30 jan 2012
Israel endorses construction plans in 70 West Bank settlements
The Israeli government has endorsed plans to construct more houses in 70 settlements distributed in various West Bank areas, the Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post said on Monday.
It said that 57 of those settlements were outside the separation wall, adding that the premier’s office had published in a list the names of 557 settlements supported by the government.
The paper said that the office did not mention any restrictions on building in those settlements.
The chairman of the Jordan Valley settlements council expressed pleasure that his settlements were enlisted in this list, adding that he was ready to build 150 new houses.
It said that 57 of those settlements were outside the separation wall, adding that the premier’s office had published in a list the names of 557 settlements supported by the government.
The paper said that the office did not mention any restrictions on building in those settlements.
The chairman of the Jordan Valley settlements council expressed pleasure that his settlements were enlisted in this list, adding that he was ready to build 150 new houses.
29 jan 2012
Center: Israel expanding south Hebron settlement
Israeli soldiers stand guard, as the bulldozer clears the ground next to the Israeli settlement Karmel, south of the West Bank city of Hebron.
The Land Research Center said on Sunday that the Israel is expanding the Karmel settlement in south Hebron.
Israeli forces have started digging on 10 dunams of the land to the south of the settlement, the center says.
The report added that the land belongs to the al-Hathalin family in Um al-Kher village, which lies just a few meters from the Israeli settlement.
The Land Research Center said on Sunday that the Israel is expanding the Karmel settlement in south Hebron.
Israeli forces have started digging on 10 dunams of the land to the south of the settlement, the center says.
The report added that the land belongs to the al-Hathalin family in Um al-Kher village, which lies just a few meters from the Israeli settlement.
Israel plans Eilat-Ashdod rail to take Suez overflow
By Dan Williams
Israel said on Sunday it plans to build a railway line linking its Red Sea and Mediterranean ports that could handle potential overflow from the Suez Canal on the freight route between Asia and Europe.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet the idea of ships dropping off goods in one port to be picked up by a second ship at the other, had stirred "great interest" from major exporters India and China.
The project has yet to receive final approval or secure funding. Israel has not issued any cargo volume projections for the proposed electrified railway that would run 350 km from Eilat, on the Red Sea, to Ashdod, on the Mediterranean some 30 km south of Tel Aviv.
"Laying this line thus has strategic importance, both national and international," Netanyahu said in public remarks at the opening of a cabinet discussion on the project.
Israeli officials rebuffed any suggestion the railway plan came in response to political turmoil in Egypt and the rise of Islamist parties, though Israel has quietly been preparing for the possible erosion of its landmark peace accord with the neighboring Arab power.
One official told Reuters the railway was a safeguard against the Suez proving incapable of handling surging maritime trade. The canal handled 8 percent of global seaborne traffic in 2009, Egyptian authorities say.
"There is going to be a lot of pressure on the Suez, and the idea here is to find an insurance should the canal not be able to deal with the volume," the official said.
Asked if the Israeli project might bite into Egyptian revenues from tariffs to sail the Suez, the official said: "We do not in any way intend to do anything of the sort."
'Internal affair'
Samech Nabil, consul-general for the Egyptian embassy in Israel, said it would be premature to comment on the planned rail link, given the project's preliminary nature.
"I think this is purely an internal issue," Nabil told Reuters.
A year after an Egyptian uprising that toppled US-aligned President Hosni Mubarak, Israelis fret at the rise of Islamist politicians in Cairo who firmly back the Palestinians and resent ties with the Jewish state.
Both countries have sought to play down any threat to their landmark 1979 peace accord in public and Israeli ships - including naval vessels - have continued to sail through the canal.
Oded Eran, a retired Israeli diplomat who is now senior research fellow at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, said global traders were increasingly looking at overland transport alternatives to sea routes.
"Going through Suez costs a lot of money in demurrage," he said, describing the time-consuming process of ships obtaining permission to enter the canal and transiting.
