26 apr 2016
The committee of sit-inners in Occupied Jerusalem warned on Monday of the seriousness of the Israeli settlement project to build 1,690 new housing units over Qalandya town’s confiscated lands in Occupied Jerusalem.
Yousuf Mekhaimer, head of the committee, said in a statement that this project is a huge, old project dating back to the 1990s for the establishment of a settlement wall before the current Separation Wall.
Mekhaimer demanded the Israeli government to halt its aggressive policies against Occupied Jerusalem and its people especially the policy of Judaization of the holy city.
He also asked the UN to intervene to stop this project since settlement runs contrary to all international laws.
Yousuf Mekhaimer, head of the committee, said in a statement that this project is a huge, old project dating back to the 1990s for the establishment of a settlement wall before the current Separation Wall.
Mekhaimer demanded the Israeli government to halt its aggressive policies against Occupied Jerusalem and its people especially the policy of Judaization of the holy city.
He also asked the UN to intervene to stop this project since settlement runs contrary to all international laws.
25 apr 2016
Israeli Occupation Authority (IOA) banned Palestinian owners of quarries in Salfit governorate from taking out red stones, which are referred to as “red petrol”, in order to pave way for the expansion of Ariel settlement.
Many of the owners complained about heavy losses due to the ban order of taking valuable stones under the pretext that the quarries are located in the Israeli-controlled C area.
Researcher Khaled Maali revealed that the IOA confiscated, in a previous measure, the owners’ digging equipment and that it has been refusing to issue permits for quarries in the West Bank.
Maali told the PIC reporter that the IOA, however, issued 11 permits for settlers’ quarries in the area between 2009 and 2014. 500 dunums were confiscated for this regard.
The international Bank in 2013 revealed that the Israeli restrictions on Area C costs the Palestinian economy with a sum estimated at $3.4 billion annually which equals 33% of the Palestinian total local production.
Many of the owners complained about heavy losses due to the ban order of taking valuable stones under the pretext that the quarries are located in the Israeli-controlled C area.
Researcher Khaled Maali revealed that the IOA confiscated, in a previous measure, the owners’ digging equipment and that it has been refusing to issue permits for quarries in the West Bank.
Maali told the PIC reporter that the IOA, however, issued 11 permits for settlers’ quarries in the area between 2009 and 2014. 500 dunums were confiscated for this regard.
The international Bank in 2013 revealed that the Israeli restrictions on Area C costs the Palestinian economy with a sum estimated at $3.4 billion annually which equals 33% of the Palestinian total local production.
24 apr 2016
The Israeli ministry of housing said that Israeli settler groups had submitted requests for the development of plots of land behind the separation wall in the West Bank.
According to Israeli news report, the housing ministry would launch a project to build 1,690 housing and industrial units on these lands.
17 million shekels have been earmarked by the Israeli government for the development of these lands in Qalandiya province and Atarot industrial zone, north of Jerusalem.
Specialist in settlement affairs Khalil Tufkaji told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that this project is one of the biggest and oldest Israeli settlement plans in the archive rooms of the Israeli government.
Tufkaji warned that this project would devour entire neighborhoods and areas behind and inside the separation wall and would reshape the map of the northern border of Jerusalem.
According to Israeli news report, the housing ministry would launch a project to build 1,690 housing and industrial units on these lands.
17 million shekels have been earmarked by the Israeli government for the development of these lands in Qalandiya province and Atarot industrial zone, north of Jerusalem.
Specialist in settlement affairs Khalil Tufkaji told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that this project is one of the biggest and oldest Israeli settlement plans in the archive rooms of the Israeli government.
Tufkaji warned that this project would devour entire neighborhoods and areas behind and inside the separation wall and would reshape the map of the northern border of Jerusalem.
23 apr 2016
The Israeli authorities on Saturday delivered notices to the Palestinian village of Jalud in the northern occupied West Bank, alerting residents that 5,000 dunams (1,250 acres) of private land were slated for confiscation in what appeared to be the retroactive legalization of illegal outposts in the area.
Officials from Jalud’s local council told Ma’an that the military identified areas of the Palestinian village expected to lose land to the confiscation as Khallat al-Wusta, Shieb Khallat al-Wusta, and Abu al-Kasbar.
