Adalah, Al-Haq, and the Civic Coalition for Defending the Palestinians’ Rights in Jerusalem press conference Thursday June 17, 2010

16 June 2010

Dear Sir/Madam:

Adalah, Al-Haq, and the Civic Coalition for Defending the Palestinians’ Rights in Jerusalem would like to invite you to a Press Conference on Thursday 17 June 2010 at 2:00 pm in Watan Studios. 

The Press Conference will address urgent developments which are not only violating Palestinian human rights but severely threatening our ability to continue to campaign to end such violations. 

Of immediate concern is the situation whereby following their release from Israeli prisons, the ID cards of four Jerusalemite PLC members, Mohammed Imran Totah, Ahmad Mohammad Attoun, Khaled Abu Araffah, & Mohammed Abu Teir, were revoked. Having denied these Parliamentarians their residency rights in Jerusalem, Israel has ordered their forced transfer from Jerusalem no later than early July 2010.

This action takes place in the context of the entry into force in the West Bank of Military Orders 1649 & 1650 which effectively legislates for the forcible transfer, deportation, and imprisonment of any Palestinian from the West Bank, a legislative act that consolidates Israel’s annexationist policy of cutting Jerusalem off from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory.

Of further concern is the targeting of Palestinian citizens of Israel. Palestinian political and social activists that are citizens of Israel are increasingly being subjected to far-reaching violations of their basic human rights by means of detention, censorship, denial of fair trial rights, travel bans, as well as criminal prosecutions for treason and related crimes aimed at revoking their citizenship.

Sincerely,

Adalah, Al-Haq, Civic Coalition for Defending the Palestinians’ Rights in Jerusalem  

Israel continues theft of lands from Christians and Muslims through jewish National Fund

New Israel Land Reform Law Passed by Knesset

"Adalah will challenge the new Israel land reform law before the Supreme Court as it violates the constitutional rights of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel as well as the property rights of the Palestinian refugees"

(Haifa, Israel 3 August 2009) Today, 3 August 2009, the Knesset (Israeli parliament) passed the Israel Land Administration (ILA) Law, with 61 Members of Knesset (MKs) voting in favor of the law and 45 MKs voting against it. The new land reform law is wide ranging in scope: it institutes broad land privatization; permits land exchanges between the State and the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemet Le-Israel) (hereinafter - the “JNF”), the land of which is exclusively reserved for the Jewish people; allows lands to be allocated in accordance with "admissions committee" mechanisms and only to candidates approved by Zionist institutions working solely on behalf of the Jewish people; and grants decisive weight to JNF representatives in a new Land Authority Council, which would replace the Israel Land Administration (ILA). The new law is extremely prejudicial to the constitutional rights of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, and it violates the property rights of the Palestinian refugees as it contravenes international humanitarian law (IHL) applicable to them and their property.

Currently, the State of Israel controls and the ILA manages 93% of the land in Israel. State-controlled properties are leased on a long-term basis to residents. The new ILA Law or the "Israel Land Reform Law" will lead to the transfer of ownership from the state to private individuals, those who have been leasing the properties, throughout certain urban, rural and agricultural areas of the state, as well as with respect to land governed by outline plans that enable the issuance of building permits. It will lead to the transfer of title to private owners in real estate properties which were expropriated by the state from the Palestinian Arab population. The law will also lead to privatization of property of some of the lands of destroyed and evacuated Arab villages, as well as many properties belonging to Palestinian refugees, which are currently controlled by the state's Custodian of Absentee Property and the Development Authority. This privatization policy will frustrate any future possibility of returning the abovementioned lands to their original Palestinian owners, in violation of their constitutional right to property and in contravention of both domestic Israeli law and IHL.

Israel confiscated massive amounts of land from Palestinian citizens of the state under several laws; a principal law used was the Land Acquisition (Validation of Acts and Compensations) Law - 1953. Under this law, lands in the destroyed and evacuated villages, as well as lands in the Arab villages which survived the War of 1948, were expropriated. The scope of these expropriated lands under this particular law is estimated at approximately 1.2 million dunams (around 300,000 acres). In addition, much land was expropriated under the Land Ordinance (Acquisition for Public Purposes) - 1943 such as the 1976 Land Day expropriations of approximately 21,000 dunams (around 5,200 acres).

