25 feb 2015
Israeli settlers, on Wednesday, uprooted a hundred olive saplings recently-planted in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, said a local activist organization.
According to the Palestinian Voluntary Action Commission, settlers from the illegal settlement outpost of Beit Hadassa stormed a Palestinian land that had been planted with a hundred olive saplings near Qurtuba School.
Settlers destroyed the fence surrounding the land and proceeded to uproot a hundred olive saplings that were planted by Palestinian activists, three weeks ago, as part of a campaign to plant one million trees on land facing seizure in Hebron.
The campaign, WAFA reports, intended to help Palestinian farmers maintain ownership of their farmlands threatened by Israeli annexation and replant tree seedlings on damaged land.
Furthermore, according to Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency, Israeli soldiers stormed Khirbet Gween, in the south of Hebron, and distributed notices to all citizens to evacuate the area.
Local sources said that Israeli forces, accompanied by civil administration crews raided the village and delivered the notifications, adding that the Israeli occupation forces claimed that the area to be under their control, in order to build settlements instead.
To be noted, the residents of Khirbet Gween have lived there for decades.
According to the Palestinian Voluntary Action Commission, settlers from the illegal settlement outpost of Beit Hadassa stormed a Palestinian land that had been planted with a hundred olive saplings near Qurtuba School.
Settlers destroyed the fence surrounding the land and proceeded to uproot a hundred olive saplings that were planted by Palestinian activists, three weeks ago, as part of a campaign to plant one million trees on land facing seizure in Hebron.
The campaign, WAFA reports, intended to help Palestinian farmers maintain ownership of their farmlands threatened by Israeli annexation and replant tree seedlings on damaged land.
Furthermore, according to Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency, Israeli soldiers stormed Khirbet Gween, in the south of Hebron, and distributed notices to all citizens to evacuate the area.
Local sources said that Israeli forces, accompanied by civil administration crews raided the village and delivered the notifications, adding that the Israeli occupation forces claimed that the area to be under their control, in order to build settlements instead.
To be noted, the residents of Khirbet Gween have lived there for decades.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) tightened security measures at the Israeli military checkpoints established on different locations in al-Khalil on Wednesday.
Eyewitnesses told the PIC reporter that the IOF set up many military barriers, intensified search operations, and blocked traffic in al-Khalil.
The eyewitnesses also said that the Israeli tight security measures have been going on since the early hours of the morning.
This coincided with the 21st anniversary of al-Haram al-Ibrahimi massacre in which 29 Palestinian civilians were killed and more than 100 others wounded at the hands of an Israeli fanatic settler aided by IOF soldiers.
In a similar context, local sources revealed that the IOF handed evacuation and demolition notices to evacuate an entire hamlet to the south of al-Khalil city on Tuesday.
The sources told the PIC reporter that the IOF escorted by members of the Israeli Civil Administration raided the hamlet and the soldiers handed its inhabitants evacuation notices under threats to demolish their houses.
The Israeli occupation claims that the hamlet is built on “state-owned” land. It is, however, being confiscated for settlement expansion purposes despite the fact that the Palestinian inhabitants have been living in the hamlet for many decades, the sources said.
Eyewitnesses told the PIC reporter that the IOF set up many military barriers, intensified search operations, and blocked traffic in al-Khalil.
The eyewitnesses also said that the Israeli tight security measures have been going on since the early hours of the morning.
This coincided with the 21st anniversary of al-Haram al-Ibrahimi massacre in which 29 Palestinian civilians were killed and more than 100 others wounded at the hands of an Israeli fanatic settler aided by IOF soldiers.
In a similar context, local sources revealed that the IOF handed evacuation and demolition notices to evacuate an entire hamlet to the south of al-Khalil city on Tuesday.
The sources told the PIC reporter that the IOF escorted by members of the Israeli Civil Administration raided the hamlet and the soldiers handed its inhabitants evacuation notices under threats to demolish their houses.