However, the illegal outposts of Adei Ad, Esh Kodesh, Ahiya, and Kidah have already been established in the areas, marking the confiscation as Israel’s most recent retroactive legalization of unauthorized settlement construction.
Israel’s High Court of Justice last year declared its intention to retroactively formalize the string of outposts, established in violation of both Israeli and international law, according to the UN.
Jalud officials told Ma’an that the notice delivered to the Nablus-area village was signed by Israeli army’s head of Central Command Roni Numa, who said he believed “certain steps are needed to prevent terror attacks” and he as a result gave orders to confiscate the land “for security reasons.”
The land will be declared as “state land” and fall under full control of the Israeli military, the officials added.
A spokesperson for Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) was not immediately available for comment on the confiscation notice.
A PA official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, Ghassan Daghlas, told Ma’an that confiscation orders like those delivered to Jalud aim solely to expand illegal settlements, despite citing alleged security concerns.
“Security reasons are just a tool to cover up land robberies for settlement construction,” Daghlas said.
Daghlas warned that the retroactive confiscation would pave the way for continuing settlement expansion in the area, ultimately connecting the illegal outposts with the adjacent Shilo settlement via Alon Road, a bypass highway intended only for Israeli settler and military use.
Daghlas told Ma’an that Jalud’s local council had filed complaints to Israel’s High Court against settlement activity on their private land, which settlers have taken over and harvested illegally after the Israeli army designated the areas as closed military zones.
Some 12 illegal settlements and 27 settlement outposts are located in the Nablus district housing around 23,000 of the "most extremist settlers in the Palestinian territory," according to Daghlas.
The UN in January warned the Israeli authorities against legalizing the four outposts near Jalud, which have been widely acknowledged by the international community and Israel itself as a hotbed for both unlawful settlement activity and settler violence, coming as a detriment to Palestinian locals.
Outside of the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, Palestinians living in the area have been forced to implement voluntary night guards in order to protect against settler attacks launched by outpost residents.
Israel has recently stepped up land confiscation in the occupied West Bank, with settlement watchdog Peace Now last month warning that Israel has not confiscated such large swathes of land for the purpose of settlement expansion since the pre-Oslo period in the 1980s.
Following Israel’s confiscation of land south of Jericho last month, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said the "systematic land grab" constituted "a flagrant violation of international law."
"The Israeli government is not interested in peace," Hamdallah said. "It rather implement(s) a policy designed to prevent the formation of a contiguous Palestinian state."
Officials from Jalud’s local council told Ma’an that the military identified areas of the Palestinian village expected to lose land to the confiscation as Khallat al-Wusta, Shieb Khallat al-Wusta, and Abu al-Kasbar.
However, the illegal outposts of Adei Ad, Esh Kodesh, Ahiya, and Kidah have already been established in the areas, marking the confiscation as Israel’s most recent retroactive legalization of unauthorized settlement construction.
Israel’s High Court of Justice last year declared its intention to retroactively formalize the string of outposts, established in violation of both Israeli and international law, according to the UN.
Jalud officials told Ma’an that the notice delivered to the Nablus-area village was signed by Israeli army’s head of Central Command Roni Numa, who said he believed “certain steps are needed to prevent terror attacks” and he as a result gave orders to confiscate the land “for security reasons.”
The land will be declared as “state land” and fall under full control of the Israeli military, the officials added.
A spokesperson for Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) was not immediately available for comment on the confiscation notice.
A PA official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, Ghassan Daghlas, told Ma’an that confiscation orders like those delivered to Jalud aim solely to expand illegal settlements, despite citing alleged security concerns.
“Security reasons are just a tool to cover up land robberies for settlement construction,” Daghlas said.
Daghlas warned that the retroactive confiscation would pave the way for continuing settlement expansion in the area, ultimately connecting the illegal outposts with the adjacent Shilo settlement via Alon Road, a bypass highway intended only for Israeli settler and military use.
Daghlas told Ma’an that Jalud’s local council had filed complaints to Israel’s High Court against settlement activity on their private land, which settlers have taken over and harvested illegally after the Israeli army designated the areas as closed military zones.
Some 12 illegal settlements and 27 settlement outposts are located in the Nablus district housing around 23,000 of the "most extremist settlers in the Palestinian territory," according to Daghlas.
