- 29 dec 2011
Israeli plans to expand Gilo settlement and build large outposts in Silwan
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Field researcher of settlement activities Ahmed Sub-Laban said the Israeli committee of planning and building intends to build 130 housing units in Gilo settlement south of occupied Jerusalem and build more settlement outposts in Silwan district.
In a report, Sub-Laban stated that this Israeli committee discussed on Wednesday a plan to build these units in Gilo settlement on about six dunums of Palestinian lands annexed earlier from Shurfat village.
He added that the same committee also would discuss on Thursday two other plans to construct two large buildings in the Palestinian neighborhood of Wadi Hilweh in Silwan district, east of Jerusalem.
One building, to be built adjacent to the southern wall of old Jerusalem, will be used mainly for archeological and tourist activities and administrated by the Jewish settlement society Elad, according to the researcher's report.
The second plan is build another large building for tourists and Ir David visitors called Beit Ham'ayan and will be also under the authority of Elad society, the report states.
The researcher noted that the Israeli committee of planning and building would approve on Thursday the three settlement plans and would publish them in Israeli newspapers for public objection before it initiates the construction.
http://fwd4.me/0jMg
Sabri condemns Judaization of Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Imam of the Aqsa Mosque and head of the Supreme Islamic Council, Dr. Ekrema Sabri, condemned the acceleration of Judaization process of the occupied city of Jerusalem. He condemned land appropriation to build settlements as well as the policy of demolishing homes of Palestinians and exiling them.
Sheikh Sabri pointed out the increase in the number of attacks against mosques by Jewish settlers during his Friday sermon today at the Aqsa Mosque.
"The so called mayor of Jerusalem has taken the racist decision of confiscation 740 dunums of land in Eisaweyyah and Tour suburbs in east Jerusalem,” he said adding that the land is to be confiscated under the rubric of establishing a national park and nature reserve.
He added that the bitter truth was that the occupation authorities intend to build a settlement on this confiscated land. They also intend to build a military college on the other part.
“This way the occupation authorities can establish a new circle around Jerusalem, while residents of Eisaweyyah suffer from a shortage in housing because it has been surrounded from all sides," he said adding that 96% of the land of Eisaweyyah has been confiscated, leaving Palestinians with only 4% of their land.
He described the confiscation of land by the occupation as arbitrary, oppressive and illegal, stressing that Palestinians have the right to use their own land. He further stressed that the measures taken by the occupation authorities were racist, as they are building settlements for Jews who are brought from all over the world, while the indigenous population is being denied the right to build on their own land.
He also referred to the fact that the Israeli occupation is trying to reduce the number of Palestinians inside Jerusalem by isolating a number of populated suburbs of Jerusalem outside the apartheid wall which will deny about 70,000 Jerusalemites their right to residence in the holy city and thus instantly change its demography.
He also said that the ID cards of 14,000 Jerusalem residents have been withdrawn by the occupation authorities while giving Jewish settlers a free hand.
Sheikh Sabri pointed out that the onslaught against Palestinians has reached the stage of settlers calling for a ban on Athan at the pretext that it disturbs them which, he said, is a Muslim religious rite that has been performed in Jerusalem and Palestine over the past 15 centuries.
“Raising the Athan is our right. We will not stop raising the Athan and we say clearly: anyone who gets disturbed by the Athan can go back to where s/he came from," he said.
http://fwd4.me/0jOH
Israeli Forces Hand Palestinians Demolishing Notices in Hebron
HEBRON, December 29, 2011 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Thursday handed a number of Palestinians demolishing notices for a school, 13 houses and a well in Menezl, a village south of Hebron, according to local sources.
Coordinator of the Committee against the Apartheid Wall, Ratib Jbour said that Israeli soldiers accompanied by Bulldozers closed the village’s entrances and handed a number of Palestinians demolishing notices of the village’s school, 13 houses and one well.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18530
Israeli Bulldozers Demolish House in Naqab Village
RAHAT, (WAFA) – Israeli bulldozers Thursday demolished a house belonging to a Palestinian Bedouin family north of the city of Rahat, in Naqab, according to local sources.
They said Israeli bulldozers accompanied by Israeli police and special forces demolished a house that houses nine Palestinian Bedouins.
The Israeli government refuses to grant Palestinian Bedouins building permits, while it builds tens of settlements in the area.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18526
Israel to Take Over Palestinian Land near Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM, (WAFA) – Israeli forces Thursday handed Palestinian farmers from al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem, notices that they will take over their agricultural land, according to local sources.