For more information, please contact:
Gabrielle Rubin, International Media Coordinator, Adalah
gaby@adalah.org; Mobile: 052-8332430

Adalah ("Justice" in Arabic) is an independent human rights organization and legal center. It works to promote and defend the rights of Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).

Facts and Figures: Land

1. The Jewish National Fund (JNF) presently owns approximately 2.5 million dunams of land, about 13% of the area of the state of Israel. These lands are spread over all areas and regions of the country.
2. About two million dunams of land were transferred to the JNF by the state.[1] This fact led to the granting of special status to the JNF in Israeli law, and to a view of the JNF as the decisive entity in land policy in Israel.
3. Over half of the Arab citizens of Israel (53%) live in the northern district, and about 13.9% live in the south. These areas have the highest concentrations of Arab citizens in the state.
4. 69% of the Arab villages and towns in Israel (excluding the mixed Arab-Jewish cities and the unrecognized villages) are located in the north. In the south, there are seven government-planned towns for the Arab Bedouin, and another 10 Arab Bedouin unrecognized villages have been recently afforded official recognition. There are 40 unrecognized villages in the Naqab,[2] in which 80,000 Arab Bedouin citizens of Israel reside.
5. The jurisdictional areas of Arab local councils in the north constitute 12.2% of the land, whereas the Arab population in the north constitutes 53% of the entire population therein.[3]
6. In the Beer Sheva district in the south, the jurisdictional areas of the Arab local councils, in addition to those recently recognized, is less than 1%, while the percentage of the Arab population in the area is 28.3%.[4]
7. The Arab population in these districts is relatively young: the percentage of Arab citizens belonging to the 0-19 age group out of the total Arab population is 50%.[5]
8. A detailed look at the northern and southern districts shows that the young Arab population (the 0-19 age-group) in the north amounts to 46.6% whereas in the south this group constitutes 66.1%.[6] At the same time, the growth rate of the Arab population in the south is 4.4% per annum, and in the north, it is 2% per annum.[7]
9. The ongoing policy of non-recognition of the villages has led to extremely abysmal living conditions: there is no water, no electricity, no infrastructure, no health services and no educational facilities in many of these villages. Approximately 50% of the Arab Bedouin in the Naqab (Negev) are affected by these policies.


For more information:
See: "Adalah position paper on behalf of the High Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel: Critique of the Israeli government's land reform bill", 21 July 2009
http://www.adalah.org/newsletter/eng/jul09/jul09.html
[1] Arnon Golan, Seizure of Arab Land by Jewish Settlements in the War of Independence, Katedra: The Journal of the History and Settlement of the Land of Israel, 63, pp. 151-152; Ruth Kark, 1955, “The Emergent Shaping of Authorities, and State Land Policy in the State of Israel,” The Institute for the Study of the Use of Land, p. 177; Yif’at Holman-Gazit, 2002, “Using the Law as a Status Symbol: the JNF Law, 5715-1953, and the JNF’s Struggle to Establish its Status in the State,” Iyunei Mishpat, 26(2), p. 636.
[2] Some of these villages existed even before the establishment of the State in 1948, and some were set up pursuant to orders issued by the military governor, at the end of the 1940s and the beginning of the 1950s. The military governor then transferred these residents from their original villages to the present ones.
[3] Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) Israel Statistical Annual No. 59, 2008, Table 2.8.
[4] Ibid. .
[5] Ibid., Table 2.10.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid., Table 2.4.

Bilin stands in face of Israeli carnage and war crimes

One Week After the Murder of Bassem Abu Rahmah, 25 Injured in Bil’in Demonstration to Build his Memorial

Twenty five protesters were injured today following the end of the 4th Annual International Conference of Popular Resistance in Bil’in. Injuries ranged from light to moderate and most were caused by rubber coated steel bullets. Fadi Al-Arori from Routers news agency, Mohib Barghouti from Al-Haya newspaper and Israeli activist and filmmaker, Shai Pollack, all had their cameras broken by the Israeli army. The rest of the wounded are all from the village: Fadil Al Khatib, brothers Ahmed and Awada Abu Rahmah, brothers Riyad and Iyad Burnat, Khalid Al Khatib, Abdullah Abu Rahmah, Mohammed Al Khatib, Wael Fahmi, Basel Mansour, Tariq Al Khatib, Abdullah Yasin, Tamir Al Khatib, Nizar Abu Rahmah, Husam Al Khatib, Mohammed Nabil Abu Rahmah, Nour Yasin, Ibrahim Burant, Ahmad Abu Rahmah (Bassem’s Brother) and Adeeb Abu Rahmah who was detained by the army for three hours.

