RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces delivered confiscation notices on Friday for 275 dunams (69 acres) of private Palestinian land on the outskirts of the village of Beituniya in the western part of the occupied West Bank district of Ramallah.
Official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that farmers from the villages of Beit Ur al-Tahta and Beit Ur al-Fuqa found notices in the fields where Israeli forces had seemingly scattered them around. The notices reportedly read that the lands would be confiscated for “urgent military purposes.”
The notices, according to Wafa, were found near an Israeli military checkpoint on Route 443 west of Ramallah.
A spokesperson from COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible for implementing Israeli policies in the occupied Palestinian territory, was not immediately available for comment.
According to the Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ), at least 60 percent of the village is under threat of confiscation and isolation owing to the construction of Israel’s separation wall. The land confiscated by Israeli authorities has been repurposed for the construction of illegal Israeli settlements, ARIJ said.
The lands isolated by the separation barrier have also been used for Israeli settlements and Israeli military outposts, as well as other Israeli-controlled spaces that prevent Palestinians from developing or living in the area.
ARIJ also noted that the separation barrier has been erected close to the urbanized areas of the village, in effect preventing any expansion in the area to accommodate Beituniya's population.
“This move will create a new reality of increased urban population and population density given the lack of urban space for expansion and new construction,” ARIJ said.
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FREEDOM MARCH, "LAND DAY", PALESTINE - 2017
ReplyDeleteYou are invited to participate in the Freedom March on Thursday, March 30, 2017. It is to commemorate the "Land Day", 2017. The group will meet at 12:30 pm --------- - At the Qalandia Camp al Kabir Mosque, in the West Bank, in Palestine, then walk towards the Qalandia checkpoint.
This is the Palestinian land, they will not leave, they will remain attached to this sacred land of Palestine. We will continue our resistance to the occupation! We will continue Palestinian existence until freedom and independence, until the end of the Israeli occupation, until the establishment of a just and lasting peace ...
It is the message of a whole existing and resilient Palestinian people, a message addressed to the entire world, and in particular to the Israeli occupation forces every year on March 30th, Land Day and Palestinian resistance. The Palestinian people commemorate this day wherever they exist. It is the day of attachment to its roots and its history, a history deeply marked by resistance and confrontation with the occupier who continues to steal his fields and trees, his resources, his houses and his Earth.
The unconditional support of the current US government of the Israeli government, the strengthening and extending of the Israeli settlements, the continuing cruel persecution of the Palestinians and the current US policy to promote the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and exclude immigrants from certain Muslim countries -- is enough for us.
My friends, it's no longer possible to say, "Ah, it's the other side of the world, what does this place have to do with me, my family, my world ...".
We will continue to give our blood for the land of Palestine. Here, our land, here, our roots, Here, our history, here our life, our future, And here, our Palestine!
So let's head to the streets and make our voices heard. So, I invite you to JOIN ME.
Dr. Frank Romano
Professor, University of Paris
Contact: frankfro@aol.com