- 4 oct 2010
Israeli authorities resume demolition streak against Bedouin homes
NEGEV, (PIC)-- Israeli authorities on Monday stormed the town of Shaqib Al-Salam in the Negev, occupied since 1948, and demolished four houses at the pretext of lack of building permits.
Local sources said that the families residing in those houses were rendered homeless.
Ibrahim Al-Wakili, the chairman of the regional council of unrecognized villages, warned in a press release that a violent and ferocious demolition streak would focus on the Arabs in the Negev within the few coming days and months.
He urged the Arab parties, Islamic movements, and all concerned institutions in Palestine occupied in 1948 to prioritize the Negev issue.
In another development, Israeli policemen on Monday arrested six citizens in Kufr Kinna in northern Palestine occupied in 1948 on charges of throwing stones at police patrols.
A police statement said that the young men, 18 to 20 years old, were throwing stones at the patrols last Friday while participating in a march to commemorate the tenth anniversary of killing 13 Arab youths a the hands of Israeli security men in October 2000.
http://bit.ly/cuoPrO
2 dec 2010, 21:05 , Respect -
Maria 5 oct 2010
Israel razes Bedouin homes in Negev
Israeli army forces have demolished houses belonging to Bedouin families in a village in the Negev region as the Palestinians appeal to Arab leaders for support.
Israeli army bulldozers tore down four Palestinian homes in Khashim Zena village on Monday, Ma'an news agency quoted residents as saying.
A statement from the Arab League follow-up committee dismissed claims by Israeli authorities who charge the homes had been built without licenses, arguing that the Bedouin villages in the area predate the establishment of Israel.
Atyeh al-Athameen, chairman of the village committee, appealed to Arab leaders to support families rendered homeless by Israeli demolitions.
Bedouin villagers only built on land that belonged to their ancestors, he further explained.
The Regional Council of Unrecognized Bedouin Villages has warned of more demolitions in the coming days and months, calling on the follow-up committee to put the issue on the top of its agenda in the upcoming October 8 meeting.
Scheduled to be held in the Libyan city of Sirte, the Friday meeting will discuss whether or not the Palestinian Authority (PA) should continue direct talks with Israel.
The first round of the US-sponsored negotiations were held on September 2 in Washington despite vehement opposition from the public and major factions across
Palestine.
The talks have been seriously marred by Israel's refusal to heed international calls to extend its partial 10-month settlement freeze, pushing the PA on the verge of quitting the negotiations.
http://www.presstv.com/detail/145282.html
5 dec 2010, 22:47 , Respect -
Maria 13 oct 2010
Israeli forces remove Sheikh Jarrah sit-in tent
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) -- Israel forces removed a Fatah-affiliated sit-in tent in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Wednesday, which was erected in solidarity with 28 Palestinian families threatened with expulsion.
Fatah Revolutionary Council member Dimitri Diliani said forces had attempted to dismantle the tent overnight, but families had stayed the move. Officers returned the day after to remove the tent under tight security, he added.
Ma'an's correspondent said confrontations between forces and the families concerned broke out while the tent was being dismantled.
Diliani said Fatah would continue their protests despite the tent's removal.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=323802
Comptroller: Illegal Arab construction ignored
Damning state comptroller's report slams ongoing increase in number of illegal structures throughout east Jerusalem; since 2000, some 1,000 such structured are being constructed annually, report says.
For decades, Jerusalem Town Hall turned a blind eye illegal construction in the King's Garden area of Silwan, according to damning state comptroller's report on local government released Wednesday
After the Six-Day War in 1967, there were 13 illegal structures in the area, but by 1995, this number had risen to 30 and by 2009, it had jumped to 130, the report says.
The King's Garden (Gan Hamelech) is the Hebrew name for an area of some 11 acres about half a kilometer south of Jerusalem's Old City, between Ir David and Silwan. Jerusalem authorities have a plan to demolish 22 structures to make way for a tourist park, while another 66 structures will be granted a post factum building permit. The plan has raised controversy in Israel and even protest from the US, Europe, the UN and the Palestinians.
According to the report, law enforcement against illegal structures began only in 1995, but even then with little effect nine years later there were 80 illegal structures. Authorities began legal proceedings against 43, but only 10 were demolished. Meanwhile, new buildings were constructed.
In 2004, authorities boosted law enforcement efforts in the area, which is part of a recognized antiquities site. Nevertheless, the number of illegal structures had reached 130 by 2009, mostly just single-storey or two-storey buildings.
Aerial photo of King's Garden area
However, it appears that illegal construction is not just a Silwan phenomenon. From 1967, thousands of new illegal structures were built in addition to many illegal extensions to existing buildings. City inspectors estimate that illegal building in east Jerusalem has increased regularly, and since 2000, some 1,000 illegal structures are erected each year.
The report noted that illegal construction is liable to cause friction between residents and local authorities and create a public disturbance, as happens in many cases when law enforcement agents come to demolish homes in east Jerusalem.
State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss recommended law enforcement be stepped up, as well as steps to encourage construction through legal procedures, according to plans that take the needs of the residents into account.
The state comptroller also suggested that, due to the extent of the phenomenon, and in light of the fact that many years have passed since some of the buildings were constructed, authorities and ministries should investigate the issue and come up with a policy to handle the problems involved.
Jerusalem Town Hall said a report "describing the failure of law enforcement in the area during the last decades" was given to Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat just a short time after he took up his position.