Israeli media projected the train line would cost around $2 billion to build. Its Transport Ministry said it was seeking a Chinese company to build it and estimated it would take up to five years to complete.
Israel is heavily dependent on imports, especially for energy, and is wary of any potential threat to supplies. It launched the 1967 war after Egypt blockaded the Strait of Tiran between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, cutting off Eilat.
Eran doubted Egypt would again threaten Israeli shipping, and said he believed assurances by the Netanyahu government that the railway would be primarily a commercial, rather than a security, asset.
Israeli officials linked the project to wider efforts to vitalize Israel's southern desert regions, including a pipeline between Eilat and Ashdod which is envisaged will pump natural gas from Mediterranean platforms for export through the Red Sea.
Israel said on Sunday it plans to build a railway line linking its Red Sea and Mediterranean ports that could handle potential overflow from the Suez Canal on the freight route between Asia and Europe.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet the idea of ships dropping off goods in one port to be picked up by a second ship at the other, had stirred "great interest" from major exporters India and China.
The project has yet to receive final approval or secure funding. Israel has not issued any cargo volume projections for the proposed electrified railway that would run 350 km from Eilat, on the Red Sea, to Ashdod, on the Mediterranean some 30 km south of Tel Aviv.
"Laying this line thus has strategic importance, both national and international," Netanyahu said in public remarks at the opening of a cabinet discussion on the project.
Israeli officials rebuffed any suggestion the railway plan came in response to political turmoil in Egypt and the rise of Islamist parties, though Israel has quietly been preparing for the possible erosion of its landmark peace accord with the neighboring Arab power.
One official told Reuters the railway was a safeguard against the Suez proving incapable of handling surging maritime trade. The canal handled 8 percent of global seaborne traffic in 2009, Egyptian authorities say.
"There is going to be a lot of pressure on the Suez, and the idea here is to find an insurance should the canal not be able to deal with the volume," the official said.
Asked if the Israeli project might bite into Egyptian revenues from tariffs to sail the Suez, the official said: "We do not in any way intend to do anything of the sort."
'Internal affair'
Samech Nabil, consul-general for the Egyptian embassy in Israel, said it would be premature to comment on the planned rail link, given the project's preliminary nature.
"I think this is purely an internal issue," Nabil told Reuters.
A year after an Egyptian uprising that toppled US-aligned President Hosni Mubarak, Israelis fret at the rise of Islamist politicians in Cairo who firmly back the Palestinians and resent ties with the Jewish state.
Both countries have sought to play down any threat to their landmark 1979 peace accord in public and Israeli ships - including naval vessels - have continued to sail through the canal.
Oded Eran, a retired Israeli diplomat who is now senior research fellow at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, said global traders were increasingly looking at overland transport alternatives to sea routes.
"Going through Suez costs a lot of money in demurrage," he said, describing the time-consuming process of ships obtaining permission to enter the canal and transiting.
Israeli media projected the train line would cost around $2 billion to build. Its Transport Ministry said it was seeking a Chinese company to build it and estimated it would take up to five years to complete.
Israel is heavily dependent on imports, especially for energy, and is wary of any potential threat to supplies. It launched the 1967 war after Egypt blockaded the Strait of Tiran between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, cutting off Eilat.
Eran doubted Egypt would again threaten Israeli shipping, and said he believed assurances by the Netanyahu government that the railway would be primarily a commercial, rather than a security, asset.
Israeli officials linked the project to wider efforts to vitalize Israel's southern desert regions, including a pipeline between Eilat and Ashdod which is envisaged will pump natural gas from Mediterranean platforms for export through the Red Sea.
27 jan 2012
International Media Complicit in Legitimization of Israeli Settlements
By Alessandra Bajec
Unbelievable, but true: over 70 journalists from international mainstream media took part in a tour through Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank last Thursday 19th.
Israel national news source Arutz Sheva reported the news the next day, referring to a tour in Samaria joined by the foreign media, guests of the Head of the Samaria Regional Council Gershon Mesika and the Minister of Information and Diaspora Yuli Edelstein.