The Bil’in conference this week was attended by a large number of international, Israeli and Palestinian activists. Also at the conference were Luisa Morgantini, vice president of the EU Parliament; Mairead Maguire, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; Mustafa Al Barghouti, head of the Palestinian Initiative; Khalidah Jarrar, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. The demonstrators began their marched after closing the conference. They carried pictures of the martyr Bassem Ab Rahmah and succeeded in building a memorial for Bassem Abu Rahmah near the gate, despite a constant barrage of tear gas and rubber bullets fired by the Israeli army.
Luisa Morgantini stated, “We succeeded to build the memorial for Bassem Abu Rahmah, as respect for his spirit. We will never forget him; he was a friend of everyone. We have to continue the popular resistance which has begun to expand to the Jordan valley, Al Ma’asarah, Ni’lin, and Jayyous”.

Mairead Maguire said “We came to Bil’in more than five times and we went to Gaza also, we are going to continue our struggle to end the occupation and the siege. What happened in Bil’in and losing Bassem is a tragedy to everyone. Let’s all work together for peace and end the oppression and occupation”. Maguire and Morgantini expressed their condolences to Bassem’s family.

Thank you for you continued support,Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilinco-founder of Friends of Freedom and Justice - BilinEmail- bel3in@yahoo.comMobile- (00972) (0) 547847942Office- (00972) (2) 2489129Mobile- (00972) (0) 598403676www.bilin-ffj.org

Palestinian Christians under Israeli Occupation commemorate Christmas in Shepherd's Field near Bethlehem

Press Release: Wednesday and Thursday Events in the Lands of the Shepherds

Contacts
Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh: Tel 0598939532
George Rishmawi Tel 0599833888

The Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement between People, and the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) and Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies are honored to invite you to join the Shepherds' Nights, a two-day festival and series of activities which will be held in Beit Sahour, the Shepherds Field.

Wednesday Dec 24, Artistic and cultural evening at the YMCA football field (famous artists, children activities and more). A Christmas service at 5 PM, and program starts at 6 PM for Children, and at 7 PM for adults.

Christmas Thursday Dec 25, Candle Procession titled “Light a Candle for the Land of the Shepherds” starting from the Greek Orthodox Shepherds' Field at 4 PM and ends at Ush Ghrab (Note: Transportation from Ush Ghrab after the march will be available). Bethlehem area is now surrounded on three sides by Israeli settlements and by the segregation wall. The only remaining side to the East at Ush Ghrab has been targeted by settlers who “visit” it every two weeks to insist on building yet another colonial settlement on Palestinian land contrary to International law.

This will be the 41st year that citizens of area of Bethlehem (including Beit Sahour) celebrate these holidays under Israeli occupation. We are reminded that when Jesus was born, this land of the shepherds was also occupied by a foreign army. That came to an end and this occupation will come to an end. Join us as we pray and work for peace and celebrate the birth of the prince of peace.

PLO Cites Israeli violations of peace accords

Letter from the Palestine Liberation Organization
July 15, 2008
Dear Sir/ Madam; Your Excellency etc…

This letter is to draw your attention to recent escalations in the policies and activities of the government of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory which violate commitments Israel made at the Annapolis conference, and risk destroying the political process and rendering it meaningless.

First, we note the recurring assaults on Palestinian cities, official institutions, and civil society organisations, which have increased in an unprecedented manner (up by 50%). Indeed, if we look back to the six months following the Annapolis conference, the numbers alone paint an alarming picture of Israeli violence against Palestinian citizens: 467 killed and 1706 injured in over 2000 attacks. Needless to say, many of the victims are civilians, including women and children.

