18 dec 2013
The presidency welcomed Wednesday the statement the European Union’s Council of Foreign Ministers issued on Monday and which stressed support for the freedom of the Palestinian people and their independence based on the two-state solution within the 1967 boundaries.
Consul generals and representatives of Germany, France, Italy, Britain and Spain separately briefed Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mohammad Mustafa at the presidential headquarters on the meeting of the EU foreign ministers and the statement issued afterwards which promised “an unprecedented package of European political, economic and security support” in the context of a final status agreement.
The presidency welcomed as well the EU’s condemnation of Israeli settlement construction in the Palestinian Territory, describing it as an obstacle to peace.
Consul generals and representatives of Germany, France, Italy, Britain and Spain separately briefed Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mohammad Mustafa at the presidential headquarters on the meeting of the EU foreign ministers and the statement issued afterwards which promised “an unprecedented package of European political, economic and security support” in the context of a final status agreement.
The presidency welcomed as well the EU’s condemnation of Israeli settlement construction in the Palestinian Territory, describing it as an obstacle to peace.
17 dec 2013
Briefing the Security Council Monday, Special Coordinator Robert Serry looked back on 2013 as an important year for the peace process, as the parties were now engaged in a serious effort to implement their commitment to a negotiated two-state solution. Serry is hoping that this effort would lead, next year, to decisive and irreversible progress towards a comprehensive settlement realizing the vision of two states for two peoples.
Serry said: "If both parties, with continued effective support by the international community, take the bold steps needed to see through what they have started this year, we will reach in 2014 a moment of truth regarding a two-state solution".
Serry reiterated the UN's concern about the fragile situation on the ground. With the third prisoners' release approaching, he urged both sides to refrain from steps that would increase mistrust and undermine the prospects for progress in the critical period ahead "when bolder decisions are required to bridge the gaps towards a final status agreement."
Serry warned that continued settlement activity cannot be reconciled with the goal of the two-state solution and is illegal under international law. He also voiced concern about recurrent violence and incitement.
The Special Coordinator briefed the Council on the impact of current inclement weather in Gaza where, as a result of heavy flooding, around 10,000 people had been displaced. The UN on the ground was actively engaged with relevant parties to address the most urgent issues. Israel had provided four water pumps for Gaza and expanded operations at Kerem Shalom. Serry was pleased the Gaza Power Plant had resumed operations as of yesterday thanks to Qatar's donation of USD 10 million for the Palestinian Authority to purchase fuel for the Gaza Power Plant. "This is an important, but by no means sufficient development to start addressing Gaza's structural energy problem".
The Special Coordinator noted positively the decision of the Government of Israel to resume the transfer of construction materials for UN projects in Gaza, under an agreed mechanism for the secure transfer and use of this material. "The current relative calm points to the importance of preserving the ceasefire understanding of a year ago, also as a basis for progress on other issues, including the further opening of the crossings". In this regard, he highlighted the importance for Israel to reinstate its decision to allow construction materials for the private sector into the Strip.
Serry said: "If both parties, with continued effective support by the international community, take the bold steps needed to see through what they have started this year, we will reach in 2014 a moment of truth regarding a two-state solution".
Serry reiterated the UN's concern about the fragile situation on the ground. With the third prisoners' release approaching, he urged both sides to refrain from steps that would increase mistrust and undermine the prospects for progress in the critical period ahead "when bolder decisions are required to bridge the gaps towards a final status agreement."
Serry warned that continued settlement activity cannot be reconciled with the goal of the two-state solution and is illegal under international law. He also voiced concern about recurrent violence and incitement.
The Special Coordinator briefed the Council on the impact of current inclement weather in Gaza where, as a result of heavy flooding, around 10,000 people had been displaced. The UN on the ground was actively engaged with relevant parties to address the most urgent issues. Israel had provided four water pumps for Gaza and expanded operations at Kerem Shalom. Serry was pleased the Gaza Power Plant had resumed operations as of yesterday thanks to Qatar's donation of USD 10 million for the Palestinian Authority to purchase fuel for the Gaza Power Plant. "This is an important, but by no means sufficient development to start addressing Gaza's structural energy problem".
The Special Coordinator noted positively the decision of the Government of Israel to resume the transfer of construction materials for UN projects in Gaza, under an agreed mechanism for the secure transfer and use of this material. "The current relative calm points to the importance of preserving the ceasefire understanding of a year ago, also as a basis for progress on other issues, including the further opening of the crossings". In this regard, he highlighted the importance for Israel to reinstate its decision to allow construction materials for the private sector into the Strip.
The European Union has warned Tel Aviv against hurting talks with the Acting Palestinian Authority (PA) by announcing plans to construct new settler units on occupied Palestinian territories.
The EU’s five largest states, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, warned on December 16 that Israel would be responsible for failed talks if it planned to announce further settlement construction after the release of Palestinian prisoners at the end of the month.
“New announcements of settlement activity after the third round of prisoner releases at the end of the month might be a fatal blow for the peace process,” EU ministers said in a joint statement
However, if talks are positive, the foreign ministers of the 28 EU member states, based on a recently passed resolution, would award both Palestinians and Israelis with an “unprecedented package” of economic, political, and security aid.
Under the package, the relations between the two sides would be also upgraded to “special privileged partnership.”
The ambassadors to Israel of the EU’s five largest states requested an immediate meeting with acting director-general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry Nissim Ben-Shitrit and are expected to hold similar talks with Palestinians.
Palestinian and Israeli negotiators began a new round of talks in July.
This comes while talks previously held between the Palestinians and Israel were halted in September 2010 after Tel Aviv refused to freeze its settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.
Israel has so far defied international calls to stop its construction of illegal settlements. Despite ongoing talks with the Palestinians, Israel continues with building settlements on occupied territories.
Over half a million Israelis live in more than 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.
The EU’s five largest states, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, warned on December 16 that Israel would be responsible for failed talks if it planned to announce further settlement construction after the release of Palestinian prisoners at the end of the month.
“New announcements of settlement activity after the third round of prisoner releases at the end of the month might be a fatal blow for the peace process,” EU ministers said in a joint statement
However, if talks are positive, the foreign ministers of the 28 EU member states, based on a recently passed resolution, would award both Palestinians and Israelis with an “unprecedented package” of economic, political, and security aid.
Under the package, the relations between the two sides would be also upgraded to “special privileged partnership.”
The ambassadors to Israel of the EU’s five largest states requested an immediate meeting with acting director-general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry Nissim Ben-Shitrit and are expected to hold similar talks with Palestinians.
Palestinian and Israeli negotiators began a new round of talks in July.
This comes while talks previously held between the Palestinians and Israel were halted in September 2010 after Tel Aviv refused to freeze its settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.
Israel has so far defied international calls to stop its construction of illegal settlements. Despite ongoing talks with the Palestinians, Israel continues with building settlements on occupied territories.
Over half a million Israelis live in more than 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.
16 dec 2013
Some 40 human rights advocates gathered Saturday in front of the Leviev Diamond store on Manhattan’s upscale Madison Avenue and sang parody holiday carols protesting diamond magnate Lev Leviev’s construction of Israeli settlements. A press release by Adalah–NY, the New York campaign for the Boycott of Israel, said many Christmas holiday shoppers, “bundled against the cold, paused to listen to the carolers and appeared surprised but pleased by their human rights message.”
The protest came days after popular mobilizations against an Israeli government plan to displace tens of thousands of Palestinian Bedouin citizens of Israel contributed to the plan’s cancellation, and amidst growing global recognition of the efficacy of the international boycott movement.
Andrew Kadi from Adalah-NY, said when his organizations started in 2007 protested campaigns against Leviev, it was one of the only groups in the US advocating for a boycott of Israel.
