20 aug 2015
Israeli authorities uproot olive trees to build the separation wall in Bethlehem
In 2004, I wrote an article about the story of Nabil Saba, a man from Beit Jala whose family was expelled in the early 1970s to make way for the Israeli settlement of Har Gilo. When I first spoke to him some 11 years ago, confiscation of land for the Apartheid Wall was well underway. “The Wall has taken the land from the people of Beit Jala”, Nabil told me. “They have put us all in a prison. There is no land left for Beit Jala. We are in cantons, ghettoes, now.”
Visiting Beit Jala last week, this grim assessment is only confirmed. There is no more room. If people are building, they are building up; the price of land and property continues to rise, and the town, like so many other communities in Palestine, has no solution to apartheid’s tightening noose.
In the last few days, the bulldozers are back at work in Beit Jala, uprooting olive trees and preparing the way for renewed construction of the Wall. Israeli occupation forces oversaw the removal of dozens of ancient trees and the levelling of land, while the Palestinian owners were kept away.
For nearly a decade, residents have tried to resist Israeli plans for the expropriation of their land and the construction of the Wall. The 2006 Israeli military order revealed that the Wall would include Har Gilo settlement on the ‘Israeli side’ and separate Beit Jala from the Cremisan Valley, where dozens of Palestinians own land, sandwiched between Israeli colonies.
The landowners’ legal action was joined by the Catholic monastery and convent located in Cremisan, supported by the Vatican. In April 2015, Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice (HCJ), gave hope to the petitioners by demanding that the occupation authorities “swiftly reconsider the various alternatives for the separation fence route in this section.”
Yet just weeks later, Israel’s Defense Ministry declared that it would continue construction of the Wall along the proposed route, with the exception of 200 metres next to the monastery and convent. Then in July, a bitter blow; the HCJ gave the green light for work on the Wall to go ahead.
The HCJ’s ruling [PDF] was greeted with dismay by the Palestinians in Beit Jala. It was also condemned by the UK government and the European Union, with the latter expressing “deep regret and concern” at the court’s decision.
If built, this Barrier will severely restrict access of 58 families from their agricultural land and profoundly affect their livelihoods. It will also involve a further encroachment on Palestinian land close to Bethlehem, an area already severely affected by settlement expansion, thereby increasing pressure on the Palestinian population living there.
Stretching out across a hillside overlooking Bethlehem, the small town of Beit Jala [PDF] has lost a considerable amount of its land over the years to Israeli colonisation; as of 2010, roughly 9 percent of its total area was taken up by settlements and Israeli military bases established over the years.
After 1967, a huge chunk of Beit Jala was expropriated as part of Israel’s illegal and unilateral expansion of Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries: Gilo settlement was subsequently constructed on these lands. In 1972, on the top of the hill, Har Gilo colony was established on land confiscated from the likes of Abu Jamal’s family; close to 1,000 settlers [PDF] now live there.
Under the Oslo Accords, almost two-thirds of Beit Jala’s land was classified as Area C, where Palestinian construction is severely limited or impossible due to the discriminatory restrictions imposed by the Israeli military regime. Along with the Wall, the town is now choking under Israeli apartheid, unable to naturally expand.
Beit Jala’s story is a familiar one. Some 210,000 Palestinians live in the Bethlehem governorate [PDF], in addition to more than 100,000 Israeli settlers in 19 illegal colonies and outposts. More than 85 percent of the region is designated as Area C, and, according to the UN, less than 1 percent of this area “has an outline plan approved by the Israeli authorities allowing Palestinians to build legally.”
56 kilometres of the Apartheid Wall slices through the greater Bethlehem area, and it will ultimately separate 12 communities from the rest of the governorate. It is a microcosm of the Wall as a whole, whose route is twice the length of the 1967 ceasefire line (the ‘Green Line’), 85 percent of which lies inside the West Bank.
Justifying renewed construction of the Wall in Beit Jala, Israeli authorities cited the familiar security rationale. Even taking this argument at face value, the Wall is illegitimate; as the International Court of Justice stated in its advisory opinion, the Wall impedes “the exercise by the Palestinian people of its right to self-determination” and threatens to establish “de facto annexation.”
Yet the security rationale – cited in court by Israel’s Ministry of Defense, and repeated abroad by the country’s lobbyists – is deeply flawed [PDF]. The route of the Wall and public statements by Israeli officials make it clear that the Wall has always been about colonisation and demographics. The bulldozers working once again in Beit Jala are a reminder of this reality, and of Israel’s ongoing impunity.
In 2004, I wrote an article about the story of Nabil Saba, a man from Beit Jala whose family was expelled in the early 1970s to make way for the Israeli settlement of Har Gilo. When I first spoke to him some 11 years ago, confiscation of land for the Apartheid Wall was well underway. “The Wall has taken the land from the people of Beit Jala”, Nabil told me. “They have put us all in a prison. There is no land left for Beit Jala. We are in cantons, ghettoes, now.”
Visiting Beit Jala last week, this grim assessment is only confirmed. There is no more room. If people are building, they are building up; the price of land and property continues to rise, and the town, like so many other communities in Palestine, has no solution to apartheid’s tightening noose.
In the last few days, the bulldozers are back at work in Beit Jala, uprooting olive trees and preparing the way for renewed construction of the Wall. Israeli occupation forces oversaw the removal of dozens of ancient trees and the levelling of land, while the Palestinian owners were kept away.
For nearly a decade, residents have tried to resist Israeli plans for the expropriation of their land and the construction of the Wall. The 2006 Israeli military order revealed that the Wall would include Har Gilo settlement on the ‘Israeli side’ and separate Beit Jala from the Cremisan Valley, where dozens of Palestinians own land, sandwiched between Israeli colonies.
