Israel continues construction of Alon Mureh settlement at the expense of Palestinian land

Monday June 25, 2007 11:57 by Ameen Abu Wardeh - IMEMC News

Residents of the eastern part of Nablus city, located in the northern West Bank, and nearby towns and villages have expressed shock at the continued construction of the Alon Mureh settlement.

An overview of an Israeli settlement near Bethlehem city in the West Bank

The continued construction of the settlement has been made and continues to be made at the expense of farm land that belongs to Palestinian farmers from the city of Nablus and nearby towns and villages. This continued construction has caused the settlement to change its shape continuously.

The newly constructed homes in the settlement have reached the homes of Palestinian villagers. Abd-Al Ghani Samara, from Azmot village, says that some of the newly-constructed homes are located several meters away from his village, resulting in the fear that settlers will soon attack local Palestinian farmers.

The damage caused by the settlement does not stop at the destruction of farm land, but includes water and air pollution also.

Alon Mureh settlement contains several factories, among them a factory to produce cold cuts and kitchen equipment. The waste-water and chemicals produced by these factories is dumped on nearby Palestinian farm land. This has severely damaged the local environment, polluted the air and destroyed the water sources used by nearby Palestinian villages. The Palestinian ministry of farming in Nablus has reported that this has destroyed the fertility of the land.

The Alon Mureh settlement was built in July 1979 shortly after a military order issued by Israeli army confiscated 700 dunums of Palestinian farm land. Palestinian farmers at the time appealed to the Israeli high court of justice, but the appeal was rejected on the basis of security reasons. No financial compensation was given to local land owners.

Translated by Ghassan Bannoura – IMEMC News Room

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