“This year our protest was endorsed by 12 groups in New York City alone, a clear sign of the spreading support for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel,” he said.
A week earlier, Adalah-NY and other New York groups held a protest calling for a boycott of SodaStream due to the company’s involvement in Israeli settlements.
Protesters at Leviev sang songs including “Stealing Palestinian Land” to the tune of “Winter Wonderland,” and “I Made a Little Settlement” to the tune of “Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel.”
Another song, to the tune of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” included the lyrics, “The people of these villages said heed the boycott call / With international pressure to help Apartheid fall / Each time we sing out in the cold their courage we recall / Oh justice for Palestinian, women and men / The question is not if but when.”
Song lyrics highlighted the fact that Oxfam America and UNICEF, along with CARE, the government of the United Kingdom, New Zealand’s Superannuation Fund, and Hollywood stars have all sought distance from Leviev’s companies over their human rights record.
The government of Norway recently rescinded a ban on investing in Leviev’s company Africa Israel, but has said it is looking into the issue after learning of Africa Israel’s ongoing settlement construction.
Leviev’s companies are currently building homes in the Israeli settlement of Gilo and developing the Zufim settlement on the land of the West Bank village of Jayyous. They have built thousands of settlement homes for Jews only on Palestinian land in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
All Israeli settlements violate international law as well as seize vital Palestinian land, dividing the West Bank into disconnected Bantustans, reminiscent of apartheid South Africa.
Leviev’s business ethics have come under fire worldwide. A young Angolan woman stopped at the New York protest and spoke with a demonstrator about Leviev’s operations in her country, saying, “They steal everything from us.”
In the diamond industry in Angola, Leviev’s mine security companies have been accused of acts of “humiliation, whipping, torture, sexual abuse, and, in some cases, assassinations.” Leviev was forced to shut down his diamond polishing plant in Namibia following accusations that his employee was smuggling diamonds.
In New York City, Leviev’s companies have helped to gentrify neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Now a Leviev subsidiary, Danya Cebus, plans to build high-priced apartments in East Harlem for the company HAP Investments, which aims to reap profits by gentrifying Harlem and Washington Heights.
The protest came days after popular mobilizations against an Israeli government plan to displace tens of thousands of Palestinian Bedouin citizens of Israel contributed to the plan’s cancellation, and amidst growing global recognition of the efficacy of the international boycott movement.
Andrew Kadi from Adalah-NY, said when his organizations started in 2007 protested campaigns against Leviev, it was one of the only groups in the US advocating for a boycott of Israel.
“This year our protest was endorsed by 12 groups in New York City alone, a clear sign of the spreading support for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel,” he said.
A week earlier, Adalah-NY and other New York groups held a protest calling for a boycott of SodaStream due to the company’s involvement in Israeli settlements.
Protesters at Leviev sang songs including “Stealing Palestinian Land” to the tune of “Winter Wonderland,” and “I Made a Little Settlement” to the tune of “Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel.”
Another song, to the tune of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” included the lyrics, “The people of these villages said heed the boycott call / With international pressure to help Apartheid fall / Each time we sing out in the cold their courage we recall / Oh justice for Palestinian, women and men / The question is not if but when.”
Song lyrics highlighted the fact that Oxfam America and UNICEF, along with CARE, the government of the United Kingdom, New Zealand’s Superannuation Fund, and Hollywood stars have all sought distance from Leviev’s companies over their human rights record.
The government of Norway recently rescinded a ban on investing in Leviev’s company Africa Israel, but has said it is looking into the issue after learning of Africa Israel’s ongoing settlement construction.
Leviev’s companies are currently building homes in the Israeli settlement of Gilo and developing the Zufim settlement on the land of the West Bank village of Jayyous. They have built thousands of settlement homes for Jews only on Palestinian land in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
All Israeli settlements violate international law as well as seize vital Palestinian land, dividing the West Bank into disconnected Bantustans, reminiscent of apartheid South Africa.
Leviev’s business ethics have come under fire worldwide. A young Angolan woman stopped at the New York protest and spoke with a demonstrator about Leviev’s operations in her country, saying, “They steal everything from us.”
In the diamond industry in Angola, Leviev’s mine security companies have been accused of acts of “humiliation, whipping, torture, sexual abuse, and, in some cases, assassinations.” Leviev was forced to shut down his diamond polishing plant in Namibia following accusations that his employee was smuggling diamonds.
In New York City, Leviev’s companies have helped to gentrify neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Now a Leviev subsidiary, Danya Cebus, plans to build high-priced apartments in East Harlem for the company HAP Investments, which aims to reap profits by gentrifying Harlem and Washington Heights.
13 dec 2013
The Israeli Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration rejected Tuesday a Palestinian request to legalize a West Bank house under the pretext the structure was too close to a main road. On Monday, however, the same administration had approved the expansion of the illegal settlement Ofra after revoking the same ban that was then upheld in Tuesday’s decision, the Haaretz reported.
Despite claims that the decision was “purely professional,” Haaretz pointed out that observers maintain the move was political, saying it was “aimed at pushing Palestinians off their land.”
On Tuesday, the request for a retroactive building permit, which would have canceled a demolition order the house is currently facing, was denied to Palestinians in Beit Ummar, northwest of Hebron, due to a regulation that houses must be more than 120 meters away from Route 60.
Due to the rejection the house may now be demolished at any time.
However, one day previously, the same administration reduced the permitted distance to 80 meters from the road in order to accommodate the construction of 50 new illegal Israeli homes in the settlement of Ofra.
When Tuesday’s appeal came, the administration upheld the 120 meter requirement.
Haaretz concluded noting that the administration declined to comment.
Despite claims that the decision was “purely professional,” Haaretz pointed out that observers maintain the move was political, saying it was “aimed at pushing Palestinians off their land.”
On Tuesday, the request for a retroactive building permit, which would have canceled a demolition order the house is currently facing, was denied to Palestinians in Beit Ummar, northwest of Hebron, due to a regulation that houses must be more than 120 meters away from Route 60.
Due to the rejection the house may now be demolished at any time.
However, one day previously, the same administration reduced the permitted distance to 80 meters from the road in order to accommodate the construction of 50 new illegal Israeli homes in the settlement of Ofra.
When Tuesday’s appeal came, the administration upheld the 120 meter requirement.
Haaretz concluded noting that the administration declined to comment.
The Israeli army's civil administration recently approved construction plans for Jewish settlers in an area close to Ofra settlement in the West Bank and prevented a Palestinian family from living on their own land in the same area, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz stated on Thursday. "The civil administration on Tuesday rejected a request to legalize a Palestinian house, claiming it was too close to a main West Bank road.
A day earlier, it approved the construction of homes in the West Bank settlement of Ofra, after revoking the very ban on which the Tuesday decision was based," Haaretz stated.
According to the newspaper, human rights groups believes that the administration's planning is politically motivated and aimed at pushing the Palestinians off their land.
The request that a retroactive building permit be issued for the Palestinian house in Beit Ummar, a village 11 kilometers northwest of Al-Khalil city, was rejected on Tuesday by the administration’s planning and licensing committee, headed by architect Daniel Halimi.
The administration had previously issued a demolition order for the Palestinian house, which was denied a construction permit.
Halimi, wrote in his decision that regulations forbids the building of houses less than 120 meters away from Route 60, as it both obstructs the traffic and disturbs the people living near the road. "The rejection made it possible to demolish the house," he said.
However, on Monday the administration decided exactly the opposite regarding homes belonging to Jewish settlers.
"The Israeli administration is in the process of legalizing some of Ofra's illegal construction, in terms of a new master plan it has drawn up for the settlement. Ofra was built without a master plan, as required, and most of its houses were built without permits on private Palestinian land," the newspaper emphasized.
