On the second day of the Conservative Movement's conference, more criticism of Orthodox leaders is heard. 'The Rabbinate no longer educates; it lost touch with the public,' panelists say
Neta Sela Yedioth Ahranoth 12.29.07, 20:46
Participants at the Masorti (Conservative) conference in Ramat Gan, continued to target the Orthodox institutions: "The Chief Rabbinate in Israel is the most flawed in the Jewish people's history," said Prof. Rabbi Hanan Alexander, chair of the Department of Education at the University of Haifa.
Alexander spoke at a panel that focused on the merits of the Conservative Movement as an intermediary between Reform and Orthodox approaches.
Celebrating 30th Anniversary
"The Conservative Movement has a lot to give to the Orthodox framework and particularly to Orthodox women who turn to us for representation and status," claimed Prof. Alexander. "Funerals have also turned into an unbearable experience for some, and many resent the gender bias of the wedding ceremonies. These are two of the issues the Conservatives can tackle and advance. The Rabbinate no longer educates and it lost touch with its public."
Prof. Alexander also addressed the Reforms: "Theirs is not a pluralistic approach. They say that members can choose their individual path, but in reality they require people adhere to a single set of predetermined principles."
At the conclusion of the panel, Chair of the Masorti (Conservative) Movement, Moshe Cohen said "it is time the Masorti Movement's voice be heard –in the local arena and as a rising political force. We ask the government and the Knesset to recognize us."
samedi 29 décembre 2007
vendredi 28 décembre 2007
New version of old self-defense group guards Jewish farmlands
Haaretz 07:34 28/12/2007
By Eli Ashkenzai, Haaretz Correspondent
On a hill overlooking the Lower Galilee town of Kiryat Tivon, some 40 teenagers and adults were working to rebuild fences around grazing land that had been cut by persons unknown. Just a few kilometers away, a statue of Alexander Zaid, who founded the Shomer self-defense organization in the early 20th century, was recently toppled and destroyed. The workers were from New Shomer, whose members see themselves as Zaid's successors in protecting the grazing lands of the Lower Galilee and the Jezreel Valley. Their struggle highlights the conflict between Jewish and Arab herders in the area. Because of the increasing numbers of both Jewish and Bedouin ranchers and the decrease in grazing land, disputes have been on the rise between them in recent years. Herds invade neighboring pastures, fences are cut and fires started. Many Jewish cattle farmers say that the authorities, especially the police, are not doing enough to protect them from Bedouin herders, and therefore they have to protect themselves. New Shomer, made up mainly of farmers, is a way for them to do so. Thursday's "operation" was organized by students and graduates of the pre-army preparatory program at Kibbutz Ma'ayan Baruch. Before they got started, Y., a member of the organization from Moshav Tzippori (who asked that his name not be used), said his father's livelihood had been hurt by residents of the neighboring village, Rumat al-Haib.
"There is major neglect by the state. One person has to stand up and do something, and after him, thousands will come to help a farmer in trouble," he said. "We'll be the Tel Hai," he added, referring to a Jewish collective farm in the Upper Galilee whose losing battle against Arab marauders in 1920 has become a metaphor for Jewish resistance. A few months ago, Y. put a cart filled with books on the hill overlooking his family's grazing lands. Travelers stop by, and every two weeks, the organization's supporters gather there to hear lectures. Most of the time, there is a guard on the hill; according to Y., this has led to a decrease in the number of rustled calves in the area. "I came up to the hill to show a presence. I am a scout, like they are," Y. said, pointing to Rumat al-Haib. "This area is mine, and it will belong to my sons, my grandsons and my great-grandsons." Y. said he wants neighborly relations with the Bedouin farmers, and that New Shomer has no nationalist elements, but only "love of the land and the country." Y.'s father, Hyman Zilberman, said that several Jewish farmers have given in to pressure from their Arab neighbors and either abandoned their land or paid the Arabs not to harm their livelihood. Haaretz could not confirm his claims. Zilberman also denied that Jewish farmers had received lands taken from Arabs. "The fact is, there are Arab cattle-growers who get land [from the state]," he said. One of New Shomer's supporters is the Im Tirtzu ("If You Will It") association, which says its goal is to defend Zionism. "The authorities are doing nothing here. We are acting instead of the state, before it's too late," Im Tirtzu activist Noam Aharon said of Thursday's activity. The police do not reject New Shomer out of hand. "There's nothing wrong with individual initiative ... that serves the public interest, within the bounds of the law," said a spokesman for the Amakim District Police. However, the police and Border Police also said they could deal with the agricultural theft, which has been greatly reduced in 2007. The Cattle Growers Association recently complimented the police and the prosecution on the decrease in agricultural crime. The head of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council, Eyal Betzer, did not deny the tension between Jewish and Arab farmers, but nevertheless said relations were "excellent." He said that if law enforcement were lacking, "there are private citizens' organizations," but urged people to obey the law.
By Eli Ashkenzai, Haaretz Correspondent
On a hill overlooking the Lower Galilee town of Kiryat Tivon, some 40 teenagers and adults were working to rebuild fences around grazing land that had been cut by persons unknown. Just a few kilometers away, a statue of Alexander Zaid, who founded the Shomer self-defense organization in the early 20th century, was recently toppled and destroyed. The workers were from New Shomer, whose members see themselves as Zaid's successors in protecting the grazing lands of the Lower Galilee and the Jezreel Valley. Their struggle highlights the conflict between Jewish and Arab herders in the area. Because of the increasing numbers of both Jewish and Bedouin ranchers and the decrease in grazing land, disputes have been on the rise between them in recent years. Herds invade neighboring pastures, fences are cut and fires started. Many Jewish cattle farmers say that the authorities, especially the police, are not doing enough to protect them from Bedouin herders, and therefore they have to protect themselves. New Shomer, made up mainly of farmers, is a way for them to do so. Thursday's "operation" was organized by students and graduates of the pre-army preparatory program at Kibbutz Ma'ayan Baruch. Before they got started, Y., a member of the organization from Moshav Tzippori (who asked that his name not be used), said his father's livelihood had been hurt by residents of the neighboring village, Rumat al-Haib.
"There is major neglect by the state. One person has to stand up and do something, and after him, thousands will come to help a farmer in trouble," he said. "We'll be the Tel Hai," he added, referring to a Jewish collective farm in the Upper Galilee whose losing battle against Arab marauders in 1920 has become a metaphor for Jewish resistance. A few months ago, Y. put a cart filled with books on the hill overlooking his family's grazing lands. Travelers stop by, and every two weeks, the organization's supporters gather there to hear lectures. Most of the time, there is a guard on the hill; according to Y., this has led to a decrease in the number of rustled calves in the area. "I came up to the hill to show a presence. I am a scout, like they are," Y. said, pointing to Rumat al-Haib. "This area is mine, and it will belong to my sons, my grandsons and my great-grandsons." Y. said he wants neighborly relations with the Bedouin farmers, and that New Shomer has no nationalist elements, but only "love of the land and the country." Y.'s father, Hyman Zilberman, said that several Jewish farmers have given in to pressure from their Arab neighbors and either abandoned their land or paid the Arabs not to harm their livelihood. Haaretz could not confirm his claims. Zilberman also denied that Jewish farmers had received lands taken from Arabs. "The fact is, there are Arab cattle-growers who get land [from the state]," he said. One of New Shomer's supporters is the Im Tirtzu ("If You Will It") association, which says its goal is to defend Zionism. "The authorities are doing nothing here. We are acting instead of the state, before it's too late," Im Tirtzu activist Noam Aharon said of Thursday's activity. The police do not reject New Shomer out of hand. "There's nothing wrong with individual initiative ... that serves the public interest, within the bounds of the law," said a spokesman for the Amakim District Police. However, the police and Border Police also said they could deal with the agricultural theft, which has been greatly reduced in 2007. The Cattle Growers Association recently complimented the police and the prosecution on the decrease in agricultural crime. The head of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council, Eyal Betzer, did not deny the tension between Jewish and Arab farmers, but nevertheless said relations were "excellent." He said that if law enforcement were lacking, "there are private citizens' organizations," but urged people to obey the law.
jeudi 27 décembre 2007
Conservatives: Abolish Orthodox monopoly
Some 1,000 participants arrived at the opening of the Conservative Movement's convention. 'This convention carries a message about freedom of religion in Israel and the abolition of the Orthodox monopoly,' says movement's chairman
Neta Sela Yedioth Ahranoth 12.27.07, 19:52
The Masorti (Conservative) Movement's convention, marking the organization's 30th anniversary in Israel, opened Thursday.
