- 16 jan 2012
Settlers construct buildings and use public land as dumps
The concrete vehicle on the land of the monastery- the settlers use a corner of this land to dump their trash
Whether Settlers have construction permits or not, they continue with new construction as they are not held legally accountable and are not threatened with housing demolition. Moreover, settlers turn the Palestinians’ public buildings into dumps for their trash as is the case in Wadi Hilweh, Silwan.
A group of settlers living in Wadi Hilweh had a permit to repair one of their roofs however; they instead expanded their construction to reach 120 square meters . Settlers also got a permit for a 165 sq. m. addition, including a kitchen and a bathroom, to an existing building in the neighborhood of Wadi Hilweh.
Settler building
At the same time, Palestinian residents of Silwan are completely prohibited from building.A Palestinian who owned a house that has been demolished stated that “the settlers manipulate the laws of occupation conspiring with the Jerusalem Municipality; hence Wadi Hilweh is considered a green area where construction is forbidden.
The Jerusalem Municipality issues construction permits to build additional kitchens and bathrooms on huge areas fit to build castles; on the other hand I am deprived of building one room on a 9 meter area.”
He added, “if I leave a rubbish sack in the street the Municipality employees will come accompanied with Israeli troops and hand me a ticket; isn’t this discrimination by itself?”
http://silwanic.net/?p=23984 19 jan 2012, 16:46 , Respect -
Maria 16 jan 2012
Israeli forces storm Wadi Al Rababeh
Omar Sumrain is signing to the water container which was considered an illegal construction by the Israeli National Park Authority.
Early Sunday morning Israeli forces stormed the neighborhood of Wadi Al Rababeh which is located between the neighborhoods of Wadi Hilweh and Abu Tour in Silwan to provide back-up to the employees of the Israeli National Park Authority. One of the Authority’s employees issued a warning to Silwan resident Omar Sumrain, stating that he has to remove a water container.
The written warning states that the water barrel is a construction, although the container is used for irrigation. It is also noteworthy that the Israeli Authorities prevent the local Palestinians from using their lands in Wadi al Rababeh under the pretext that the land is a national park.
http://silwanic.net/?p=23980 22 jan 2012, 11:26 , Respect -
Maria 17 jan 2012
Cabinet Condemns Continuous Israeli Aggression
RAMALLAH, (WAFA) - The Palestinian cabinet Tuesday condemned the ongoing Israeli aggression against Palestinians and their property that exceeded 30 attacks in the past few days, according to a statement issued following the weekly cabinet meeting.
It condemned the “green space” plan by the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem, which aims to seize hundred of dunums of Palestinian-owned land in occupied East Jerusalem, including the seizure of 740 dunums for settlement construction on Mount Scopus and publishing tenders of 213 housing units in Efrat settlements near Bethlehem.
The cabinet also slammed the Jewish settlers’ attacks against Palestinians amid negligence by the Israeli government and under Israeli army protection.
The cabinet welcomed the unprecedented report by the French parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee accusing Israel of implementing 'apartheid' policies in its allocation of water resources in the West Bank, giving Israeli settlers the priority for water over Palestinians.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18708
Israeli Forces Hand Palestinians Demolition Orders
NABLUS, (WAFA) – Israeli forces Tuesday handed Palestinians notices that two homes in Khirbat al-Tawil, east of the village of Aqraba, south of Nablus, will be demolished, according to local sources.
They said that Israeli soldiers handed the families the demolition orders in the area, where residents live in 18 shacks also slated for demolition.
The Israeli authorities had informed the families a year ago to evacuate the shacks. However, an appeal to the court against the order had delayed the evacuation.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18704
IOA confiscates 117 dunums of Jerusalemite land
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) has confiscated 117 dunums of Palestinian land in Shufaat and Beit Hanina in occupied Jerusalem, local sources said on Tuesday.
They said that the IOA-controlled municipality of Jerusalem has said that the dunums would be annexed to Highway 21 that serves the settlement of Ramat Shlomo.
They said that the road links between Ramat Shlomo and Pisgat Ze’ev and serves the settlements in the vicinity of the street and connects between them.
http://fwd4.me/0kND
22 jan 2012, 16:04 , Respect -
Maria 18 jan 2011
House demolition orders spark clashes in Silwan
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) on Wednesday served demolition notices to a number of Palestinian homes in Silwan in occupied Jerusalem sparking clashes with locals.