Participants included journalists from well known media outlets such as the British Guardian, the Reuters news agency, as well as reporters from France, Poland, China, Germany, South America, the United States, Radio London and several TV stations from Russia.
The visitors were toured around communities, industry, agriculture and wineries in Samaria. Some of the stops in the itinerary were the Lipski factor, Mount Gerizim, the community of Itamar, and the Givot Olam farm.
It was the largest visit by reporters and senior foreign journalists in the region, as the Israeli newswire proudly claimed.
What calls immediate attention is the very fact that a (large) delegation of international media professionals went on a tour around Israeli settlements, all deemed illegal under international law. In other words, a host of media people, from the same countries that condemn illegal settlements in occupied Palestine, partook in something that essentially breaks international law.
If one needs a reminder, for the umpteenth time, of what settlements constitute, the International Court of Justice ruled in July 2004: "Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, are illegal and an obstacle to peace and to economic and social development [... and] have been established in breach of international law."
And again, Article 49, paragraph 6 of the Fourth Geneva Convention stipulates: "the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies".
Among the journalists who participated in the tour through settlements was US radio host Lars Larson, who had also attended a Knesset session on public diplomacy and international media earlier during the week.
Larson comfortably stated that visiting 'Judea and Samaria' (Israeli settlements located in these regions, to be accurate) is "not too controversial". This is of little surprise when Larson's openly declared fondness for Israel becomes obvious: "It's my fourth trip to Israel. I love this country," he noted, "This is the only foreign country I've brought my radio show to.", Arutz Sheva quoted the US radio host.
Unsurprising for someone who loves Israel to dismiss international law when Israel acts above the law, and still preserves a privileged position as state actor above the law. More surprising to see that such statement was made public by someone who is also a journalist and, to make the case stronger, picked Israel (or rather Israeli settlements, in this instance) as the only foreign country where he would run his radio show. Quite an exclusive (by all means) choice for a journalist, beyond the views held as an individual.
As much extraordinary in what Larson told Arutz Sheva during the settlement tour is that there is 'anti-Israel coverage' in the media -which would leave anyone puzzled. Not only this anti-Israel stance cannot be found in media coverage, but Israel undoubtedly enjoys influence in the foreign press. More obvious, the long-standing friendship with the US, coupled with Israeli sympathy across Europe (sustained by pro-Israel lobbies and Zionist networks) can only be reflected in an unbalanced reporting by the established media, as it is not hard to figure out. In contrast, if one takes notice of how little coverage events relating to Israel's close neighbour get, and admittedly realises that the daily reality about Palestine goes under-reported, if not misreported and hidden, by the mainstream media, it is a big wonder that a journalist can even state the opposite.
If anything, Larson showed some braveness in plainly saying what he said (speaking in a video posted on Arutz Sheva website). But what about the other more than 70 international journalists? It would have been good, and fair, to know what reporters from major international media outlets had to say about their visit. Did they also fail to realise that the tour took them around internationally condemned illegal settlements? Or did the Israel influenced mainstream news agencies for whom they work made them turn a blind eye on the topical settlement issue? Besides, it seems ok for international media to see that tour just like another field trip while the international audience is expectedly not informed about this.
The simple act of touring settlements in occupied Palestinian territory is an affront to international law, it reveals complicity in an effort to legitimize illegal Israeli colonies. Worse, international media buying into a tour of this kind shows that they are complicit in covering up Israel's war crimes. An act that defies human decency and leaves little credit to mainstream media and the job they are doing.
This appears to clash with what we read, in the same international media, about the stance reiterated by Britain, the United States, the EU and the UN against Israel's settlement expansion on (internationally recognised) Palestinian land; and about how the continued construction of illegal settlements creates facts on the ground, undermining the basis of the peace process and making a Palestinian state unviable.
Ironically earlier last week, we learned about a confidential report by EU diplomats in East Jerusalem, leaked to the Guardian, calling on the European Union to consider legislation to prevent or discourage companies and organisations doing business which supports Israeli settlements.