According to the organizers, over 1,000 people took part in what they said was the largest ever convention of a non-Orthodox movement in Israel.
Chair of the Masorti (Conservative) Movement, Moshe Cohen, said that "the large number of participants proves the importance of the movement to Israeli society. There is no doubt the movement can advance religious pluralism in the country.
"This convention carries a message about freedom of religion in Israel and the abolition of the Orthodox monopoly."
President Shimon Peres sent a letter to the movement's members reading: "The Masorti Movement wisely nurtures the ideals of renewal and creativity alongside traditional Jewish value. The Masorti Movement is the Israeli arm of Conservative communities worldwide. It is characterized by its devotion to Zionism, modernism and progress and the preservation of Jewish heritage.
The Masorti Movement serves as a bridge between the mosaic of communities and beliefs the Jewish world consists of," he wrote.
A recent survey conducted by the Dahaf Institute for the Masorti Movement will be presented at the convention. The survey, first published on Ynet, reveals that 87% of the public believes that nominal gender equality is entirely justified, and 54% claim that Jewish tradition discriminates against women.
There are 40,000 members and 50 Masorti congregations in Israel.
Neta Sela Yedioth Ahranoth 12.27.07, 19:52
The Masorti (Conservative) Movement's convention, marking the organization's 30th anniversary in Israel, opened Thursday.
According to the organizers, over 1,000 people took part in what they said was the largest ever convention of a non-Orthodox movement in Israel.
Chair of the Masorti (Conservative) Movement, Moshe Cohen, said that "the large number of participants proves the importance of the movement to Israeli society. There is no doubt the movement can advance religious pluralism in the country.
"This convention carries a message about freedom of religion in Israel and the abolition of the Orthodox monopoly."
President Shimon Peres sent a letter to the movement's members reading: "The Masorti Movement wisely nurtures the ideals of renewal and creativity alongside traditional Jewish value. The Masorti Movement is the Israeli arm of Conservative communities worldwide. It is characterized by its devotion to Zionism, modernism and progress and the preservation of Jewish heritage.
The Masorti Movement serves as a bridge between the mosaic of communities and beliefs the Jewish world consists of," he wrote.
A recent survey conducted by the Dahaf Institute for the Masorti Movement will be presented at the convention. The survey, first published on Ynet, reveals that 87% of the public believes that nominal gender equality is entirely justified, and 54% claim that Jewish tradition discriminates against women.
There are 40,000 members and 50 Masorti congregations in Israel.
mardi 25 décembre 2007
Let there be peace, by Michel Sabbah
Haaretz 12:28 25/12/2007
Brothers and Sisters, I wish you all a Blessed Christmas. "The grace and love of God have appeared to us" (Titus 3, 4).
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We joyfully celebrate Christmas, hoping to see better days in our Holy Land, by the grace of God, by our own contribution to bring peace to this land and by sharing in all the sacrifices that it requires. For this reason, at Christmas, we renew our faith in the One in whom we have believed, the Word of God made man, Jesus born in Bethlehem, the Prince of Peace, and the Savior of humankind. He became man in order to bring us back to God our Creator and to let us know that we are not alone, that we are not abandoned to ourselves as we face the numerous challenges of this Holy Land. Because God is with us, we remain hopeful in the midst of all the daily difficulties we experience as a result of the occupation and of the insecurity and deprivations that arise from it. God is with us, reminding us that the commandment of love, which was given to us by Jesus, born in Bethlehem, still remains valid for the difficult times in which we are living today: our love for one another and for every man and woman. This love consists in seeing the image of God in every human being, of every religion and nationality. It is a love that knows how to forgive and, at the same time, to demand all our rights, especially those given by God to each person and to the entire community, such as the gift of life, of dignity, of freedom, and of the land. A love that requires from every one to care for one another. A love that is dedication and sharing with all who suffer from deprivation and poverty so that the same life, which God has given to all of us, may be lived to the fullest, namely, the "abundant life" that Jesus came to give us. Again this year, we celebrate Christmas still searching for a peace that seems impossible. Nevertheless, we believe that peace is possible. Palestinians and Israelis are capable of living together in peace, each in their own territory, each enjoying their security, their dignity, and their rights. But to attain that peace, it is necessary to believe that Israelis and Palestinians are equal in all things, that they have the same rights and the same duties, and that both parties must adopt the ways of God, which are not the ways of violence, whether they be carried out by the state or by extremists. The entire region, because of the conflict in the Holy Land, is in turmoil. In Lebanon, in Iraq, as well as here, the forces of evil seem to have been unleashed and to have decided to pursue their course along paths leading to death, exclusion, and domination. Despite all of this, we believe that God has not abandoned us to all these forces of evil. The situation beckons every man and woman of good will to enter into the ways of God in order to establish the reign of good among peoples as well as a sense of and a respect for every human being. We believe that God is good. He is our Creator and Savior, and he has placed his goodness in the heart of every human being. Therefore, everyone is capable of working for good and peace on the earth. A new peace effort was begun these last few weeks. In order for it to succeed, there must be a firm willingness to make peace. Until now, there has been no peace, simply because there has been no willingness to make it: "Peace, peace! they say, though there is no peace" (Jer 6, 14). The strong party, the one with everything in hand, the one who is imposing occupation on the other, has the obligation to see what is just for everyone and to carry it out courageously. "O God, with your judgment endow the king," with your justice endow our governments so that they can govern your people with justice (Ps 72). In recent times, there has been some talk about creating "religious" states in this land. But in this land, which is holy for three religions and for two peoples, religious states cannot be established because they would exclude or place in an inferior position the believers of the other religions. A state that would exclude or discriminate against the other religions is not suitable for this land made holy by God for all of humanity. Political and religious leaders must begin by understanding the universal vocation of this land in which God has brought us together throughout history. They must know that the holiness of this land does not consist in the exclusion of one or the other of the religions, but in the ability of each religion, with all of their differences, to welcome, respect, and love all who inhabit this land. The holiness and the universal vocation of this land also includes the duty to welcome pilgrims from around the world, those who come for a short visit, and those who come to reside, to pray, to study, or to perform the religious ministry to which the faithful of all religions have a right. For many years, we have been suffering from a problem that has never been solved, that of entry visas into the country for priests and for religious men and women who, in this land, because of their faith, have duties to perform as well as rights. Every state in this land is not a state like all others because it has special duties stemming from the holiness of the land and from its universal vocation. A state in this land must understand that it must respect and promote the universal vocation of the land with which it has been entrusted and, accordingly, must be open to welcoming all believers of other religions. I pray to God that the grace of Christmas, the grace of the God who is present with us, will enlighten all the leaders of this land. For all our faithful, in all parts of our diocese, may the grace of Christmas renew their faith and help them to live it more fully and to better carry out all their duties in their respective societies. May you all have a Joyful and Holy Christmas.