The new plan is aimed at legitimizing some 200 illegal houses and authorizing the construction of some 50 new homes for Jewish settlers. However, these houses in question are less than 120 meters from Route 60.
Bedouin face eviction as Israel builds new towns
Some 50 years after Israeli authorities gave them the land, the Bedouin of Umm al-Heiran village face eviction to make way for two modern towns.
Located in the Negev desert, the village is home to some 150 Palestinian Bedouin families -- 1,000 inhabitants -- who live in small, concrete buildings, relying on solar panels for electricity and raising livestock.
But more than half a century of calling Umm al-Heiran home now looks set to end.
On Nov. 10, the Israeli cabinet approved the establishment of two new communities in the Negev -- Kesif and Hiran -- that will almost exclusively cater to Jews.
In order to make way for the two new towns, the Bedouin village, which is currently unrecognized by the authorities, must first be removed.
"In order to build Hiran, (Israel) will accelerate the demolition of the unrecognized village of Umm al-Heiran in the Negev and evict its residents," said Suhad Bishara, a lawyer for the Arab-Israeli rights group Adalah.
The village is on some 1,700 acres of land an Israeli military governor gave to the Bedouin after the tribe of Abu al-Qiyaan was displaced in the 1950s.
Israeli plans to remove the village were first raised 10 years ago, and since then, the residents have been fighting a long legal battle with Adalah's help.
The Supreme Court has for now frozen demolition orders on Umm al-Heiran's structures pending the filing by Dec. 15 of additional documents by Adalah.
But should the court rule against them, their case will be lost.
"I was born here, it's my home and it's all I know," said Abd al-Rahman Abu al-Qiyaan, a 49-year-old father of more than a dozen children.
"We can't fight the state if it decides to evict us, but we just have to wait and see what happens," he told AFP.
"We built this village and developed its agriculture. Where will our children go?"
The villagers say they have no problem with Jewish Israelis moving into the area -- as long as they themselves are not forced to leave.
"This is a racist decision -- why can Jews live here but not me?" Abu al-Qiyaan asked.
The government says Umm al-Heiran's residents are to be moved to the nearby Bedouin village of Hura, which is already home to some 300 families.
Ofir Gendelman, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel would provide "basic services" to Umm al-Heiran's residents, but that illegal construction would not be tolerated.
"There is no citizen in Israel who can build a house without a permit," Gendelman told AFP.
"We say to the Bedouins: we are with you in the provision of basic services, we are with you to resolve the land issue, but building must be done legally."
Ghiyahib Abu al-Qiyaan, 73, remembers the day when Israeli forces moved the family onto the land which would become Umm al-Heiran in 1956, eight years after the creation of the Israeli state.
"I was about 16 years old. Israeli patrols came and evicted us from our homes (in nearby Zubala) to make way for a kibbutz, and put us here without shelter, in the desert," she said.
"But we built and we've made it our home with the land they gave us."
Bishara said that while the military's actions were documented at the time, they were never enshrined in an official agreement.
Israel's legal position "is simply one of 'we gave them the land, and we can take it away,'" she said.
Israel is trying to regulate the ownership of land inhabited by Bedouins in the Negev, in many instances since before the foundation of the state in 1948.
On Thursday, an official announced that the government would drop another plan related to Negev Bedouins, the so-called Prawer Plan, that would have seen some 40 unrecognized Bedouin villages in the same area demolished and the evacuation of between 30,000 and 40,000 people.
Around 260,000 Bedouin live in Israel, more than half of them in unrecognized villages without utilities. Many live in extreme poverty.
A day earlier, it approved the construction of homes in the West Bank settlement of Ofra, after revoking the very ban on which the Tuesday decision was based," Haaretz stated.
According to the newspaper, human rights groups believes that the administration's planning is politically motivated and aimed at pushing the Palestinians off their land.
The request that a retroactive building permit be issued for the Palestinian house in Beit Ummar, a village 11 kilometers northwest of Al-Khalil city, was rejected on Tuesday by the administration’s planning and licensing committee, headed by architect Daniel Halimi.
The administration had previously issued a demolition order for the Palestinian house, which was denied a construction permit.
Halimi, wrote in his decision that regulations forbids the building of houses less than 120 meters away from Route 60, as it both obstructs the traffic and disturbs the people living near the road. "The rejection made it possible to demolish the house," he said.
However, on Monday the administration decided exactly the opposite regarding homes belonging to Jewish settlers.
"The Israeli administration is in the process of legalizing some of Ofra's illegal construction, in terms of a new master plan it has drawn up for the settlement. Ofra was built without a master plan, as required, and most of its houses were built without permits on private Palestinian land," the newspaper emphasized.
The new plan is aimed at legitimizing some 200 illegal houses and authorizing the construction of some 50 new homes for Jewish settlers. However, these houses in question are less than 120 meters from Route 60.
Bedouin face eviction as Israel builds new towns
Some 50 years after Israeli authorities gave them the land, the Bedouin of Umm al-Heiran village face eviction to make way for two modern towns.
Located in the Negev desert, the village is home to some 150 Palestinian Bedouin families -- 1,000 inhabitants -- who live in small, concrete buildings, relying on solar panels for electricity and raising livestock.
But more than half a century of calling Umm al-Heiran home now looks set to end.
On Nov. 10, the Israeli cabinet approved the establishment of two new communities in the Negev -- Kesif and Hiran -- that will almost exclusively cater to Jews.
In order to make way for the two new towns, the Bedouin village, which is currently unrecognized by the authorities, must first be removed.
"In order to build Hiran, (Israel) will accelerate the demolition of the unrecognized village of Umm al-Heiran in the Negev and evict its residents," said Suhad Bishara, a lawyer for the Arab-Israeli rights group Adalah.
The village is on some 1,700 acres of land an Israeli military governor gave to the Bedouin after the tribe of Abu al-Qiyaan was displaced in the 1950s.
Israeli plans to remove the village were first raised 10 years ago, and since then, the residents have been fighting a long legal battle with Adalah's help.
The Supreme Court has for now frozen demolition orders on Umm al-Heiran's structures pending the filing by Dec. 15 of additional documents by Adalah.
But should the court rule against them, their case will be lost.
"I was born here, it's my home and it's all I know," said Abd al-Rahman Abu al-Qiyaan, a 49-year-old father of more than a dozen children.
"We can't fight the state if it decides to evict us, but we just have to wait and see what happens," he told AFP.
"We built this village and developed its agriculture. Where will our children go?"
The villagers say they have no problem with Jewish Israelis moving into the area -- as long as they themselves are not forced to leave.
"This is a racist decision -- why can Jews live here but not me?" Abu al-Qiyaan asked.
The government says Umm al-Heiran's residents are to be moved to the nearby Bedouin village of Hura, which is already home to some 300 families.
Ofir Gendelman, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel would provide "basic services" to Umm al-Heiran's residents, but that illegal construction would not be tolerated.
"There is no citizen in Israel who can build a house without a permit," Gendelman told AFP.
"We say to the Bedouins: we are with you in the provision of basic services, we are with you to resolve the land issue, but building must be done legally."
Ghiyahib Abu al-Qiyaan, 73, remembers the day when Israeli forces moved the family onto the land which would become Umm al-Heiran in 1956, eight years after the creation of the Israeli state.
"I was about 16 years old. Israeli patrols came and evicted us from our homes (in nearby Zubala) to make way for a kibbutz, and put us here without shelter, in the desert," she said.
"But we built and we've made it our home with the land they gave us."
Bishara said that while the military's actions were documented at the time, they were never enshrined in an official agreement.
Israel's legal position "is simply one of 'we gave them the land, and we can take it away,'" she said.
Israel is trying to regulate the ownership of land inhabited by Bedouins in the Negev, in many instances since before the foundation of the state in 1948.