Coordinator of the committee against the Apartheid Wall, Ahmad Salah, said one Palestinian farmer found a notice by the Israeli authority to take over two dunums of land belonging to Palestinians.
Head of the village Council, Ramzi Salah, said al-Khader is being attacked viciously by Israeli forces to steal more of its land and expel its residents.
He said the Israeli government’s decision to declare tens of dunums a closed military area to continue building the Apartheid Wall aims to take over more of the village’s land.
Salah said Israel authority intends to build a settlement between al-Khader town and Artas village, near Bethlehem.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18525 30 dec 2011, 13:52 , Respect -
Maria 30 dec 2011
Occupation gives notices of demolition of 13 homes and confiscation of 160 dunum
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation authorities have handed Palestinians notices of confiscation of 160 dunums (1 dunum=1000 square meters) and demolition of 13 homes in the village of Mneizel to the south east of Yatta in the southern West Bank district of al-Khalil. IOF troops closed all entrances to the village.
Rateb al-Jubour, coordinator of the popular committee against the wall and settlement, said in press statements on Thursday that the notices of land confiscation affected residents of the village of Mneizel and the village of Samu' with the aim of expanding Karmael settlement.
He also said that 13 demolition notices were handed out to residents of the village of Mneizel and the entrances to the village were closed.
Jubour also said that the village of the Karmael settlement was built next the Palestinian village of Muneizel which has a population of 400 Palestinian who are living in constant fear because of harassment at the hands of settlers.
http://fwd4.me/0jN9 31 dec 2011, 12:58 , Respect -
Maria 31 dec 2011
Israel to Take Over Land Near Salfit for Wall
SALFIT, (WAFA) – Israeli authorities Saturday issued several notices to take over land in Az-Zawiya and Masha, towns west of Salfit, for the expansion of the Apartheid Wall, according to Az-Zawiya mayor Khader Shuqir.
He said that Israeli authorities issued notices to take over more than 50 dunums in both towns and decided to build a new checkpoint in the buffer zone.
The notices were not dated and were neither handed to Palestinian landowners, which makes it difficult for them to file objections, added the mayor.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18546
Israel to Take Over Vast Areas of Land near Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM, (WAFA) – The Israeli military authority Saturday informed Palestinians from al-Khader, a town south of Bethlehem, of its intention to take over vast areas of land, according to an official in al-Khader town council.
He told WAFA that a Palestinian found a notice by the Israeli authority left in land west of the town stating the Israeli intention to take over hundreds of dunums of agricultural land which will isolate the town from the rest of its land, estimated at 20,000 dunums.
The Israeli decision will prevent landowners’ access to the land; and if they were allowed, they would need a special permit, he added.
Al-Khader is being subjected to a vicious attack by the Israeli military authority to build the Apartheid Wall in the area, as a Palestinian family from the town was informed earlier Saturday that the Israeli authority will seize 20 dunums of their land.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18544
Israel to Take over Land near Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM, (WAFA) – The Israeli military authority informed a Palestinian family from al-Khader, a town south of Bethlehem, of its intention to take over its land located near the settlement of Eliazer, an official in al-Khader town council said Saturday.
He said the landowners found a notice by the military authority left in their land stating its intention to seize 20 dunums of their land.
He said this was the second time in less than a year in which Israel decides to seize Palestinian land in that area, pointing out that al-Khader is being subjected to a vicious attack by the Israeli military authority to build the Apartheid Wall in the area.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18539
Haneyya: Jerusalem issue should be included in Arab, Islamic curriculums
KHARTOUM, (PIC)-- Gaza premier Ismail Haneyya has called for including the issue of Jerusalem in the Arab and Islamic curriculums to spread awareness of the issue among the generations.
Speaking at a forum on Jerusalem that opened in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Saturday, Haneyya called for extending financial assistance and political backing to the Jerusalemites to boost their steadfastness.
The premier pledged to remain loyal to resistance and never to relinquish Palestinian land or holy shrines, vowing never to recognize Israel.
He said that Gaza’s steadfastness in the Israeli war had inspired the Arab Spring.
http://fwd4.me/0jPu
- 17 dec 2011
New Zionist law to prevent Palestinian from reclaiming their stolen lands
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Israeli media sources said that the occupation government is expected to support a law that will legitimize settlement outposts in the West Bank that breach Israeli occupation laws to deny the Palestinian owners of the land recourse to legal action to reclaim their stolen lands.
According to the sources the draft law which has the support of 20 Knesset members in the ruling coalition will be presented at the Knesset on Sunday. The law will deny Palestinians the right to go to Israeli courts to reclaim their land after four years of building on it.