As a result of the report, "Barkat set up a special task force to create a comprehensive plan for the King's Garden area and Silwan, taking residents' needs into account while maintaining the law and the principles of planning." Some existing structures will be incorporated into the reworked plan, which has been approved by the relevant local planning committees, and is awaiting approval from the regional planning committee.
Meanwhile, the municipality said, the task force is extending its remit to other areas in east Jerusalem.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3969064,00.html
Israel planning to demolish 110 Palestinian buildings in Silwan
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The State Comptroller of Israel has called for the demolition of tens of Palestinian homes in Silwan, the suburb adjacent to the Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, in an official report published on Wednesday.
The report claimed that the houses were built without permits and in violation of the structural map of the suburb.
It said that aerial photographing and information provided by the municipality indicated that Palestinians in Silwan, east of Jerusalem, had built 110 houses over the past 31 years in violation of the structural map of the suburb that was endorsed in the mid seventies of the past century.
The State Comptroller recommended resorting to court to obtain demolition verdicts against those homes. The Israeli-controlled municipality is systematically razing tens of Palestinian homes in occupied Jerusalem.
http://bit.ly/cV97SC
Update: Israeli bulldozers raze 40 Araqib homes for the sixth time
NEGEV, (PIC)-- The Israeli municipality teams tore down 40 Palestinian homes in the Araqib village in the Negev desert, occupied since 1948, on Wednesday under heavy police protection.
Locals said that the inhabitants appealed for support in face of their ordeal, describing the repeated demolition of their village homes as a reflection of "deep-rooted hatred".
Israeli police and special forces blocked journalists from entering the village and forced them to park their cars two kilometers away.
Awad Abu Freih, a spokesman for the committee in defense of Araqib, said that the demolition teams "want to establish special plantations for Jews at the expense of the villagers".
The Israeli municipality teams left the village after leveling it to the ground as a huge bulldozer on its way out destroyed a large placard carrying the name of the village.
http://bit.ly/d0fWd5
Civil Administration razes illegal structures in West Bank
IDF and police forces accompanied Civil Administration inspectors as they razed three illegal structures in the West Bank's Esther outpost.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3968704,00.html
Bedouin village razed for 6th time
Israel Land Administration personnel are razing the unrecognized Bedouin village al-Arakib village, located near Rahat, for the sixth time in the past few weeks.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3968676,00.html
7 dec 2010, 23:27 , Respect -
Maria 14 oct 2010
IOA confiscates 1,000 dunums south of Nablus
NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) ordered the confiscation of 1,000 dunums of Palestinian land of Jalud village, southeast of Nablus, on Wednesday, to establish an army base.
Ghassan Daghlas, the head of the committee monitoring settlement activity north of the West Bank, said in a press statement that the commander of the Israeli army said that the land was needed for "security reasons" to deter resistance attacks.
The IOA announced that the land was finally seized after it had sealed it off before the Jalud inhabitants since 2000.
For his part, chairman of Jalud municipal council Abdullah Al-Haj said that the confiscation of the land "legitimizes settlement activity in the area", pointing to the presence of three settlement outposts in the area.
http://bit.ly/depoSj
Israel to demolish 22 Palestinian homes in J'lem to build park
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli municipal council in occupied Jerusalem approved a plan to build a new Jewish park in place of 22 Palestinian homes to be demolished in Al-Bustan neighborhood.
In a letter handed to the Israeli premier, head of the municipal council Nir Barakat asked Benjamin Netanyahu to approve this plan and proposed as well the launch of three civilian projects for Israeli settlers in other four Palestinian neighborhoods in east Jerusalem.
The municipal council was intending to implement the plan last June, but it was condemned by the Palestinians and the international community which made Netanyahu freeze the park project.
In another incident, different Israeli websites revealed that extremist Jewish groups encourage their supporters to participate intensively in the break-ins organized daily at the Aqsa Mosque.
These websites also posted photographs and video shots on their pages showing Israeli extremists under military protection desecrating the courtyards of the Aqsa Mosque and performing their rituals.
Palestinian local sources affirmed that the extremists often make their tours in the area known as Horsh near the triple gate or in the courtyard of The Dome of the Rock Mosque.
http://bit.ly/bG9Vd0
Clashes break out in Silwan over demolition threats
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Clashes erupted between Palestinian youths and Israeli military forces in Jerusalem's Silwan district Wednesday evening, ending in the injury of some soldiers.
An Israeli media source said at least two border guard soldiers were injured by stones thrown by Palestinians in the neighborhood.
The military force broke up the crowd by force using tear gas and rubber coated bullets, without report of injury or arrest on the Palestinian side.
The clashes were prompted by an official Israeli decision issued by the State Comptroller to demolish more than 110 Palestinian homes in the Silwan district for allegedly being built without permits and in a manner conflicting with the structural maps.
In a separate incident, media sources in the West Bank said Wednesday that Israeli soldiers arrested three Palestinians, two of them journalists, and took them to the Karmi Tsur settlement in north Al-Khalil.
The detainees reportedly gathered near the settlement to cover a settler attack against Palestinian land in the nearby Al-Khalil town of Beit Ummar, where bulldozers were digging up last night and this morning the land of Palestinians to expand the settlement.
The detainees wee identified as Mamoun Wazwaz of Reuters, Hazem Badr of the AFP, and Palestinian Solidarity Project spokesman Mohammed Ayyad Awad.
Israeli forces arrested in the West Bank Thursday morning eight Palestinians alleging that they were on the wanted list.
Israeli sources said Palestinians were arrested in Qalqiliya, Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Al-Khalil and taken for questioning.
http://bit.ly/axNmvk