On Thursday, an official announced that the government would drop another plan related to Negev Bedouins, the so-called Prawer Plan, that would have seen some 40 unrecognized Bedouin villages in the same area demolished and the evacuation of between 30,000 and 40,000 people.
Around 260,000 Bedouin live in Israel, more than half of them in unrecognized villages without utilities. Many live in extreme poverty.
11 dec 2013
A new Israeli-planned road, ostensibly meant to give the Cremisan Monastery access to Israel and Jerusalem, will cut off the Bethlehem-area village of al-Walaja from its lands. Its lands were taken and villagers displaced in first in 1948; in recent years Israel began completely surrounding it with the separation wall, taking even more land. Village resident Hisham Abu Ali is done being silent.
In September 2013, inhabitants of al-Walaja witnessed the start of the building of a new road on their lands. The road is said to ensure access to Jerusalem from the Cremisan Monastery which would find itself on the other side of the Israeli separation wall (i.e., on the “Jerusalem side”) if it is built as currently planned. There is still a pending court case, however, filed in the name of Beit Jala residents and the Salesian Sisters who have a convent and a school next to the Cremisan Monastery, in regards to wall’s route (see petition by Saint Yves organization). The result of this legal battle, which will be taken to the Israeli High Court next month, will determine the access points of the Cremisan Monastery to Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Following a lower court decision on the route of the wall in April 2013, Fouad Twal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, made the following statement: “We remind Israeli decision-makers that the expropriation of land does not serve the cause of peace and does not strengthen the position of the moderates.”
However, according to a Haaretz report, initial plans for the separation barrier in the area “that put the monastery on the Israeli side were drawn up in 2005, in consultation with the Defense Ministry, the Vatican and its local monasteries.” According to the same article, in 2012 the monks announced that they wanted to stay on the Beit Jala, or West Bank, side of the barrier, further supporting the argument that there is no need for this road. The BBC also quotes the monks as stating that they never asked to “pass on the Israeli side” and that “the entire route of the wall was established independently by the Israeli authorities.”
Near the site of the new road, a Palestinian inhabitant of al-Walaja, Hisham Abu Ali, sits almost every day in the land belonging to his family. Fifty of his olive trees have been marked for uprooting. He is desperate to keep them intact. Hisham has already been affected by the building of the wall. He had to sell of his flock of sheep, as it was increasingly difficult to reach the land beyond the route of the wall. Hisham tried to call out organizations for help, or the lawyer from al-Walaja, all in vain. He still decided to break his silence and wrote this open letter to Israel and to the Cremisan Monastery:
My name is Hisham Abu Ali, I was born in al-Walaja in 1969. Al-Walaja is a Palestinian village located in the Bethlehem Governate, a few kilometers far from Jerusalem. I’m writing this letter because of the latest catastrophe my village is confronted with. I’m writing because I wish to stop it, and I hope it is the last one.
Three months ago Israel started building a new road on my family’s land. This land has belonged to my family for generations; my grandfather was farming wheat and barley even before 1948. Now we have olive trees there. The new construction will destroy our trees and will take our land. That’s the ultimate consequence of Israeli occupation in our village.
Since the construction of the new road started, I go and sit in my land every day. I can’t stay far from it. I’m afraid that they will take advantage of the construction in order to destroy more than what they are authorized to. Just today I found that they marked five extra olive trees that should not be uprooted according to their own plans.
Since the Palestinian catastrophe (the 1948 Nakba), Palestinians have been witnessing disasters, one after another, brought on by the Israeli occupier. Cities, villages and refugee camps pay the price of these aggressive actions. Israel occupies lands, replaces villagers’ lands with settlements and carries out various projects for Israelis.
Al-Walaja is like many other villages. It is not immune from from Israeli plans. It was completely destroyed in the 1948 catastrophe. Its people were exiled and escaped to different regions, living in refugee camps in Palestine and abroad. After the 1948 war some of its agricultural land remained on the other side of the Armistice Line, so some people came back. Many families built houses there and set up a small village with the few resources they had.
In 1967, however, Israel occupied the West Bank. Once again, most Palestinians from al-Walaja were forced to leave. Israel founded a settlement now known as Har Gilo, which took several parts of Al Walaja’s — and nearby Beit Jala’s — land. Israel built roads around it in order to prevent the villagers from reaching those areas.
Moreover, Israeli authorities are now building the “separation” wall to seize the village and they ultimately want to build a national park for Israelis. This park is intended to preserve the rural landscape and the terraced agricultural land that Palestinians still farm. However, once the wall is finished, Palestinian farmers will not be able to reach their land anymore.
The new road is being constructed in the park area. It is destroying the same agricultural fields and olive trees that the park is intended to preserve. How can you say you are building a park by destroying ancient trees to replace them with a wide concrete road? Recently, they decided to uproot 50 olive trees belonging to my family. We received the yellow card which alerted us to remove our trees and we are supposed to receive the red card announcing their end.
Israeli authorities claim that this road serves the Cremisan Monastery, while I believe this is not their aim. They consistently promote new plans that destroy our village and make our lives harder and harder.
These Israeli actions are nothing. But what saddens me is that there have been no popular actions opposing Israel’s latest aggressive deeds. Popular and official actions should have taken place in order to stop Israel’s hostility against the village. Israeli actions against the village must be stopped, especially the road that will steal its land.
This message is being sent directly to the Cremisan Monastery, which Israel claims the new road will serve. All the while, the Cremisan Monastery remains silent. It is important for us that Cremisan announces its view toward this plan and stands with us against this road and the new land grab that we are witnessing. Isn’t the church supposed to be an advocate against property theft?
We don’t understand why our land will be taken for the sake of Cremisan or a park. This is our land, and it is again being stolen from us. We demand an immediate stop of construction of the road and the destruction of our trees and lands.
This article was originally posted on +972 Magazine
Israel negotiator warns right-wingers seeking to derail peace
Israel's chief peace negotiator on Thursday accused a key coalition partner of deliberately seeking to sabotage talks with the Palestinians by ramping up settlement construction.
Speaking just hours before the arrival of US Secretary of State John Kerry on his second visit within a week, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni accused the far-right national religious Jewish Home of deliberately promoting settlement projects in a bid "to derail" the ongoing negotiations.
"More building, more announcements of building in isolated settlements are meant to prevent us reaching peace," she told an audience at Tel Aviv University in remarks broadcast Thursday on public radio.
"That is their deliberate intention, to derail the negotiations. To cause the other side to walk out of the room," she said.
Jewish Home controls the housing ministry, giving it a key role in promoting Israeli construction on land the Palestinians want for a future state.
"When one speaks of the Jewish Home's veto power in the government, everyone is concerned with its veto on issues of religion and state," said Livni, whose centrist HaTnuah party is also part of the coalition.
"They have another veto -- with more (settlement) building, they place a veto on peace. They must not be allowed to use this informal veto, this illegitimate veto," she said.
Kerry is due to arrive in the evening for another round of shuttle diplomacy aimed at driving forward the peace talks, which have been brought to the brink of collapse by a series of major settlement announcements, enraging the Palestinians.
Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin, of the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu, said the talks would go nowhere as long as the Palestinians refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and to accept an Israeli military presence along the eastern edge of their future homeland, bordering Jordan.
"So far the Palestinians say 'no' to everything; so Kerry can come here many more times but ... I don't think anything is going to change," he told public radio.
During the trip, Kerry will meet Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah before heading to Jordan on Friday from where he will continue on to Asia.