The sources said that the draft law which aims to protect those who took private Palestinian land by force, states that if the owner of the land does not go to court within 4 years of buildings being erected on the land asking for eviction of the settler, then the buildings will not be evacuated or demolished and will remain in the hands of the usurper.
The draft law also gives courts the option of compensating the owners of the land or giving them a piece of land in exchange. The proposal of the law says that in the past few years there has been many court cases against settlements built on private land which requires the demolition of settler units or complete settlement neighbourhoods.
The sources also said that members of ruling coalition say that many appeals have been brought to the supreme court lately against settlements built on private land years ago.
http://fwd4.me/0iit 20 dec 2011, 09:28 , Respect -
Maria 19 dec 2011
Israeli Soldiers Hand Palestinians Demolishing Notices
JORDAN VALLEY, (WAFA) – Israeli forces Monday handed Palestinian residents of al-Hima locale, north of the Jordan valley, demolishing notices of houses and barns within 20 days, according to local sources.
Head of al-Malih village council, Arif Daraghmah said that the Israeli soldiers handed 17 Palestinians notices to demolish their houses and barns.
In a related matter, Head of al-Aqba village Council, Sami Sadiq said that Israeli soldiers handed residents seven demolishing notices.
Court rules against 2 Palestinian evictions in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- A Jerusalem court threw out two cases seeking to evict Palestinian families from their East Jerusalem homes, activists said Sunday.
Litigants close to settler organization Elad said the Qaraeen and Farag family homes in East Jerusalem neighborhood Silwan were their property, but the Jerusalem Magistrates Court rejected the claims on Thursday, the Wadi Hilweh Information Center said.
Silwan families have lost a number of homes to demolitions and evictions by Israeli forces. The Sumarin family, who live at the entrance to the neighborhood, face a pending eviction order after their home was transferred by the government to the Jewish National Fund.
Silwan -- adjacent to the Old City's Dome of the Rock compound and Western Wall -- is a focus of Israeli settler moves into East Jerusalem.
Jewish settlers illegally built seven-story building Beit Yonatan in Silwan, and a number of court orders decreeing its eviction have never been implemented.
Israel insists that Jerusalem is its "eternal and indivisible" capital, and annexed the city's eastern sector after a 1967 war in a move never recognized by the international community.
For Palestinians, East Jerusalem is the capital of their promised state.
Occupation plan to demolish a hamlet in the Jordan valley
IOF troops accompanied by planning official Monday afternoon raided the Hamma hamlet in the northern Jordan valley and gave notice to the residents that the hamlet will be demolished.
http://fwd4.me/0iqL 20 dec 2011, 09:57 , Respect -
Maria 20 dec 2011
Expert: Israeli scheme to displace thousands of Palestinians in Al-Khalil
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority has expropriated thousands of dunums of Palestinian land to the south and east of Al-Khalil at trivial security pretexts, Abdul Hadi Hantash, an expert in settlement activity, warned on Tuesday.
He told Quds Press the IOA established three settlements on those lands and started to erect new settlement outposts near them in an attempt to displace Palestinian citizens in the area and expand those settlements.
Hantash pointed out that the IOA served notices to a number of families for the demolition of houses and tents in Susiya village, and earlier razed the homes of a small village near Yatta town where 41 families used to live at the pretext it was near the separation wall.
http://fwd4.me/0ivq
PA: Israeli forces demolish main road near Nablus
NABLUS (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces on Tuesday bulldozed a main road serving several villages in southern Nablus, a Palestinian Authority official said.
Ghassan Daghlas, the PA official for monitoring settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma'an that over 30 military vehicles entered the Nablus village of Beita before bulldozers demolished a road in-between the villages of Beita, Osarin and Aqraba.
The Mayor of Huwwara, Moeen Damidi, told the official news agency Wafa that the 4km road was demolished without any warning. It had cost $400,000 to build, he added.
Israeli forces took control of a hilltop east of Beita and erected tents for soldiers to make camp, Daghlas added. Soldiers also took control of a Ayman Ihsan Adeile's home for military purposes.
Witnesses in the area said there had been noticeable military and settler activity on Tuesday morning.
The villages of Beita, Osarin and Aqraba are all technically in Area A, which is under full Palestinian security and administrative control.
The land between the villages is Area B, under Israeli security control, and reflects the wider physical composition of the West Bank where Palestinian population centers exist as isolated islets.
Area C, under full Israeli control, forms 60 percent of the West Bank.