In the same week, we heard in the news that the UK Deputy Prime Minister bluntly slammed Israel's settlement policies in the West Bank. Nick Clegg was quoted referring to settlement construction as "an act of deliberate vandalism" that was doing "immense damage" to the prospects for peace.
Recent reports condemning Israeli policies also included a French parliamentary report highlighting the disparity in Israel's allocation of water resources between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank; and an internal EU report critically pointing to a "surge in settlement planning" in 2011.
It's no wonder that news about a big group of international journalists going on a settlement tour stays safely reported in an Israeli news outlet. Anyone would refrain from covering the inconvenient event in the international mainstream media.
Unbelievable, but true: over 70 journalists from international mainstream media took part in a tour through Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank last Thursday 19th.
Israel national news source Arutz Sheva reported the news the next day, referring to a tour in Samaria joined by the foreign media, guests of the Head of the Samaria Regional Council Gershon Mesika and the Minister of Information and Diaspora Yuli Edelstein.
Participants included journalists from well known media outlets such as the British Guardian, the Reuters news agency, as well as reporters from France, Poland, China, Germany, South America, the United States, Radio London and several TV stations from Russia.
The visitors were toured around communities, industry, agriculture and wineries in Samaria. Some of the stops in the itinerary were the Lipski factor, Mount Gerizim, the community of Itamar, and the Givot Olam farm.
It was the largest visit by reporters and senior foreign journalists in the region, as the Israeli newswire proudly claimed.
What calls immediate attention is the very fact that a (large) delegation of international media professionals went on a tour around Israeli settlements, all deemed illegal under international law. In other words, a host of media people, from the same countries that condemn illegal settlements in occupied Palestine, partook in something that essentially breaks international law.
If one needs a reminder, for the umpteenth time, of what settlements constitute, the International Court of Justice ruled in July 2004: "Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, are illegal and an obstacle to peace and to economic and social development [... and] have been established in breach of international law."
And again, Article 49, paragraph 6 of the Fourth Geneva Convention stipulates: "the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies".
Among the journalists who participated in the tour through settlements was US radio host Lars Larson, who had also attended a Knesset session on public diplomacy and international media earlier during the week.
Larson comfortably stated that visiting 'Judea and Samaria' (Israeli settlements located in these regions, to be accurate) is "not too controversial". This is of little surprise when Larson's openly declared fondness for Israel becomes obvious: "It's my fourth trip to Israel. I love this country," he noted, "This is the only foreign country I've brought my radio show to.", Arutz Sheva quoted the US radio host.
Unsurprising for someone who loves Israel to dismiss international law when Israel acts above the law, and still preserves a privileged position as state actor above the law. More surprising to see that such statement was made public by someone who is also a journalist and, to make the case stronger, picked Israel (or rather Israeli settlements, in this instance) as the only foreign country where he would run his radio show. Quite an exclusive (by all means) choice for a journalist, beyond the views held as an individual.
As much extraordinary in what Larson told Arutz Sheva during the settlement tour is that there is 'anti-Israel coverage' in the media -which would leave anyone puzzled. Not only this anti-Israel stance cannot be found in media coverage, but Israel undoubtedly enjoys influence in the foreign press. More obvious, the long-standing friendship with the US, coupled with Israeli sympathy across Europe (sustained by pro-Israel lobbies and Zionist networks) can only be reflected in an unbalanced reporting by the established media, as it is not hard to figure out. In contrast, if one takes notice of how little coverage events relating to Israel's close neighbour get, and admittedly realises that the daily reality about Palestine goes under-reported, if not misreported and hidden, by the mainstream media, it is a big wonder that a journalist can even state the opposite.
