After a recent burning of its mosque, a group of extremist Israeli settlers torched on Friday Palestinian farmlands planted with wheat in the Al Mogheer village, north of the central west bank city of Ramallah.
The settlers burnt the land in broad daylight and the fires consumed most of the 35 Dunams of land planted with wheat until the villagers managed to control the fire.
Representatives of the Palestinian and Israeli District Coordination offices arrived at the scene after the attack, and the Israeli army claimed it would be investigating it.
Two weeks ago, settlers broke into the village mosque and set it ablaze.
In February this year, settlers uprooted 150 wheat planted Dunams that belong to Al Mogheer residents.
The settlers also uprooted 150 Dunams of farmlands that belong to residents of Tormos-Ayya village, near Ramallah, and sprayed the lands in question with chemicals.
Israel is ongoing with the infrastructure work, which includes roads and homes in the so-called E1 area, in east Jerusalem in order to impose its own vision of any future peace deal by disconnecting geographical contiguity of the Palestinian territories and linking Maali Adumim illegal settlement with East Jerusalem and other settlements around it.
Israel planned this construction initially in 1994, and in 1999 the Higher Construction Committee approved the plan but was not implemented due to American pressure.
In May of 2008, Israel constructed a police station in the area and went on to pave roads, main junctions, public squares, checkpoints, a bridge, side walls, and other constructions with a total cost that exceeded 100 Million New Israeli Shekels.
Israel also paved a road which links Khizma Palestinian town with Al Zeaayim area in order to be used by the Palestinians as they will not be allowed into the E1 area. The plan will further bloc any contiguity between Jerusalem and Ramallah.
Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, said after he won the elections in March of 2006 that he intends to construct and expand settlements in the E1 area and vowed contiguity between the settlements and Jerusalem. This includes Gush Azion settlement bloc and Ariel settlement bloc in the southern and northern parts of the West Bank.
On Saturday, Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported that Olmert’s office declared that Ma’aleh Adumim settlement bloc is and will remain part of Jerusalem under any peace agreement. The settlement as well as all Israeli settlements and outpost are built on Palestinian lands illegal annexed by Israel.
Under the current plan, Israeli will build a new settlement on 12442 Dunams that would be annexed from the Palestinians living in Al Ezariyya, AL Toor and Al Esawiyya. It will contain 3500 housing units (for nearly 14500 settlers).
Also, ten hotels, recreational facilities, other settlement units, and an industrial zone would also be built under this plan.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, said that Ma’aleh Adumim is an inseparable part of Jerusalem and the state of Israel.
Haaretz reported that Barak’s office issued a statement saying that Ma’aleh Adumim will be linked with Mount Scopus and that it “is absolutely necessary to keep the area as part of Israel.
This was the same position of former Israeli Prime Minister Yithak Rabin, who was killed by an extremist Jew in 1995, as well as the position of consecutive Israeli government since East Jerusalem fell under Israeli occupation in 1967.
Ma’aleh Adumim is built on Palestinian lands in East Jerusalem, it lies 14 kilometers to the east of the city and is inhibited by more than 30000 settlers. The E1 project will ensure the expansion of the settlement and linking it with Jerusalem by annexing more Palestinian land from villages and towns in East Jerusalem.
The plan will cut off any possibility of developing Palestinian villages and cities in the area, and will block geographical contiguity which threatens the possibilities of establishing a viable Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The plan will prevent Palestinian construction between Jerusalem and Ramallah and will complicate the situation and make it difficult to reach an agreement on borders.
Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem and its surrounding Palestinians areas, are illegal under the international law since they are built on occupied lands. Yet, construction and expansion of illegal settlement remains the first priority of consecutive Israeli governments and the Palestinians continue to lose lands, olive orchards, and their villages, cities and towns continue to be isolated and separated by settlements and the illegal Annexation Wall.
[Update, 1/5/06: this a new version of the audio file – due to technical problems, the last version cut out before the end.]
“On Friday the 28th of April on behalf of the International Middle Eastern Media Centre I traveled to Bil’in to cover the weekly protest and resistance to the Israeli illegal occupation of the Bil’in village’s agricultural lands.
“The young people of Bil’in village had the longest Palestinian flag I have ever seen, it stretched for over 300m’ and the youth held it over their heads as if they were a giant Chinese dragon they carried it up a steep hill to the apartheid wall, a construction of razor wire, manned by soldiers standing on jeeps and humvess with their guns raised. The protest was peaceful with some of the older men chanting for freedom at the army.
“The soldiers then brought down wooden clubs on the men’s heads. This did not deter their protest so the soldiers then fired sound bombs and tear gas. Two men had to be carried away for medical treatment.
“The protestors briefly divided to avoid the gas and sound bombs then returned to sitting in front of the jeeps and humvess this time with a group of Israeli and international protestors.
“The Army again attempted to disperse the protest by firing more gas and sound bombs but once the smoke cleared the protest continued.
“Leaders of the Bi’lin village closed the yellow gate which had been opened to allow the army access to invade Bi’lin if necessary they sat astride it beating out a noise protest with rocks on the metal. Again tear gas and sound bombs were used, this time the protestors dispersed as the youth of the village hiding in the olive orchards began to hurl stones at the soldiers from bandoliers. As I left the demonstration I came across a mother and her young son of six years choking from the effects of the gas, they had been working in the orchards.”