IOA bulldozers destroy Palestinian land in occupied Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Bulldozers of the Israeli controlled municipality of Jerusalem started leveling Palestinian land near the Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Eyewitnesses in Suwana suburb, to the east of the Aqsa Mosque, told the PIC reporter that Israeli army troops escorted the municipality bulldozers in their work.
They said that the soldiers encircled the suburb as the bulldozers started to level a playground in preparation for building an Israeli national security college.
The witnesses noted that municipal surveyors had been surveying the land for the past few days.
Other municipality teams stormed a land lot owned by Muntaser Sarhan in Silwan town to the south of the Aqsa Mosque, and demolished tin barracks in it where the municipality had declared it would build parking lots.
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Israeli Bulldozers Demolish Barracks in East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM, (WAFA) – Israeli bulldozers Tuesday demolished barracks in Thawri neighborhood in Silwan in East Jerusalem, according to witnesses.
They said a large number of Israeli soldiers and police, accompanied by bulldozers, surrounded these barracks and demolished them in order to establish a parking lot for Jewish settlers in the area.
In a related matter, Israeli forces surrounded Sawwanah neighborhood and razed a playing field of al-Ibrahimiya College, in order to establish the Israeli National Security College on land belonging to Palestinians.
Israeli Bulldozers Raze 4 km Paved Road in Southern Nablus
NABLUS, (WAFA) – Israeli bulldozers Tuesday razed a paved road in a town south of Nablus, according to a local official.
Mayor of Huwara, Mo’een Damidi, told WAFA that Israeli bulldozers razed at dawn a 4-kilometer paved road that cost $400,000, and which links the town to its surroundings, without prior warning.
The destruction of the road isolated eight houses and around 1000 dunums, as well as separating the local joint services council building from the residents, he added.
21 dec 2011, 12:40 , Respect -
Maria 21 dec 2011
Israel Demolishes Bedouin Village for 33rd Time
AL ARAQIB, NAQAB, December 21, 2011 (WAFA) – Israeli bulldozers Wednesday demolished the Bedouin village of al-Araqib in the Naqab desert in southern Israel for the 33rd time, according to local sources.
Israeli bulldozers accompanied by a large force of Israeli police arrived at the village and started the destruction after forcing the Arab residents out, said one of the villagers.
Al-Araqib is one of the several Arab villages unrecognized by the Israeli government in Naqab and claimed “illegal.”
Israeli Bulldozers Raze Water Wells, Agricultural Sheds near Salfit
SALFIT, (WAFA) – Israeli bulldozers Wednesday razed and demolished a number of water wells, agricultural sheds and land in Dahr Sobh area north of Kafr al-Deek, a town west of Salfit in the northern West Bank, according to local sources.
Two bulldozers accompanied by Israeli soldiers and officials of the Israeli civil administration arrived to Dohr Sobh area and started the demolition.
Israeli bulldozers previously razed several wells and agricultural sheds in the same location, where Agricultural Relief conducted land reclamation projects financed by the Dutch government.
In a related matter, Israeli forces confiscated Wednesday morning a bulldozer and a sewage-pumping tank owned by the municipality of Bidya, a town west of Salfit, according to official sources from the municipality.
They said Israeli soldiers seized the bulldozer and the tank at Bidya’s solid waste landfill under the pretext that the municipality is prohibited from using the area.
Israeli authorities prohibited Palestinian municipalities and village councils from using solid waste landfills under the pretext of protecting the environment, while most of the former landfills were confiscated and trapped behind the Apartheid Wall, added the sources.
22 dec 2011, 16:15 , Respect -
Maria 22 dec 2011
Jerusalem Municipality Hands Palestinians Demolishing Orders
JERUSALEM, (WAFA) – Jerusalem municipality city employees Thursday handed a number of Palestinians in Issawiya neighborhood of East Jerusalem demolishing orders for their homes, according to local sources.
Issawiya follow up committee spokesman, Raed Abu Rayali, told WAFA that Israeli police and a number of soldiers raided the neighborhood and handed a number of its residents demolishing orders under the pretext of not having building permits.
Abu Rayali said a number of the municipality employees stole olive trees after they were uprooted from Palestinians’ land east of the neighborhood.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18460
Israeli Forces Demolish Farming Huts, Wells in Hebron
HEBRON, (WAFA) – Israeli forces Thursday demolished farming huts and wells in Ethna town, west of Hebron in the southern West Bank, according to security sources.
They told WAFA that Israeli forces accompanied by heavy military vehicles raided the village and demolished a number of farming huts and wells that belong to the village council and two families.