The Israeli occupation claims that the hamlet is built on “state-owned” land. It is, however, being confiscated for settlement expansion purposes despite the fact that the Palestinian inhabitants have been living in the hamlet for many decades, the sources said.
24 feb 2015
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) razed a house under construction in Saair town northeast al-Khalil on Tuesday.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that the Israeli bulldozers demolished an under-construction house belonging to a Palestinian family in the town. The area of the house is estimated at 170 square meters.
The IOF soldiers and military vehicles were deployed in the vicinity of the house and prevented anyone from approaching before razing the house, claiming the lack of construction permit, the sources said.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that the Israeli bulldozers demolished an under-construction house belonging to a Palestinian family in the town. The area of the house is estimated at 170 square meters.
The IOF soldiers and military vehicles were deployed in the vicinity of the house and prevented anyone from approaching before razing the house, claiming the lack of construction permit, the sources said.
Housing Minister Uri Ariel. Encouraging Israelis to buy homes in the West Bank
Bayit Yehudi Housing Minister Uri Ariel is holding treasury hostage with his budgetary demands, refusing to approve IDF transfer to new Negev bases unless excess settlement expenditure gets okay.
The Housing Ministry has prepared a nice going-away gift for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the eve of his trip to Washington – plans to build more than 48,000 new housing units in the West Bank, and another 15,000 or so in East Jerusalem.
The building beyond the Green Line has been incorporated into the ministry's construction plans for other regions of the country – a total of around 279,000 new housing units. The list of communities and the number of housing units came to light during the course of discussions over the past few days between Housing Ministry and treasury officials, on the backdrop of the Housing Ministry's demand for significant budgetary supplements.
Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi), who also serves as chairman of the Israel Land Authority, has refused thus far to present the agreement for the transfer of the Israel Defense Forces bases in the center of the country to the Negev to the Israel Land Council for final approval. In doing so, for all intents and purposes, he is holding the plan hostage to his budgetary demands. Sources in Ariel's bureau believe that by the time the parties meet again, next Tuesday, the treasury would have folded.
What we are dealing with here, in fact, is a dispute on two levels. On the one hand, it's an argument over money. Following the decision to bring forward the elections, the government has been operating in keeping with the 2014 budget; but Ariel is demanding sums that exceed the approved budget.
According to a February 16 letter from Housing Ministry Director General Shlomo Ben-Eliyahu to the Director General of the Prime Minister's Office, Harel Locker, the demands total more than 360 million shekels. One of the demands calls for an additional 30 million shekels for protective measures for settlers living in the heart of East Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods.
Housing Ministry officials deny any link between the delay in approving the plan to move the IDF bases to the Negev and the ministry's financial demands, claiming that the two issues are unrelated and apolitical professional disputes.
However, those in the know outside the government are convinced there is something more to the story – that at play is an effort on the part of Ariel and others from Bayit Yehudi to delay the evacuation of the IDF bases in the center of the country so as to encourage Israelis to buy homes in the West Bank. Housing Ministry officials reject these allegations, claiming that they support the plan to move the IDF bases, but are also concerned with the finances of the ILA and its independence.
This leads us to the second level – the political aspect, which comes to light in the plans formulated by the Housing Ministry. One-sixth of the housing units planned for the coming years are in the territories, with a large number of units slated for construction in isolated settlements such as Ma'ale Amos (6,000 housing units), Bat Ayin (6,000) and Nahliel (3,500), or even settlements that have yet to be established, like Gva'ot (1,060) – a clear indication of the government's intentions vis-à-vis the settlement enterprise.
Construction plans for East Jerusalem also draw intense flak from around the world, including the United States. The Housing Ministry's plans include the building of 15 thousand housing units in Jerusalem, beyond the Green Line. I spoke to a senior government official, apolitical, about the plan.
