FightBackBetter Editor Responds to Comments in NorthJersey.com from March 6 Defending Sale of Illegal Settlement Properties

On March 6, NorthJersey.com reported for the first time the news about the controversy around a sale of illegal Israel settlement properties being organized at a location in Teaneck.  The sale resulted in a protest outside event on March 10.

After the article was published by NorthJersey.com news site I did some editorial analysis of the arguments quoted supporting the sale of illegally settled properties. I held back publishing my response to their arguments in detail because I did not want to slant the narrative from those who spearheaded the protests. However now that the event has passed, I am exploring their points in a little more detail and offering my counter points.

Some points made in the March 6 article in opposition to the planned protest included:

• The sale is taking place in a place of worship which should not be protested on that basis
• The location is not directly involved in the operation – it is purely a building rental situation.
• That there is a safety concern for Jews because of the planned protests
• That the sales are legal
• That no actual deals are taking place on site – only an informational session.

Some of those points would make sense if the narrative were true – that the land dealing being hosted in the place of worship was innocuous and non-controversial. However, as the NorthJersey.com article stated unequivocally – not as an opinion but as a fact:

Most international bodies and the United States consider such settlements illegal under international law.

The London Guardian which has reported on the protests of March 10 stated it this way:

.“Israel’s settlements in the West Bank are widely considered illegal under international law. The US recently restored its position that they are “inconsistent” with international law, a position it had abandoned under the Trump administration.”

The activity that the pro-Israel commentators were defending is connected to the criminality of settler gangsters on the West Bank. The settlers employ 100s of nefarious tactics – gun attacks, assault, arson, squirting dirty sewer water at houses, threats, ultimatums, blowing up and bulldozing houses – to get the Palestinian rightful owners to abandon their property out of fear for the lives of their children. The innocuous sounding descriptions of the phony land sale activities  – – those arguments come tumbling down given the fact that the action they are defending is linked to illegal Israeli settlements – property that was stolen from Palestinians.

Even the United States – which publicly agrees with Israel on everything else – admits the settlements are illegal. The attempts to deflect attention can not hide the fact that the land deeds they are trying to proffer are for land seized by the actions of criminal Israeli settlers – a fact conceded by nearly every nation on the planet – except Israel!

Opponents of the protests also raised a safety concern. First and foremost is the simple observation that there was no violence or threats from the protesters against supporters of the phony land dealing.

However, this editor has seen several tweets that included fictitious and hateful smearing comments as well as a dehumanizing depiction toward the legal and non-violent anti-genocide march. The smears and dehumanization are of a nature that could lead to violence – to the protesters that were smeared in these tweets. So the actual implied threat of violence is coming from the supporters of Israel on twitter.  The safety issue is more of a concern for the protesters who could be targeted based upon the false smear by the Israel supporters.

The protesters conducted their activities peacefully with no issues. Along the way there was much abuse hurled at the marchers – much of which was captured on video. Another article is going to further explore the safety issue and the twitter statements that are causing a safety concern among participants in the anti-genocide effort.