NEW SETTLEMENT ANNOUNCED FOR EAST JERUSALEM
AS SETTLEMENT EXPANSION AND LAND CONFISCATION CONTINUE
12 December 1996
On 10 December, the Jerusalem District Planning Committee approved a new Jewish settlement in the Ras al Ahmoud neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem. This new settlement, to be funded by American businessman Irving Muskowitz, will consist of 132 new housing units in the heart of Ras al Ahmoud, surrounded by a 1.8 meter high fence.
The announcement of this new settlement should be seen in the context of the coordinated action undertaken by current and previous Israeli administrations to ensure continued, permanent control over the West Bank and Jerusalem. This includes the expansion of Jewish settlements, the continued confiscation of Arab land, and the destruction of Palestinian homes in the West Bank and Jerusalem - all contrary to international law and to the letter and spirit of the Oslo Accords. The following represents a brief survey of the latest aggressive actions of the past month of the Netanyahu government.
Settlement Expansion:
16 November: Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai confirms the existence of a plan to build 1200 new housing units in the Emmanuel settlement near Nablus.
23 November: Israeli government announces plans to build three new settlements in the Occupied Golan Heights, for a total of 900 units.
26 November: Settlers from Shilo settlement near Ramallah bulldoze hundreds of dunums of land belonging to Turmous Ayya village near Ramallah to expand the settlement's borders.
29 November: Israeli bulldozers destroy tens of dunums of land belonging to Ortas and El Khader villages near Bethlehem to expand the Efrat and Daniel settlements.
6 December: The London Times reports that according to David Bar-Illan, senior advisor to Binyamin Netanyahu, Jewish Israelis can now occupy 200 empty housing units in the settlement of Kedumin, near Nablus, and that 100 additional units were currently under construction.
7 December: Israeli sources announce a plan to build an additional 20,000 new housing units within the Israeli defined "Greater Jerusalem", and the probable construction of 600 housing units in the heart of Hebron.
Land Confiscation:
26 November: Israeli military authorities confiscate 60 dunums of land from Far'aon and Irtah villages near Tulkarem (1 dunum=1000 meters squared=1/4 acre). These two villages lie near the Green Line.
2 December: Israeli authorities bulldoze land in Shufa village near Tulkarem to expand the Avni Hafez settlement. Israeli sources state that 130 new housing units will be constructed there.
8 December: 7000 dunums of land will be confiscated to expand Jewish settlements near Qalqilya, in the north of the West Bank. Qalqilya lies on the Green Line.
LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment is a non-governmental organization, dedicated to preserving human rights through legal advocacy. LAW is also an affiliate member of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights. For additional information on the policies of the Netanyahu government relating to the West Bank and Jerusalem, from the time of the Israeli elections (May 31) until December 1996, contact LAW by phone, fax or email.