The landowners’ legal action was joined by the Catholic monastery and convent located in Cremisan, supported by the Vatican. In April 2015, Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice (HCJ), gave hope to the petitioners by demanding that the occupation authorities “swiftly reconsider the various alternatives for the separation fence route in this section.”
Yet just weeks later, Israel’s Defense Ministry declared that it would continue construction of the Wall along the proposed route, with the exception of 200 metres next to the monastery and convent. Then in July, a bitter blow; the HCJ gave the green light for work on the Wall to go ahead.
The HCJ’s ruling [PDF] was greeted with dismay by the Palestinians in Beit Jala. It was also condemned by the UK government and the European Union, with the latter expressing “deep regret and concern” at the court’s decision.
If built, this Barrier will severely restrict access of 58 families from their agricultural land and profoundly affect their livelihoods. It will also involve a further encroachment on Palestinian land close to Bethlehem, an area already severely affected by settlement expansion, thereby increasing pressure on the Palestinian population living there.
Stretching out across a hillside overlooking Bethlehem, the small town of Beit Jala [PDF] has lost a considerable amount of its land over the years to Israeli colonisation; as of 2010, roughly 9 percent of its total area was taken up by settlements and Israeli military bases established over the years.
After 1967, a huge chunk of Beit Jala was expropriated as part of Israel’s illegal and unilateral expansion of Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries: Gilo settlement was subsequently constructed on these lands. In 1972, on the top of the hill, Har Gilo colony was established on land confiscated from the likes of Abu Jamal’s family; close to 1,000 settlers [PDF] now live there.
Under the Oslo Accords, almost two-thirds of Beit Jala’s land was classified as Area C, where Palestinian construction is severely limited or impossible due to the discriminatory restrictions imposed by the Israeli military regime. Along with the Wall, the town is now choking under Israeli apartheid, unable to naturally expand.
Beit Jala’s story is a familiar one. Some 210,000 Palestinians live in the Bethlehem governorate [PDF], in addition to more than 100,000 Israeli settlers in 19 illegal colonies and outposts. More than 85 percent of the region is designated as Area C, and, according to the UN, less than 1 percent of this area “has an outline plan approved by the Israeli authorities allowing Palestinians to build legally.”
56 kilometres of the Apartheid Wall slices through the greater Bethlehem area, and it will ultimately separate 12 communities from the rest of the governorate. It is a microcosm of the Wall as a whole, whose route is twice the length of the 1967 ceasefire line (the ‘Green Line’), 85 percent of which lies inside the West Bank.
Justifying renewed construction of the Wall in Beit Jala, Israeli authorities cited the familiar security rationale. Even taking this argument at face value, the Wall is illegitimate; as the International Court of Justice stated in its advisory opinion, the Wall impedes “the exercise by the Palestinian people of its right to self-determination” and threatens to establish “de facto annexation.”
Yet the security rationale – cited in court by Israel’s Ministry of Defense, and repeated abroad by the country’s lobbyists – is deeply flawed [PDF]. The route of the Wall and public statements by Israeli officials make it clear that the Wall has always been about colonisation and demographics. The bulldozers working once again in Beit Jala are a reminder of this reality, and of Israel’s ongoing impunity.
Israeli forces arrest a Palestinian protester who was trying to reach tractors working on the construction of Israel's controversial wall in the Cremisan Valley
Palestinian Christians clashed with Israeli border police near Bethlehem Wednesday after dozens of demonstrators, including priests, gathered to protest renewed work on Israel's controversial separation wall in the Christian majority town of Beit Jala.
An AFP journalist said the protesters, who were joined by a few foreign activists, gathered in Beit Jala to protest building a stretch of the wall, which started Monday, after years of legal battles. The three Roman Catholic priests tried to pray among olive trees that bulldozers and mechanical diggers were seeking to uproot but were stopped by police.
One demonstrator was arrested as he tried to plant an olive sapling in front of the excavators. Police wrestled with protesters who chanted, "Israel is a terrorist state. It doesn't scare us."
Israel began building the separation wall with concrete walls, fences and barbed-wire inside the occupied West Bank in 2002 at the height of the second Palestinian Intifada, claiming the barrier was crucial for security.
The International Court of Justice ruled in 2004 that construction of the barrier was illegal and, like the UN General Assembly, demanded that it be dismantled.
Palestinians, who refer to its as the "apartheid wall," say the barrier is a land grab, pointing out that when complete, 85 percent of it will have been built inside the West Bank. The wall has already completely cut off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.
The Applied Research Institute in Jerusalem says the wall will annex around 13 percent of the total area of the West Bank.
There has been fierce opposition from the local Palestinian Christian community, which has enlisted papal support, regarding the area of the wall that approaches Beit Jala and the adjacent Cremisan Valley.
The case grabbed special attention when the wall was slated to separate Cremisan monastery from the neighboring convent and vineyards. It would have also separated Palestinians in the nearby Christian village of Beit Jala from their olive groves.
Israel's High Court ruled in April that the work must stop and told the government to consider alternative routes. But, in a new decision on July 6, the court said work could go ahead, ruling that the previous ban referred only to an area of a few hundred meters(yards) alongside the monastery and the convent.
The people of Beit Jala were surprised Monday when Israeli bulldozers started uprooting olive trees east of the convent and monastery. They are protesting against the confiscation of their land and the fragmentation of their lives and also fear that the path of the wall may herald expansion of the nearby Israeli settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo.
Settlements in occupied territory are illegal in the eyes of the international community. The network of towering concrete walls, barbed-wire fences, trenches and closed military roads will extend 712 kilometers(442 miles) when finished, separating the West Bank from Israel.