The writer is Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch.
Brothers and Sisters, I wish you all a Blessed Christmas. "The grace and love of God have appeared to us" (Titus 3, 4).
Advertisement
We joyfully celebrate Christmas, hoping to see better days in our Holy Land, by the grace of God, by our own contribution to bring peace to this land and by sharing in all the sacrifices that it requires. For this reason, at Christmas, we renew our faith in the One in whom we have believed, the Word of God made man, Jesus born in Bethlehem, the Prince of Peace, and the Savior of humankind. He became man in order to bring us back to God our Creator and to let us know that we are not alone, that we are not abandoned to ourselves as we face the numerous challenges of this Holy Land. Because God is with us, we remain hopeful in the midst of all the daily difficulties we experience as a result of the occupation and of the insecurity and deprivations that arise from it. God is with us, reminding us that the commandment of love, which was given to us by Jesus, born in Bethlehem, still remains valid for the difficult times in which we are living today: our love for one another and for every man and woman. This love consists in seeing the image of God in every human being, of every religion and nationality. It is a love that knows how to forgive and, at the same time, to demand all our rights, especially those given by God to each person and to the entire community, such as the gift of life, of dignity, of freedom, and of the land. A love that requires from every one to care for one another. A love that is dedication and sharing with all who suffer from deprivation and poverty so that the same life, which God has given to all of us, may be lived to the fullest, namely, the "abundant life" that Jesus came to give us. Again this year, we celebrate Christmas still searching for a peace that seems impossible. Nevertheless, we believe that peace is possible. Palestinians and Israelis are capable of living together in peace, each in their own territory, each enjoying their security, their dignity, and their rights. But to attain that peace, it is necessary to believe that Israelis and Palestinians are equal in all things, that they have the same rights and the same duties, and that both parties must adopt the ways of God, which are not the ways of violence, whether they be carried out by the state or by extremists. The entire region, because of the conflict in the Holy Land, is in turmoil. In Lebanon, in Iraq, as well as here, the forces of evil seem to have been unleashed and to have decided to pursue their course along paths leading to death, exclusion, and domination. Despite all of this, we believe that God has not abandoned us to all these forces of evil. The situation beckons every man and woman of good will to enter into the ways of God in order to establish the reign of good among peoples as well as a sense of and a respect for every human being. We believe that God is good. He is our Creator and Savior, and he has placed his goodness in the heart of every human being. Therefore, everyone is capable of working for good and peace on the earth. A new peace effort was begun these last few weeks. In order for it to succeed, there must be a firm willingness to make peace. Until now, there has been no peace, simply because there has been no willingness to make it: "Peace, peace! they say, though there is no peace" (Jer 6, 14). The strong party, the one with everything in hand, the one who is imposing occupation on the other, has the obligation to see what is just for everyone and to carry it out courageously. "O God, with your judgment endow the king," with your justice endow our governments so that they can govern your people with justice (Ps 72). In recent times, there has been some talk about creating "religious" states in this land. But in this land, which is holy for three religions and for two peoples, religious states cannot be established because they would exclude or place in an inferior position the believers of the other religions. A state that would exclude or discriminate against the other religions is not suitable for this land made holy by God for all of humanity. Political and religious leaders must begin by understanding the universal vocation of this land in which God has brought us together throughout history. They must know that the holiness of this land does not consist in the exclusion of one or the other of the religions, but in the ability of each religion, with all of their differences, to welcome, respect, and love all who inhabit this land. The holiness and the universal vocation of this land also includes the duty to welcome pilgrims from around the world, those who come for a short visit, and those who come to reside, to pray, to study, or to perform the religious ministry to which the faithful of all religions have a right. For many years, we have been suffering from a problem that has never been solved, that of entry visas into the country for priests and for religious men and women who, in this land, because of their faith, have duties to perform as well as rights. Every state in this land is not a state like all others because it has special duties stemming from the holiness of the land and from its universal vocation. A state in this land must understand that it must respect and promote the universal vocation of the land with which it has been entrusted and, accordingly, must be open to welcoming all believers of other religions. I pray to God that the grace of Christmas, the grace of the God who is present with us, will enlighten all the leaders of this land. For all our faithful, in all parts of our diocese, may the grace of Christmas renew their faith and help them to live it more fully and to better carry out all their duties in their respective societies. May you all have a Joyful and Holy Christmas.
The writer is Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch.
dimanche 23 décembre 2007
Legal effort slows building for Arabs in East J'lem village
Haaretz 03:03 23/12/2007
By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent
A plan to build 2,000 apartments in the East Jerusalem village of Isawiyah has hit a potential snag: Lawyers for several Jews have applied to the municipality's planning and building subcommittee to delay the plan's submission for public perusal. Right-wing activist Aryeh King is behind the effort, part of his fight against various plans to divide Jerusalem. The lawyers claim that dozens of dunams in the plan are owned by their clients, bought in the past from Isawiyah's Arabs, but that the nonprofit organization that initiated the plan, Bimkom, failed to consult them.
A spokesman for Bimkom said the organization was not aware of any Jewish landholders in the plan, and that the matter will be reviewed. The Isawiyah plan has aroused strong opposition in recent weeks among residents of the Jewish neighborhood Tzameret Habira, who are worried about even closer proximity between the neighborhoods, which only a wadi separates. Tzameret Habira's residents claim that the plan goes well beyond 2,000 housing units, and that they do not want to bear the brunt of solving East Jerusalem Arabs' housing shortage. Isawiyah has a population of 12,000 and overcrowded housing. There is a high rate of illegal construction in the village. Hebrew University, located nearby, and the Defense Ministry are considering opposing the plan, which would bring village homes closer to the Jerusalem-Ma'aleh Adumim highway. Discussion of the plan was postponed several times before taking place. By a majority of one it was decided to approve the scheme, pending many revisions, transfer it to the district commission and deposit it for public objections. The building plan for Isawiyah has the support of Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent
A plan to build 2,000 apartments in the East Jerusalem village of Isawiyah has hit a potential snag: Lawyers for several Jews have applied to the municipality's planning and building subcommittee to delay the plan's submission for public perusal. Right-wing activist Aryeh King is behind the effort, part of his fight against various plans to divide Jerusalem. The lawyers claim that dozens of dunams in the plan are owned by their clients, bought in the past from Isawiyah's Arabs, but that the nonprofit organization that initiated the plan, Bimkom, failed to consult them.
A spokesman for Bimkom said the organization was not aware of any Jewish landholders in the plan, and that the matter will be reviewed. The Isawiyah plan has aroused strong opposition in recent weeks among residents of the Jewish neighborhood Tzameret Habira, who are worried about even closer proximity between the neighborhoods, which only a wadi separates. Tzameret Habira's residents claim that the plan goes well beyond 2,000 housing units, and that they do not want to bear the brunt of solving East Jerusalem Arabs' housing shortage. Isawiyah has a population of 12,000 and overcrowded housing. There is a high rate of illegal construction in the village. Hebrew University, located nearby, and the Defense Ministry are considering opposing the plan, which would bring village homes closer to the Jerusalem-Ma'aleh Adumim highway. Discussion of the plan was postponed several times before taking place. By a majority of one it was decided to approve the scheme, pending many revisions, transfer it to the district commission and deposit it for public objections. The building plan for Isawiyah has the support of Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
dimanche 16 décembre 2007
Report: Gov't won't grant rights to Palestinians west of fence
Haaretz 22:20 16/12/2007
By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondent
The State of Israel will not grant permanent or temporary residency to West Bank Palestinians whose homes were annexed to the Jerusalem municipal area by the separation fence, the Palestinian newspaper Al Quds reported on Sunday. The measure, which was reportedly approved by the cabinet in October, stipulates that the Palestinians in question could at most apply for residency permits from the military authorities - which confer no right to work in Israel, to obtain Israeli health insurance or to enjoy any of the other benefits of legal residency. At the fringes of Jerusalem's municipal area are a few neighborhoods that are officially part of the West Bank. Their residents are Palestinian Authority citizens, and are legally banned from entering Israel. The newly-built separation fence between Israel and the West Bank disconnected them from the rest of the West Bank.
