Today, Tuesday January 3rd 2006 the third, is the official opening day of the election campaign for the Palestinian Legislative Council. In spite of Israel’s reputation as the “only democracy in the middle east,” Palestinian political leaders still face harasement and arrest by the Israeli Police and Military.
At an election rally held by electoral candidate Hannan Ashwari in Occupied East Jerusalem today, Israeli Police demanded that a banner promoting “The Third Way ” be removed. Hannan Ashrawi refused to remove it, so the banner was confiscated by the police and Mrs. Ashrawi’s assistant was arrested. The rally was forcefully dispersed by the Israeli police, and four Jerusalem residents participating in the rally were arrested for waving Palestinian flags (referred to by Ynet as PLO flags), which is still an illegal offense in Occupied East Jerusalem.
On the night of the January 2nd, the Israeli police in occupied east Jerusalem arrested two residents of the city for displaying posters of electoral candidates. The two were released after being interrogated. The Israeli military also prevented Candidate Neda Taweer from Tul Karem from crossing a checkpoint on her way to the site of the annexation Wall at Dir Al Soon.
At noon today, January 3rd, Candidate Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, head of the Independent Palestine coalition list, was arrested in East Jerusalem whilst on a tour of the Old City as part of the his election campaign of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Dr. Barghouthi was approached by six undercover Israeli security agents, arrested, and taken to the Russian Compound jail. He was released at the Al Ram checkpoint three hours later.
As a result of the village of Bil’in’s ongoing campaign of non-violent direct action and protest, an unprecedented action was taken today by the Civil Administration in regards to the illegal settlement outpost of Matityahu Mizrah, which is being built on Bil’in’s land. The Civil Administration issued a stop work order, thus sending away the construction workers at the outpost, a rare act by the Civil Administration in regards to settlement construction. Despite this, the illegal work is still being allowed to continue on buildings where tenants have already moved in.
All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. However, the article exposes that the Israeli Civil Administration has done nothing to stop or restrain the settlement of Mod’iin Illit’s continuing construction and expansion, despite admitting that even by Israeli standards, illegal construction has been taking place on a massive scale.
The article also shows how the Civil Administration serves as a tool for laundering land taken illegally from it’s Palestinian owners, mainly by announcing it to be state land and then transferring it to private hands. Specifically in the case Of Bil’in, attorney Moshe Glick, who is known to be involved with other similar real estate scandals, signed in the stead of the Bil’in village Muhktar, testifying that the land belonging to a resident of Bil’in was paid for by the settlers.
Mr. Glick justified signing in the stead of the Muhktar because “any Jew entering Bil’in will be killed” and because he claimed there was a military order forbidding Israelis from entering Area “B”. Both statements are, of course, totally false, seeing how Israelis legally and safely visit Bil’in (located in Area B) every day. Clearly, there is no way that Mr. Glick could know to whom the land that his clients were interested in belongs, having never been to Bil’in. Yet the Civil Administration has claimed that the supposed land sale was legitimate.
The villagers of Bil’in have been protesting the theft of their land by the annexation barrier, which allows for the expansion of the Mod’iin Illit settlement, and for the last ten months the protests there have become a symbol for the Palestinian non-violent resistance and joint struggle with Israeli and international activists. The route of the wall runs meters from the last houses of Bil’in and thousands of meters away from the last houses in the expanding illegal settlement, thus allowing for further settlement expansion.
In a recent non violent direct action, the people of Bil’in built a Palestinian outpost on their own land across from the settlement, and on the Israeli side of the annexation barrier. The Israeli authorities responded by forcefully removing two caravans and immediately issuing a stop work order for the latest structure that the Palestinians erected. The Palestinian ‘outpost’ has since been under 24 hour surveillance by the Israeli Military in order to insure that no further building takes place. The contrast between the quick concrete action taken to stop Bil’in villagers from building on their own land, with the lack of action taken against the quickly expanding settlement has put the Israeli civil administration in an embarrassing position.
This is a clear example of how the non-violent actions of the villagers and their many supporters have finally forced the Israeli Authorities to take concrete action and curb its illegal settlement expansion in order to save face. But the real victory is yet to be had on Feb 1st 2006, when the Israeli Supreme Court will hear a petition filed by villagers against the route of the wall on their land.