"The lesson I have learned," he said, "is that the land of the state, its most precious asset, should not be entrusted to a sectoral party. A sectoral party cannot serve the interests of the country at large."
Bayit Yehudi Housing Minister Uri Ariel is holding treasury hostage with his budgetary demands, refusing to approve IDF transfer to new Negev bases unless excess settlement expenditure gets okay.
The Housing Ministry has prepared a nice going-away gift for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the eve of his trip to Washington – plans to build more than 48,000 new housing units in the West Bank, and another 15,000 or so in East Jerusalem.
The building beyond the Green Line has been incorporated into the ministry's construction plans for other regions of the country – a total of around 279,000 new housing units. The list of communities and the number of housing units came to light during the course of discussions over the past few days between Housing Ministry and treasury officials, on the backdrop of the Housing Ministry's demand for significant budgetary supplements.
Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi), who also serves as chairman of the Israel Land Authority, has refused thus far to present the agreement for the transfer of the Israel Defense Forces bases in the center of the country to the Negev to the Israel Land Council for final approval. In doing so, for all intents and purposes, he is holding the plan hostage to his budgetary demands. Sources in Ariel's bureau believe that by the time the parties meet again, next Tuesday, the treasury would have folded.
What we are dealing with here, in fact, is a dispute on two levels. On the one hand, it's an argument over money. Following the decision to bring forward the elections, the government has been operating in keeping with the 2014 budget; but Ariel is demanding sums that exceed the approved budget.
According to a February 16 letter from Housing Ministry Director General Shlomo Ben-Eliyahu to the Director General of the Prime Minister's Office, Harel Locker, the demands total more than 360 million shekels. One of the demands calls for an additional 30 million shekels for protective measures for settlers living in the heart of East Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods.
Housing Ministry officials deny any link between the delay in approving the plan to move the IDF bases to the Negev and the ministry's financial demands, claiming that the two issues are unrelated and apolitical professional disputes.
However, those in the know outside the government are convinced there is something more to the story – that at play is an effort on the part of Ariel and others from Bayit Yehudi to delay the evacuation of the IDF bases in the center of the country so as to encourage Israelis to buy homes in the West Bank. Housing Ministry officials reject these allegations, claiming that they support the plan to move the IDF bases, but are also concerned with the finances of the ILA and its independence.
This leads us to the second level – the political aspect, which comes to light in the plans formulated by the Housing Ministry. One-sixth of the housing units planned for the coming years are in the territories, with a large number of units slated for construction in isolated settlements such as Ma'ale Amos (6,000 housing units), Bat Ayin (6,000) and Nahliel (3,500), or even settlements that have yet to be established, like Gva'ot (1,060) – a clear indication of the government's intentions vis-à-vis the settlement enterprise.
Construction plans for East Jerusalem also draw intense flak from around the world, including the United States. The Housing Ministry's plans include the building of 15 thousand housing units in Jerusalem, beyond the Green Line. I spoke to a senior government official, apolitical, about the plan.
"The lesson I have learned," he said, "is that the land of the state, its most precious asset, should not be entrusted to a sectoral party. A sectoral party cannot serve the interests of the country at large."
The number of new housing units under construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank increased last year by 40 percent, the Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now said in a report.
Peace Now added that the construction of 3,100 housing units started in 2014 in West Bank settlements, while the same year saw 4,485 tenders for settlement construction there and in east Jerusalem, which is considered a new record high for at least a decade.
"All these figures prove that Netanyahu is doing everything to increase faits accomplis on the ground and make a two-state solution impossible," Peace Now official Hagit Ofran stated in the report.
In a separate incident, the Israeli occupation army on Monday bulldozed Palestinian-owned lands in Zanuta hamlet near Shim'a settlement, south of al-Khalil city.
Local sources reported that bulldozers under military protection entered the land of al-Khudairat family and embarked on leveling it, adding that Israeli soldiers prevented residents from the hamlet from approaching the area.