If anything, Larson showed some braveness in plainly saying what he said (speaking in a video posted on Arutz Sheva website). But what about the other more than 70 international journalists? It would have been good, and fair, to know what reporters from major international media outlets had to say about their visit. Did they also fail to realise that the tour took them around internationally condemned illegal settlements? Or did the Israel influenced mainstream news agencies for whom they work made them turn a blind eye on the topical settlement issue? Besides, it seems ok for international media to see that tour just like another field trip while the international audience is expectedly not informed about this.
The simple act of touring settlements in occupied Palestinian territory is an affront to international law, it reveals complicity in an effort to legitimize illegal Israeli colonies. Worse, international media buying into a tour of this kind shows that they are complicit in covering up Israel's war crimes. An act that defies human decency and leaves little credit to mainstream media and the job they are doing.
This appears to clash with what we read, in the same international media, about the stance reiterated by Britain, the United States, the EU and the UN against Israel's settlement expansion on (internationally recognised) Palestinian land; and about how the continued construction of illegal settlements creates facts on the ground, undermining the basis of the peace process and making a Palestinian state unviable.
Ironically earlier last week, we learned about a confidential report by EU diplomats in East Jerusalem, leaked to the Guardian, calling on the European Union to consider legislation to prevent or discourage companies and organisations doing business which supports Israeli settlements.
In the same week, we heard in the news that the UK Deputy Prime Minister bluntly slammed Israel's settlement policies in the West Bank. Nick Clegg was quoted referring to settlement construction as "an act of deliberate vandalism" that was doing "immense damage" to the prospects for peace.
Recent reports condemning Israeli policies also included a French parliamentary report highlighting the disparity in Israel's allocation of water resources between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank; and an internal EU report critically pointing to a "surge in settlement planning" in 2011.
It's no wonder that news about a big group of international journalists going on a settlement tour stays safely reported in an Israeli news outlet. Anyone would refrain from covering the inconvenient event in the international mainstream media.
25 jan 2012
SA condemns Israeli settlement activities at UN
South Africa on Tuesday condemned Israeli settlement activities as "acts of aggression" at a UN Security Council briefing in New York.
South Africa's Deputy Minister of International Relations Ebrahim Ebrahim told the council that Israel's ongoing expansion of illegal Jewish-only settlements made the two-state solution "a distant, if not a pipe dream."
Ebrahim, who is January's president of the Security Council, recalled South Africa's struggle to end Apartheid and said the country was certain Palestine would succeed in its own struggle for statehood.
South Africa appreciates the efforts of the Quartet of peace mediators -- the US, UN, EU and Russia -- to restart negotiations between Israel and the PLO, Ebrahim said.
The Quartet in October asked Israel and the PLO to submit proposals on borders and security by Jan. 26.
The PLO submitted its proposals in early January, a move Ebrahim said was "emblematic" of its commitment to resolving the conflict.
Israel's failure to submit its proposals is disappointing, the council president said.
He added that the international community should consider reassessing the effectiveness of the Quartet.
Speaking at the same briefing, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernández-Taranco said the UN remained "hopeful" that ongoing talks between Israeli and PLO envoys in Amman would lead to negotiations.
But Fernández-Taranco said Israel's settlement building, incursions into the West Bank and arrests of Palestinian MP's continued to fuel tensions, as did rocket fire from Gaza and Israeli airstrikes on the coastal enclave.
After the briefing, Palestine's Observer to the UN Riyad Mansour told the council that Palestinians continued to hope for freedom and justice "despite all odds."
He added: "The two-State solution is withering with every inch of Palestinian land seized by the occupying Power, every settlement unit constructed, every Israeli settler transferred, every wall erected, every home demolished and every Palestinian family displaced."
Meanwhile, Israel's representative Ron Prosor insisted that settlements were not the main obstacle to peace.
Prosor said the issue of Palestinian refugees seeking to return was the primary obstacle to a negotiated solution.
The right of refugees to return is mandated in UN resolutions.
"You have a responsibility to stand up and say that the so-called ‘claim of return’ is a non-starter," Prosor told the council.
He also criticized the Palestinians' refusal to recognize Israel.
The PLO officially recognized Israel in 1993.