Palestinian Christians clashed with Israeli border police near Bethlehem Wednesday after dozens of demonstrators, including priests, gathered to protest renewed work on Israel's controversial separation wall in the Christian majority town of Beit Jala.
An AFP journalist said the protesters, who were joined by a few foreign activists, gathered in Beit Jala to protest building a stretch of the wall, which started Monday, after years of legal battles. The three Roman Catholic priests tried to pray among olive trees that bulldozers and mechanical diggers were seeking to uproot but were stopped by police.
One demonstrator was arrested as he tried to plant an olive sapling in front of the excavators. Police wrestled with protesters who chanted, "Israel is a terrorist state. It doesn't scare us."
Israel began building the separation wall with concrete walls, fences and barbed-wire inside the occupied West Bank in 2002 at the height of the second Palestinian Intifada, claiming the barrier was crucial for security.
The International Court of Justice ruled in 2004 that construction of the barrier was illegal and, like the UN General Assembly, demanded that it be dismantled.
Palestinians, who refer to its as the "apartheid wall," say the barrier is a land grab, pointing out that when complete, 85 percent of it will have been built inside the West Bank. The wall has already completely cut off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.
The Applied Research Institute in Jerusalem says the wall will annex around 13 percent of the total area of the West Bank.
There has been fierce opposition from the local Palestinian Christian community, which has enlisted papal support, regarding the area of the wall that approaches Beit Jala and the adjacent Cremisan Valley.
The case grabbed special attention when the wall was slated to separate Cremisan monastery from the neighboring convent and vineyards. It would have also separated Palestinians in the nearby Christian village of Beit Jala from their olive groves.
Israel's High Court ruled in April that the work must stop and told the government to consider alternative routes. But, in a new decision on July 6, the court said work could go ahead, ruling that the previous ban referred only to an area of a few hundred meters(yards) alongside the monastery and the convent.
The people of Beit Jala were surprised Monday when Israeli bulldozers started uprooting olive trees east of the convent and monastery. They are protesting against the confiscation of their land and the fragmentation of their lives and also fear that the path of the wall may herald expansion of the nearby Israeli settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo.
Settlements in occupied territory are illegal in the eyes of the international community. The network of towering concrete walls, barbed-wire fences, trenches and closed military roads will extend 712 kilometers(442 miles) when finished, separating the West Bank from Israel.
Israeli occupation forces on Thursday issued a demolition order for a home and nearby water-well owned by a Palestinian man in Beit Tammoun village west of Tubas, the resident told Ma'an.
Jamal Bani Odah said that the Israeli Civil Administration, the Israeli body responsible for implementing Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank, placed demolition notices on his house, informing him of the planned demolition of both his home and water-well.
The order said that the notice was issued because Odah had allegedly built the structures without a building permit. Under the Oslo Accord, building permits must be approved by the Israeli Civil Administration for construction to take place in Area C.
As a result of rarely-approved permits, however, Palestinian residents are often forced to build structures without permits, which are liable to be torn down later by Israeli forces. UN officials on Tuesday slammed a recent spate of Israeli home demolitions east of Jerusalem and called for an immediate freeze on demolitions across the occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces on Monday demolished 22 structures belonging to the Jahalin Bedouin community in eastern Jerusalem, leaving 78 Palestinians homeless, including 49 children, the UN Office for the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said in a joint statement.
"According to UN records, this is the largest number of Palestinians displaced in the West Bank in one day in nearly three years," the statement said. Since the beginning of 2015, Israeli forces have demolished 294 structures in the occupied Palestinian Territory, leaving 251 Palestinians displaced, according to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
Jamal Bani Odah said that the Israeli Civil Administration, the Israeli body responsible for implementing Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank, placed demolition notices on his house, informing him of the planned demolition of both his home and water-well.
The order said that the notice was issued because Odah had allegedly built the structures without a building permit. Under the Oslo Accord, building permits must be approved by the Israeli Civil Administration for construction to take place in Area C.
As a result of rarely-approved permits, however, Palestinian residents are often forced to build structures without permits, which are liable to be torn down later by Israeli forces. UN officials on Tuesday slammed a recent spate of Israeli home demolitions east of Jerusalem and called for an immediate freeze on demolitions across the occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces on Monday demolished 22 structures belonging to the Jahalin Bedouin community in eastern Jerusalem, leaving 78 Palestinians homeless, including 49 children, the UN Office for the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said in a joint statement.
"According to UN records, this is the largest number of Palestinians displaced in the West Bank in one day in nearly three years," the statement said. Since the beginning of 2015, Israeli forces have demolished 294 structures in the occupied Palestinian Territory, leaving 251 Palestinians displaced, according to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
Israeli army bulldozers early Thursday morning knocked down a number of civilian structures and barracks in Einun Hamlet, in the Jordan Valley.
A PIC correspondent quoted local sources as reporting that the Israeli bulldozers knocked down three structures in Khirbet Einun, east of Tubas city, and cordoned off the main entrances to the area, denying Palestinians access out of and into it.
The Jordan Valley area has been subjected to arbitrary demolitions as part of Israeli tactics to make life as unbearable as possible for the thousands of Palestinians in the Israel-run Area C, where 95% of Palestinian civilian structures are threatened with demolition.
A PIC correspondent quoted local sources as reporting that the Israeli bulldozers knocked down three structures in Khirbet Einun, east of Tubas city, and cordoned off the main entrances to the area, denying Palestinians access out of and into it.
The Jordan Valley area has been subjected to arbitrary demolitions as part of Israeli tactics to make life as unbearable as possible for the thousands of Palestinians in the Israel-run Area C, where 95% of Palestinian civilian structures are threatened with demolition.
19 aug 2015
Israeli troops demolished on Tuesday 12 tents owned by Palestinian Bedwens in Al Fasayel area in the Jordan Valley. Another four structures were demolished by the army in the nearby Al Ma’aber area.