They added that the Israeli army had threatened lately to demolish and seize dozens of Palestinian homes and lands in the southern area of al-Khalil in the context of Israeli plans to expand and build settlements.
Peace Now added that the construction of 3,100 housing units started in 2014 in West Bank settlements, while the same year saw 4,485 tenders for settlement construction there and in east Jerusalem, which is considered a new record high for at least a decade.
"All these figures prove that Netanyahu is doing everything to increase faits accomplis on the ground and make a two-state solution impossible," Peace Now official Hagit Ofran stated in the report.
In a separate incident, the Israeli occupation army on Monday bulldozed Palestinian-owned lands in Zanuta hamlet near Shim'a settlement, south of al-Khalil city.
Local sources reported that bulldozers under military protection entered the land of al-Khudairat family and embarked on leveling it, adding that Israeli soldiers prevented residents from the hamlet from approaching the area.
They added that the Israeli army had threatened lately to demolish and seize dozens of Palestinian homes and lands in the southern area of al-Khalil in the context of Israeli plans to expand and build settlements.
23 feb 2015
A net installed in the Old City to prevent garbage dropped by Israeli settlers into a Palestinian area. (Wikipedia)
Israeli forces, on Monday, destroyedlarge tracts of Palestinian farmlands in Khirbet Zanuta village, Adh-Dhahiriya area, to the southwest of Hebron.
Israeli military vehicles escorting bulldozers, according to WAFA, stormed a section of the village near the illegal settlement outpost of Shim‘a, where they proceeded to destroy tens of dunams of farmlands belonging to Adh-Dhahiriya.
These practices are meant to strip the indigenous people of their land and displace them as a prelude to seize their land for settlement construction.
According to Khirbet Zanuta Village Profile, drafted by the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ), the village residents depend on agriculture, livestock rearing and dairy production for their livelihoods.
The village occupied a total area of 12,000 dunams, including a one-dunam built-up area. Agricultural land occupied an area of 3,000 dunams, while a total of 9,000 dunams are classified as open space area. The 3000-dunam-sized agricultural land is cultivated by field crops.
Local farmers are the most affected by the Israeli occupation’s practices. Owing to its adjacency to the Green Line, the village has suffered considerably from occupation, particularly due to the construction of the segregation wall. About 200 dunams of village lands were confiscated during the Second Intifada.
Khirbet Zanuta is surrounded by Israeli settlements of Shima and Tene to the west, and a bypass road runs through the center of the village from west to east. Approximately six kilometers of the segregation wall have been constructed on Khirbet Zanuta land since 2004. Five cisterns have been destroyed due to the construction the wall.
The settlements are in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which establishes that the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.
The Security Council, the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council and the International Court of Justice have all confirmed that the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements and other settlement-related activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are illegal under international law.
Also on Monday, Israeli forces seized two garbage collection trucks belonging to Yatta town, to the south of Hebron, said a municipal source.
Mayor of Yatta, Mousa Makhamra, said the trucks were seized by the so-called Israeli Civil Administration officers while transporting garbage to a landfill, to the east of the town, and that the drivers were forced to leave.
The current landfill site has been used for 40 years.
This was the second time in less than a week that garbage collection vehicles trucks belonging to Yatta were seized.
Last Wednesday, a garbage truck and tractor owned by Yatta municipality were seized while transporting garbage to the dumping site. They were retained in the military base of Etzion.
Israeli forces, on Monday, destroyedlarge tracts of Palestinian farmlands in Khirbet Zanuta village, Adh-Dhahiriya area, to the southwest of Hebron.
Israeli military vehicles escorting bulldozers, according to WAFA, stormed a section of the village near the illegal settlement outpost of Shim‘a, where they proceeded to destroy tens of dunams of farmlands belonging to Adh-Dhahiriya.
These practices are meant to strip the indigenous people of their land and displace them as a prelude to seize their land for settlement construction.