For more information call:
Mohammad Khatib – 054-5851893
Abdullah – 0547-258210
Michael Sfard – 0544-713030
ISM Media Office – 022971824
Palestinian and Israeli Parliament members and Rachel Corries Parents to join the protest
Bil’in:
Starting at 8 AM on Dec. 30, Palestinian villagers in Bil’in, accompanied by Israeli and international activists, are working their agricultural lands isolated behind Israel’s annexation wall. At 12 PM, prayers will be held at the “Centre for Joint Struggle,” the legal “outpost” that Palestinians, assisted by Israeli and international activists. The outpost is built in the illicit Jewish settlement-outpost Matitayu East, currently being constructed in violation of Israel’s own laws, in addition to international law and convention, on land belonging to Bil’in. Palestinian political figures Kaddoura Fares, Mustafa Barghouti, and Kais Abu Leila as well as Cindy and Craig Corry, parents of the American peace activist murdered by an Israeli solider, plan to attend.
Approximately half of Bil’in’s lands are being isolated from the village by the Wall. The village will lose at least 1,950 dunams if the Wall is not removed. As in other villages, 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 in Bil’in:
Mohammed Khatib 0545-851893
Abdullah 0547258210
Palestinian-Israeli members of the Knesset and religious figures will attend a protest march at the village of Aboud at 12 PM on Dec. 30. Palestinian, Israeli and international activists will march to the construction site of the Separation Wall, which when finished will isolate approximately 4,400 dunums of the village’s lands for the purpose of annexing them to the Jewish settlements of Ofarim and Bet Arye, built in violation of international law and convention. The construction is taking place 6 km east of the Green Line, within occupied Palestinian territory.
Aboud is nestled among terraced olive groves in the West Bank, west of the city of Ramallah. The village has 2,200 residents; 900 of them are Christian. Within the village are seven ancient churches and the oldest dates back to the third century. According to Christian belief, Jesus passed through the village on the Roman road from Galilee to Jerusalem.
For more information in Aboud: Operation Dove: 0599311344 Laura 0548130634
For more information:: Mansour 0545804830 ISM media office 297182
On the left of the picture is the house that Bil’in villagers have built on their land in an area that they are calling “Bil’in west”. On the right of the pictures are buildings under construction in the Modi’in Elite settlement outpost also known as “Metityahu East”.
The Palestinian structure that houses “the center for Joint struggle” has received a “stop work order” from the Israeli civil administration and is threatened with demolition.
The settlement apartment buildings, despite being built without permits or plans from the Israeli government on land that belongs to the village of Bil’in , have yet to receive such an order.
The Israeli military have placed the Palestinian house under twenty four hour surveillance to insure that no additional construction take place.
Meanwhile, construction, which even Israel’s civil administration admits is illegal, continues in the settlement outpost unabated under the protection of the Israeli military.
Bil’in is a small village located six km east of the green line, west of Ramallah. The village rests on 4,000 dunams (about 1,000 acres) and is home to 1,700 residents, whose livelihood depends on agriculture and work outside the village. Most of the villages land lies between two streams (the Modi’in stream in the south and the Dolev stream in the north); the western tip of the lands of Bil’in are covered with the houses of the Kiryat Sefer section of the Israeli settlement Modi’in Illit.
The barrier Israel is building confiscates about half of the lands of the village. According to the Israeli government, 1,700 dunams of Bil’in’s land will remain west of the wall. In addition, the route itself – whose width is between 50 and 150 meters – takes about 250 dunams. In sum, the wall confiscates from Bil’in at least 1,950 dunams (the actual figure is expected to be even higher). It stretches near the last house of the village, surrounding it from three sides.
A Real Estate Wall under the Guise of Security
The Modi’in Elite settlement outpost is currently under construction
As in other villages, 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. The fence is mostly down the hill, in a topographically low point, easily allowing shooting above it. It goes six km east of the Green Line and 1.8 km east of the built and populated area of Modi’in Illit. The route crosses two streams, which necessitated complex and very expensive engineering work.
Had the aim of the fence been to defend the residents of Israel, it would have been put along the Green Line. Had its aim been to protect the present residents of Modi’in Illit, it would have been erected in superior topographic conditions near the built and populated area of the settlement.
The only reason for the route chosen is the expansion plans for Modi’in Illit. Right now, two new sections are being built in the settlement: the Matityahu East (also known as Heftsiba and Green Park) area, on 870 dunams of the lands of Bil’in west of the barrier; and the Neot Ha’Pisga area, on 560 dunams belonging mostly to the nearby Palestinian village Kharbata, but also confiscating some land belonging to Bil’in north of the Dolev stream.
In Matityahu East, 3,008 housing units are being built, while in Neot Ha’Pisga, 2,748 flats are planned. According to the plan, the Matityahu East section will reach the route of the fence itself so that its outermost houses will be located meters from the barrier! A master plan prepared by the Israeli Ministry of Housing allocates the remaining 600 dunams of the lands of Bil’in west of the fence, between Matityahu East and the Dolev stream, for another new section in Modi’in Illit, in which 1,200 housing units will be built.