The army said that the structures were built without the needed permission. The Jordan valley is marked as areas C that is under total Israeli occupation control.
Permissions to build homes or tent are never given to Palestinian landowners and water is mainly taken to nearby illegal Israeli settlements that the army allows to keep being built and enlarged.
In the past two week Israeli army bulldozers demolished 18 Palestinian owned homes and farmhouses in the Jordan valley. Palestinian sources said that last year Israel leveled more than 1000 Palestinian owned structure in the Jordan valley.
Earlier on Tuesday at dawn, eight Palestinian civilians were kidnapped by Israeli troops during invasions targeting West Bank communities.
According to Palestinian sources invasions and kidnappings were reported in Hebron city, southern West Bank, the central West Bank city of Ramallah and nearby Jerusalem.
The army said that the structures were built without the needed permission. The Jordan valley is marked as areas C that is under total Israeli occupation control.
Permissions to build homes or tent are never given to Palestinian landowners and water is mainly taken to nearby illegal Israeli settlements that the army allows to keep being built and enlarged.
In the past two week Israeli army bulldozers demolished 18 Palestinian owned homes and farmhouses in the Jordan valley. Palestinian sources said that last year Israel leveled more than 1000 Palestinian owned structure in the Jordan valley.
Earlier on Tuesday at dawn, eight Palestinian civilians were kidnapped by Israeli troops during invasions targeting West Bank communities.
According to Palestinian sources invasions and kidnappings were reported in Hebron city, southern West Bank, the central West Bank city of Ramallah and nearby Jerusalem.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at dawn Wednesday threatened to demolish a residential building sheltering the family of prisoner Maher al-Hashlamoun in the southern West Bank province of al-Khalil.
Local sources said Israeli soldiers in three army jeeps rolled into al-Zaytoun neighborhood, in al-Khalil, and handed the Hashlamoun family a notification to knock down their apartment.
The IOF further notified the demolition of the other apartments in the targeted building.
Over recent years, the Israeli occupation has stepped up punitive house demolitions, flagrantly breaching the international law.
House demolitions are a clear case of collective punishment in that the primary victims are relatives of the persons suspected of committing an offense.
Local sources said Israeli soldiers in three army jeeps rolled into al-Zaytoun neighborhood, in al-Khalil, and handed the Hashlamoun family a notification to knock down their apartment.
The IOF further notified the demolition of the other apartments in the targeted building.
Over recent years, the Israeli occupation has stepped up punitive house demolitions, flagrantly breaching the international law.
House demolitions are a clear case of collective punishment in that the primary victims are relatives of the persons suspected of committing an offense.
Senior United Nations officials called Tuesday for an immediate freeze on demolitions in the West Bank, after dozens of structures were demolished, a few hours earlier, by the Israeli occupation authorities in Palestinian Bedouin refugee communities, near East Jerusalem.
“A total of 22 structures were demolished in four communities, displacing 78 Palestinians, including 49 children, the vast majority of whom are Palestine refugees,” said a joint statement issued by the Coordinator for Humanitarian and UN Development Activities for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Robert Piper, and the Director of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Operations in the West Bank, Felipe Sanchez.
According to the statement, all four communities are located in and around the area of the planned ‘E-1’ settlement project, and both officials noted that this is the largest number of Palestinians displaced in the West Bank in one day in nearly three years. Concerns are also rising over reports of new displacements today in a Jordan Valley community.
“Yesterday’s demolitions targeted some of the most vulnerable communities in the West Bank,” Piper said. “The scale of displacement is particularly concerning – nearly 50 children lost their homes yesterday.”
“Many of these refugee families have now been displaced four times in the last four years,” added Sanchez.
The four communities are among 46 located in the central West Bank included in Israeli plans to transfer Palestinian Bedouin communities to three designated sites.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had previously stated that the implementation of the proposed “relocation” would amount to forcible transfers and forced evictions, contravening Israel’s obligations as an occupying power under humanitarian law and human rights law.
“The strategic implications of these demolitions are clear,” said Piper. “[They] are occurring in parallel with settlement expansion. The relocation plan for these communities would effectively remove Palestinian presence in and around the planned E1 settlement project. This project anticipates the construction of thousands of new Israeli housing units in the West Bank on the outskirts of Jerusalem.”
E-1, he recalled, has long been opposed by the international community as an obstacle to the realization of the two-state solution and a violation of international law.
“A total of 22 structures were demolished in four communities, displacing 78 Palestinians, including 49 children, the vast majority of whom are Palestine refugees,” said a joint statement issued by the Coordinator for Humanitarian and UN Development Activities for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Robert Piper, and the Director of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Operations in the West Bank, Felipe Sanchez.
According to the statement, all four communities are located in and around the area of the planned ‘E-1’ settlement project, and both officials noted that this is the largest number of Palestinians displaced in the West Bank in one day in nearly three years. Concerns are also rising over reports of new displacements today in a Jordan Valley community.
“Yesterday’s demolitions targeted some of the most vulnerable communities in the West Bank,” Piper said. “The scale of displacement is particularly concerning – nearly 50 children lost their homes yesterday.”
“Many of these refugee families have now been displaced four times in the last four years,” added Sanchez.
The four communities are among 46 located in the central West Bank included in Israeli plans to transfer Palestinian Bedouin communities to three designated sites.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had previously stated that the implementation of the proposed “relocation” would amount to forcible transfers and forced evictions, contravening Israel’s obligations as an occupying power under humanitarian law and human rights law.
“The strategic implications of these demolitions are clear,” said Piper. “[They] are occurring in parallel with settlement expansion. The relocation plan for these communities would effectively remove Palestinian presence in and around the planned E1 settlement project. This project anticipates the construction of thousands of new Israeli housing units in the West Bank on the outskirts of Jerusalem.”
