Levy's half hour address, which he delivered entirely without notes:
"I have never seen an occupation in which the occupier feels so good about himself and in which he also poses as the victim.
"Israel is occupation-addicted. It wants more real estate. Israel holds 3.5 million Palestinians against their will in conditions that you cannot imagine and there is no way Israel will move without pressure or a push from the outside.
"The Israelis are deeply convinced that seven billion people in the world are wrong, and that five million Israelis are right. It is a society that is losing its connection with reality. How can they feel so good about themselves? The explanation is simple. Israelis care about human rights, laws, values and morality but they have come to a simple conclusion. Palestinians are not human beings. Palestinians are not human, therefore there is no problem and that allows Israel to continue the occupation. And the Israeli media also tries to convince their readers that Palestinians are not humans.
Click the link to read the rest.
"I was brought up as a typical Israeli," he says, "but in the late 1980s I started to travel to a place a half hour from my home, a trip that most Israelis never make. I started to go into the occupied territories, our own dark backyard."
"The rest of the world must raise its voice against the occupation."
Levy spoke recently in an Ottawa university auditorium while on a seven-city Canadian tour to promote his most recent book, The Punishment of Gaza. A group called Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East sponsored the event. Levy said he was surprised that about 300 people attended his talk. "In Tel Aviv not this many people would show up to hear me," he said.
What follows here are quotes from Levy's half hour address, which he delivered entirely without notes:
"I have never seen an occupation in which the occupier feels so good about himself and in which he also poses as the victim.
"Israel is occupation-addicted. It wants more real estate. Israel holds 3.5 million Palestinians against their will in conditions that you cannot imagine and there is no way Israel will move without pressure or a push from the outside.
"The Israelis are deeply convinced that seven billion people in the world are wrong, and that five million Israelis are right. It is a society that is losing its connection with reality. How can they feel so good about themselves? The explanation is simple. Israelis care about human rights, laws, values and morality but they have come to a simple conclusion. Palestinians are not human beings. Palestinians are not human, therefore there is no problem and that allows Israel to continue the occupation. And the Israeli media also tries to convince their readers that Palestinians are not humans.
Click the link to read the rest.
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