Head of Ethna village council, Jamal Tumizi, told WAFA that Israeli forces have so far demolished two wells, two water tanks and one farming hut in the village.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18459
Israeli Bulldozers Demolish Two Houses in Galilee
ARRABA, (WAFA) – Israeli bulldozers at dawn Thursday demolished two houses under construction in Arraba town, in Galilee, under the pretext of not having building permits, according to local sources.
They said the local planning committee hung up demolishing orders on two houses and demolished them 48 hours later.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18465 23 dec 2011, 23:05 , Respect -
Maria 23 dec 2011
Zionist minister: We will annex settlements in response to Palestinian unity
NAZARETH, (PIC)-- A Zionist minister warned Fatah of the consequences of reconciliation with Hamas and threatened that if a Palestinian unity government was formed the Israeli occupation would annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Israeli radio on Friday quoted the Minister of Transport, Yisrael Katz as saying that if a Palestinian national unity government comprising Fatah and Hamas was formed and signed agreements were breached then Israel must take measures to protect its interests, one of these measures is extending its jurisdiction to West Bank settlements and defending them.
“We should be prepared to sever all relations with the Palestinian Authority, if a unity government is formed. We also should stop supporting the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,” he added.
He stressed the importance of guaranteeing the freedom of movement of settlers in West Bank saying that he ordered the railroad company to expedite the building of the line to Ariel settlement, the largest settlement in the northern West Bank.
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Knesset will discuss a draft law making Jerusalem the “capital of Jewish people”
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Knesset will discuss on Sunday a draft law which considers Jerusalem as the “capital of Israel” and the capital of the “Jewish people” at the same time.
Ahmad Laban, specialist in settlement affairs and member of Field Researchers Association in Jerusalem said in a statement on Friday that this law was previously tabled at a previous Knesset by four MKs and former MKs; Zevulun Orlev, Esterina Tartman, Arieh Eldad and Eliyahu Gabai. At the current Knesset the same draft law has been tabled by Arieh Eldad.
The law stresses the centrality of Jerusalem to the Israeli occupation and the Jewish people and aims to consolidate Zionist control over both east and west Jerusalem on the pretext of "united" Jerusalem being the capital of the Zionist entity and the Jewish people. Support by ruling right for the draft law which was tabled by opposition right will be discussed at the Knesset on Sunday.
A law was passed in the Knesset in 1980 which considered Jerusalem to be the capital of the "state of Israel".
The Field Researchers Association warned that this new law is part of the measures and practices taken by the occupation to try and obliterate any the Islamic, Arab and Palestinian character of the city and fake a Jewish identity to the holy city.
http://fwd4.me/0j4r 26 dec 2011, 15:37 , Respect -
Maria 26 dec 2011
Hamas warns of serious reactions if O. J'lem announced capital of Israel
DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Hamas Movement warned the Israeli occupation government of dire consequences if its Knesset passed a bill declaring the occupied Palestinian city of Jerusalem as a capital for the Jewish people and affirmed it would not remain silent.
In a press release on Sunday, Hamas said this Israeli move is a new serious act of aggression against the Palestinian people and their national rights.
Hamas highlighted that Jerusalem would remain the capital of Palestine and the core of its national cause and such Israeli decision would never change the history and reality.
The Palestinian Movement urged the Palestinians in the occupied lands to move to defend their holy city and its holy sites, and demanded the Arab League and the organization of Islamic cooperation to stand in the face of Israel's Judaization activities in Jerusalem.
For his part, Palestinian lawmaker Ahmed Abu Halabya on Sunday condemned this Israeli move against Jerusalem as "criminal" and a blatant violation of international law, which states that Jerusalem is an occupied Palestinian city.
The lawmaker stressed that the Israeli occupation state is trying to take advantage of the Arab nations' preoccupation with their internal revolutions and events to impose a fait accompli and enact further racist laws against the Muslim and Christian Palestinians in the holy city.
http://fwd4.me/0jAY
Fayyad Condemns Deliberations on Bill Declaring Jerusalem Israel’s Capital
RAMALLAH, (WAFA) – Prime Minister Salam Fayyad Monday condemned the Israeli deliberations on a bill submitted to the Knesset for declaring Jerusalem, including West and the East Jerusalem, to be the capital of Israel and the Jewish people.
Fayyad, in a press conference while signing a cooperation agreement between the Palestinian Investment Promotion Agency and Jordan Investment Board in Ramallah, stressed that no one has the right to decide the future of occupied East Jerusalem.