According to Khirbet Zanuta Village Profile, drafted by the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ), the village residents depend on agriculture, livestock rearing and dairy production for their livelihoods.
The village occupied a total area of 12,000 dunams, including a one-dunam built-up area. Agricultural land occupied an area of 3,000 dunams, while a total of 9,000 dunams are classified as open space area. The 3000-dunam-sized agricultural land is cultivated by field crops.
Local farmers are the most affected by the Israeli occupation’s practices. Owing to its adjacency to the Green Line, the village has suffered considerably from occupation, particularly due to the construction of the segregation wall. About 200 dunams of village lands were confiscated during the Second Intifada.
Khirbet Zanuta is surrounded by Israeli settlements of Shima and Tene to the west, and a bypass road runs through the center of the village from west to east. Approximately six kilometers of the segregation wall have been constructed on Khirbet Zanuta land since 2004. Five cisterns have been destroyed due to the construction the wall.
The settlements are in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which establishes that the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.
The Security Council, the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council and the International Court of Justice have all confirmed that the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements and other settlement-related activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are illegal under international law.
Also on Monday, Israeli forces seized two garbage collection trucks belonging to Yatta town, to the south of Hebron, said a municipal source.
Mayor of Yatta, Mousa Makhamra, said the trucks were seized by the so-called Israeli Civil Administration officers while transporting garbage to a landfill, to the east of the town, and that the drivers were forced to leave.
The current landfill site has been used for 40 years.
This was the second time in less than a week that garbage collection vehicles trucks belonging to Yatta were seized.
Last Wednesday, a garbage truck and tractor owned by Yatta municipality were seized while transporting garbage to the dumping site. They were retained in the military base of Etzion.
Dozens of Israeli soldiers invaded, on Monday morning, the Jerusalem Gate protest village, in Abu Dis town, east of occupied Jerusalem, and demolished it for the ninth consecutive time.
Hani Halabiyya, spokesperson of the Popular Resistance Committees, said scores of soldiers surrounded the village, and stormed it along with a military bulldozer, and various armored vehicles.
Halabiyya added that the soldiers demolished the structures, and confiscated them.
The invasion was carried out after at least 30 army vehicles surrounded the area, and declared it a closed military zone.
It is worth mentioning that nonviolent Palestinian, Israeli and international activists rebuilt the Jerusalem Gate village, on Wednesday, shortly after the army demolished it.
The village was installed for the first time nearly three week ago, on the Khallet ar-Raheb area, east of Abu Dis, to protest Israel’s decision to displace and relocate the Bedouin communities so that it can continue its construction and expansion of its illegal colonies.
Activists said the "plan to displace Bedouins is a demographic bomb that Israel is using to empty Palestinian lands of its original residents, steal their properties, and the rights to return to the original villages that they were displaced from."
Palestinian Bedouins in the West Bank are largely composed of refugees of Israel's 1948 ethnic cleansing of 750,000 Palestinians, with the majority having fled the Negev Desert while the few who remained -- about 10 percent of the total Bedouin population -- were confined to reservations.
The majority of Bedouins in Israel and the West Bank live a relatively settled but still sometimes semi-nomadic lifestyle, residing in permanent villages but pasturing livestock in adjacent areas.
Furthermore, Israeli restrictions on movement -- in order to build Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands previously used by Bedouins or through the construction of the Separation Wall to cut through the West Bank -- have severely curtailed Bedouins' traditional nomadism.
Hani Halabiyya, spokesperson of the Popular Resistance Committees, said scores of soldiers surrounded the village, and stormed it along with a military bulldozer, and various armored vehicles.
Halabiyya added that the soldiers demolished the structures, and confiscated them.
The invasion was carried out after at least 30 army vehicles surrounded the area, and declared it a closed military zone.
It is worth mentioning that nonviolent Palestinian, Israeli and international activists rebuilt the Jerusalem Gate village, on Wednesday, shortly after the army demolished it.