E-1, he recalled, has long been opposed by the international community as an obstacle to the realization of the two-state solution and a violation of international law.
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on Wednesday morning demolished a building under construction in the Wadi al-Joz neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem.
According to QPress, large numbers of Israeli police and border forces surrounded the building and closed the main street leading to it before starting the demolition process.
The building with a building area of 500 square meters belongs to the Tawtah and al-Tawatnji families.
Construction works on the building began nine months ago. 50 families were planning to live there, the sources said.
Structures Demolished in Jerusalem and Ramallah
Israeli authorities demolished, on Wednesday, two residential units in Jerusalem and Ramallah, as well as notified to demolish the house of a prisoner in Hebron, according to local and media sources.
Local sources said, according to WAFA, that an Israeli police force accompanied by heavy machinery broke into Wadi al-Jouz neighborhood in Jerusalem before they proceeded to demolish a two-storey building that was under construction, citing construction without permission as a pretext for the demolition.
The demolished building, owned by the Totah and Totanji Palestinian families, included six apartments, and was designated to house around 70 members of both families.
Members of the Totah family said the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem had offered to delay the demolition in return for a fine of 550 thousand shekels (about $140,000), a measure which they declined to comply with as they are unable to afford that sum of money.
Meanwhile, Israeli army demolished an agricultural structure in the village of Beit Our, to the west of Ramallah. Owner of the structure, Nabil Samara, said afew days ago he received a notice from the so-called Israeli Civil Administration saying the property was built on agricultural site, and that he had to consult with the administration.
When Samara consulted with the Administration as required, he was informed that there was no problem with the structure being built where it was. Samara added that he had a proper proof of ownership of the land on which the structure was built.
Issuance of construction permits for Palestinians living in Area C, under full Israeli administrative and military control, is strictly limited, forcing Palestinians residing in such areas to embark on construction without obtaining a permit to provide a shelter for themselves and their families, risking in the process having their homes demolished.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), between December 30, 2014 and January 12, 2015, the Israeli authorities demolished 27 Palestinian structures in Area C of the West Bank and five in East Jerusalem, in addition to two self demolition incidents, due to lack of Israeli-issued building permits.
B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, estimated that from 2006 until 30 June 2015, Israel demolished at least 876 Palestinian residential units in the West Bank (not including East Jerusalem), causing 4,105 people – including at least 2,011 minors – to lose their homes.
In the meantime, an Israeli army force in Hebron raided the apartment of Maher Hashlamoun, a Palestinian who was accused of stabbing and killing an Israeli settler in November 2014.
According to tge Hashlamoun, the army notified his family and residents of the other apartments in the building of their intent to vandalize his apartment in retaliation for the murder of the settler.
B’Tselem maintains that punitive house demolitions flagrantly breach international law, which allows destruction of property only when necessary for a military operation.
“House demolitions are a clear case of collective punishment in that the primary victims are relatives of the persons suspected of committing an offense,” it says.
According to QPress, large numbers of Israeli police and border forces surrounded the building and closed the main street leading to it before starting the demolition process.
The building with a building area of 500 square meters belongs to the Tawtah and al-Tawatnji families.
Construction works on the building began nine months ago. 50 families were planning to live there, the sources said.
Structures Demolished in Jerusalem and Ramallah
Israeli authorities demolished, on Wednesday, two residential units in Jerusalem and Ramallah, as well as notified to demolish the house of a prisoner in Hebron, according to local and media sources.
Local sources said, according to WAFA, that an Israeli police force accompanied by heavy machinery broke into Wadi al-Jouz neighborhood in Jerusalem before they proceeded to demolish a two-storey building that was under construction, citing construction without permission as a pretext for the demolition.
The demolished building, owned by the Totah and Totanji Palestinian families, included six apartments, and was designated to house around 70 members of both families.
Members of the Totah family said the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem had offered to delay the demolition in return for a fine of 550 thousand shekels (about $140,000), a measure which they declined to comply with as they are unable to afford that sum of money.
Meanwhile, Israeli army demolished an agricultural structure in the village of Beit Our, to the west of Ramallah. Owner of the structure, Nabil Samara, said afew days ago he received a notice from the so-called Israeli Civil Administration saying the property was built on agricultural site, and that he had to consult with the administration.
When Samara consulted with the Administration as required, he was informed that there was no problem with the structure being built where it was. Samara added that he had a proper proof of ownership of the land on which the structure was built.
Issuance of construction permits for Palestinians living in Area C, under full Israeli administrative and military control, is strictly limited, forcing Palestinians residing in such areas to embark on construction without obtaining a permit to provide a shelter for themselves and their families, risking in the process having their homes demolished.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), between December 30, 2014 and January 12, 2015, the Israeli authorities demolished 27 Palestinian structures in Area C of the West Bank and five in East Jerusalem, in addition to two self demolition incidents, due to lack of Israeli-issued building permits.
B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, estimated that from 2006 until 30 June 2015, Israel demolished at least 876 Palestinian residential units in the West Bank (not including East Jerusalem), causing 4,105 people – including at least 2,011 minors – to lose their homes.
In the meantime, an Israeli army force in Hebron raided the apartment of Maher Hashlamoun, a Palestinian who was accused of stabbing and killing an Israeli settler in November 2014.
According to tge Hashlamoun, the army notified his family and residents of the other apartments in the building of their intent to vandalize his apartment in retaliation for the murder of the settler.
B’Tselem maintains that punitive house demolitions flagrantly breach international law, which allows destruction of property only when necessary for a military operation.
“House demolitions are a clear case of collective punishment in that the primary victims are relatives of the persons suspected of committing an offense,” it says.