“There will never be a solution unless Jerusalem becomes the eternal capital of the Palestinian state,” said Fayyad, adding that the Israeli government, Knesset or any Israeli political party cannot deliberate on the Palestinian inalienable right to self-determination.
He called on the international society to take actions to make Israel commit to international law and resolutions, as well as to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination and establish an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18490 27 dec 2011, 14:06 , Respect -
Maria 27 dec 2011
Israeli Authorities Close Mosque, Kindergarten and Shops in Silwan
JERUSALEM, (WAFA) – The Israeli authorities Tuesday closed Al-Ain Mosque, the oldest mosque in Silwan, a nearby kindergarten, and several shops located in the main street of Wadi Helwa, in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan until a further notice, according to WAFA correspondent.
He said that the closure order was issued under the pretext of “ensuring public safety and fearing of further collapses, following the collapse that took place on Monday near the mosque.”
Head of the Committee for the Defense of Silwan, Fakhri Abu Diab expressed concern over this decision, especially as the reason behind the collapses, whether the Monday’s collapse or the previous ones, is the Israeli ongoing digging of tunnels under the neighborhood to connect it to the old city.
He warned of the Israeli authorities intentions to close several more shops and homes in the area in order to seize the area and displace its residents, aiming to judaize the neighborhood of Wadi Helwa, the closest neighborhood to al-Aqsa mosque from the south.
He called on the Palestinian residents of Silwan to exercise the highest level of vigilance and caution of the Israeli plans, which are targeting their presence in the area.
Abu Diab appealed to the local and international communities to promptly intervene to put a stop to the Israeli dangerous plans targeting al-Aqsa mosque and the Palestinian existence around it.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18504
Ihsanoglu slams Israel's attempt to declare O. Jerusalem its capital
JEDDAH, (PIC)-- Secretary-general of the organization of Islamic cooperation Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu strongly denounced the Israeli Knesset draft law which calls for declaring occupied Jerusalem a capital for Israel and the Jewish people.
Ihsanoglu said on Monday this Israeli move directly targets the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights.
He stressed that the legislative and administrative measures taken by the Israeli occupation government in order to change the legal status of occupied Jerusalem are illegal and flagrantly violate the international law and resolutions that affirm that Jerusalem is part of the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories.
The Islamic leader appealed to the UN security council, the UNESCO and all concerned parties to intervene to stop Israel's racist policies against the Palestinian people and their holy sites and compel it to respect the international law.
http://fwd4.me/0jCr 28 dec 2011, 09:35 , Respect -
Maria 28 dec 2011
IOF troops raze home in Jenin, threaten to demolish 5 others in Silwan
JENIN, (PIC)-- Israeli bulldozers razed a Palestinian building and affiliated animal pens in Barta’a village to the west of Jenin on Wednesday morning, local sources said.
They said that Israeli occupation forces (IOF) encircled the area and refused to allow inhabitants to get out their belongings and knocked down the building on the furniture.
The sources said that the building and the animal pens were owned by two brothers, adding that they suffered thousands of dollars in losses.
They said that the Israeli organization and construction committee, which oversaw the demolition, warned the citizens against rebuilding the demolished home and pens or else face heavy fines.
Meanwhile, Jerusalem municipality teams served demolition notices to five houses in Silwan, south of occupied Jerusalem, on Wednesday in addition to a number of shops at the pretext of lack of construction permits.
Abdul Karim Abu Snene, a member of the committee for the defense of Silwan land, called for building new homes instead of each one destroyed in the town to boost steadfastness of the people in Jerusalem and to stand up to the Israeli schemes against the holy city.
http://fwd4.me/0jIS
Dangerous Collapse at the City of David
(2:44) Collapse in the City of David at the Archaeological Tunnel, 26/12/11
The Jerusalem Municipality closed the Mosque in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan today. No, it is not because of political reasons; it is because of a serious concerned to the public’s safety.
There was a dangerous collapse at an archeological site underneath the building, and the Municipality wanted to make sure that nobody would get hurt. The works surrounding the collapse might take a few days before the mosque and the kindergarten (in it) will be reopened.
A group at the entrance to the compound not far from the tunnel
The Israeli Antiquities Authority has been conducting large scale excavations in Silwan, and has opened tunnels underneath the houses and the roads of Silwan.
Hundreds of visitors walk through those tunnels every day to see the archeological site of the City of David, while above their heads thousands of Palestinians live their day to day lives.
It is not the first time that there has been a collapse in Silwan, at the Antiquities Authority’s excavations.
