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Land and Water Establishment For Immediate Release: Tel: (972) (2) 824559/812364 18 August, 1995 Fax: (972) (2) 811072 email: lawe@netvision.net.il
ISRAELI SECURITY FORCES WALK IN UNANNOUNCED TO LAND AND WATER ESTABLISHMENT
2:30 PM on 17 August, a group of Israeli intelligence and border police came unannounced to the office of Land and Water Establishment in Jerusalem. They questioned the employees who were in the office at that time about the work of the organization, the kind of activities in which it was engaged, and about its permit to work. During the questioning, they said that LAWE was organizing demonstrations and protest activities. They also photographed the area, both inside and outside the office. Before leaving they said they would be back in 10 days.
This group did not produce any official order allowing them to enter the office to take photographs or to question the staff. It is important to note that this is the second time that the Israeli security forces have entered the office of Land and Water Establishment and questioned the employees without showing any order.
LAWE has been an officially registered NGO since 1990 and has conducted its activities since that time. This includes legal research and services for those facing land confiscation, property destruction, and environmental losses.
The funding from European and US NGOs makes up the only financial source for LAWE.
We at LAWE object to these apartheid-like activities of the Israeli security forces aimed at our organization and other organizations in Jerusalem. We will continue our work in providing legal consultation and services.
We demand that the Israeli government and police end their racist activities against NGOs in Jerusalem, which conduct their activities within the law. LAWE condemns the hypocrisy of the Israeli government in allowing settlers' organizations like "This is Our Land" to operate, which organizes illegal activities with potentially dangerous results, while at the same time conducting a policy of intimidation against legal Palestinian organizations in Jerusalem.
Land and Water Establishment is a non-governmental organization, dedicated to preserving human rights through legal advocacy. Their activity concentrates on land confiscation, property destruction and environmental issues.