18 aug 2015
Israeli military bulldozers conducted a large-scale demolition operation of scores of Palestinian houses in east of Occupied Jerusalem on Monday.
The representative of Abu al-Nowar neighborhood Daoud Jahalin said, in a press statement, that the Israeli army and Special Forces surrounded Beer al-Maskoup on Jericho-Jerusalem road for hours in the morning and started razing seven Palestinian facilities.
Quarrels occurred between Israeli forces and Palestinians due to barring the latter, along with pressmen, from approaching their properties after announcing the location as a closed military zone.
The Palestinian residents said the demolition operation was carried out without any prior notice in full disregard of a court resolution to the contrary.
The spokesman of Jahalin Arabs revealed that Israeli vehicles demolished 18 facilities in other three locations including stockyards, tents and houses.
“The Israeli authorities seek to displace and deport us by force for the benefit of settlement projects, but we are steadfast in our lands”, he said.
Palestinians have been living in these housing complexes for decades. They depend on grazing sheep for making their living and have no other places to live in. Israel intends to displace them for settlement expansion.
The representative of Abu al-Nowar neighborhood Daoud Jahalin said, in a press statement, that the Israeli army and Special Forces surrounded Beer al-Maskoup on Jericho-Jerusalem road for hours in the morning and started razing seven Palestinian facilities.
Quarrels occurred between Israeli forces and Palestinians due to barring the latter, along with pressmen, from approaching their properties after announcing the location as a closed military zone.
The Palestinian residents said the demolition operation was carried out without any prior notice in full disregard of a court resolution to the contrary.
The spokesman of Jahalin Arabs revealed that Israeli vehicles demolished 18 facilities in other three locations including stockyards, tents and houses.
“The Israeli authorities seek to displace and deport us by force for the benefit of settlement projects, but we are steadfast in our lands”, he said.
Palestinians have been living in these housing complexes for decades. They depend on grazing sheep for making their living and have no other places to live in. Israel intends to displace them for settlement expansion.
17 aug 2015
Israeli Occupation Forces started a large-scale operation of leveling Palestinian lands and uprooting olive trees in Beit Jala city to the west of Bethlehem on Monday.
Walid al-Shatleh, Beit Jala resident, told the PIC reporter that the inhabitants of the city were astounded in the morning when the IOF escorted by military bulldozers and heavy vehicles stormed their agricultural lands.
He revealed that the Israeli bulldozers leveled over 6 out of 30 dunums intended to be leveled for the establishment of the Separation Wall in the area.
Shatleh pointed out that the Israeli forces also started uprooting perennial olive trees that date back to over 5,000 years.
The inhabitants of the city along with activists tried to protest against the Israeli violation and to stop leveling works, but the IOF barred them under threat of weapon.
Media sources disclosed that the IOF arrested a photographer called Amer Hejazi while he was covering the incident.
Walid al-Shatleh, Beit Jala resident, told the PIC reporter that the inhabitants of the city were astounded in the morning when the IOF escorted by military bulldozers and heavy vehicles stormed their agricultural lands.
He revealed that the Israeli bulldozers leveled over 6 out of 30 dunums intended to be leveled for the establishment of the Separation Wall in the area.
Shatleh pointed out that the Israeli forces also started uprooting perennial olive trees that date back to over 5,000 years.
The inhabitants of the city along with activists tried to protest against the Israeli violation and to stop leveling works, but the IOF barred them under threat of weapon.
Media sources disclosed that the IOF arrested a photographer called Amer Hejazi while he was covering the incident.
Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Adnan Husseini has met Sunday with 40 Jerusalemite families threatened with eviction as the Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) declared intention to establish a settlement project in their neighborhood in Silwan town.
The minister pointed out that the IOA was endeavoring to completely evict Batn al-Hawa neighborhood in Silwan town through exerting pressures on the local residents in order to leave their homes.
Dozens of families are threatened with eviction and displacement; however, they are still determined to gain a court order in their benefit, Husseini said.
Batn al-Hawa neighborhood is a political issue par excellence that aims at displacing its residents in favor of settlement expansion.
For his part, lawyer and Jerusalem Affairs Adviser for the Palestinian Presidency Ahmed Rwaidy said that Israeli displacement policy mainly aims at changing the geographic and demographic realities in occupied Jerusalem.
Israeli settlers, politically-supported by Israeli senior officials, claimed ownership of the neighborhood although its Palestinian residents have been living there for more than 80 years, he underlined.
Unfortunately, the Israeli courts did not give any chance for the residents to prove their ownership to their homes, the lawyer continued.
Rwaidy stressed the importance of supporting the Jerusalemite steadfastness in face of Israeli displacement and Judaization policies in occupied Jerusalem.
The minister pointed out that the IOA was endeavoring to completely evict Batn al-Hawa neighborhood in Silwan town through exerting pressures on the local residents in order to leave their homes.
Dozens of families are threatened with eviction and displacement; however, they are still determined to gain a court order in their benefit, Husseini said.
Batn al-Hawa neighborhood is a political issue par excellence that aims at displacing its residents in favor of settlement expansion.
For his part, lawyer and Jerusalem Affairs Adviser for the Palestinian Presidency Ahmed Rwaidy said that Israeli displacement policy mainly aims at changing the geographic and demographic realities in occupied Jerusalem.
Israeli settlers, politically-supported by Israeli senior officials, claimed ownership of the neighborhood although its Palestinian residents have been living there for more than 80 years, he underlined.
Unfortunately, the Israeli courts did not give any chance for the residents to prove their ownership to their homes, the lawyer continued.
Rwaidy stressed the importance of supporting the Jerusalemite steadfastness in face of Israeli displacement and Judaization policies in occupied Jerusalem.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) stormed Sunday Baziq village east of Tubas and confiscated a private-owned tractor.