(1:10) The collapse in Silwan, 2/3/10
On March 2010, at the same tunnel, another collapse occurred and the “Dangerous Buildings Department” of the Jerusalem Municipality opened an investigation.
Around May 2009 there was also a collapse at a plaza near a school in Silwan under which there was an intensive excavation. The Municipality, again, opened an investigation. Also earlier in 2009 the stairs leading up the hill in Silwan collapsed, after a new excavation started under it.
The Jerusalem Municipality always acts after a collapse occurs. When we inquired whether the excavations had a construction permit, the Municipality explained that archeological excavations does not require any such permit. The meaning is that there is no inspection by the Municipality over the works that are done underneath the homes of hundreds of residents in Silwan.
The Antiquities Authority, together with Elad Association (which is funding and initiating most of the excavations in Silwan) and the National Parks Authority are the ones in charge of the diggings.
Luckily today nobody was harmed at the City of David site. When I arrived, I saw a group of children and adults at the entrance to the compound. Usually, the route of their tour would go through the tunnel.
Had they passed there few minutes before, at the moment of the collapse – there might have been a disaster. Had the collapse led to the collapse of the kindergarten in the Mosque on top of the tunnel, there might also have been a tragedy.
In this, perhaps there is equality.
more photo's
http://silwanic.net/?p=23261
IOA to transfer thousands of W. Bank Bedouins to other areas
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Head and lawyer of Abu Dis defense committee Bassam Bahr said the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) intends to transfer thousands of Abu Dis Bedouins near Ma'ale Adumim to another area.
In a press release on Tuesday, Bahr added the Israeli military authority there started to survey a land east of Abu Dis town where these Bedouins will be moved to.
The first phase of this forced migration will target three thousand Bedouins as a prelude to transferring about 28, 000 others from all West Bank areas, the lawyer added.
He noted that the lands which the IOA intend to remove this Bedouin community to is actually owned by Abu Dis people, but they are not suitable for housing because the Israelis use it as a garbage dump and landfill, adding many international organizations said these lands are not fit for habitation.
The lawyer affirmed that the first phase will start next year, where the IOA will transfer all Bedouins living near Jerusalem-Jericho road, the Red Khan and Al-Kassarat area in order to prevent the Palestinians from using the Jerusalem-Jericho road and expand nearby settlements.
For his part, Younos Hammadin, a member of Abu Dis defense committee, said all Bedouin communities will resist any Israeli attempt to transfer them from their lands and homes and refuse all transfer propositions.
http://fwd4.me/0jGj
IOA turns Grand Mosque of Beersheba into museum
UMM AL-FAHM, (PIC)-- Al-Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage said the Israeli government and its executive authority turned the Grand Mosque in the Negev city of Beersheba, south of the 1948 occupied lands, into a Jewish museum.
In a report on Tuesday, the foundation affirmed that this Israeli measure is illegal violating the sanctity of the Mosque which is a holy Islamic worship place and cannot be used for another purpose.
According to the report, a delegation from the Aqsa foundation made a field visit to check on the Mosque and report about what the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) had done against this house of worship.
Farhoud Assayed, a representative of the foundation in the Negev region, said it was shocking what he saw inside the Grand Mosque of Beersheba which became a gallery of outrageous photos and sculptures hurting the feelings of Muslims.
"By God, the eyes shed tears and the heart breaks as you see how they hung pictures in the Grand Mosque showing Zionist gangs occupy the Beersheba city including this Mosque, and other photos referring to the Zionist presence in the city.You tremble with rage when you see the statues including those of Zionist or English soldiers in the corners of the Mosque," deputy head Sami Abu Mukh explained.
"You also may not imagine how ugly the sight was and how they placed big TV screens in the center of the Mosque displaying frequently indecent scenes like people drink wine or dance naked or scenes of texts from the Tanakh or the Torah," Abu Mukha added.
The Grand Mosque of Beersheba was built in 1906 by the Ottomans in cooperation with the people of the Negev at the time.
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Israel Demands Palestinian to Pay Rent for Owned House
JERUSALEM, December 28, 2011 (WAFA) – Israeli authorities Tuesday handed a Palestinian elderly woman a notice demanding her to pay rent for the house she owns in Sheikh Jarrah, a neighborhood in Jerusalem, according to a WAFA correspondent.
He said that Refqa al-Kord, 85, has been getting notices for a while demanding her to pay rent for the past seven years for the benefit of settlements’ associations.
The notice included a warning that if the rent was not paid, al-Kord has to evacuate her house immediately.
Several extremist Jewish groups took over part of al-Kord's house a year ago and turned it into a settlement outpost, aiming to harass her into leaving the house under the pretext of the Jews owning the house. This was refuted with documents by residents as well as local and official institutions.