In September 2013, inhabitants of al-Walaja witnessed the start of the building of a new road on their lands. The road is said to ensure access to Jerusalem from the Cremisan Monastery which would find itself on the other side of the Israeli separation wall (i.e., on the “Jerusalem side”) if it is built as currently planned. There is still a pending court case, however, filed in the name of Beit Jala residents and the Salesian Sisters who have a convent and a school next to the Cremisan Monastery, in regards to wall’s route (see petition by Saint Yves organization). The result of this legal battle, which will be taken to the Israeli High Court next month, will determine the access points of the Cremisan Monastery to Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Following a lower court decision on the route of the wall in April 2013, Fouad Twal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, made the following statement: “We remind Israeli decision-makers that the expropriation of land does not serve the cause of peace and does not strengthen the position of the moderates.”
However, according to a Haaretz report, initial plans for the separation barrier in the area “that put the monastery on the Israeli side were drawn up in 2005, in consultation with the Defense Ministry, the Vatican and its local monasteries.” According to the same article, in 2012 the monks announced that they wanted to stay on the Beit Jala, or West Bank, side of the barrier, further supporting the argument that there is no need for this road. The BBC also quotes the monks as stating that they never asked to “pass on the Israeli side” and that “the entire route of the wall was established independently by the Israeli authorities.”
Near the site of the new road, a Palestinian inhabitant of al-Walaja, Hisham Abu Ali, sits almost every day in the land belonging to his family. Fifty of his olive trees have been marked for uprooting. He is desperate to keep them intact. Hisham has already been affected by the building of the wall. He had to sell of his flock of sheep, as it was increasingly difficult to reach the land beyond the route of the wall. Hisham tried to call out organizations for help, or the lawyer from al-Walaja, all in vain. He still decided to break his silence and wrote this open letter to Israel and to the Cremisan Monastery:
My name is Hisham Abu Ali, I was born in al-Walaja in 1969. Al-Walaja is a Palestinian village located in the Bethlehem Governate, a few kilometers far from Jerusalem. I’m writing this letter because of the latest catastrophe my village is confronted with. I’m writing because I wish to stop it, and I hope it is the last one.
Three months ago Israel started building a new road on my family’s land. This land has belonged to my family for generations; my grandfather was farming wheat and barley even before 1948. Now we have olive trees there. The new construction will destroy our trees and will take our land. That’s the ultimate consequence of Israeli occupation in our village.
Since the construction of the new road started, I go and sit in my land every day. I can’t stay far from it. I’m afraid that they will take advantage of the construction in order to destroy more than what they are authorized to. Just today I found that they marked five extra olive trees that should not be uprooted according to their own plans.
Since the Palestinian catastrophe (the 1948 Nakba), Palestinians have been witnessing disasters, one after another, brought on by the Israeli occupier. Cities, villages and refugee camps pay the price of these aggressive actions. Israel occupies lands, replaces villagers’ lands with settlements and carries out various projects for Israelis.
Al-Walaja is like many other villages. It is not immune from from Israeli plans. It was completely destroyed in the 1948 catastrophe. Its people were exiled and escaped to different regions, living in refugee camps in Palestine and abroad. After the 1948 war some of its agricultural land remained on the other side of the Armistice Line, so some people came back. Many families built houses there and set up a small village with the few resources they had.
In 1967, however, Israel occupied the West Bank. Once again, most Palestinians from al-Walaja were forced to leave. Israel founded a settlement now known as Har Gilo, which took several parts of Al Walaja’s — and nearby Beit Jala’s — land. Israel built roads around it in order to prevent the villagers from reaching those areas.
Moreover, Israeli authorities are now building the “separation” wall to seize the village and they ultimately want to build a national park for Israelis. This park is intended to preserve the rural landscape and the terraced agricultural land that Palestinians still farm. However, once the wall is finished, Palestinian farmers will not be able to reach their land anymore.
The new road is being constructed in the park area. It is destroying the same agricultural fields and olive trees that the park is intended to preserve. How can you say you are building a park by destroying ancient trees to replace them with a wide concrete road? Recently, they decided to uproot 50 olive trees belonging to my family. We received the yellow card which alerted us to remove our trees and we are supposed to receive the red card announcing their end.
Israeli authorities claim that this road serves the Cremisan Monastery, while I believe this is not their aim. They consistently promote new plans that destroy our village and make our lives harder and harder.
These Israeli actions are nothing. But what saddens me is that there have been no popular actions opposing Israel’s latest aggressive deeds. Popular and official actions should have taken place in order to stop Israel’s hostility against the village. Israeli actions against the village must be stopped, especially the road that will steal its land.
This message is being sent directly to the Cremisan Monastery, which Israel claims the new road will serve. All the while, the Cremisan Monastery remains silent. It is important for us that Cremisan announces its view toward this plan and stands with us against this road and the new land grab that we are witnessing. Isn’t the church supposed to be an advocate against property theft?
We don’t understand why our land will be taken for the sake of Cremisan or a park. This is our land, and it is again being stolen from us. We demand an immediate stop of construction of the road and the destruction of our trees and lands.
This article was originally posted on +972 Magazine
Israel negotiator warns right-wingers seeking to derail peace
Israel's chief peace negotiator on Thursday accused a key coalition partner of deliberately seeking to sabotage talks with the Palestinians by ramping up settlement construction.
Speaking just hours before the arrival of US Secretary of State John Kerry on his second visit within a week, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni accused the far-right national religious Jewish Home of deliberately promoting settlement projects in a bid "to derail" the ongoing negotiations.
"More building, more announcements of building in isolated settlements are meant to prevent us reaching peace," she told an audience at Tel Aviv University in remarks broadcast Thursday on public radio.
"That is their deliberate intention, to derail the negotiations. To cause the other side to walk out of the room," she said.
Jewish Home controls the housing ministry, giving it a key role in promoting Israeli construction on land the Palestinians want for a future state.
"When one speaks of the Jewish Home's veto power in the government, everyone is concerned with its veto on issues of religion and state," said Livni, whose centrist HaTnuah party is also part of the coalition.
"They have another veto -- with more (settlement) building, they place a veto on peace. They must not be allowed to use this informal veto, this illegitimate veto," she said.
Kerry is due to arrive in the evening for another round of shuttle diplomacy aimed at driving forward the peace talks, which have been brought to the brink of collapse by a series of major settlement announcements, enraging the Palestinians.
Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin, of the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu, said the talks would go nowhere as long as the Palestinians refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and to accept an Israeli military presence along the eastern edge of their future homeland, bordering Jordan.
"So far the Palestinians say 'no' to everything; so Kerry can come here many more times but ... I don't think anything is going to change," he told public radio.
During the trip, Kerry will meet Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah before heading to Jordan on Friday from where he will continue on to Asia.
10 dec 2013
A diplomatic spat has erupted between Israel and Romania after Bucharest reportedly refused to allow Romanian construction workers to be employed in settlements being built in the occupied West Bank.
The row, reported by Israel's military radio on Tuesday, comes in the wake of tensions between Israel and the European Union over new guidelines that bar EU funding for any Israeli entity operating in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Talks with Bucharest on importing Romanian manual labour broke down in 2012, the radio said, but resumed at Israel's initiative after a new Romanian government came to power in May that year.
Differences centre on Bucharest's request that Israel guarantee no Romanian construction workers would be employed on settlements on occupied Palestinian territory that are considered illegal under international law.
There was no immediate comment from the Romanian embassy in Tel Aviv.
It was Israel's second diplomatic row with an EU country this week, following a row with the Netherlands over a new security scanner to be installed on the Israel-Gaza border that Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was to have inaugurated last Sunday.
The Dutch government had hoped the scanner would serve to facilitate an increase in the export of goods from Gaza to the West Bank, but Israeli officials accused the Dutch of trying to impose "political conditions".
Also on Sunday, Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans refused to accept an Israeli military escort around Palestinian-ruled areas of the West Bank city of Hebron.