South Africa's Deputy Minister of International Relations Ebrahim Ebrahim told the council that Israel's ongoing expansion of illegal Jewish-only settlements made the two-state solution "a distant, if not a pipe dream."
Ebrahim, who is January's president of the Security Council, recalled South Africa's struggle to end Apartheid and said the country was certain Palestine would succeed in its own struggle for statehood.
South Africa appreciates the efforts of the Quartet of peace mediators -- the US, UN, EU and Russia -- to restart negotiations between Israel and the PLO, Ebrahim said.
The Quartet in October asked Israel and the PLO to submit proposals on borders and security by Jan. 26.
The PLO submitted its proposals in early January, a move Ebrahim said was "emblematic" of its commitment to resolving the conflict.
Israel's failure to submit its proposals is disappointing, the council president said.
He added that the international community should consider reassessing the effectiveness of the Quartet.
Speaking at the same briefing, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernández-Taranco said the UN remained "hopeful" that ongoing talks between Israeli and PLO envoys in Amman would lead to negotiations.
But Fernández-Taranco said Israel's settlement building, incursions into the West Bank and arrests of Palestinian MP's continued to fuel tensions, as did rocket fire from Gaza and Israeli airstrikes on the coastal enclave.
After the briefing, Palestine's Observer to the UN Riyad Mansour told the council that Palestinians continued to hope for freedom and justice "despite all odds."
He added: "The two-State solution is withering with every inch of Palestinian land seized by the occupying Power, every settlement unit constructed, every Israeli settler transferred, every wall erected, every home demolished and every Palestinian family displaced."
Meanwhile, Israel's representative Ron Prosor insisted that settlements were not the main obstacle to peace.
Prosor said the issue of Palestinian refugees seeking to return was the primary obstacle to a negotiated solution.
The right of refugees to return is mandated in UN resolutions.
"You have a responsibility to stand up and say that the so-called ‘claim of return’ is a non-starter," Prosor told the council.
He also criticized the Palestinians' refusal to recognize Israel.
The PLO officially recognized Israel in 1993.
23 jan 2012
Israel Approved 734 Housing Units in East Jerusalem Settlements in 2011
Israel approved the building of 734 housing units in East Jerusalem settlements and seized 1367 dunums of land in and around the occupied city since the beginning of 2012, Monday said a statement by the PLO Department of International Relations.
It said settlement activities in East Jerusalem, in the wake of the Israeli government’s policy to Judaize and annex the city and make any political solution impossible, are considered “war crimes” and “state terrorism.”
The statement said the international community is overlooking Israeli practices and settlement escalation in Jerusalem, which emboldens the Israeli occupation and measures against Palestinian residents of the city.
It demanded from the international community to force Israel to abide by international law when dealing with the occupied territories.
It said settlement activities in East Jerusalem, in the wake of the Israeli government’s policy to Judaize and annex the city and make any political solution impossible, are considered “war crimes” and “state terrorism.”
The statement said the international community is overlooking Israeli practices and settlement escalation in Jerusalem, which emboldens the Israeli occupation and measures against Palestinian residents of the city.
It demanded from the international community to force Israel to abide by international law when dealing with the occupied territories.
20 jan 2012
OCHA says 'Legalizing' Settlement Outposts Can Provoke Violence
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHA) strongly criticized Friday Israeli attempt to give legal status to settlement outposts built in the West Bank without government authorization saying this move may provoke violence.
It said in its Protection of Civilians weekly report that many such outposts are located on private Palestinian land “forcibly taken over” by Israeli settlers.
“While the recent dismantlement of structures in settlement outposts is welcome, there are concerns over new initiatives aimed at ‘legalizing’ these settlement outposts under Israeli law that are being currently promoted, and partially implemented, both by the Israeli government and at the Knesset,” it said.
“These attempts to ‘legalize’ outposts reinforce an atmosphere of impunity and are likely to encourage further violence and encroachment on Palestinian land,” said OCHA.