Eyewitnesses told the PIC reporter that Israeli soldiers stormed in large numbers a local home in the area and confiscated an agricultural tractor without prior notice.
Head of the village council Aref Daraghmeh said that the Israeli forces’ raid into the village came as part of Israel’s systematic displacement policy.
Although the nearby Israeli settlement enjoy all of the state-provided benefits and standard services, Palestinian Bedouin communities face systematic discrimination, depriving them of electricity, water, schools, and access to roads.
Around 35 Palestinian families refused to leave Baziq village despite all the Israeli restrictions and vast scale of differential treatment in comparison with the neighboring settlements.
Eyewitnesses told the PIC reporter that Israeli soldiers stormed in large numbers a local home in the area and confiscated an agricultural tractor without prior notice.
Head of the village council Aref Daraghmeh said that the Israeli forces’ raid into the village came as part of Israel’s systematic displacement policy.
Although the nearby Israeli settlement enjoy all of the state-provided benefits and standard services, Palestinian Bedouin communities face systematic discrimination, depriving them of electricity, water, schools, and access to roads.
Around 35 Palestinian families refused to leave Baziq village despite all the Israeli restrictions and vast scale of differential treatment in comparison with the neighboring settlements.
Israeli occupation forces on Monday morning have barged into Beit Jala town northwest of Bethlehem, using bulldozers, to proceed building a new section of the apartheid wall.
The bulldozing is taking place in Bir ‘Ona archaeological site, and the wall will split the Cremisan valley Monastery in half.
Israel’s Supreme Court in July issued a decision giving the occupation army the green light to proceed building of the separation wall in the valley.
The Court overturned its previous decision to halt the construction of the wall in Cremisan and its surroundings, including Alszayan nunnery (represented by Yves Saint Foundation) and the monastery (represented by lawyer Nihad Irsheid), in addition to the monastery’s lands.
The army will begin building the wall on family lands in Beit Jala, leaving just a small piece undeveloped at the current time along the edges of the monastery’s lands.
This decision came after the Israeli Ministry in May notified all concerned parties of its intention to begin building the eastern section of the wall on the lands of Beit Jala families. The Ministry of army alleged that the Supreme Court’s decision would make sure that the wall was to be built on unclaimed lands and that it would not separate the monastery from its lands and sheep.
Following this notification in July, lawyer Gheyath Nasser and his clients from Beit Jala families submitted an appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court to prevent this decision from being adopted, demanding that they reinstate their previous resolution to bar the building of a new section of wall in Cremisan valley. Yves Saint Foundation and the other parties joined together to support Nasser’s appeal, however the Court took the same position as the Ministry of Defense and rejected the appeal. The Court indicated that the main point was that the wall would leave the areas surrounding the monastery untouched.
The Israeli Supreme Court had in May issued a resolution rejecting the proposed path of the wall in Cremisan valley due to concerns for the huge impact on the residents’ lives. It demanded that the Ministry of Defense make adjustments to the proposal in order to minimize that impact, stressing that the most important thing was to protect the monastery and its lands, as well as preserve territorial contiguity between the monastery and the residents of the surrounding areas.
Saint Yves Foundation condemned the Supreme Court’s decision to give the green light to the army and Ministry of Defense to build the wall, saying that the decision would lead to Palestinian loss of land and livelihood, and have a long and severe effect on the population’s quality of life despite the amendments made by the Ministry of Defense.
Gheyth Nasser clarified that the Supreme Court’s decision would not end his clients’ appeals in the legal struggle of this cause. He said that if the Court would not reinstate its previous decision in a final manner, his clients would be badly affected by the proposed route of the wall.
Although the Israeli army insists on building the wall, it is the citizens’ right to appeal again to the Court in order to assert their claim. Nasser stressed that they will appeal again in the coming days to the Supreme Court, and will demand that the Court listen to the citizens’ concerns as well as those of the Ministry of army.
The bulldozing is taking place in Bir ‘Ona archaeological site, and the wall will split the Cremisan valley Monastery in half.
Israel’s Supreme Court in July issued a decision giving the occupation army the green light to proceed building of the separation wall in the valley.
The Court overturned its previous decision to halt the construction of the wall in Cremisan and its surroundings, including Alszayan nunnery (represented by Yves Saint Foundation) and the monastery (represented by lawyer Nihad Irsheid), in addition to the monastery’s lands.
The army will begin building the wall on family lands in Beit Jala, leaving just a small piece undeveloped at the current time along the edges of the monastery’s lands.
This decision came after the Israeli Ministry in May notified all concerned parties of its intention to begin building the eastern section of the wall on the lands of Beit Jala families. The Ministry of army alleged that the Supreme Court’s decision would make sure that the wall was to be built on unclaimed lands and that it would not separate the monastery from its lands and sheep.
Following this notification in July, lawyer Gheyath Nasser and his clients from Beit Jala families submitted an appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court to prevent this decision from being adopted, demanding that they reinstate their previous resolution to bar the building of a new section of wall in Cremisan valley. Yves Saint Foundation and the other parties joined together to support Nasser’s appeal, however the Court took the same position as the Ministry of Defense and rejected the appeal. The Court indicated that the main point was that the wall would leave the areas surrounding the monastery untouched.
The Israeli Supreme Court had in May issued a resolution rejecting the proposed path of the wall in Cremisan valley due to concerns for the huge impact on the residents’ lives. It demanded that the Ministry of Defense make adjustments to the proposal in order to minimize that impact, stressing that the most important thing was to protect the monastery and its lands, as well as preserve territorial contiguity between the monastery and the residents of the surrounding areas.