Israeli policemen escorted IOA-controlled municipality employees who imposed fines on a number of citizens for building with permit then served demolition notices.
The committee for the defense of Silwan land said that the inspection teams stormed three suburbs in Silwan, south of the Aqsa Mosque, as police installed roadblocks and searched inhabitants.
It said that the act provoked inhabitants prompting them to attack the police and occupation forces with stones and confrontations ensued … in one incident fistfights broke out in Bir Ayub suburb between civilians and the police forces.
http://fwd4.me/0kTp
Clashes Between Residents and Police Erupt in Silwan
JERUSALEM, (WAFA) – Clashes broke out in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan Wednesday after Israeli police provoked Palestinian residents, reported Wadi Hilweh Information Center.
It said Israeli troops put up random roadblocks and issued tickets to Palestinian drivers across the neighborhood without any reason, said residents.
Palestinian youth responded to what Silwan residents described as an act of provocation by the police by attacking their patrols in the area, said the center.
At the same time, employees of the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem accompanied by police handed 10 demolition notices to Palestinian residents in Silwan on allegation the houses were not licensed.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18725 23 jan 2012, 15:42 , Respect -
Maria 19 jan 2012
Hamas: Israeli demolition, eviction policy racist
GAZA, (PIC)-- Hamas has renewed its strong condemnation of the Israeli policy of evicting Palestinian citizens from their hometowns and demolishing their homes.
The movement, in a statement on Wednesday, described the Israeli policy as racist and a desperate attempt to abort Palestinian steadfastness.
The statement, in response to the wave of Israeli displacement of citizens and demolition of houses in the West Bank, held Israel fully responsible for the consequences if such a racist, terrorist policy persisted.
Hamas urged the Palestinians to resist the policy and called on the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to stand up to such a “rabid campaign” and protect our people.
http://fwd4.me/0kTv
Israeli Authorities Seize Land near Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM, (WAFA) – The Israeli authorities Thursday seized 76 dunums of land from al-Khas village, east of Bethlehem, to be allocated for the West Jerusalem municipality under the pretext that this land is considered absentee property, according to local sources.
Head of al-Khas village council Khader Hamdan told WAFA that the land in question belongs to village residents who were not allowed to access their land since 2007 due to the construction of the Apartheid Wall.
He noted that the landowners handed the case to the Wall and Settlements Ministry in the Palestinian Authority to follow up on it and to appeal against this decision.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18737
European union slams Israel's violations against J'lem and its natives
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The European union on Wednesday strongly denounced Israel's Judaization practices against the occupied city of Jerusalem and its Muslim and Christian natives.
The condemnation came in a report issued by heads of the European diplomatic missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah cities.
The report said Israel's practices are aimed to seize Jerusalem and perpetuate the Jewish identity in it, and such thing would torpedo the two-state solution.
The report added that the Israeli policy, since 2001, has been working on expelling the natives out of the holy city and Judaizing its identity and status at the expense of Muslims and Christians, and this policy threatens the religious diversity of Jerusalem and encourages extremism.
The report, which the political and security committee of the European union intends to discuss soon, included many Israeli violations against the natives of Jerusalem.
Among those violations, the Israeli ministry of interior's refusal to officially register about 10,000 Jerusalemite children at the pretext that one of the parents is not from Jerusalem. Such Israeli behavior deprives these children of their rights to education, and medical and social services.
The report recommended preparing a blacklist of Jewish settlers who committed violations against the Palestinians, so they can be held accountable and prevented from entering any European country.
It also called for preventing any European official from holding meetings with Israeli officials in Jerusalem, boycotting all products made in settlements and bringing in new legislation prohibiting the transfer of funds from European organizations for settlement projects and the signing of any business deals supporting settlement activities.
http://fwd4.me/0kTr 24 jan 2012, 20:17 , Respect -
Maria 20 jan 2012
Ten new demolition orders issued in Ein Aluzeh
A large contingent of Israeli forces accompanied employees of the Jerusalem Municipality while they delivered new demolition orders to house owners in Silwan. Ten demolition warnings were given in Ein Aluzeh
http://silwanic.net/?p=24122
OCHA says 'Legalizing' Settlement Outposts Can Provoke Violence
JERUSALEM, (WAFA) – 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.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18749