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The decision effectively means that the communities that were forcibly annexed to Israel will not be permitted to work and study in Israel and receive welfare benefits. In order to work they would have to travel to the West Bank, but travel expenses are in most cases higher than a day's salary. The Association for Civil Rights said that "the government strives to make the lives of the Palestinians who were annexed to Jerusalem intolerable to a degree that they would leave their homes and move to the West Bank."
By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondent
The State of Israel will not grant permanent or temporary residency to West Bank Palestinians whose homes were annexed to the Jerusalem municipal area by the separation fence, the Palestinian newspaper Al Quds reported on Sunday. The measure, which was reportedly approved by the cabinet in October, stipulates that the Palestinians in question could at most apply for residency permits from the military authorities - which confer no right to work in Israel, to obtain Israeli health insurance or to enjoy any of the other benefits of legal residency. At the fringes of Jerusalem's municipal area are a few neighborhoods that are officially part of the West Bank. Their residents are Palestinian Authority citizens, and are legally banned from entering Israel. The newly-built separation fence between Israel and the West Bank disconnected them from the rest of the West Bank.
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The decision effectively means that the communities that were forcibly annexed to Israel will not be permitted to work and study in Israel and receive welfare benefits. In order to work they would have to travel to the West Bank, but travel expenses are in most cases higher than a day's salary. The Association for Civil Rights said that "the government strives to make the lives of the Palestinians who were annexed to Jerusalem intolerable to a degree that they would leave their homes and move to the West Bank."
Civil rights group: Israel has reached new heights of racism
Haaretz 21:35 16.12.2007
By Yuval Yoaz and Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondents
Racism against Israel's Arab citizens has dramatically increased in the past year, including a 26 percent rise in anti-Arab incidents, according to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel's annual report. Author Sami Michael, the association's president, said upon the release of the report that racism was so rife it was damaging civil liberty in Israel. "Israeli society is reaching new heights of racism that damages freedom of expression and privacy," Michael said.
The publication coincides with Human Rights Week, which begins Sunday. "We are a society under supervision under a democratic regime whose institutions are being undermined and which confers a different status to residents in the center of the country and in the periphery," Michael said. The number of Jews expressing feelings of hatred toward Arabs has doubled, the report stated. According to the June 2007 Democracy Index of the Israel Democracy Institute, for example, only half the public believes that Jews and Arabs must have full equal rights. Among Jewish respondents, 55 percent support the idea that the state should encourage Arab emigration from Israel and 78 percent oppose the inclusion of Arab political parties in the government. According to a Haifa University study, 74 percent of Jewish youths in Israel think that Arabs are "unclean." The ACRI says that bills introduced in the Knesset contribute to delegitimize the country's Arab citizens, such as ones that would link the right to vote and receive state allowances to military or national service. They also include bills that require ministers and MKs to swear allegiance to a Jewish state and those that set aside 13 percent of all state lands owned by the Jewish National Fund for Jews only. "Arab citizens are frequently subject to ridicule at the airports," the report states. It says that Arab citizens "are subject to 'racial profiling' that classifies them as a security threat. The government also threatens the freedom of expression of Arab journalists by brandishing the whip of economic boycott and ending the publication of government announcements in newspapers that criticize its policy." Hadash Chairman MK Mohammad Barakeh said that the report "did not take us by surprise and neither should anyone be surprised by it. Its results are the natural consequence of a racist campaign led by political and military leaders, as well as the result of the anti-Arab racist policies implemented by consecutive governments."
By Yuval Yoaz and Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondents
Racism against Israel's Arab citizens has dramatically increased in the past year, including a 26 percent rise in anti-Arab incidents, according to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel's annual report. Author Sami Michael, the association's president, said upon the release of the report that racism was so rife it was damaging civil liberty in Israel. "Israeli society is reaching new heights of racism that damages freedom of expression and privacy," Michael said.
The publication coincides with Human Rights Week, which begins Sunday. "We are a society under supervision under a democratic regime whose institutions are being undermined and which confers a different status to residents in the center of the country and in the periphery," Michael said. The number of Jews expressing feelings of hatred toward Arabs has doubled, the report stated. According to the June 2007 Democracy Index of the Israel Democracy Institute, for example, only half the public believes that Jews and Arabs must have full equal rights. Among Jewish respondents, 55 percent support the idea that the state should encourage Arab emigration from Israel and 78 percent oppose the inclusion of Arab political parties in the government. According to a Haifa University study, 74 percent of Jewish youths in Israel think that Arabs are "unclean." The ACRI says that bills introduced in the Knesset contribute to delegitimize the country's Arab citizens, such as ones that would link the right to vote and receive state allowances to military or national service. They also include bills that require ministers and MKs to swear allegiance to a Jewish state and those that set aside 13 percent of all state lands owned by the Jewish National Fund for Jews only. "Arab citizens are frequently subject to ridicule at the airports," the report states. It says that Arab citizens "are subject to 'racial profiling' that classifies them as a security threat. The government also threatens the freedom of expression of Arab journalists by brandishing the whip of economic boycott and ending the publication of government announcements in newspapers that criticize its policy." Hadash Chairman MK Mohammad Barakeh said that the report "did not take us by surprise and neither should anyone be surprised by it. Its results are the natural consequence of a racist campaign led by political and military leaders, as well as the result of the anti-Arab racist policies implemented by consecutive governments."
Civil rights group: Israel has reached new heights of racism
Haaretz 21:35 16/12/2007
By Yuval Yoaz and Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondents
Racism against Israel's Arab citizens has dramatically increased in the past year, including a 26 percent rise in anti-Arab incidents, according to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel's annual report. Author Sami Michael, the association's president, said upon the release of the report that racism was so rife it was damaging civil liberty in Israel. "Israeli society is reaching new heights of racism that damages freedom of expression and privacy," Michael said.
The publication coincides with Human Rights Week, which begins Sunday. "We are a society under supervision under a democratic regime whose institutions are being undermined and which confers a different status to residents in the center of the country and in the periphery," Michael said. The number of Jews expressing feelings of hatred toward Arabs has doubled, the report stated. According to the June 2007 Democracy Index of the Israel Democracy Institute, for example, only half the public believes that Jews and Arabs must have full equal rights. Among Jewish respondents, 55 percent support the idea that the state should encourage Arab emigration from Israel and 78 percent oppose the inclusion of Arab political parties in the government. According to a Haifa University study, 74 percent of Jewish youths in Israel think that Arabs are "unclean." The ACRI says that bills introduced in the Knesset contribute to delegitimize the country's Arab citizens, such as ones that would link the right to vote and receive state allowances to military or national service. They also include bills that require ministers and MKs to swear allegiance to a Jewish state and those that set aside 13 percent of all state lands owned by the Jewish National Fund for Jews only. "Arab citizens are frequently subject to ridicule at the airports," the report states. It says that Arab citizens "are subject to 'racial profiling' that classifies them as a security threat.