The European Union guidelines, which go into effect in January, ban funding for and financial dealing with projects linked to Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem.
The row, reported by Israel's military radio on Tuesday, comes in the wake of tensions between Israel and the European Union over new guidelines that bar EU funding for any Israeli entity operating in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Talks with Bucharest on importing Romanian manual labour broke down in 2012, the radio said, but resumed at Israel's initiative after a new Romanian government came to power in May that year.
Differences centre on Bucharest's request that Israel guarantee no Romanian construction workers would be employed on settlements on occupied Palestinian territory that are considered illegal under international law.
There was no immediate comment from the Romanian embassy in Tel Aviv.
It was Israel's second diplomatic row with an EU country this week, following a row with the Netherlands over a new security scanner to be installed on the Israel-Gaza border that Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was to have inaugurated last Sunday.
The Dutch government had hoped the scanner would serve to facilitate an increase in the export of goods from Gaza to the West Bank, but Israeli officials accused the Dutch of trying to impose "political conditions".
Also on Sunday, Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans refused to accept an Israeli military escort around Palestinian-ruled areas of the West Bank city of Hebron.
The European Union guidelines, which go into effect in January, ban funding for and financial dealing with projects linked to Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem.
5 dec 2013
A senior Israeli military official said on Wednesday that the Israeli army intends to build a perimeter fence along the borderline with Jordan, similar to the one it had built along the border with Egypt. Senior Israeli officer Eran Ophir, who heads the border wall construction projects, told the Hebrew radio that the wall with Egypt would not be the last one to be built by the Israeli army, affirming that there is a plan to build another one on the border with Jordan.
Ophir added that the Israeli army finished building the 245-kilometer border wall with Egypt, noting that the wall extends from the Rafah area in the north to Eilat city in the south.
He also said that the Israeli army plans to build a fence underwater and deploy naval vessels along the maritime border of Eilat in order to prevent infiltration attempts by African migrants.
Ophir added that the Israeli army finished building the 245-kilometer border wall with Egypt, noting that the wall extends from the Rafah area in the north to Eilat city in the south.
He also said that the Israeli army plans to build a fence underwater and deploy naval vessels along the maritime border of Eilat in order to prevent infiltration attempts by African migrants.
Building in Ariel settlement, near Salfit, was noticeably accelerating indicating growing expansion activity inside one of the biggest settlements in the West Bank. Activists following up settlement activity in Salfit said that bulldozers were seen leveling land in preparation for building new apartments as trucks loaded with construction material were seen entering the settlement.
Khaled Ma’ali, a researcher in settlement activity, said that settlers were building new settlement units in various settlements in Salfit province.
He said that Ariel settlement was established in 1978 and is inhabited by 35,000 settlers including 12,000 students studying in Ariel University.
Khaled Ma’ali, a researcher in settlement activity, said that settlers were building new settlement units in various settlements in Salfit province.
He said that Ariel settlement was established in 1978 and is inhabited by 35,000 settlers including 12,000 students studying in Ariel University.
4 dec 2013
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) started building a new settlement in Mazra Gharbiya village to the north of Ramallah. Eyewitnesses told the PIC that IOA bulldozers were working for the past week in leveling Palestinian land in Wadi Al-Qara’a area, north of the village.
They said that the villagers were stunned at the site of mobile homes set up on that land on Tuesday.
Citizens told the PIC reporter that they own documents proving their ownership of the land, adding that the IOA had confiscated the land last month.
They said that Jewish settlers had started cultivating the land and paved routes for their motorbikes to facilitate their movement and attacks on villagers.
The IOA had declared intention to build thousands of settlement units in the West Bank despite the ongoing negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
Media sources, meanwhile, reported that US secretary of state John Kerry would visit the region on Wednesday and hold talks with PA chief Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Thursday in a bid to support the negotiations process between the PA and the IOA.
They said that the villagers were stunned at the site of mobile homes set up on that land on Tuesday.
Citizens told the PIC reporter that they own documents proving their ownership of the land, adding that the IOA had confiscated the land last month.
They said that Jewish settlers had started cultivating the land and paved routes for their motorbikes to facilitate their movement and attacks on villagers.
The IOA had declared intention to build thousands of settlement units in the West Bank despite the ongoing negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
Media sources, meanwhile, reported that US secretary of state John Kerry would visit the region on Wednesday and hold talks with PA chief Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Thursday in a bid to support the negotiations process between the PA and the IOA.
3 dec 2013
Israeli war minister Moshe Ya'alon approved during his last four months in office, the construction of 3,000 settlement units in the West Bank, according to data issued by his ministry. Israeli Haaretz newspaper, quoting a report for Peace Now, said on Tuesday that Ya'alon approved the construction of three thousand settlement units during the period between April and July of this year, adding that a large portion of these units will be established in settlements located in the center of the West Bank and outside the large settlement blocs.
"During that period, Ya'alon approved the construction of 386 housing units in Beit El settlement, 277 units in Elei Zahav, 290 units in the Har Ephraim neighborhood of Kedumim, 550 units in Talmon, and a total of 984 units in two areas of Givat Ze'ev," according to Haaretz.
Ya'alon also approved expanding the boundaries of the settlement of Shiloh, making further construction there possible, and a nature reserve was appended to the settlement of Negohot. The Civil Administration is now considering whether to change the definition of the area as a nature reserve, which would enable construction on the land.
Despite Israel's declarations that construction will be limited only to settlement blocs, many buildings have been built in the outposts adjacent to the separation wall.
According to information made available to Peace Now, Ehud Barak, the former war minister, had approved 6,200 new settlement units in the West Bank during his last four months in office, between November last year and until last March.
Haaretz said that Ya'alon, since taking office, has been organizing lots of tours in the settlements and their regional councils. He was described by the head the Regional Council of Gush Etzion as "the true friend of settlement."
Peace Now movement said in its report that Ya’alon has “become a rubber stamp of the Yesha Council of Settlements,” and despite the attempts to cover up many of the most controversial expansions "we have uncovered plans to build 9,000 settlement units."
"During that period, Ya'alon approved the construction of 386 housing units in Beit El settlement, 277 units in Elei Zahav, 290 units in the Har Ephraim neighborhood of Kedumim, 550 units in Talmon, and a total of 984 units in two areas of Givat Ze'ev," according to Haaretz.
Ya'alon also approved expanding the boundaries of the settlement of Shiloh, making further construction there possible, and a nature reserve was appended to the settlement of Negohot. The Civil Administration is now considering whether to change the definition of the area as a nature reserve, which would enable construction on the land.
Despite Israel's declarations that construction will be limited only to settlement blocs, many buildings have been built in the outposts adjacent to the separation wall.
According to information made available to Peace Now, Ehud Barak, the former war minister, had approved 6,200 new settlement units in the West Bank during his last four months in office, between November last year and until last March.
Haaretz said that Ya'alon, since taking office, has been organizing lots of tours in the settlements and their regional councils. He was described by the head the Regional Council of Gush Etzion as "the true friend of settlement."
Peace Now movement said in its report that Ya’alon has “become a rubber stamp of the Yesha Council of Settlements,” and despite the attempts to cover up many of the most controversial expansions "we have uncovered plans to build 9,000 settlement units."
2 dec 2013
The World Zionist Organization’s Settlement Division proposed a plan to establish new Jewish towns and expand rural communities in the central Galilee, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported Tuesday. The plan’s intention is to “achieve demographic balance with the area’s Arabs” according to the report.
According to a letter from the Settlement Division to Israeli planning firms, the plan’s objective is to bring 100,000 Jewish residents to the Galilee by offering houses that “will attract a stable Jewish population and create a meaningful demographic balance." The plan emphasized the construction of single-family homes instead of apartment buildings.