Hence, the route of the wall in Bil’in was determined in light of the various construction plans of the settlement Modi’in Illit. Recently, the Israeli Government admitted, in response to a High Court of Justice petition, that “the route of the fence on the lands of Bil’in was designed, among others, to safeguard two new neighborhoods of Modi’in Illit, one which is already in advanced building stages… and the other… where building, on the western side, already began.” In other words, the route of the fence was designed to protect the future settlers who will live in the future areas to be built on the confiscated lands of Bil’in west of the barrier.
From a Small Settlement into a City
The story of Modi’in Illit started in 1992, when the small ultra-orthodox settlement Kiryat Sefer was established on the lands of the villages Kharbata, Deir Qaddis and Ni’lin, as well as on the western tip of the lands of Bil’in. In 1996 the name of the settlement was changed into Modi’in Illit, and it began to expand. At present Modi’in Illit is a 5,800-dunam (more than 1450 acres) settlements, all located east of the Green Line.
According to the master plan prepared by the Ministry of Housing, 150,000 settlers will live in the area by 2020 – most of them in Modi’in Illit itself. The Central Bureau of Statistics reports that in September 2005, 29,300 people lived in Modi’in Illit – 12.7 percent more than in 2004. Modi’in Illit is the second largest settlement (with respect to its population) in the West Bank, following Ma’ale Edomim, and will soon become the most densely populated settlement.
Unlike most settlements, Modi’in Illit is not an ideological one. Its ultra-orthodox residents came here only since the Israeli government offered them cheap housing. In many respects, the residents of this settlement are a victim of the policy of the government, which decided to bring them here and to inevitably create a conflict between them and the Palestinian land owners. This process was greatly enhanced recently, with the expansion eastward of Modi’in Illit, outside the boundaries of its built area. This expansion also violates an explicit commitment, given by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to U.S. President George Bush on December 2003. According to that agreement all building outside the already built-up areas of the settlements will cease.
Matityahu East: the Largest Illegal Outpost in the Territories
In the midst of procedures at the High Court of Justice, it was revealed that the Matityahu East section – the main reason for the route of the fence in Bil’in – is being constructed in violation of Israeli planning laws and without legal permits. In addition, the section violates international law in general, and the Fourth Geneva Convention that forbids the settlement of the occupying population in the occupied areas in particular.
The Matityahu East section is being built according to plan number 210/8/1, which was not approved yet by the Israeli planning authorities in the West Bank. The section has an approved building plan from 1999, plan number 210/8. However, the later allows only 1,532 housing units to be built (compared with 3,008 according to the new plan), and the division of lands therein (public areas, streets etc) is different than in the new plan. In reality, the construction in Matityahu East is being done according to plan number 210/8/1, which has no validity under Israeli law. According to the Israeli government, 750 housing units have already been illegally built in Matityahu East.
A letter written by the Comptroller of the Local Council Modi’in Illit in March 14, 2005 shows that the Comptroller sent warnings against the illegal building in Matityahu East already in January 2004, to both Council members and the Ministry of the Interior – but nothing was done to stop it. Following the complaints of the Comptroller, the local Council decided to fire him rather than address the violations.
While the authorities allow large-scale illegal building to continue in Matityahu East, the Civil Administration was quick to issue a warrant against building in the Bil’in Center for the Joint Struggle for Peace – a small building, sized seven square meters, which the residents of Bil’in and Israeli peace activists erected near Matityahu East on December 25th, 2005. Just a few hours after the walls of the building were completed, a warrant was delivered to the people of Bil’in forbidding any further building there and summoning them to a hearing at a planning committee of the Civil Administration. In addition, the army forcefully evacuated two caravans put in the place – one on December 22nd and the second on December 25th. This is a clear example of double standard in the enforcement of the law in the West Bank.
The High Court Petition
The issue of the fence in Bil’in is now in the High Court of Justice, where a hearing on the subject is to be held on February 1st, 2006. A petition against the fence was issued in September, by attorney Michael Sfard; it includes an extensive discussion of the future building plans of Modi’in Illit, some of which were only recently exposed.
In the petition, attorney Sfard claims that the route of the fence in Bil’in was not determined by security considerations, but rather by the interests of the settlement and of real estate companies. The route carefully follows the existing and future construction plans of Modi’in Illit, and was designed to allow unscrupulous real estate developers operating in the settlement (among them the companies Heftsiba and Green Park) to collect huge profits, on the backs of the people of Bil’in, whose lands are being stolen from them before their very eyes.