The government also threatens the freedom of expression of Arab journalists by brandishing the whip of economic boycott and ending the publication of government announcements in newspapers that criticize its policy." Hadash Chairman MK Mohammad Barakeh said that the report "did not take us by surprise and neither should anyone be surprised by it. Its results are the natural consequence of a racist campaign led by political and military leaders, as well as the result of the anti-Arab racist policies implemented by consecutive governments."
By Yuval Yoaz and Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondents
Racism against Israel's Arab citizens has dramatically increased in the past year, including a 26 percent rise in anti-Arab incidents, according to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel's annual report. Author Sami Michael, the association's president, said upon the release of the report that racism was so rife it was damaging civil liberty in Israel. "Israeli society is reaching new heights of racism that damages freedom of expression and privacy," Michael said.
The publication coincides with Human Rights Week, which begins Sunday. "We are a society under supervision under a democratic regime whose institutions are being undermined and which confers a different status to residents in the center of the country and in the periphery," Michael said. The number of Jews expressing feelings of hatred toward Arabs has doubled, the report stated. According to the June 2007 Democracy Index of the Israel Democracy Institute, for example, only half the public believes that Jews and Arabs must have full equal rights. Among Jewish respondents, 55 percent support the idea that the state should encourage Arab emigration from Israel and 78 percent oppose the inclusion of Arab political parties in the government. According to a Haifa University study, 74 percent of Jewish youths in Israel think that Arabs are "unclean." The ACRI says that bills introduced in the Knesset contribute to delegitimize the country's Arab citizens, such as ones that would link the right to vote and receive state allowances to military or national service. They also include bills that require ministers and MKs to swear allegiance to a Jewish state and those that set aside 13 percent of all state lands owned by the Jewish National Fund for Jews only. "Arab citizens are frequently subject to ridicule at the airports," the report states. It says that Arab citizens "are subject to 'racial profiling' that classifies them as a security threat.
The government also threatens the freedom of expression of Arab journalists by brandishing the whip of economic boycott and ending the publication of government announcements in newspapers that criticize its policy." Hadash Chairman MK Mohammad Barakeh said that the report "did not take us by surprise and neither should anyone be surprised by it. Its results are the natural consequence of a racist campaign led by political and military leaders, as well as the result of the anti-Arab racist policies implemented by consecutive governments."
jeudi 13 décembre 2007
Red Cross: Israel worsening Palestinian humanitarian crisis
By Reuters
Haaretz 13.12.2007
Israeli restrictions have caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank that is growing worse, leaving hospitals unable to treat the sick and keeping farmers off their land, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. In a statement issued on Thursday, the humanitarian agency called on Israel to "lift the retaliatory measures which are paralyzing life in Gaza" and urged Palestinian factions to stop targeting civilian areas and putting lives at risk. "The measures imposed by Israel come at an enormous humanitarian cost, leaving the people living under occupation with just enough to survive, but not enough to live a normal and dignified life," said Beatrice Megevand Roggo, the ICRC's head of operations for the Middle East and North Africa.
The Palestinian population has "effectively become a hostage to the conflict," she said. The ICRC said Israel's "severe restrictions" on the movement of people and goods, imposed to tighten security, had deepened economic woes and affected every aspect of life in the West Bank and Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. "The Palestinian Territories face a deep human crisis, where millions of people are denied their human dignity. Not once in a while, but every day," the Geneva-based agency said. Most crossing points have been closed to the 1.4 million Palestinians living in Gaza since the violent clashes between Hamas and Fatah-affiliated forces that led to a Hamas takeover in June this year. The ICRC estimated that 5,000 farmers in Gaza and their families relying on exports of cash crops like carnations and strawberries were "about to suffer a 100 percent drop in sales." "The harvest season for these important crops started in June, but the embargo on exports has left them rotting in containers at the crossing points," it said. Getting medical care or studying in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Israel or abroad has also become "nearly impossible," except for those needing life-saving treatment, the ICRC said. Some 823 sick people - nearly one-quarter of the 3,568 requiring medical care outside Gaza - were prevented from leaving the territory for treatment over the last six months, spokesman Florian Westphal said. Administrative and security clearance delays "have resulted in the deaths of three patients in favor of whom the ICRC had intervened," he said, noting restrictions had also caused a shortage of drugs for cancer patients and a lack of spare parts for emergency wards and operating theaters in Gaza's hospitals. In the West Bank, the ICRC said many Palestinians have been powerless to prevent the confiscation of their land. As a result of the West Bank separation fence, which runs partially inside Palestinian territory, it said "large tracts of farming land have been out of reach for farmers," who must fight through "a bureaucratic maze" to get permits needed to reach their fields. Many applications are rejected on security grounds, which "may include a relative once having been in an Israeli prison." The ICRC depends on its neutrality to distribute emergency aid and help victims of conflict and violence around the world. It stressed that while Israel has the right to protect its population, "there should always be a sound balance between Israel's security concerns and the protection of the rights and liberties of the Palestinians living under occupation." "So far, the balance between the legitimate Israeli security concerns and the right of the Palestinian people to live a normal life has not been struck," it said.
Haaretz 13.12.2007
Israeli restrictions have caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank that is growing worse, leaving hospitals unable to treat the sick and keeping farmers off their land, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. In a statement issued on Thursday, the humanitarian agency called on Israel to "lift the retaliatory measures which are paralyzing life in Gaza" and urged Palestinian factions to stop targeting civilian areas and putting lives at risk. "The measures imposed by Israel come at an enormous humanitarian cost, leaving the people living under occupation with just enough to survive, but not enough to live a normal and dignified life," said Beatrice Megevand Roggo, the ICRC's head of operations for the Middle East and North Africa.
The Palestinian population has "effectively become a hostage to the conflict," she said. The ICRC said Israel's "severe restrictions" on the movement of people and goods, imposed to tighten security, had deepened economic woes and affected every aspect of life in the West Bank and Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. "The Palestinian Territories face a deep human crisis, where millions of people are denied their human dignity. Not once in a while, but every day," the Geneva-based agency said. Most crossing points have been closed to the 1.4 million Palestinians living in Gaza since the violent clashes between Hamas and Fatah-affiliated forces that led to a Hamas takeover in June this year. The ICRC estimated that 5,000 farmers in Gaza and their families relying on exports of cash crops like carnations and strawberries were "about to suffer a 100 percent drop in sales." "The harvest season for these important crops started in June, but the embargo on exports has left them rotting in containers at the crossing points," it said. Getting medical care or studying in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Israel or abroad has also become "nearly impossible," except for those needing life-saving treatment, the ICRC said. Some 823 sick people - nearly one-quarter of the 3,568 requiring medical care outside Gaza - were prevented from leaving the territory for treatment over the last six months, spokesman Florian Westphal said. Administrative and security clearance delays "have resulted in the deaths of three patients in favor of whom the ICRC had intervened," he said, noting restrictions had also caused a shortage of drugs for cancer patients and a lack of spare parts for emergency wards and operating theaters in Gaza's hospitals. In the West Bank, the ICRC said many Palestinians have been powerless to prevent the confiscation of their land. As a result of the West Bank separation fence, which runs partially inside Palestinian territory, it said "large tracts of farming land have been out of reach for farmers," who must fight through "a bureaucratic maze" to get permits needed to reach their fields. Many applications are rejected on security grounds, which "may include a relative once having been in an Israeli prison." The ICRC depends on its neutrality to distribute emergency aid and help victims of conflict and violence around the world. It stressed that while Israel has the right to protect its population, "there should always be a sound balance between Israel's security concerns and the protection of the rights and liberties of the Palestinians living under occupation." "So far, the balance between the legitimate Israeli security concerns and the right of the Palestinian people to live a normal life has not been struck," it said.
dimanche 9 décembre 2007
Housing Min. rejects Rice warning against E. J'lem construction
Haaretz Last update - 10:17 09/12/2007
By Yoav Stern and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondents, News Agencies and Haaretz Service
Housing Minister Ze'ev Boim rejected on Saturday the warnings of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who said Israel's plan to build 300 housing units in the East Jerualem neighborhood of Har Homa could jeopardize U.S.-backed peace negotiations with the Palestinians. "Secretary of State Rice should be blessed for her efforts in the relaunching of the peace process," Boim said, "but it cannot be that on every occasion this [peace process] will be tied together with the cessation of construction in Jerusalem." "The Har Homa neighborhood is situated within Jerusalem's municipal borders where Israeli law applies," Boim added. "Therefore, there is nothing preventing the construction there, just as there is nothing preventing construction anywhere else in Israel."
