- 17 sept 2010
IOA starts building bridge leading to Aqsa Mosque
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM,- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) has started construction works near the Magharba Gate of the Aqsa Mosque to build a bridge leading easily to the heart of the Mosque, the Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage disclosed.
The foundation, which caters for Muslim holy shrines in occupied Palestine, issued a statement on Thursday saying that the construction works came few days after an Israeli court approved the construction of the bridge that connects between the Buraq plaza and the Magharba Gate to make it easy for the IOF troops and armed settlers to storm the Mosque any time they wish.
The foundation added that a team of it was dispatched to the site and witnessed Israeli workers cleaning and clearing the area of the excavations the IOA carried out near the gate recently.
In this regard, the foundation warned that the Israeli schemes against the Aqsa Mosque would entail adverse repercussions on the Mosque that none could anticipate, urging Muslims across the world to stand up against the Israeli schemes to Judaize the Mosque.
http://bit.ly/aiqnRU 28 nov 2010, 02:14 , Respect -
Maria 21 sept 2010
Israeli troops continue onslaught against West Bank homes
NEGEV, (PIC)-- Israeli bulldozers backed by police and special forces stormed Tuesday morning two south Negev towns unrecognized by the Israeli government, razing two houses.
Police surrounded and destroyed a home owned by the Arbidi family claiming that it was built without a permit, eyewitnesses said.
Police removed members of the household by force to allow bulldozers to take down their houses before their eyes, witnesses added.
The witnesses went on to say that police arrested a man in wake of his opposition to the demolitions. After destroying the house, the forces left 14 children without shelter at the scene.
The bulldozers also destroyed a house belonging to a 70-year-old woman of the Abu Hadawiya family. The demolition process took time against the 150 sq. meters brick and concrete house in light of heavy security.
In a separate incident, the Israeli Jerusalem municipality issued an order to demolish the home of Palestinian man Ismael Ali Salah in the Beit Safafa neighborhood in southwest Jerusalem.
The 70-sq. meter house was home to 20 people including a 100-year-old man and 92-year-old woman. The family was forced to live in the house, which was previously used to feed poultry and hold livestock, after one of their houses was seized in June by Israeli extremist groups.
Clashes erupted between the Salah family and extremists backed by electric company workers who showed up to extend a new power line to the confiscated home. One Israeli settler was injured during the confrontation.
Local sources said Israeli police later arrested Bakr Ismael Salah and Mahmoud Ali Ibrahim of Jerusalem on charges of assaulting the Israeli settler.
Meanwhile, violent clashes broke out in the vicinity of the south Nablus village of Burin on Tuesday between locals and dozens of Israelis from the Bracha settlement, who headed out with their women and children to steal olives during their season in the village, which is nearby the settlement.
The settlers set out early morning to harvest and steal the olives, when property owners confronted them in defense of their livelihood, eyewitnesses reported.
Israeli settlers assaulted a Jazeera reporter with a stone to the face amid the confrontation.
An Israeli military force stepped in to defend the settlers who then returned to Bracha settlement.
http://bit.ly/djsL5y
Jordan Valley homes due to be demolished over lack of permits
JERICHO, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed Monday afternoon the central Jordan Valley town of Zubaydat and handed out demolition notices against houses in the town.
The houses under threat of demolition belong to Palestinian man Majed Mufdi Daraghema, local sources said, adding that the IOF troops gave him 12 hours to take them down.
Another Palestinian Fathi Ismael al-Zubaydat was forced to stop building in his home located in a classified area.
The Jordan Valley is under a fierce onslaught of raid operations and repeated demolitions against Palestinian homes by IOF troops.
In a similar incident, Israeli troops gave notices Monday to eight Palestinians in the west Salfit town of Deir Ballut to halt construction on their homes. Israeli authorities allege the homes were built without permits.
Ahmed Yousef Mustafa, mayor of Deir Ballut said the houses are located in the southern and western parts of the town and fall in a critical area and a natural expansion of the townspeople.
http://bit.ly/cFOR3z
29 nov 2010, 01:09 , Respect -
Maria 22 sept 2010
PA says settlers bulldozed land in Bethlehem village
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Agriculture's anti-wall and settlement unit on Wednesday toured land in the Al-Khader village that was overturned by settlers.
Unit coordinator Awad Abu Suwiey said settlers bulldozed a 30-by-10-meter part of the plot and uprooted 30 grapevines and several almond trees.
Abu Suwiey added that residents from the illegal Elazar settlement built a wall continue overturning the land "annexing a large area to the settlement."
Landowner Hassan Marzuq Salah said he filed a complaint with Israeli police stationed in the Kefar Ezyon settlement, but it was rejected.
Salah said he and his family made several attempts to remove barbed wire but were deterred by Israeli forces, who he said offered him compensation in exchange for dropping the charges against the settlers.