Saint Yves Foundation condemned the Supreme Court’s decision to give the green light to the army and Ministry of Defense to build the wall, saying that the decision would lead to Palestinian loss of land and livelihood, and have a long and severe effect on the population’s quality of life despite the amendments made by the Ministry of Defense.
Gheyth Nasser clarified that the Supreme Court’s decision would not end his clients’ appeals in the legal struggle of this cause. He said that if the Court would not reinstate its previous decision in a final manner, his clients would be badly affected by the proposed route of the wall.
Although the Israeli army insists on building the wall, it is the citizens’ right to appeal again to the Court in order to assert their claim. Nasser stressed that they will appeal again in the coming days to the Supreme Court, and will demand that the Court listen to the citizens’ concerns as well as those of the Ministry of army.
16 aug 2015
For two months, concerned Palestinians have demonstrated against the sale of the Presbyterian church in Beit el Baraka to right-wing activist Aryeh King.
Beit el Baraka is a site on the road connecting al-Khalil/Hebron to al-Quds/Jerusalem and near Al Arroub refugee camp.
Aryeh King is said to be "refurbishing" the church and the surrounding area in order to establish a new illegal settlement.
Today was the 16th demonstration against the sale of the church and the threat of a new settlement. Twice a week they march on the road leading from Beit Ummar to Beit el Baraka and the church. The group of protesters consisted of men, women and children explicitly identifying as Palestinian Christians or Palestinian Muslims. They carried banners and Christian crosses and chanted slogans to defend the right of Palestinians to their own land.
There was an excessive army presence and the many soldiers outnumbered the non-violent protesters by far. As the group marched towards the Presbyterian church their passage was blocked by the army. When they crossed the street in order to continue the demonstration and the march in the fields the army sped to further block the movement of the demonstrators.
No weaponry was used and the peaceful protesters retreated to Beit Ummar and the surrounding villages. They will be back the coming weeks to continue to resist new illegal settlements that enable to annex Palestinian land beyond the internationally recognised borders (the ‘Green Lines’) of Occupied Palestine and ‘48.
Beit el Baraka is a site on the road connecting al-Khalil/Hebron to al-Quds/Jerusalem and near Al Arroub refugee camp.
Aryeh King is said to be "refurbishing" the church and the surrounding area in order to establish a new illegal settlement.
Today was the 16th demonstration against the sale of the church and the threat of a new settlement. Twice a week they march on the road leading from Beit Ummar to Beit el Baraka and the church. The group of protesters consisted of men, women and children explicitly identifying as Palestinian Christians or Palestinian Muslims. They carried banners and Christian crosses and chanted slogans to defend the right of Palestinians to their own land.
There was an excessive army presence and the many soldiers outnumbered the non-violent protesters by far. As the group marched towards the Presbyterian church their passage was blocked by the army. When they crossed the street in order to continue the demonstration and the march in the fields the army sped to further block the movement of the demonstrators.
No weaponry was used and the peaceful protesters retreated to Beit Ummar and the surrounding villages. They will be back the coming weeks to continue to resist new illegal settlements that enable to annex Palestinian land beyond the internationally recognised borders (the ‘Green Lines’) of Occupied Palestine and ‘48.
The Israeli authorities on Sunday morning confiscated a tract of land adjacent to the eastern wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque near the Golden gate, Palestinian sources told Ma'an.
Jawad Siyam, the director of Wadi Hilweh Information Center in occupied Easy Jerusalem, told Ma’an that Jerusalem inspectors from the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority stormed and confiscated land belonging to the al-Husseini and the al-Ansari families.
The nature authority inspectors were escorted byIsraeli troops during the confiscation, Siyam said. Siyam added that security guards from a private security company installed barbed wire fence around the land.
The Palestinian Authority’s governor of Jerusalem and Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Adnan al-Husseini also told Ma'an that the Israeli forces and inspectors stormed the land without prior notice. He highlighted that the tract of land measures more than 7000 square meters (1.7 acres).
A lawyer representing the Palestinian owners is taking the case to the Israeli court in an attempt to stop the confiscation, the minister added. One of the owners of the land from the al-Husseini family told Ma'an that he believes the Israelis plan to confiscate the land for settlement expansion.
In effort to gain and maintain a Jewish majority in the city, Jewish residents frequently take over Palestinian buildings with the protection of Israeli security, particularly in occupied East Jerusalem, according to the Israeli rights organization the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
The majority of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition has vowed to expand settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, with many opposing a future independent Palestinian state. Earlier this year the Israeli government allocated $25 million for settlement expansion in Jerusalem.
Jawad Siyam, the director of Wadi Hilweh Information Center in occupied Easy Jerusalem, told Ma’an that Jerusalem inspectors from the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority stormed and confiscated land belonging to the al-Husseini and the al-Ansari families.
The nature authority inspectors were escorted byIsraeli troops during the confiscation, Siyam said. Siyam added that security guards from a private security company installed barbed wire fence around the land.
The Palestinian Authority’s governor of Jerusalem and Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Adnan al-Husseini also told Ma'an that the Israeli forces and inspectors stormed the land without prior notice. He highlighted that the tract of land measures more than 7000 square meters (1.7 acres).
A lawyer representing the Palestinian owners is taking the case to the Israeli court in an attempt to stop the confiscation, the minister added. One of the owners of the land from the al-Husseini family told Ma'an that he believes the Israelis plan to confiscate the land for settlement expansion.
In effort to gain and maintain a Jewish majority in the city, Jewish residents frequently take over Palestinian buildings with the protection of Israeli security, particularly in occupied East Jerusalem, according to the Israeli rights organization the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
The majority of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition has vowed to expand settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, with many opposing a future independent Palestinian state. Earlier this year the Israeli government allocated $25 million for settlement expansion in Jerusalem.