Jordan's Minister for Information, Nasser Judeh, on Thursday slammed the plan to build the new housing units at Har Homa, known as Jabal Abu Ghunaim by the Palestinians, saying he considered the move "detrimental" to peace and "contrary to international law." Meanwhile Saturday, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat appealed to the United States to compel Israel to halt the expansion of settlements in the West Bank as dictated by the road map peace plan. "We loudly ask the U.S. administration to act as the judge and compel Israel to implement its commitments which the Road Map plan specified," Erekat told Voice of Palestine radio.
The first phase of the road map calls on Israel to freeze settlement activities and the natural growth of the settlements. Erekat pointed out that the tender for the Har Homa construction came about one week after the end of a U.S.-hosted conference in Annapolis, Maryland, which set December 12 as the date for Israel and the PA to start negotiating a lasting solution. "If Israel went on, this will destroy all the efforts that aim at launching a meaningful peace process leading to ending the Israeli occupation which started in the 1967," Erekat added.
On Friday, Rice warned Israel that the construction plan threatened U.S.-backed efforts to achieve peace with the Palestinians, saying "we are in a time when the goal is to build maximum confidence with the parties and this doesn't help to build confidence." "There should not be anything which might prejudge final-status negotiations," Rice said after talks with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on the sidelines of a NATO meeting of foreign ministers. "It's even more important now that we are on the eve of the beginning of the negotiations. I made that position clear," she told a news conference.
Haaretz reported on Friday that the U.S. has requested that Israel provide clarifications on the building plan. Palestinian leaders have said the plan undermines the peace process, aimed at reviving talks that had been dormant for seven years. But Israel has said it does not consider the site, known as Abu Ghneim by Palestinians, as part of the West Bank territory the Palestinians want for a state. The Palestinians demand East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, for their future capital. Israel annexed the area after the war.
Mubarak calls on U.S. to pressure Israel for sake of peace
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told Egyptian media Thursday that the United States must put pressure on Israel in order to advance the peace process. Mubarak, who is visiting Athens, also said that Egypt hopes that positive results will come out of last month's Annapolis conference, noting U.S. President George W. Bush's expected visit to Israel in January. The Egyptian president said Israel must act "with courage" and make decisions, calling Israel to show a willingness to make concessions during negotiations. He called on the Palestinians to "unify their stance" and end differences of opinion between them. Also, Thursday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit criticized Israel for the government's plan to expand Har Homa. In an article published in Egypt's "Al-Ahram" newspaper, it was reported that Aboul Gheit was "astounded" by reports of Israel's intention to publish a building tender for new construction in the neighborhood.
By Yoav Stern and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondents, News Agencies and Haaretz Service
Housing Minister Ze'ev Boim rejected on Saturday the warnings of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who said Israel's plan to build 300 housing units in the East Jerualem neighborhood of Har Homa could jeopardize U.S.-backed peace negotiations with the Palestinians. "Secretary of State Rice should be blessed for her efforts in the relaunching of the peace process," Boim said, "but it cannot be that on every occasion this [peace process] will be tied together with the cessation of construction in Jerusalem." "The Har Homa neighborhood is situated within Jerusalem's municipal borders where Israeli law applies," Boim added. "Therefore, there is nothing preventing the construction there, just as there is nothing preventing construction anywhere else in Israel."
Jordan's Minister for Information, Nasser Judeh, on Thursday slammed the plan to build the new housing units at Har Homa, known as Jabal Abu Ghunaim by the Palestinians, saying he considered the move "detrimental" to peace and "contrary to international law." Meanwhile Saturday, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat appealed to the United States to compel Israel to halt the expansion of settlements in the West Bank as dictated by the road map peace plan. "We loudly ask the U.S. administration to act as the judge and compel Israel to implement its commitments which the Road Map plan specified," Erekat told Voice of Palestine radio.
The first phase of the road map calls on Israel to freeze settlement activities and the natural growth of the settlements. Erekat pointed out that the tender for the Har Homa construction came about one week after the end of a U.S.-hosted conference in Annapolis, Maryland, which set December 12 as the date for Israel and the PA to start negotiating a lasting solution. "If Israel went on, this will destroy all the efforts that aim at launching a meaningful peace process leading to ending the Israeli occupation which started in the 1967," Erekat added.
On Friday, Rice warned Israel that the construction plan threatened U.S.-backed efforts to achieve peace with the Palestinians, saying "we are in a time when the goal is to build maximum confidence with the parties and this doesn't help to build confidence." "There should not be anything which might prejudge final-status negotiations," Rice said after talks with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on the sidelines of a NATO meeting of foreign ministers. "It's even more important now that we are on the eve of the beginning of the negotiations. I made that position clear," she told a news conference.
Haaretz reported on Friday that the U.S. has requested that Israel provide clarifications on the building plan. Palestinian leaders have said the plan undermines the peace process, aimed at reviving talks that had been dormant for seven years. But Israel has said it does not consider the site, known as Abu Ghneim by Palestinians, as part of the West Bank territory the Palestinians want for a state. The Palestinians demand East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, for their future capital. Israel annexed the area after the war.
Mubarak calls on U.S. to pressure Israel for sake of peace
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told Egyptian media Thursday that the United States must put pressure on Israel in order to advance the peace process. Mubarak, who is visiting Athens, also said that Egypt hopes that positive results will come out of last month's Annapolis conference, noting U.S. President George W. Bush's expected visit to Israel in January. The Egyptian president said Israel must act "with courage" and make decisions, calling Israel to show a willingness to make concessions during negotiations. He called on the Palestinians to "unify their stance" and end differences of opinion between them. Also, Thursday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit criticized Israel for the government's plan to expand Har Homa. In an article published in Egypt's "Al-Ahram" newspaper, it was reported that Aboul Gheit was "astounded" by reports of Israel's intention to publish a building tender for new construction in the neighborhood.
Vice PM Ramon: Parts of J'lem must be given to Palestinians
Haaretz Last update - 20:25 09/12/2007
By Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Vice Premier Haim Ramon responded on Sunday to U.S. criticism of plans to build additional homes in an East Jerusalem neighborhood by saying parts of the city must be given to the Palestinians to avoid losing U.S. support. Ramon said Israel would not give up the Jewish neighborhood of Har Homa, where a state plan, announced last week, to build 300 new homes sparked Palestinian anger and a warning from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who suggested the plan risked harming a peace process she helped relaunch last month at the Annapolis conference.
"We must come today and say, friends, the Jewish neighborhoods, including Har Homa, will remain under Israeli sovereignty, and the Arab neighborhoods will be the Palestinian capital, which they will call Jerusalem or whatever they want," Ramon told Israel Radio. "Then we won't get embroiled, as is happening now, in an uncalled-for and badly timed debate with the United States, at a time when we need its support," he added.
