Construction of the Illegal Israeli Apartheid, Land-Grab, Wall Resumed in Beit Jallan and Bethlehem

1 of International Middle East Media Center - IMEMC Editorial Group ghassanb at imemc dot org

The Israeli occupation army started this week to built a huge section of the illegal wall on land confiscated from Palestinians near the town of Beit Jalla, near Bethlehem city in the southern West Bank.

The wall, which will surround the settlers-only road that connects the illegal southern Israeli settlements with Jerusalem, will annex 6000 dunams (1500 acres) of agricultural land that belong to Palestinians from Beit Jalla.

Israeli bulldozers have demolished land and uprooted olive trees that date back one thousand years, according to local farmers.

Samiah Ziet, the engineer of the Beit Jalla municipality, said that completing this section of the illegal wall will mean that the town will have no land to expand on, and will also lead to the total destruction of the farming industry in the town since all farming lands will be on the Israeli side of the wall.

She added that the municipality has worked with its residents to bring cases to the Israeli High Court of Justice in order to save their lands.

Ziet told IMEMC that the Israeli army has been building the wall in sections and in different stages so that the final path of the wall would not be clear until the last stage. The Mayor of Beit Jalla, Rajee Zidan, warned that the town faces a real catastrophe because it stands to lose all of its land to the illegal Israeli wall.

The International Court of Justice, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, ruled in July 2004 that the wall is illegal and that Israel must stop building it and dismantle those sections it has already completed, in addition to compensating those affected by it.

Israel to construct Wall section that would annex thousands of Dunams in Bethlehem

The Israeli occupation government started the construction of a new section of the Annexation Wall on the lands of Beit Jala Palestinian town, near Bethlehem, which will lead to further annexation and destruction of Palestinian orchards.

The Wall sector is located near the “Tunnel Road” which links between Jerusalem and the Israeli settlements in the southern part of the West Bank.

Eyewitnesses reported that soldiers bulldozed and uprooted hundreds of Olive trees which were planted more than 100 years ago.

Beit Jala Municipality engineer Samia Zeit, stated that the Wall will eventually isolate six thousands Dunams in the area, including lands which belong to the Christian Covent of Cremisan, and will also isolate the houses of priests and nuns, in addition to totally isolating the Palestinian orchards which extend to the village of Al Khader.

Ziet added that the Israeli authorities first finished the construction of a Wall section in the Rachel Tomb area, north of Bethlehem, and the Tunnel Road area, Har Gilo settlement area and is now constructing this new section after preparing the infrastructure such as sewage pipes and roads.

Mayor of Beit Jala Municipality, Engineer Raji Zeidan, said that what is happening is a real catastrophe that is affecting the agricultural, asocial and economical sectors, and that the Wall will eventually totally isolate Beit Jala from Jerusalem, and will also isolate the city from its orchards and agricultural lands.

Zeidan appealed international human rights groups and the United Nations to act in odor to stop the Israeli violations and illegal practices.

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