Second, Israel has escalated the pace of construction and expansion of existing and new settlements throughout the West Bank, in particular in and around East Jerusalem, in flagrant violation of international law and its commitments under the Road Map as reaffirmed at the Annapolis conference. Furthermore, Israel continues the construction of the Wall four years after the decision of the International Court of Justice that held the Wall and the settlements to be illegal under international law.

Recently, Israel has encouraged the building of new housing units in the heart of East Jerusalem and specifically in Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood where Palestinian houses were seized. Furthermore, in the heart of Nablus, it shut down and confiscated an entire multi-storey shopping centre, notwithstanding the fact that it is a publicly-held company, and in blatant disregard of signed agreements which prohibit the Occupation from shutting down and confiscating property inside PA areas.

These deliberate Israeli policies are primarily aimed at undermining the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and its role, standing, and credibility in the eyes of the citizens. Despite this, however, the PNA has all the while worked hard and at all levels to improve security conditions, to build and develop the economy, and to strengthen public institutions and to support civil society. On security, for instance, these efforts are evident from the security plans implemented by the PNA Ministry of Interior despite recurring Israeli obstacles, in particular in Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, Hebron, and Bethlehem. With respect to the economy and institution building, a great deal of effort has gone into the adoption of the Palestinian Development and Reform Plan (PRDP), and the convening of the Paris, Bethlehem, and Berlin conferences. These efforts have led to the approval and adoption of numerous projects aimed at developing infrastructure, capacity and funding much needed for the maintenance and development of Palestinian society and economy.

The problem, however, remains that the prevailing stream within the Israeli government seeks to weaken and undermine the PNA, in a manner that strengthens the radical forces and renders them the dominant Palestinian counterpart.

Given the above, there is a real risk that the current negotiations may fail and collapse before the end of this year, a failure for which the government of Israel would bear full responsibility, be it on the internal or regional fronts. In order to prevent such failure, serious and decisive action is needed from the international community, with the United States and the Quartet at the forefront including all its parties, the UN, EU and Russia, and all peace loving countries, parties and forces.

We hope you expend all possible efforts to help stop Israeli violations which have reached unprecedented levels with regard to destroying Palestinian life and the functioning of Palestinian national and leadership institutions as well as destroying the peace process.


Respectfully,
Palestine Liberation Organization
Executive Committee
General Secretariat

Israeli occupation fueling dwindling Christian Arab population, ATFP report shows

Press Release
Capitol Hill Briefing Attributes Dwindling Palestinian Christian Population To The Effects Of The Israeli Occupation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rafi Dajani
Phone: 202-669-5888

Washington, D.C., November 1, 2007 – The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) and The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) held a Capitol Hill briefing this week featuring four Christian mayors of Palestinian towns in the West Bank. The panel focused on the causes for the population decrease of the Palestinian Christians to below 2 percent of the population, attributing it mainly to the economic stresses resulting from Israeli occupation measures such as checkpoints and the route of the separation barrier, a vast majority of which is built on occupied Palestinian land.

The mayor of Bethlehem, Dr. Victor Hanan Jubrail Batarseh, referred to the wall as ‘a snake’, saying, it has ‘strangled the community; economically, psychologically, and educationally’ causing the Palestinian Christians to emigrate.

The economic strangulation has led to nearly 70% of the West Bank population living under the poverty line, said the mayor of Birzeit, Mr. Yousef Nasser. He continued saying, “Unemployment has risen 200% due to the check points,” which not only inhibit the movement of people but also shipments of produce. Mr. Nasser stressed the need for the removal of the checkpoints in order for the economy to improve. Without an improved economy, the Christian population will continue to decrease. This is why Dr. Batarseh stressed the need for peace , asking for a ‘bridge of love,’ to be built, not a ‘wall of separation.’

“Historically, it has been easier for the Palestinian Christian population to emigrate due mainly to family ties in the West, although Palestinian Muslims are emigrating in significant numbers too if they are able,” said ATFP executive director Rafi Dajani who moderated the panel. “Emigration of either community has nothing to do with religious tensions between the two communities and attempts to portray it as such are meant to deflect blame away from the main reason, the Israeli occupation.”

end