The Haaretz also said that the plan calls for the expansion of existing rural communities “beyond what the national master plan allows,” without indicating exactly what that means.
Chariman of the Tur'an Local Council, Imad Dahla, expressed his reasons for opposing the plan, explaining that one of the planned communities, Shibolet, would be constructed directly north of Tur'an, a predominantly Palestinian city in the northern 1948 occupied territories, preventing its future expansion.
Dahla explained, “To the east of us is a quarry that ruins our quality of life, to the north is the plan for Shibolet, to the west is a nature reserve and to the south they are laying a gas pipeline that blocks our economic development.” He added that the WZO’s letter had defined the plan as “an expression of Israeli sovereignty,” which Dahla said was a “racist expression,” according to Haaretz.
Salah Suleiman, chairman of the Bu’eine-Nujeidat Local Council, a town that would also be affected by Shibolet, said that the Israeli authorities should also invest in adjacent Palestinian communities. “Our situation is very bad,” Suleiman said. “I’m not against development, but there should be development for everyone.”
According to a letter from the Settlement Division to Israeli planning firms, the plan’s objective is to bring 100,000 Jewish residents to the Galilee by offering houses that “will attract a stable Jewish population and create a meaningful demographic balance." The plan emphasized the construction of single-family homes instead of apartment buildings.
The Haaretz also said that the plan calls for the expansion of existing rural communities “beyond what the national master plan allows,” without indicating exactly what that means.
Chariman of the Tur'an Local Council, Imad Dahla, expressed his reasons for opposing the plan, explaining that one of the planned communities, Shibolet, would be constructed directly north of Tur'an, a predominantly Palestinian city in the northern 1948 occupied territories, preventing its future expansion.
Dahla explained, “To the east of us is a quarry that ruins our quality of life, to the north is the plan for Shibolet, to the west is a nature reserve and to the south they are laying a gas pipeline that blocks our economic development.” He added that the WZO’s letter had defined the plan as “an expression of Israeli sovereignty,” which Dahla said was a “racist expression,” according to Haaretz.
Salah Suleiman, chairman of the Bu’eine-Nujeidat Local Council, a town that would also be affected by Shibolet, said that the Israeli authorities should also invest in adjacent Palestinian communities. “Our situation is very bad,” Suleiman said. “I’m not against development, but there should be development for everyone.”
The Hamas Movement called on the Palestinian people, the resistance factions and the political forces to confront and oppose Israel's Judaization and settlement activities in the Galilee region, north of the 1948 occupied lands. In a press release on Sunday, Hamas affirmed that the so-called world Zionist organization's settlement division, one of the Israeli government's executive arms, seeks to bring 100,000 new Jewish settlers to live in the central Galilee in order to create a demographic balance with the region's Arab population.
Hamas warned that there would be dire consequences for Israel's persistence in Judaizing the Palestinian land and displacing its natives.
Hamas stressed that the Israeli occupation exploits international silence, Arab and Islamic impotence and the Palestinian Authority's acquiescence to the peace process to carry out its Judaization and settlement plans in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Hamas also reiterated that it would never give up a single grain of the Palestinian land or accept any compromises in this regard, expressing its belief that Israel's Judaization plans would never succeed in imposing a fait accompli or erasing the identity of the Palestinian land.
"Our people in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jerusalem, the 1948 occupied lands, the Negev and the Galilee will rise up in defense of their land, holy sites and constants, and will remain steadfast on their land and faithful to the blood of the martyrs and the sacrifices of the prisoners," Hamas underscored.
Hamas warned that there would be dire consequences for Israel's persistence in Judaizing the Palestinian land and displacing its natives.
Hamas stressed that the Israeli occupation exploits international silence, Arab and Islamic impotence and the Palestinian Authority's acquiescence to the peace process to carry out its Judaization and settlement plans in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Hamas also reiterated that it would never give up a single grain of the Palestinian land or accept any compromises in this regard, expressing its belief that Israel's Judaization plans would never succeed in imposing a fait accompli or erasing the identity of the Palestinian land.
"Our people in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jerusalem, the 1948 occupied lands, the Negev and the Galilee will rise up in defense of their land, holy sites and constants, and will remain steadfast on their land and faithful to the blood of the martyrs and the sacrifices of the prisoners," Hamas underscored.
Arab Knesset member Ahmed Tibi said that the Israeli plan to build 20,000 settlement units in the West Bank and Jerusalem has never been frozen as the Israeli government had declared earlier to revive the peace talks with the Palestinian Authority. In a press release, Tibi cited as evidence that on the far right of an illustration of the plan on the Israeli housing ministry's website, there is a word in Hebrew referring that it is still "active" and not frozen.
"The tender remained on the housing ministry's website until November 28, which was its deadline, and was not deleted or withdrawn, and furthermore, many Jewish businessmen and companies submitted their tenders officially to the government, which makes everything declared by Netanyahu just an attempt to pool the wool over others' eyes," the Knesset member underlined.
Tibi's remarks vindicated further what Israeli minister of housing Uri Ariel, himself, had confirmed about two weeks ago that the planning procedures for the construction of thousands of settlement units in the West Bank were not suspended as the office of premier Benjamin Netanyahu claimed lately.
"There is no freeze on construction activities in the settlements of the West Bank and Jerusalem, even during the current negotiations with the Palestinians," Ariel told the Hebrew radio.
"The tender remained on the housing ministry's website until November 28, which was its deadline, and was not deleted or withdrawn, and furthermore, many Jewish businessmen and companies submitted their tenders officially to the government, which makes everything declared by Netanyahu just an attempt to pool the wool over others' eyes," the Knesset member underlined.
Tibi's remarks vindicated further what Israeli minister of housing Uri Ariel, himself, had confirmed about two weeks ago that the planning procedures for the construction of thousands of settlement units in the West Bank were not suspended as the office of premier Benjamin Netanyahu claimed lately.
"There is no freeze on construction activities in the settlements of the West Bank and Jerusalem, even during the current negotiations with the Palestinians," Ariel told the Hebrew radio.
29 nov 2013
Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reported an increase of 5.5% in settlement construction in the West Bank since the beginning of 2013 compared to the corresponding time frame in 2012, despite the fact that 2013 has witnessed a resumption of “peace” between Palestinian and Israeli authorities. About 32,290 construction sites for new housing units were erected this year across the occupied West Bank, Hebrew media said.
The number of settlement projects in the West Bank rose by nearly 130% compared to 2012, according to statistics released Thursday.
"I am delighted that construction starts exceeded predictions and erroneous statements in different media outlets," Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel said Thursday, stressing that his ministry planned to further increase building across the country in the coming year.
The number of settlement projects in the West Bank rose by nearly 130% compared to 2012, according to statistics released Thursday.
"I am delighted that construction starts exceeded predictions and erroneous statements in different media outlets," Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel said Thursday, stressing that his ministry planned to further increase building across the country in the coming year.
28 nov 2013
Israeli housing and construction minister Uri Ariel has vowed to continue building in occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank with full force. Ariel, who was laying down the foundation stone of an educational institute in Itamar settlement to the southeast of Nablus on Wednesday evening, said that most members of the Israeli cabinet are with him in his views.
The electronic website of Hebrew daily Ma’ariv quoted the minister as saying that he will endorse the construction of thousands of houses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).
Ariel had recently announced intention to build 24,000 housing units in Jerusalem and the West Bank but his premier Benjamin Netanyahu suspended the plan so as not to increase the isolation of Israel and affect negotiations with the Palestinians.
The electronic website of Hebrew daily Ma’ariv quoted the minister as saying that he will endorse the construction of thousands of houses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).
Ariel had recently announced intention to build 24,000 housing units in Jerusalem and the West Bank but his premier Benjamin Netanyahu suspended the plan so as not to increase the isolation of Israel and affect negotiations with the Palestinians.