The UN in January warned the Israeli authorities against legalizing the four outposts near Jalud, which have been widely acknowledged by the international community and Israel itself as a hotbed for both unlawful settlement activity and settler violence, coming as a detriment to Palestinian locals.
Outside of the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, Palestinians living in the area have been forced to implement voluntary night guards in order to protect against settler attacks launched by outpost residents.
Israel has recently stepped up land confiscation in the occupied West Bank, with settlement watchdog Peace Now last month warning that Israel has not confiscated such large swathes of land for the purpose of settlement expansion since the pre-Oslo period in the 1980s.
Following Israel’s confiscation of land south of Jericho last month, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said the "systematic land grab" constituted "a flagrant violation of international law."
"The Israeli government is not interested in peace," Hamdallah said. "It rather implement(s) a policy designed to prevent the formation of a contiguous Palestinian state."
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has declared it decided to officially halt its attempt to extract a resolution from the UN Security Council condemning Israel's settlement construction in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
The PA has taken this step at the behest of France that intends to hold a peace conference soon this summer. Palestinian foreign minister Riyadh al-Maliki stated that the PA would not push for a resolution at the UN SC against settlement construction in order to give a chance for the French peace conference initiative.
Maliki made his remarks on Friday in New York during president Mahmoud Abbas's visit to the UN headquarters.
The PA has taken this step at the behest of France that intends to hold a peace conference soon this summer. Palestinian foreign minister Riyadh al-Maliki stated that the PA would not push for a resolution at the UN SC against settlement construction in order to give a chance for the French peace conference initiative.
Maliki made his remarks on Friday in New York during president Mahmoud Abbas's visit to the UN headquarters.
An Israeli newspaper has revealed there are 415 new housing units being constructed in four settlements in Occupied Jerusalem.
According to the Hebrew weekly newspaper Kol Ha'ir, Euro-Israel company is embarking on building 24 housing units on eight plots of lands in Pisgat Ze'ev settlement north of Jerusalem.
Another construction company called Dona is building 72 housing units in Modi'in Illit settlement north of Jerusalem.
Construction of two six-story buildings, containing 72 units, and 13 five-story buildings, containing 180 units, are also underway in Har Homa settlement, east Jerusalem.
Furthermore, preparations are being made to build 53 units in Pisgah Park project in Pisgat Ze'ev settlement, and there are 14 others being built now in another project in Ma'ale Adumim.
According to the Hebrew weekly newspaper Kol Ha'ir, Euro-Israel company is embarking on building 24 housing units on eight plots of lands in Pisgat Ze'ev settlement north of Jerusalem.
Another construction company called Dona is building 72 housing units in Modi'in Illit settlement north of Jerusalem.
Construction of two six-story buildings, containing 72 units, and 13 five-story buildings, containing 180 units, are also underway in Har Homa settlement, east Jerusalem.
Furthermore, preparations are being made to build 53 units in Pisgah Park project in Pisgat Ze'ev settlement, and there are 14 others being built now in another project in Ma'ale Adumim.
Israeli settlers of Ariel illegal settlement continue to bury their dead in a Palestinian-owned land in Salfit, Palestinian locals revealed.
Local activist Khaled Maali affirmed that Israeli settlers established a Jewish cemetery at the expense of Palestinian private lands owned by Shaheen, Shtayyeh, and Bani Nimra families.
Some settlers refused to bury their dead in the cemetery for fear of any possible evacuation.
Maali pointed out that Ariel settlement, university, and cemetery are all illegal facilities under international law as they were built on Palestinian occupied lands.
Local activist Khaled Maali affirmed that Israeli settlers established a Jewish cemetery at the expense of Palestinian private lands owned by Shaheen, Shtayyeh, and Bani Nimra families.
Some settlers refused to bury their dead in the cemetery for fear of any possible evacuation.
Maali pointed out that Ariel settlement, university, and cemetery are all illegal facilities under international law as they were built on Palestinian occupied lands.
21 apr 2016
Israel is gradually walling off further parts of its northern borders, claiming the fence is being pitched for fear of imminent threats from Lebanon.
Israel’s Channel 2 news showed sections of concrete wall being installed near to Misgav Am, a border settler community in the Upper Galilee.
According to Channel 2, reports have been recently released on large scale operations along the borders with Lebanon.