The Israeli authorities as well as several extremist Jewish groups have been working on seizing what is left of Palestinian houses in the neighborhood, about 28 houses.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18513
Israel Demolishes House, Razes Water Well, Land in West Bank
HEBRON, (WAFA) – Israeli forces Wednesday demolished a Palestinian house and two barracks used as animal barns in Jenin, and razed agricultural land and a water well in Hebron, according to local sources.
Israeli bulldozers, accompanied by soldiers and a civil administrator, razed and demolished about five dunums of agricultural land planted with olive and almond trees, as well as a water well in Al-Majd, a village west of Dura town in the northern West Bank city of Hebron.
Meanwhile, Israeli bulldozers demolished a Palestinian house and two barracks used as animal barns in Khirbet al-Mintar al-Sharqiya, near the village of Barta’a al-Sharqiya south of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, according to head of the village council in Barta’a, Ahmad Qabha.
He said that Israeli bulldozers prevented the owners of the house from removing their house contents before demolishing it without any prior notice.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18512
Israel Issues Demolishing Orders for Houses, Shops in Silwan
JERUSALEM, (WAFA) – Israeli authorities Wednesday handed demolition notices of houses and shops to Palestinian residents of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan , according to a local activist.
Member of the Committee for the Defense of Silwan, Fakhri Abu Diab, told WAFA that crews of the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem, accompanied by Israeli police, raided and imposed a strict cordon around Silwan. They started provocatively handing out demolition notices to Palestinian-owned residences and shops, under the pretext that they are built without a permit.
Crews from the Israeli Tax Authority also raided shops in Silwan and issued irregularities and fined Palestinian owners, who called the financial penalties “crazy,” added Abu Diab.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18511
High Court says Israel can take advantage of West Bank resources
Court adopts state position: no new Israeli-owned quarries should be established in the West Bank, but existing ones should be allowed to continue operating.
The High Court of Justice has authorized Israel to exploit the West Bank's natural resources for its own economic needs by rejecting a petition against the operation of Israeli-owned quarries in the territory.
In its ruling, issued on Monday, the court adopted the state's position: that no new Israeli-owned quarries should be established in the West Bank, but existing ones should be allowed to continue operating.
The petition was filed two years ago by the Yesh Din organization. It argued that the 10 Israeli-owned quarries in the West Bank violate international law, which states that an occupier may not exploit an occupied territory's natural resources for its own economic benefit; it may use such resources only for the benefit of the occupied people or for military purposes.
The Israeli quarries sell 94 percent of their yield to Israel and supply almost 25 percent of Israel's total consumption of the raw materials in question. But until the petition was filed, the state had never seen any problem with this.
Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch, who wrote the ruling, began by accepting the state's view that the Israeli-Palestinian interim agreement permits the quarries to operate in their present manner until a final-status agreement is signed.
She then moved on to discuss what international law has to say, and particularly Article 55 of the Fourth Hague Convention, on which the petition was based. That article requires the occupying power to "safeguard the capital" of the occupied party's natural resources and "administer them in accordance with the rules of usufruct," meaning the rules governing fair usage.
But Beinisch accepted the state's position that Israel's use of the quarries is limited and does not amount to destroying their "capital," and hence does not violate international law. This position is bolstered, she said, by the state's decision not to permit any new quarries to open.
Moreover, she said, it is necessary to take account of the fact that the West Bank has been under a prolonged and continuing occupation, so the territory's economic development cannot be put on ice until the occupation ends. The quarries, she noted, supply jobs and training to a non-negligible number of Palestinians; some of their yield is sold to the Palestinians; and the royalties the quarry owners pay the state - almost NIS 30 million a year - are used by the Civil Administration in the territories to fund projects that benefit the Palestinian population.
"In this situation, it's hard to accept the petitioner's unequivocal assertion that the quarries' operation does nothing to advance the [Palestinian] region, especially in light of the Israeli and Palestinian sides' mutual economic interests and the prolonged duration" of Israel's presence in the West Bank, she concluded.
The petition was not a total loss for Yesh Din: Both the decision not to open new quarries and the decision to allocate all the royalties to the Civil Administration were made only after it was filed.
Nevertheless, attorney Michael Sfard, who represented Yesh Din, was disappointed.
"Mining natural resources in occupied territory for the economic needs of the occupying state is looting," he said. "The High Court's argument, that one should relate differently to a long-term occupation, cannot legitimate economic activity like this, which harms the local residents."
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