Abu Suwiey, the wall and settlements unit coordinator, said the ministry would organize activities and a campaign to help Salah rebuild and rehabilitate his land.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=316966
Israeli settlers raid WB olive farms
Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinian olive groves in the West Bank cities of Nablus and Qalqilya, looting part of the farmers' harvest.
A Palestinian official in charge of the Israeli settlement file in northern West Bank said tens of Israelis from the nearby Yitzhar settlement clashed with Palestinian farmers on Tuesday, Qods news agency reported.
According to Ghassan Daghlas, the assailants then engaged in uprooting and breaking Palestinian olive trees and stole part of their crops.
Daghlas emphasized that in addition to attacks by settlers, Israeli army forces have also launched a campaign recently to destroy Palestinian gardens and olive stands in the West Bank.
The move inflicts further blows on the wrecked economy of the West Bank where the livelihood of most Palestinian families depends on agriculture and their olive groves, in particular.
http://www.presstv.com/detail/143509.html
Israel razes East Jerusalem home
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces razed a home and small animal shelter in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of At-Tur on Tuesday, after the owner was told the home was built without a license.
Wael Darwish Da'na, father of ten, said he had been served with a warning notice two months earlier, but had hired a lawyer to contest the demolition.
The petition was filed but no court date was set, Da'na said, adding that he was nonetheless surprised when Israeli police arrived at his home and began evacuating the family.
The home was a one-story structure approximately 20 square meters in size, and the stables were 200 square meters and home to five horses and 50 sheep, he said.
The demolition was first reported since July, and since Israeli and Palestinian officials began direct negotiations.
Officials from the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem said the demolition was not carried out under their jurisdiction. A request for comment was directed to Israel's Civil Administration, who noted that the civil branch of the Israeli army did not operate in East Jerusalem.
A 2009 report conducted by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted that because of the difficulties Palestinians encounter trying to obtain building permits from Israeli authorities, and due to the lack of feasible alternatives, many Palestinians risk building on their land without a permit in order to meet their housing needs.
At least 28 percent of all Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem have been built in violation of Israeli zoning requirements, according to the report. Based on population figures, this percentage is equivalent to 60,000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem, who are at risk of having their homes demolished by Israeli authorities.
http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=316699
29 nov 2010, 01:11 , Respect -
Maria 27 sept 2010
Zionist settlers bulldoze lands in Yatta
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Zionist settlers started on Sunday to bulldoze Palestinian land near the village of Yatta, south of Al-Khalil, in preparation to re-establish the settlement of Havat Ma'on.
Local sources said that the settlers, protected by Israeli occupation forces (IOF), installed caravans in the area in preparation for re-establishing the settlement, which was dismantled around nine years ago after eruption of the Aqsa intifada.
Meanwhile, other settlers bulldozed land in Al-Khalil's Wadi Al-Hussain in preparation for erecting a new settlement outpost.
Tens of IOF soldiers were deployed in the vicinity to protect the settlers.
Also in Al-Khalil, dozens of settlers stormed downtown to perform Talmudic rituals as IOF troops in coordination with the PA militias loyal to de facto president Mahmoud Abbas closed roads leading to the area.
IOF soldiers also detained a 13-year-old pupil from his school classroom in Al-Khalil despite suffering a fractured foot. He was taken to the Ofer detention center.
http://bit.ly/9jVcjK
30 nov 2010, 02:28 , Respect -
Maria 28 sept 2010
Dozens of Arab families may be evicted from East Jerusalem neighborhood under court ruling
Judges reject appeal by Palestinians claiming to own a large plot in the western portion of Sheikh Jarrah, enabling settlers to move ahead with plans to build in the area.
A Supreme Court ruling Sunday may allow settler groups to move into dozens more homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Justices Yoram Danziger, Esther Hayut and Miriam Naor unanimously rejected an appeal by Palestinians claiming to own a large plot in the western portion of the neighborhood. The court ruled that the custodian general, and other owners, including settler representatives, succeeded in proving they owned the property.
The decision means the properties' owners will be able to initiate proceedings for the eviction of dozens of Palestinian families living on the property.
Moreover, the settlers will be able to move ahead with plans to build in the area.
Aryeh King, one of the leaders of the settlement movement in East Jerusalem said yesterday that in two days three Palestinian families whose leases are ending are expected to be evicted from their homes. The plan is for Jewish families to move in.
King also said that he is advancing a project to build dozens of housing units for Jews in the neighborhood.
Sheikh Jarrah has been a bone of contention between Jewish groups - who call the neighborhood Shimon Hatzadik after the ancient rabbi they believe is buried there - and Palestinians living there. Tensions have risen over the last year as the court has allowed Jewish groups to reclaim homes they said they were forced to leave after 1948, thereby allowing them to evict Palestinian families in favor of Jewish ones.
To date the struggle had focused on the eastern part of the neighborhood. Three families have thus far been evicted from the area and 25 more are under threat of eviction.
Settlers ready to claim plots
However a settler group had made preparations to claim plots in the western segment.