The village was installed for the first time nearly three week ago, on the Khallet ar-Raheb area, east of Abu Dis, to protest Israel’s decision to displace and relocate the Bedouin communities so that it can continue its construction and expansion of its illegal colonies.
Activists said the "plan to displace Bedouins is a demographic bomb that Israel is using to empty Palestinian lands of its original residents, steal their properties, and the rights to return to the original villages that they were displaced from."
Palestinian Bedouins in the West Bank are largely composed of refugees of Israel's 1948 ethnic cleansing of 750,000 Palestinians, with the majority having fled the Negev Desert while the few who remained -- about 10 percent of the total Bedouin population -- were confined to reservations.
The majority of Bedouins in Israel and the West Bank live a relatively settled but still sometimes semi-nomadic lifestyle, residing in permanent villages but pasturing livestock in adjacent areas.
Furthermore, Israeli restrictions on movement -- in order to build Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands previously used by Bedouins or through the construction of the Separation Wall to cut through the West Bank -- have severely curtailed Bedouins' traditional nomadism.
22 dec 2015
Israeli authorities on Sunday demolished four homes belonging to Palestinian Bedouins near the town of Hurah in the Negev Desert in Southern Israel.
Bulldozers appeared in the village of Sawah east of Hurah on Sunday morning accompanied by a large number of police officers, who proceeded to demolish the homes soon after arrival.
"We are now trying to evacuate furniture and clothes from the houses in the short time limit the Israeli forces have given us," one of the residents Salamah al-Qassasi told Ma'an.
The Israeli Ministry of Interior apparently ordered the demolition about a month ago. Residents appealed the decision in court, but the court then demanded that they provide a proof of ownership, which they did not have.
Bedouins in Israel live in 45 unrecognized village scattered primarily in the region between Beersheba and Arad. They are the remnants of the Bedouin population that lived across the Negev Desert until 1948, when 90 percent were expelled by Israel and the remainder confined to a closed reservation.
In 2013, authorities said that the homes of the 1,500 residents of the village were to be demolished because the area had been converted into a closed military zone.
Since that time, residents have fought court rulings and prevented the village's wholesale demolition so far. Authorities have, however, demolished individual homes.
Bulldozers appeared in the village of Sawah east of Hurah on Sunday morning accompanied by a large number of police officers, who proceeded to demolish the homes soon after arrival.
"We are now trying to evacuate furniture and clothes from the houses in the short time limit the Israeli forces have given us," one of the residents Salamah al-Qassasi told Ma'an.
The Israeli Ministry of Interior apparently ordered the demolition about a month ago. Residents appealed the decision in court, but the court then demanded that they provide a proof of ownership, which they did not have.
Bedouins in Israel live in 45 unrecognized village scattered primarily in the region between Beersheba and Arad. They are the remnants of the Bedouin population that lived across the Negev Desert until 1948, when 90 percent were expelled by Israel and the remainder confined to a closed reservation.
In 2013, authorities said that the homes of the 1,500 residents of the village were to be demolished because the area had been converted into a closed military zone.
Since that time, residents have fought court rulings and prevented the village's wholesale demolition so far. Authorities have, however, demolished individual homes.
The demolitions are part of an ongoing campaign by Israeli planning and construction committees against the unrecognized Bedouin villages in Negev desert, where between 70-90,000 people live.
Authorities deny them access to basic services and infrastructure, such as electricity and running water, and refuse to place them under municipal jurisdiction, keeping them stuck in areas previously declared "state land" despite their residence there.
Over the past few weeks demolition warrants have been posted on the doors of hundreds of houses in the villages of Tawil, Abu Jaroul, Wadi al-Niam, Awajan, al-Laqiyya, al-Qurein, and al-Sira.
The campaign, according to Bedouin residents, appears to be part of the right-wing Israeli government's efforts to win votes in the upcoming elections by quietly reactivating the notorious Prawer Plan on the arrangement of Bedouin settlement in Negev.
