The Olive Tree Movement

http://www.nrg.co.il/online/54/ART1/759/199.html

להסרה מרשימת התפוצה, שלח/י אימייל ריק לכתובת: removeme@alt-arch.org

Court victory for the residents of Silwan
After more than a year and half the court decided that the Jerusalem municipality has no right to expropriate the residents' lands and use them for parking lots.

The history of the struggle
About two years ago, the Jerusalem municipality decided to expropriate nine private lands in Silwan from their Arab owners and turn them into parking lots. The decision was based on a regulation which allows the municipality to expropriate private land for public use if the owner doesn't build on it.

Last Friday we gathered about 20 volunteers and activist to work in the land of the Jaabri family who resides in Hebron opposite the west gate of Kiryat Arba.

WE planed to work with the family to work the soil and clear the area for planting.

A group of settlers gathered in Jaabri's land illegally and started camping on the ground while confronting the workers verbally and by throwing stones (mainly the children), See the pictures in the Hebrew text.

The police did not really take any action to clear the tress passing, but tried to keep some kind of separation between the groups.

The inhabitants of the villages Beit Furiq (about 15,000) and Beit Dajan (about 5,000) suffer restrictions and special prohibitions. At Beit Furiq Checkpoint – located between Nablus and Beit Furiq – the Israeli army allows only the residents themselves passage to the two places, while other Palestinians are prevented, including immediate family members. The army has committed itself in the Supreme Court to keep the checkpoint open 24 hours a day and allow a normal fabric of life. But in actual fact, this checkpoint is usually closed after 8 or 9 p.m.

On April 20, 2007 a woman from Salem village married in Beit Furiq. The bride's parents and other relatives were not allowed to attend the wedding in Beit Furiq.