For More Information, Call:
Land and Water Establishment For Release 16:30 Tel: (972) (02) 812364/824559 January 2, 1995 Fax: (972) (02) 811072
Israeli Government Forbids Press Conference Organized by
Land and Water Establishment
The press conference organized by Land and Water Establishment to have been held this morning at 10:30 at the Ambassador Hotel was blocked by the Israeli Authorities. Police completely surrounded the hotel and refused entrance to the Land and Water Est. lawyers holding the conference. The conference, therefore, was held in the street near the road leading to the Ambassador, against the backdrop of Israeli police checking documents and reasons for entry for all those entering the hotel area.
The press conference was called not only to discuss increased settlement expansion generally in the West Bank, but primarily to announce the temporary withdrawal of Land and Water's petition to the Supreme Court for a halt to the expansion activity. Land and Water's lawyers have recognized that this case requires a political decision regarding settlement expansion in general, not a legal decision deciding who legally (by Israeli law) owns the land. This organization felt that the Court's decision concerning continued expansion was a foregone conclusion, given the Court's decision not to order a temporary halt to construction until they could make their final decision on Thursday 5 January.
Land and Water Establishment is also following closely the progress of the Cabinet meeting held today to decide the fate of Al Khader's confiscated lands and of the settlement expansion activities taking place there. The Attorney General has advised against continued expansion, but Land and Water's lawyers believe that the settlement will simply stop working in the hotly contested Al Khader area, and move construction activities to other confiscated lands closer to the settlement. No matter what the decision will be, the land will not be returned to its Palestinian owners, and most likely the general issue of settlement expansion will not be addressed at all in the Cabinet's decision.
The Land Defense Committee has developed the following plan of action for popular protests against land confiscation over the next week:
Tuesday:
In Skaka Village, at 11:00.
Wednesday:
In Al Birra Municipality, at 3:00 p.m.
Thursday:
In Al Jania, at 12:00.
Saturday:
In Jaius Village near Tulkarim, at 12:00