Planting Peacer Profile: Sharon Casper

I am a twenty-year-old Israeli citizen, who is very active against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian people. In my opinion it is important for Albertans and Canadians in general to know about the Israeli occupation. The occupations effects on the state of human rights in Palestine and of security in Israel, is in your interest to know about, because the Canadian government has supported Israel almost completely in the past decades. It is my opinion, that supporting the current Israeli government and the ongoing occupation and military control and robbery of the Palestinian people is not beneficial to the Israeli people. Besides the daily human right violations that the Israeli military engages in, and besides the disappearing moral spine of Israel, the occupation is spreading more hate and anguish that will eventually ricochet back at Israeli civilians. Secondly, I believe a country that presents itself as modern, liberal and democratic does not withhold equality, independence and freedom from an entire nation living under it. A democratic country does not fire rubber bullets and live ammunition at demonstrators on a regular basis.
In my work with the human rights organization, Rabbi’s for Human Rights I have learnt about the mass land expropriations from Palestinian civilians in favor of Jewish settlements. I have witnessed house demolitions as a form of collective punishment, aimed at getting Palestinians to abandon their lands, which they own, but are not allowed to build on. I have suffered with my neighbor Palestinian Jerusalemites, whose ongoing discrimination in municipal resources can only be described at exploitation. Pushing Palestinians to desperation while using every governmental tool in order to despair them into immigrating is a crime that continues to be carried out now by privileged Israeli’s, and that with the financial and political support of your governments and others, is sure to leave my future children victims of the violence and the vengeance which are sure to come.