Following the Six-Day War, the custodian general took over the homes and the properties in the area. Over the years the custodian general restored some of the properties to the legal Jewish owners. Other properties were bought by groups that identify themselves with the settlers - either directly by the custodian general or by the inheritors.
Among those owning property in the neighborhood is American businessman Irwin Moskowitz, who is considered an important patron of settlement activity.
Yithzak Memo, another right-wing activist involved in settlement in the western portion of the neighborhood, also bought property in the area.
King says that right-wing groups own about half the homes in the neighborhood.
In 1997 Palestinians sued, arguing that the property on which Jews settled in the 19th century had not been sold to them but leased and that the ownership remained Palestinian. In 2006 the Jerusalem District Court rejected the suit and they appealed to the Supreme Court.
Sunday the Supreme Court rejected their appeal and ruled that Jews are the owners of the homes. The ruling, written by Danziger, states that the Palestinians failed to prove the terms of the lease between the original owners and the Jews who lived in the neighborhood.
Evidence that payments for the lease were made were rejected by the court as constituting evidence that the Jews did not buy the property.
The legal significance of the ruling is that the status of the Palestinians living in the eastern portion of the neighborhood is now the same as that of those living in the western side - subletting Jewish owned property.
Sources familiar with the issue say that henceforth it will be easier for settler groups to evict Palestinians from the area.
http://bit.ly/9NEW1E
Attias: Palestinians need to accept building in West Bank
Construction and Housing Minister Ariel Attias told reporters that direct talks now depend on the Palestinians, on his way to Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef's succa on Tuesday.
"If they accept our terms, we'll go ahead," Attias said. "If they accept building [in the West Bank], we'll continue."
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=189496
Israel Land Fund to continue building in Sheikh Jarrah
After Supreme Court ruling denying Palestinian ownership of land, Jerusalem activist Aryeh King says Arabs should "show gratitude" to Jews.
Israel Land Fund founder Aryeh King announced on Tuesday that we should expect Jewish building plans in Sheikh Jarrah.
King explained that "court decisions have prevented the owners from using land they owned for almost ten years. Now that things have changed, we'll be able to begin building."
The Supreme Court ruled on Sunday that Palestinians failed to prove ownership of a plot of land in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, springing activists to action on Tuesday.
Sunday's ruling by Justices Yoram Danziger, Esther Hayut and Miriam Naor rejected the appeal, saying that the complainants did not bring evidence proving that the custodian general, Jerusalem Municipality and others do not own the property.
King said that the Arab families appealing for ownership would have had to leave the building anyway, as their lease had ended.
"I hope the Arabs will act like human beings and hand over the property that they rented all these years without harming the owners," King said. "I expect them to show gratitude to the people who let them rent the property."
King expressed hope that more Jewish landowners will use follow this precedent. "We will try to convince them to sue Arabs for large amounts of money, because they have caused a lot of harm to the landowners."
On Monday, the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity group, which organizes weekly protests against the evacuation of Arab families, demonstrated outside the Jerusalem Municipality succa in Kikar Safra. About 50 activists held up signs protesting the mayor's policies; two protesters were taken for questioning by police.
In reaction to the Sheikh Jarrah activists, King said "left-wing anarchist extremists are always looking for a reason to protest."
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=189498
30 nov 2010, 12:52 , Respect -
Maria 30 sept 2010
IOA approves confiscation of 66 dunums in Al-Khalil
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) approved on Wednesday a bill to seize 66 dunums of land in the town of Tafouh, west of the city of Al-Khalil.
Local sources said military forces escorted a planning officer from the civil administration as he handed out notices for local Palestinians to discontinue building and evacuate the land in the Khulla Banat Hatem region, which covers more than 66 dunums.
Under the decision, a 28-dunum area of land will be confiscated from Nadhmi Hariz and 38 dunums from Thair Abdel Hadi al-Qawasimi.
The IOA reportedly wanted to annex the land and designate it for a crushing plant owned by an Israeli settler known as Ben Ari.
The targeted landowners have proof of ownership of the property and deny claims that it belongs to the Israeli state, the sources added.
The IOA decided a short while back to seize 44 dunums of land belonging to the Khamayisa family in the same area.
In a separate incident also in Al-Khalil, dozens of Israeli settlers raided the Ain Keinar area and toured the fields and springs under protection from the Israeli military and the PA security militia.
Eyewitnesses told the Palestinian Information Center that a large force of PA security arrived at the scene and stopped local Palestinians from protecting their land and closing in on the settlers.
Witnesses, who said the settlers were armed and numbered around 50, arrived at the Ain Keinar region through mountain trails from the Beit Haggai settlement into a densely populated Palestinian area and began touring between the fields and springs.
Palestinians said they were concerned the move was a prelude to settlers establishing a settlement outpost to take over the land, despite the region being located in an area under PA control.
http://bit.ly/bGnkri