27 nov 2013
Atiya Alaasm ,the head of Regional Council of Arab villages and the Supreme Arabs committee
Israel is working on applying two colonizing schemes in Negev south of occupied Palestine, Atiya Alaasm ,the head of Regional Council of Arab villages and the Supreme Arabs committee, said. He explained that Israel occupation undertook Prawer plan which will result in the destruction of more than 35 unrecognized villages in Al-Naqab and the forced expulsion and confinement of more than 70,000 Palestinian Bedouins. Israel will replace Bedouin villages with settlements units.
He noted that Israel plans to build 20 settlement units instead of Arab villages in Negev, " these schemes epitomizes the nature of Israel’s policy; Israeli-Jewish demographic expansion and Palestinian-Arab demographic containment," he said.
He went on saying that these plans go back to 1948, since when Israel applies several types of plans that all seeks to displace Palestinians from their homeland.
In 2012 Israel destroyed 1200 houses in Negev , and this number increased in 2013.
Injustice, humiliation and forced displacement are a recurring theme in Palestine’s history. "Palestinian people will oppose, resist and work against the continuous assault that our communities, across Palestine face'" Alaasm said.
Israel is working on applying two colonizing schemes in Negev south of occupied Palestine, Atiya Alaasm ,the head of Regional Council of Arab villages and the Supreme Arabs committee, said. He explained that Israel occupation undertook Prawer plan which will result in the destruction of more than 35 unrecognized villages in Al-Naqab and the forced expulsion and confinement of more than 70,000 Palestinian Bedouins. Israel will replace Bedouin villages with settlements units.
He noted that Israel plans to build 20 settlement units instead of Arab villages in Negev, " these schemes epitomizes the nature of Israel’s policy; Israeli-Jewish demographic expansion and Palestinian-Arab demographic containment," he said.
He went on saying that these plans go back to 1948, since when Israel applies several types of plans that all seeks to displace Palestinians from their homeland.
In 2012 Israel destroyed 1200 houses in Negev , and this number increased in 2013.
Injustice, humiliation and forced displacement are a recurring theme in Palestine’s history. "Palestinian people will oppose, resist and work against the continuous assault that our communities, across Palestine face'" Alaasm said.
25 nov 2013
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Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) have approved recently the construction of 800 new settler units in several illegal settlements in occupied West Bank, Hebrew media sources revealed Monday. The construction of 800 homes has been approved by the so called Civil Administration, thirty percent of the new units will be built in Novi Prat, a suburb of the Maale Adumim settlement, Israeli daily Haaretz has reported.
As many as 94 new units will be installed in the Salit outpost in the Jordan Valley and another 30 in the Shilo settlement, the Hebrew paper reported. Meanwhile, the IOA continued construction work for the expansion of Atnaúal settlement built on Palestinian lands in al-Khalil. |
Eyewitnesses confirmed that the IOF escalated construction work for number of settlement units in Atnaúal settlement established at the expense of Palestinian villages in al-Khalil.
It should be mentioned that 840 settlement units have been approved in al-Khalil, most of which were already established in different parts of Al-Khalil province.
It should be mentioned that 840 settlement units have been approved in al-Khalil, most of which were already established in different parts of Al-Khalil province.
23 nov 2013
Hebrew media sources revealed that the Israeli Ministry of Housing and the Land Authority published tenders to build about 300 new settlement units in the Jewish neighborhood of Gilo, built on Palestinian lands south of occupied Jerusalem. Kol Ha'ir Newspaper said the applicants for tenders are scheduled to hold a tour in the region on December 17 to see the space allocated for the construction.
The paper quoted officials in the Israel Land Authority as saying that the construction operations, which will include residential units and parking lots, will take place in five different regions near Gilo on an area of more than 40 thousand square meters.
It added that the average minimum of these tenders will be around 2.5 million U.S. dollars.
The paper quoted officials in the Israel Land Authority as saying that the construction operations, which will include residential units and parking lots, will take place in five different regions near Gilo on an area of more than 40 thousand square meters.
It added that the average minimum of these tenders will be around 2.5 million U.S. dollars.
21 nov 2013
Israeli Soldiers invaded on Thursday morning [November 21, 2013] the Deerat village, east of Yatta in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and illegally confiscated seven Dunams of Palestinian lands in order to pave a road for Jewish settlers.
Coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Hebron Rateb Jabour stated that the army carried maps showing the new planned settler-only road that would split the village and lead to the destruction of several houses.
Jabour added that the homes are part of the village, but Israel considers them to be out of the zoning area.
The road would lead to the illegal annexation of thousands of Dunams of Palestinian lands in the region.
Also on Thursday, soldiers kidnapped Mohannad Al-Mohtaseb, 17 years of age, from the Old City of Hebron.
Coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Hebron Rateb Jabour stated that the army carried maps showing the new planned settler-only road that would split the village and lead to the destruction of several houses.
Jabour added that the homes are part of the village, but Israel considers them to be out of the zoning area.
The road would lead to the illegal annexation of thousands of Dunams of Palestinian lands in the region.
Also on Thursday, soldiers kidnapped Mohannad Al-Mohtaseb, 17 years of age, from the Old City of Hebron.
20 nov 2013
Minister of Justice in Gaza Mohammed Abul Sabh has affirmed that the Palestinian refugees’ right of return to their homeland was inalienable and none could surrender it. Abul Sabh was speaking on Wednesday in response to French president Francois Hollande’s statement that the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah could give up the right of return.
He said that the right of return was guaranteed by the international law, adding that the 13th article of the international declaration of human rights stipulates:
“Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”
The minister said that the right of return is the individual and collective right of more than six million Palestinian refugees who were displaced by occupation.
He underlined that the right of return is “a national, sacred right” according to the international law and the international declaration of human rights that was issued on 10th December 1948.
Abul Sabh said that RoR was not for bargaining or negotiations and could not be surrendered or replaced or amended.
Hollande revealed in statements published by Hebrew daily Ha’aretz that the PA leadership had displayed flexibility regarding RoR in return for its demand of halting Israeli settlement activity.
He said that the right of return was guaranteed by the international law, adding that the 13th article of the international declaration of human rights stipulates:
“Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”
The minister said that the right of return is the individual and collective right of more than six million Palestinian refugees who were displaced by occupation.
He underlined that the right of return is “a national, sacred right” according to the international law and the international declaration of human rights that was issued on 10th December 1948.
Abul Sabh said that RoR was not for bargaining or negotiations and could not be surrendered or replaced or amended.
Hollande revealed in statements published by Hebrew daily Ha’aretz that the PA leadership had displayed flexibility regarding RoR in return for its demand of halting Israeli settlement activity.
18 nov 2013
IOA allows expansion of settlements without announcing it
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) allowed the continuation of building more housing units and expansion of settlements south of Al-Khalil without announcing it. Ratib Jabour, the coordinator of popular committees against the wall in Yatta to the south of Al-Khalil, told the PIC on Monday that construction works in four settlements near Yatta did not stop over the past few days.
He said that trucks loaded with construction materials were seen entering those settlements while new housing units were being built.
The activist said that more Palestinian land lots were confiscated in the area to allow room for the new expansion, adding that bulldozing those lands and building over them was progressing without announcement.
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) allowed the continuation of building more housing units and expansion of settlements south of Al-Khalil without announcing it. Ratib Jabour, the coordinator of popular committees against the wall in Yatta to the south of Al-Khalil, told the PIC on Monday that construction works in four settlements near Yatta did not stop over the past few days.
He said that trucks loaded with construction materials were seen entering those settlements while new housing units were being built.
The activist said that more Palestinian land lots were confiscated in the area to allow room for the new expansion, adding that bulldozing those lands and building over them was progressing without announcement.
