
© AFP
Israeli forces detain a man during storming Palestinian houses whose families are facing eviction in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, 4 May 2021
If there are no consequences for expelling Palestinians from their homes,
there are surely none for the media's erasure of these illegal acts.
Over the past week,
Jewish settlers with thick Brooklyn accents were caught on camera bullying their way into Palestinian homes in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
"If I don't steal your home, someone else will steal it," one settler said to Mona al-Kurd, a Palestinian woman whose house was being invaded, in a
video that has since gone viral.
Israeli police, too, were seen
storming the neighbourhood, violently breaking up vigils, and
beating and choking activists conducting sit-ins in protest at the displacement of Palestinian refugees living in the area, many of whom are facing eviction in the coming days. On social media, online campaigners have been sharing
#SaveSheikhJarrah in a bid to garner international attention and to
make sure the world bears witness to yet another Israeli crime.
Make no mistake: an ethnic cleansing is currently underway in the predominantly Palestinian neighbourhood in full view of the world. But in the American mainstream media,
it is as if nothing is happening at all. In this
parallel universe, the illegal and vicious attempt to remove Palestinians from their homes, and the violent actions of Israeli forces to halt demonstrations against a recent court order upholding the
evictions, have been met with
a resounding silence.
Comment: The clueless IDF are crowing about the destruction they are raining down on Gaza, with nary a care for the condemnation of the civilized world. Of course, every target is, of course, a Hamas installation. They told you so. Netanyahu seized upon events to bolster his faltering political career, stepping into the role of strongman.