The Israeli Supreme Court issued an injunction to stop Building illegal outpost on Bil’in land.

The Israeli Supreme Court issued an injunction to stop Building illegal outpost on Bil’in land

Another Victory for Palestinian Non violence!

Wednesday January 6th 2006, Attorney Michael Sfard appealed to the Israeli High Court of Justice, on Behalf of “Peace Now” demanding to stop the building in the Matityahu East neighborhood in the settlement Modi’in Illit.

Two days ago, following an extensive coverage in Ha’aretz, the building in Matityahu East was stopped, but yesterday construction there was renewed.

As a result of the petition on January 6th, the High Court of Justice issued a temporary injunction banning any further building without permits, in the Matityahu East neighborhood, in Modi’in Illit. None of the buildings under construction in this outpost have legal permits. The warrant also bans bringing more residents, i.e. settlers, to live in the houses in the neighborhood. The Court decided that on 12 January, a hearing on the request for temporary injunctions will take place, but until then, the above mentioned orders will remain in force.

In the petition (number 143/06) the Court is also asked to order that the houses built illegally in the neighborhood be demolished; and also to cancel the construction plan number 210/8/1, according to which the building in Matityahu East have been going on.

The new petition is based on the material discovered following the petition of the people of Bil’in against the wall (HCJ 8414/05). Both petitions were filed by attorney Michael Sfard. Both became possible only thanks to the continued, high-profile popular struggle in the village Bil’in.

The petition was filed against ten bodies party to the illegal construction off the settlement:
Five of them are state authorities that had knowledge of the illegal construction but either aided or did nothing to prevent it, they are:
The Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz,
the military commander of operations in the west Bank,
the Civil Administration High Committee of planning in “Judea and Samaria”,
the commander of the Israeli police in the area
and the Modi’in Elite local council.
In addition to the companies who claim to have bought land, but have yet to provide any proof of ownership:
Green park inc.
and Green Mount inc. two Real estate companies registered in Canada.,
And the Israeli real estate companies:
The fund for liberating land planning and development of settlements inc.
and the “Ein Amy” development company inc.

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law but outposts like Metiyahu Mizrah are considered illegal even by the Israeli authoraties. The petition asks that the above bodies explain both why the illegal building has occurred with their knowledge and why despite this, nothing has been done to stop the outpost’s illegal construction.

Bil’in has become a symbol of Palestinian nonviolent resistance and of cooperation between Palestinian, Israeli and International activists in a joint struggle for human rights.

The petition refers to a non violent direct action staged by Bil’in residents On December 25th. The villagers employed the tactics used by Israeli settlers for the theft of Palestinian land in a bid to hold onto their land that Israel is attempting to annex via the so called “security” Barrier for Mod’in Elite’s expansion . They established a Palestinian outpost dubbed “Bil’in West” on their own land only hundreds of meters away from the Metityahu Mizrah outpost.

The Palestinian outpost consisted of two trailers and a one room brick structure. Both trailers were removed by The Military within 24 hours of arriving on the land and the brick structure was issued an immediate stop work order by the civil administration.

The petition points out the Israeli authority’s selective law enforcement and that the efforts to remove the Palestinian outpost contrast starkly with the lack of action against the criminal acts being committed in Metityahu Mizrah just across the hill.

Approximately half of Bil’in’s lands are being isolated from the village by the Barrier. The Israeli government argues that the route of the wall in Bil’in was determined purely for security reasons. However, a brief visit to the village shows this to be false.

For more information call
Mohammed Khatib 0545-851893
Abdullah Abu Rahme 0547258210
ISM Media Office 02-297-1824