Report: IDF forced Palestinians out of 1,000 Hebron homes

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"A report by two major Israeli civil rights organizations that was issued Sunday indicates that Palestinians abandoned more than 1,000 homes and at least 1,829 businesses in the center of Hebron due to pressure by the Israel Defense Forces, the police and Jewish settlers. Many of those referred to fled during the second intifada, beginning in September 2000.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Civil Rights in the Occupied Territories, claim that a "policy of separation on a national basis" is being imposed in Hebron.

In areas of the city close to the settlers' neighborhoods, at least 1,014 residential units (41.9 percent of the total number of homes in the area) were abandoned by their residents. Of these, 659 (65 percent) were abandoned during the second intifada. In addition, 76.6 percent of the businesses were abandoned, 1,141 (62.4 percent) of them during the same period; at least 440 were closed by IDF order.

The report, which will be distributed to all MKs, claims that "the center of Hebron has become a ghost town because of an active Israeli policy" that includes preferential treatment of the settlers."

more

[Tom Joad]

1. This report should be taken seriously. It won't be. Here is another source of info and action in

the Hebron area.

http://www.telrumeidaproject.org/

[Scurrilous]

2. Bedouin tribe in Negev gets 22 housing demolition orders

Hundreds of members of al-Atrash Bedouin tribe will be left homeless if state goes through with orders to raze 22 buildings in Negev village. 'Our sons are off fighting in Gaza, and this is what they'll come back to?' say enraged villagers

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3399460,00.html

<snip>

"Members of the al-Atrash Bedouin tribe were furious to receive 22 demolition orders on Sunday, in accordance with a judicial injunction requested by the Interior Ministry.

"Two of our boys are soldiers serving in Gaza right now, and each got a demolition order for his home. This is what they need to think about when they're serving in Gaza?" demanded a member of the community.

Interior Ministry officials arrived along with a police escort Sunday and caused turmoil in the Bedouin village, located near Be'er Sheva in southern Israel.

"The kids see police officers handing out eviction orders, and they think that the police are the ones evicting them. This isn't beneficial for the children in the community," Yunas al-Atrash, principal of the local school, told Ynet. Yunas has received a demolition order for his home as well."

[Englander]

3. "Where Silence Reigns"

Where Silence Reigns: Israel's Separation Policy and Forced Eviction of Palestinians from the Center of Hebron

Over the years, Israel established a number of settlement points in and around the Old City of Hebron, which had traditionally served as the commercial center for the entire southern West Bank . Israeli law-enforcement authorities and security forces have made the entire Palestinian population pay the price for protecting Israeli settlement in the city. To this end, the authorities impose a regime intentionally and openly based on the "separation principle", as a result of which Israel created legal and physical segregation between the Israeli settlers and the Palestinian majority.

This policy led to the economic collapse of the center of Hebron and drove many Palestinians out of the area. The findings of a survey conducted in preparation of this report show that at least 1,014 Palestinian housing units in the center of Hebron have been vacated by their occupants. This number represents 41.9 percent of the housing units in the relevant area. Sixty-five percent (659) of the empty apartments became vacant during the course of the second intifada. Regarding Palestinian commercial establishments, 1,829 are no longer open for business. This number represents 76.6 percent of all the commercial establishments in the surveyed area. Of the closed businesses, 62.4 percent (1,141) were closed during the second intifada. At least 440 of them closed pursuant to military orders.

The main elements of Israel 's separation policy are the severe and extensive restrictions on Palestinian movement and the authorities' systematic failure to enforce law and order on violent settlers attacking Palestinians. The city's Palestinian residents also suffer as a direct result of the actions of Israel 's security forces.

http://www.btselem.org/english/Publications/Summaries/200705_Hebron.asp

Hebron turned into 'ghost town'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6655239.stm