It noted that a project to bolster the border area had been underway for some time and that a similar project is set to kick off sometime soon to fence off the Metulla area.
Over recent days, the Israeli army has held military drills in anticipation of possible infiltration from Lebanon via the northern borders.
Israel’s Channel 2 news showed sections of concrete wall being installed near to Misgav Am, a border settler community in the Upper Galilee.
According to Channel 2, reports have been recently released on large scale operations along the borders with Lebanon.
It noted that a project to bolster the border area had been underway for some time and that a similar project is set to kick off sometime soon to fence off the Metulla area.
Over recent days, the Israeli army has held military drills in anticipation of possible infiltration from Lebanon via the northern borders.
20 apr 2016
The Franch government have pressured the Palestinian Authority (PA) to suspend its effort to extract a UN resolution condemning Israel's settlement construction activities in the West Bank and Jerusalem, Haaretz newspaper said Wednesday.
According to top Palestinian and Israeli officials, the French government fears that such a resolution could scuttle the peace conference it is attempting to organize this summer, and is therefore leaning on the Palestinians to freeze their new anti-settlement move at the UN Security Council.
Haaretz newspaper pointed out that other countries, including Egypt and Jordan, supported the French position in this regard.
As a result, the PA is seemingly mulling over suspending its anti-settlement bid at the Security Council to please the French side. "The opportunity to go to the Security Council will always be there and we want to give a chance to the French initiative because, in the end, this is an initiative that serves us and not one that hurts us," a PA official told Haaretz on condition of anonymity.
This development reportedly emerged during a meeting in Paris on Friday between French president Francois Hollande and PA president Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas is said to be fully supporting the French peace initiative.
According to top Palestinian and Israeli officials, the French government fears that such a resolution could scuttle the peace conference it is attempting to organize this summer, and is therefore leaning on the Palestinians to freeze their new anti-settlement move at the UN Security Council.
Haaretz newspaper pointed out that other countries, including Egypt and Jordan, supported the French position in this regard.
As a result, the PA is seemingly mulling over suspending its anti-settlement bid at the Security Council to please the French side. "The opportunity to go to the Security Council will always be there and we want to give a chance to the French initiative because, in the end, this is an initiative that serves us and not one that hurts us," a PA official told Haaretz on condition of anonymity.
This development reportedly emerged during a meeting in Paris on Friday between French president Francois Hollande and PA president Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas is said to be fully supporting the French peace initiative.
19 apr 2016
On Tuesday, Tax Day, activists delivered a petition with more than 5,000 signatures to IRS offices across the United States demanding the tax-exempt status of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) be revoked due to its role in displacing Palestinians and supporting illegal Israeli settlements.
The petition was delivered to offices in Oakland, San Francisco, Chicago, and Minneapolis. A delegation in Washington, DC attempted to make a delivery to the IRS Building but was turned away.
Founded in 1901, the JNF is a quasi-governmental Israeli agency that has played a major role in the dispossession of the Palestinians people, planting forests to help cover the reality of the more than 400 Palestinian towns and villages destroyed when Israel was created in 1948. Today the JNF continues to play an important role in the dispossession of Palestinians in both Israel and the occupied territories.
“We wanted to use the occasion of Tax Day to highlight how U.S. taxpayers are contributing to Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians through the JNF being a tax-exempt organization. It is completely unacceptable that an organization engaging in war crimes is considered to be a charity in the United States,” said Ramah Kudaimi of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.
“I am an American Jew and as such am very familiar with the little blue JNF boxes found in many Jewish households. Our families and synagogues encouraged putting change in these boxes, which, when filled would be donated to the JNF to ’Plant a Tree’ in Israel and ‘make the desert bloom,’” wrote Sylvia Schwarz in a piece published by The Hill. “Hidden from us amid the rhetoric of making the desert bloom was the reality of ethnic cleansing.”
The petition was launched on March 30, Palestinian Land Day, which commemorates the day in 1976 when Israeli troops killed six Palestinian citizens of Israel who were peacefully protesting the appropriation of their land. On that same day the National Lawyer’s Guild (NLG) submitted a regulatory challenge and accompanying legal complaint [PDF] to the IRS requesting an investigation into the charitable status of the JNF on grounds of discrimination and contravention of U.S. policy.