The vice premier said, however, that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's opponents were being unrealistic in hoping for U.S. support for any peace plan that would give Israel the entire Jerusalem municipality in its current form, including all of East Jerusalem, as its capital. Ramon told Army Radio that he is "convinced that all Jewish neighborhoods, including Har Homa, should be under Israeli sovereignty and the Arab neighborhoods should not be under Israeli sovereignty, because they pose a threat to Jerusalem being the capital of a Jewish Israel."
"Those who want Walajeh and Jabal Mukaber as well as Har Homa, will ultimately cause Jerusalem not to be a Jewish capital to Israel with a clear Jewish majority," he added, referring to Palestinian villages incorporated into Jerusalem after 1967. Ramon, seen as a confidant who often speaks for Olmert, told Israel Radio: "Whoever wants Walaja, is endangering our hold on Har Homa... Jewish neighborhoods will remain in Israeli control and Arab neighborhoods will be the Palestinian capital. "This is the right thing to do. This way we will not be drawn into an unnecessary annexation especially when we need the backing of the United States."
Israel has rejected criticism of a tender for some 300 more homes and other units at Har Homa - which Arabs call Abu Ghneim - on the grounds that it annexed the land and placed it inside Jerusalem city boundaries drawn in the aftermath of the 1967 Six Day War. That annexation is not recognized internationally. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki denounced Ramon's statement and its timing: On Wednesday, negotiating teams from both sides are to sit down together for their first formal talks in seven years. "These statements place obstacles before any serious attempts by Palestinian negotiators on Jerusalem," Malki said. "They aim to create confusion and change the course of negotiations before they begin. They try to pressure Palestinians and the international parties to think of Israeli needs before they begin."
Israel's announcement last week that it would go ahead with plans to build 307 apartments in Har Homa came days after both sides officially announced the resumption of peace talks at the U.S.-sponsored conference in Annapolis. Housing Minister Zeev Boim told Israel Army Radio on Saturday that it was Israel's right to build in Har Homa - and everywhere else in the expanded boundaries of Jerusalem. "It's inconceivable that the peace process requires a halt to all construction in Jerusalem, in an area that is within Jerusalem's municipal boundaries," Boim said. "There's nothing to prevent us from building there, just as there is nothing to prevent us from building anywhere else".
After 40 years of construction, Jews in East Jerusalem number 180,000, rivaling the Arab population of 240,000, according to government statistics and the Jerusalem Institute think tank. For years, Israeli governments rejected any talk of dividing or sharing the city. But two months ago, Ramon indicated a major governmental shift when he spoke openly about sharing Jerusalem with the Palestinians. Shortly after, Olmert himself publicly suggested that Israel's control of some traditionally Arab parts of the city might not be necessary. He named some outlying neighborhoods in the eastern sector, but not the Old City. The Old City is the most explosive component of any talks on Jerusalem. It is home to the site of the Jewish biblical temples and their remnant, the Western Wall. The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third-holiest shrine, is built over the remains of the ancient temples. The competing claims to Jerusalem have derailed past peace talks, and are sure to complicate the new round of negotiations. The sides have pledged to try to work out a final peace deal by the end of 2008.
By Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Vice Premier Haim Ramon responded on Sunday to U.S. criticism of plans to build additional homes in an East Jerusalem neighborhood by saying parts of the city must be given to the Palestinians to avoid losing U.S. support. Ramon said Israel would not give up the Jewish neighborhood of Har Homa, where a state plan, announced last week, to build 300 new homes sparked Palestinian anger and a warning from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who suggested the plan risked harming a peace process she helped relaunch last month at the Annapolis conference.
"We must come today and say, friends, the Jewish neighborhoods, including Har Homa, will remain under Israeli sovereignty, and the Arab neighborhoods will be the Palestinian capital, which they will call Jerusalem or whatever they want," Ramon told Israel Radio. "Then we won't get embroiled, as is happening now, in an uncalled-for and badly timed debate with the United States, at a time when we need its support," he added.
The vice premier said, however, that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's opponents were being unrealistic in hoping for U.S. support for any peace plan that would give Israel the entire Jerusalem municipality in its current form, including all of East Jerusalem, as its capital. Ramon told Army Radio that he is "convinced that all Jewish neighborhoods, including Har Homa, should be under Israeli sovereignty and the Arab neighborhoods should not be under Israeli sovereignty, because they pose a threat to Jerusalem being the capital of a Jewish Israel."
"Those who want Walajeh and Jabal Mukaber as well as Har Homa, will ultimately cause Jerusalem not to be a Jewish capital to Israel with a clear Jewish majority," he added, referring to Palestinian villages incorporated into Jerusalem after 1967. Ramon, seen as a confidant who often speaks for Olmert, told Israel Radio: "Whoever wants Walaja, is endangering our hold on Har Homa... Jewish neighborhoods will remain in Israeli control and Arab neighborhoods will be the Palestinian capital. "This is the right thing to do. This way we will not be drawn into an unnecessary annexation especially when we need the backing of the United States."
Israel has rejected criticism of a tender for some 300 more homes and other units at Har Homa - which Arabs call Abu Ghneim - on the grounds that it annexed the land and placed it inside Jerusalem city boundaries drawn in the aftermath of the 1967 Six Day War. That annexation is not recognized internationally. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki denounced Ramon's statement and its timing: On Wednesday, negotiating teams from both sides are to sit down together for their first formal talks in seven years. "These statements place obstacles before any serious attempts by Palestinian negotiators on Jerusalem," Malki said. "They aim to create confusion and change the course of negotiations before they begin. They try to pressure Palestinians and the international parties to think of Israeli needs before they begin."
Israel's announcement last week that it would go ahead with plans to build 307 apartments in Har Homa came days after both sides officially announced the resumption of peace talks at the U.S.-sponsored conference in Annapolis. Housing Minister Zeev Boim told Israel Army Radio on Saturday that it was Israel's right to build in Har Homa - and everywhere else in the expanded boundaries of Jerusalem. "It's inconceivable that the peace process requires a halt to all construction in Jerusalem, in an area that is within Jerusalem's municipal boundaries," Boim said. "There's nothing to prevent us from building there, just as there is nothing to prevent us from building anywhere else".
After 40 years of construction, Jews in East Jerusalem number 180,000, rivaling the Arab population of 240,000, according to government statistics and the Jerusalem Institute think tank. For years, Israeli governments rejected any talk of dividing or sharing the city. But two months ago, Ramon indicated a major governmental shift when he spoke openly about sharing Jerusalem with the Palestinians. Shortly after, Olmert himself publicly suggested that Israel's control of some traditionally Arab parts of the city might not be necessary. He named some outlying neighborhoods in the eastern sector, but not the Old City. The Old City is the most explosive component of any talks on Jerusalem. It is home to the site of the Jewish biblical temples and their remnant, the Western Wall. The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third-holiest shrine, is built over the remains of the ancient temples. The competing claims to Jerusalem have derailed past peace talks, and are sure to complicate the new round of negotiations. The sides have pledged to try to work out a final peace deal by the end of 2008.
vendredi 7 décembre 2007
Ban Ki-Moon: Israel plan to build homes in East J'lem 'unhelpful'
Haaretz 00:06 07/12/2007
By The Associated Press and Reuters
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon slammed on Thursday Israel's plan to build more than 300 new homes in an East Jerusalem neighborhood. "This new tender for 300 new homes in eastern Jerusalem, so soon after the Annapolis Middle East peace conference, I think is not helpful," Ban said, noting that the United Nations had a consistent position on the illegality of such settlements. The new housing would expand Har Homa, a Jewish neighborhood in an area Palestinians claim as capital of a future state. The Palestinians call the area Jabal Abu Ghneim.
