The Communist Party of Israel (CPI) unequivocally condemns three events which have taken place in the last few days: the murder of a Palestinian toddler, the attack on the LGTB community, and the invasion of the al-Aqsa Mosque.
On Friday, July 31, Israeli extreme-right settlers smashed the windows of two homes in the Palestinian village of Duma, 25 km southeast of Nablus, tossed inside Molotov cocktails, and in the fire that erupted from the flammable liquids one-and-a-half year old Ali Saad Dawabsha was killed. Ali’s mother and father, Riham and Saad, and older brother, Ahmad, were also trapped inside the house and sustained serious burns. The three were evacuated in critical condition to a nearby hospital. Their home was left completely decimated by the fire.
The funeral on Friday, July 31, of Ali Saad Dawabsha, age one-and-a-half, who was murdered by extreme-right Israeli settlers (Photo: Al Ittihad)
Since the start of 2015, Israeli settlers have carried out at least 120 attacks on Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
On Thursday, July 30, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed six Gay Pride marchers in Jerusalem in a repetition of a 2005 attack for which he served 10 years behind bars. Police said that the attacker, Yishai Shlissel, was released from jail three weeks ago after having served his sentence for the attack a decade ago when three marchers were wounded. Israel’s LGTB community was plunged into grief in 2009 when a gunman attacked a centre for young gays in Tel Aviv killing two people and wounding some 15 others. That assailant has never been apprehended.
The CPI also condemns the recent invasion of the al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli occupation forces and denounces the provocative entry of settler groups into the Mosque compound, led by Israeli Minister of Agriculture, ultra-rightist Uri Ariel. “We see these offensive incidents as an integral part of the policy of denying the right of the Palestinian Arab people to national self-determination, including its right to political sovereignty over the holy sites in East Jerusalem.”
“The CPI warns of Netanyahu government’s efforts to turn the political conflict into a religious, ahistorical, and unsolvable one. The solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is clear, well-known and indeed within reach: ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state whose capital is East Jerusalem, alongside the State of Israel. Only a just political solution that guarantees a Palestinian sovereignty in East Jerusalem will also assure freedom of worship in the city.
“The CPI calls upon all peace-loving forces in Israeli society to firmly fight against the government of occupation, racism, and transfer. The CPI also calls to strengthen the steadfastness of the residents of the city in their opposition to the occupation, and to deepen the international solidarity with the Palestinian people against the Israeli violations of the international law and decisions.”