Although it was cancelled in 2013, if it had been implemented the Prawer Plan would have involved the destruction of the Bedouin villages and their confinement to cities against their will.
The majority of Bedouins in Israel and the West Bank live a relatively settled but still sometimes semi-nomadic lifestyle, residing in permanent villages but pasturing livestock in adjacent areas.
Israeli restrictions on movement -- in order to build Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands previously used by Bedouins or through the construction of the Separation Wall to cut through the West Bank -- have severely curtailed Bedouins' traditional nomadism.
Authorities deny them access to basic services and infrastructure, such as electricity and running water, and refuse to place them under municipal jurisdiction, keeping them stuck in areas previously declared "state land" despite their residence there.
Over the past few weeks demolition warrants have been posted on the doors of hundreds of houses in the villages of Tawil, Abu Jaroul, Wadi al-Niam, Awajan, al-Laqiyya, al-Qurein, and al-Sira.
The campaign, according to Bedouin residents, appears to be part of the right-wing Israeli government's efforts to win votes in the upcoming elections by quietly reactivating the notorious Prawer Plan on the arrangement of Bedouin settlement in Negev.
Although it was cancelled in 2013, if it had been implemented the Prawer Plan would have involved the destruction of the Bedouin villages and their confinement to cities against their will.
The majority of Bedouins in Israel and the West Bank live a relatively settled but still sometimes semi-nomadic lifestyle, residing in permanent villages but pasturing livestock in adjacent areas.
Israeli restrictions on movement -- in order to build Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands previously used by Bedouins or through the construction of the Separation Wall to cut through the West Bank -- have severely curtailed Bedouins' traditional nomadism.
21 feb 2015
Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) annexed 27,000 dunums out of 30,000 dunums the total area of Abu Dis town southeast of Jerusalem for settlement expansion.
Head of Abu Dis local council and member of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlement Adel Salah said, in a press statement on Saturday, the Israeli authorities escalated its unjust military decisions especially in towns located in southeast Jerusalem.
The towns of Abu Dis, Alizeriyeh and Sawahrah has been isolated by the Separation Wall and separated by barriers from other West Bank cities and towns, he added.
Salah called for an urgent action to halt the Israeli continuing violations against Palestinians’ lands in Abu Dis.
The Palestinian activist Salah said these decisions have resulted in establishing and expanding three settlements in addition to constructing a settlement belt around the city of Jerusalem for the purpose of building what is called “Greater Jerusalem”.
Salah blamed the international community for its humble solidarity which does not reflect the great suffering sustained by the Palestinian people and the great danger of confiscation of more Palestinian lands for the implementation of the Israeli occupation settlement plans.
Salah called on the Palestinian people and leadership, inside Palestine and abroad, to confront these plans, urging the media to expose the Israeli settlement plans and violations.
Head of Abu Dis local council and member of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlement Adel Salah said, in a press statement on Saturday, the Israeli authorities escalated its unjust military decisions especially in towns located in southeast Jerusalem.
The towns of Abu Dis, Alizeriyeh and Sawahrah has been isolated by the Separation Wall and separated by barriers from other West Bank cities and towns, he added.
Salah called for an urgent action to halt the Israeli continuing violations against Palestinians’ lands in Abu Dis.
The Palestinian activist Salah said these decisions have resulted in establishing and expanding three settlements in addition to constructing a settlement belt around the city of Jerusalem for the purpose of building what is called “Greater Jerusalem”.
Salah blamed the international community for its humble solidarity which does not reflect the great suffering sustained by the Palestinian people and the great danger of confiscation of more Palestinian lands for the implementation of the Israeli occupation settlement plans.
Salah called on the Palestinian people and leadership, inside Palestine and abroad, to confront these plans, urging the media to expose the Israeli settlement plans and violations.