These actions targeting the IRS are part of a larger international Stop the JNF Campaign that seeks to end the JNF’s role in Israel’s continuing displacement of Palestinians and is connected to the growing boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement in support of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice, and equality.
“For nearly 70 years Palestinians have been resisting Israel’s continued theft of our land,” said Nick Sous of the US Palestinian Community Network. “So many Palestinians have been directly impacted by Israel’s stealing their land with the support of the JNF and it is shameful that the IRS actually awards people who donate to support these illegal actions by allowing them to get a tax write-off.”
– See more at: http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=4739#sthash.c85VRzH8.dpuf
The petition was delivered to offices in Oakland, San Francisco, Chicago, and Minneapolis. A delegation in Washington, DC attempted to make a delivery to the IRS Building but was turned away.
Founded in 1901, the JNF is a quasi-governmental Israeli agency that has played a major role in the dispossession of the Palestinians people, planting forests to help cover the reality of the more than 400 Palestinian towns and villages destroyed when Israel was created in 1948. Today the JNF continues to play an important role in the dispossession of Palestinians in both Israel and the occupied territories.
“We wanted to use the occasion of Tax Day to highlight how U.S. taxpayers are contributing to Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians through the JNF being a tax-exempt organization. It is completely unacceptable that an organization engaging in war crimes is considered to be a charity in the United States,” said Ramah Kudaimi of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.
“I am an American Jew and as such am very familiar with the little blue JNF boxes found in many Jewish households. Our families and synagogues encouraged putting change in these boxes, which, when filled would be donated to the JNF to ’Plant a Tree’ in Israel and ‘make the desert bloom,’” wrote Sylvia Schwarz in a piece published by The Hill. “Hidden from us amid the rhetoric of making the desert bloom was the reality of ethnic cleansing.”
The petition was launched on March 30, Palestinian Land Day, which commemorates the day in 1976 when Israeli troops killed six Palestinian citizens of Israel who were peacefully protesting the appropriation of their land. On that same day the National Lawyer’s Guild (NLG) submitted a regulatory challenge and accompanying legal complaint [PDF] to the IRS requesting an investigation into the charitable status of the JNF on grounds of discrimination and contravention of U.S. policy.
These actions targeting the IRS are part of a larger international Stop the JNF Campaign that seeks to end the JNF’s role in Israel’s continuing displacement of Palestinians and is connected to the growing boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement in support of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice, and equality.
“For nearly 70 years Palestinians have been resisting Israel’s continued theft of our land,” said Nick Sous of the US Palestinian Community Network. “So many Palestinians have been directly impacted by Israel’s stealing their land with the support of the JNF and it is shameful that the IRS actually awards people who donate to support these illegal actions by allowing them to get a tax write-off.”
– See more at: http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=4739#sthash.c85VRzH8.dpuf
18 apr 2016
A Palestinian official report charged the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war minister Moshe Ya'alon of endorsing a decision to construct hundreds of new settlement units in the West Bank.
The national office for the defense of land and resistance of settlement said in its weekly report on Saturday that the new settlement construction plans included 299 housing units to be built in the northern West Bank and Occupied Jerusalem.
The plans also included expanding settlements and evacuating 96 mobile homes. The report pointed out that the construction of 903 settlement units have been endorsed since the beginning of the year until the end of March.
Israeli occupation authorities, meanwhile, informed the Palestinian civil liaison about the decision of confiscating 2400 dunums of Salfit lands at the pretext of being classified as state property.
The report pointed to another Israeli decision preventing Palestinians from constructing housing projects in some neighborhoods in Occupied Jerusalem while, at the same time, endorsed Israeli settlement housing projects in the same areas.
The national office for the defense of land and resistance of settlement said in its weekly report on Saturday that the new settlement construction plans included 299 housing units to be built in the northern West Bank and Occupied Jerusalem.
The plans also included expanding settlements and evacuating 96 mobile homes. The report pointed out that the construction of 903 settlement units have been endorsed since the beginning of the year until the end of March.
Israeli occupation authorities, meanwhile, informed the Palestinian civil liaison about the decision of confiscating 2400 dunums of Salfit lands at the pretext of being classified as state property.
The report pointed to another Israeli decision preventing Palestinians from constructing housing projects in some neighborhoods in Occupied Jerusalem while, at the same time, endorsed Israeli settlement housing projects in the same areas.