Israeli peace activists protest settlement expansion; rightists build more outposts

Monday December 10, 2007 00:53 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

Around forty Israeli peace activists held a protest Saturday on a site in the West Bank approved by the Israeli government for settlement expansion. At the same time as the protest was going on, Israeli right-wing settlers were busy setting up three new colonial outposts to claim for Israel more Palestinian land deep in the heart of the West Bank.

Israeli police arrest demonstrator (photo Activistills)

The left-wing protesters erected a mock outpost in an area between the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim and the city of Jerusalem, an area where Israeli authorities have approved a further expansion of colonies in the West Bank.

The group was protesting the expansion as a form of hypocrisy by the Israeli government, who made a commitment in Annapolis to cease further expansion of settlements, but continues to expand settlements on the ground.

The Israeli government plans to build a settlement of 3,500 apartments and an industrial park in this area. This will effectively connect the Ma'ale Adumim settlement with Occupied East Jerusalem, dividing the West Bank in two while separating Jerusalem from all of it. In addition land has recently been confiscated to build a road to connect the two Palestinian enclaves that will be created on both sides of the settlement bloc.

 The 2,700 strong Jahalin Bedouin community that lives on the land is being driven off the land they have lived on as refugees since they were forced to leave the Negev desert after the Nakba in 1948. Israel plans to displace the Bedouin onto lands belonging to the adjacent Palestinian villages. In some cases in the past, the Bedouin were forcibly displaced onto private properties belonging to the residents of these communities. 

Israeli police violently attacked the protesters, detaining eleven of them for questioning. Those arrested include three Palestinians, five Israelis, and three international (Swedish) activists.  The eleven were taken to an Israeli police station and interrogated for several hours – then they were released.

Protesters point out that the Israeli government only carries out 3% of the demolition orders it issues for Israeli settlements built illegally on Palestinian land. This shows the Israeli government's tacit approval of such settlements, according to the protesters.

Indeed, the right-wing settler movement was busy setting up three new outposts over the weekend. In addition, the right-wing group says they will re-occupy an additional five outposts that were evacuated, in order "to strengthen the link of the nation of Israel to the Land of Israel and to continue the spirit of belief and heroism through trust in God in the way of the Maccabees."

These outposts are nominally considered illegal by the Israeli government, but no police force came to attack that group, although what they were doing was blatantly illegal under Israeli law.

All Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are considered a violation of international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory.

west bank | israeli settlement | news report saed at imemc dot org