It said in the report that Israeli forces and settlers injured 17 Palestinians throughout the West Bank during the past week.
Eight of the Palestinians sustained injuries in clashes with Israeli forces during raids on the village of Azzun, in the Qalqiliya area, and Madama in the Nablus region.
Another four were injured in clashes during a weekly demonstration against the closure of the main entrance to Kafr Qaddum village, also near Qalqiliya.
Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured two Palestinians in Hebron and stoned and injured another man near Shilo settlement in the Ramallah region, said the report.
Settlers also vandalized 40 olive trees belonging to Palestinians near Kfar Tappuah settlement; stoned or set on fire eight Palestinian vehicles in the Salfit, Nablus, Ramallah and Hebron governorates; and wrote graffiti on the walls of a mosque in Deir Istiya, Salfit area.
“These incidents took place in the context of the ‘price tag’ strategy, after the Israeli authorities demolished 10 structures in an outpost near Kiryat Arba’ Israeli settlement on 11 January,” said OCHA.
The international humanitarian organization said the Israeli authorities had also demolished 12 Palestinian-owned structures, nine of which were related to a source of livelihood for Palestinian families, due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits.
It said in its Protection of Civilians weekly report that many such outposts are located on private Palestinian land “forcibly taken over” by Israeli settlers.
“While the recent dismantlement of structures in settlement outposts is welcome, there are concerns over new initiatives aimed at ‘legalizing’ these settlement outposts under Israeli law that are being currently promoted, and partially implemented, both by the Israeli government and at the Knesset,” it said.
“These attempts to ‘legalize’ outposts reinforce an atmosphere of impunity and are likely to encourage further violence and encroachment on Palestinian land,” said OCHA.
It said in the report that Israeli forces and settlers injured 17 Palestinians throughout the West Bank during the past week.
Eight of the Palestinians sustained injuries in clashes with Israeli forces during raids on the village of Azzun, in the Qalqiliya area, and Madama in the Nablus region.
Another four were injured in clashes during a weekly demonstration against the closure of the main entrance to Kafr Qaddum village, also near Qalqiliya.
Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured two Palestinians in Hebron and stoned and injured another man near Shilo settlement in the Ramallah region, said the report.
Settlers also vandalized 40 olive trees belonging to Palestinians near Kfar Tappuah settlement; stoned or set on fire eight Palestinian vehicles in the Salfit, Nablus, Ramallah and Hebron governorates; and wrote graffiti on the walls of a mosque in Deir Istiya, Salfit area.
“These incidents took place in the context of the ‘price tag’ strategy, after the Israeli authorities demolished 10 structures in an outpost near Kiryat Arba’ Israeli settlement on 11 January,” said OCHA.
The international humanitarian organization said the Israeli authorities had also demolished 12 Palestinian-owned structures, nine of which were related to a source of livelihood for Palestinian families, due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits.
19 jan 2012
Security Council to Discuss Jerusalem, Settlements, says Official
The United Nations Security Council will hold a public session on January 24 to discuss Israeli settlements and policy in occupied East Jerusalem, Palestine’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations Riyad Mansour said Thursday.
He told Voice of Palestine radio that the Security Council’s meeting was arranged to discuss a report by UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos on the Israeli settlements, the situation in the old city of Jerusalem and the bypass roads Israel is building for settlers in the West Bank.
Mansour noted that the Arab and European interventions revolved around settlement activities and their detrimental impact on the political process.
He pointed out that the European Union recommended in its last report to take punitive measures against the settlers, a decision which will be adopted in Brussels next month.
He told Voice of Palestine radio that the Security Council’s meeting was arranged to discuss a report by UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos on the Israeli settlements, the situation in the old city of Jerusalem and the bypass roads Israel is building for settlers in the West Bank.
Mansour noted that the Arab and European interventions revolved around settlement activities and their detrimental impact on the political process.
He pointed out that the European Union recommended in its last report to take punitive measures against the settlers, a decision which will be adopted in Brussels next month.