The future of Jerusalem is one of the most contentious issues facing Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in peace talks that are supposed to resume this month, following the landmark Middle East conference in Annapolis, Maryland. An Israeli government spokesman has said the plan does not contravene Israel's commitment under a U.S.-sponsored "road map" for peace with the Palestinians. Palestinian officials say it could damage the peace process re-launched under U.S. patronage at the peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland last week. Palestinian officials have appealed to the U.S. to block the project. Under the road map, Israel has committed to stop settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, but distinguishes between that area and Jerusalem, whose municipal boundaries were expanded after the 1967 war and included a number of Arab neighborhoods and villages around the city. The site of the new building lies between Arab East Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Bethlehem to the south. Jordan also condemned Israel's housing plan, the official Petra news agency said. Jordanian State Minister for Information, Nasser Judeh, said the Israeli measure contravenes international resolutions that consider the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as occupied territories. He said the Israeli move would increase tension and threaten efforts to start direct negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis, build confidence between them and push the peace process forward leading to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state and a just and lasting peace in the region. Judeh urged the Israelis to immediately halt the buidling plans. Judeh added Jordan totally rejects the Israeli action and believes that the Jewish state's failure to meet its obligations under the road map peace plan and persistence in building settlements, are major obstacles to achieving serious progress in the peace process.
By The Associated Press and Reuters
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon slammed on Thursday Israel's plan to build more than 300 new homes in an East Jerusalem neighborhood. "This new tender for 300 new homes in eastern Jerusalem, so soon after the Annapolis Middle East peace conference, I think is not helpful," Ban said, noting that the United Nations had a consistent position on the illegality of such settlements. The new housing would expand Har Homa, a Jewish neighborhood in an area Palestinians claim as capital of a future state. The Palestinians call the area Jabal Abu Ghneim.
The future of Jerusalem is one of the most contentious issues facing Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in peace talks that are supposed to resume this month, following the landmark Middle East conference in Annapolis, Maryland. An Israeli government spokesman has said the plan does not contravene Israel's commitment under a U.S.-sponsored "road map" for peace with the Palestinians. Palestinian officials say it could damage the peace process re-launched under U.S. patronage at the peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland last week. Palestinian officials have appealed to the U.S. to block the project. Under the road map, Israel has committed to stop settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, but distinguishes between that area and Jerusalem, whose municipal boundaries were expanded after the 1967 war and included a number of Arab neighborhoods and villages around the city. The site of the new building lies between Arab East Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Bethlehem to the south. Jordan also condemned Israel's housing plan, the official Petra news agency said. Jordanian State Minister for Information, Nasser Judeh, said the Israeli measure contravenes international resolutions that consider the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as occupied territories. He said the Israeli move would increase tension and threaten efforts to start direct negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis, build confidence between them and push the peace process forward leading to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state and a just and lasting peace in the region. Judeh urged the Israelis to immediately halt the buidling plans. Judeh added Jordan totally rejects the Israeli action and believes that the Jewish state's failure to meet its obligations under the road map peace plan and persistence in building settlements, are major obstacles to achieving serious progress in the peace process.
jeudi 6 décembre 2007
Palestinians slam Israeli move to build new homes in E. Jerusalem
Haaretz 18:29 06/12/2007
By The Associated Press
The Palestinians on Tuesday condemned an Israeli plan to build more than 300 new homes in a disputed East Jerusalem neighborhood, claiming that the move is undermining newly revived peace talks. Housing Ministry spokesman Kobi Bleich said 307 housing units would be build in Har Homa, a Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Israel captured the eastern part of the city in the 1967 Six-Day-War and annexed the area. The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said he sent an urgent message to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, asking her to block the project from moving forward. "This is undermining Annapolis," he said, referring to last week's U.S.-hosted summit, where Israel and the Palestinians relaunched peace talks.
The two sides agreed to base their peace talks on the U.S.-backed road map, a peace plan that calls on Israel to halt all settlement construction. The Palestinians consider any construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to be settlement activity. Israel says the settlement freeze does not apply to Jerusalem. "Israel makes a clear distinction between the West Bank and Jerusalem," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. "Israel has never made a commitment to limit our sovereignty in Jerusalem. Implementation of the first phase of the road map does not apply to Jerusalem." Har Homa is just inside the expanded city limits of Jerusalem, drawn after Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 war. Israel annexed east Jerusalem days after the war, but no country recognized that. Since 1967, Israel has built a string of Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, with about 180,000 residents. Har Homa, at the southern edge of the city line, is the newest.
By The Associated Press
The Palestinians on Tuesday condemned an Israeli plan to build more than 300 new homes in a disputed East Jerusalem neighborhood, claiming that the move is undermining newly revived peace talks. Housing Ministry spokesman Kobi Bleich said 307 housing units would be build in Har Homa, a Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Israel captured the eastern part of the city in the 1967 Six-Day-War and annexed the area. The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said he sent an urgent message to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, asking her to block the project from moving forward. "This is undermining Annapolis," he said, referring to last week's U.S.-hosted summit, where Israel and the Palestinians relaunched peace talks.
The two sides agreed to base their peace talks on the U.S.-backed road map, a peace plan that calls on Israel to halt all settlement construction. The Palestinians consider any construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to be settlement activity. Israel says the settlement freeze does not apply to Jerusalem. "Israel makes a clear distinction between the West Bank and Jerusalem," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. "Israel has never made a commitment to limit our sovereignty in Jerusalem. Implementation of the first phase of the road map does not apply to Jerusalem." Har Homa is just inside the expanded city limits of Jerusalem, drawn after Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 war. Israel annexed east Jerusalem days after the war, but no country recognized that. Since 1967, Israel has built a string of Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, with about 180,000 residents. Har Homa, at the southern edge of the city line, is the newest.
3 Israeli journalists probed over travel to enemy states
Haaretz Last update - 21:22 06/12/2007
By Sara Miller, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
The Israel Police recently interrogated three Israeli journalists suspected of unauthorized travel to an enemy state, following visits to Syria and Lebanon. The journalists were named as Ron Ben-Yishai, who reported for the "Yedioth Aharonot" newspaper from Syria; Tsur Shezaf, who wrote from Lebanon for the Israeli geographical magazine "Masa Aher" (A Different Voyage) and Lisa Goldman, who traveled twice to Lebanon for Channel 10 television. All of the visits took place in the last few months. The travel by Israeli citizens to enemy states is considered a serious crime, even if they travel with foreign passports, due to the risk to their own lives and to the security of the state. The maximum penalty for the offense is four years in jail.
Alon Shahrabani, head of the economic and security branch of the International Crimes Investigations Unit, told Israel Radio that the journalists under investigation had not received the necessary permits from the prime minister and interior minister to make the journeys. "They left on a personal mission to those states, and were investigated because we take a grave view of these actions, which place Israel under great risk, beyond the personal risk to their security," Shahrabani said. He added that the evidence gathered in the investigation would be transferred to the State Prosecution. Dalia Dorner, president of the Israel Press Council, said that "one of our missions is to preserve the freedom of the press - that is fundamental. The catch is that if a journalist commits a deed that is considered a legal offense, then of course we cannot get involved." "I understand the security aspect - the law must be protected. Myself - when I read those articles, I thought they traveled with permits," Dorner said. "I hope that the matter stays within the limits of an investigation and a warning. Ultimately, these are good people who wanted to work on their journalistic craft." Lisa Goldman confirmed to Haaretz on Thursday that she had been interrogated a month ago, but expressed great surprise that details of the investigation had emerged, given that the police had told her not to discuss it. "I have no idea who leaked this story," she said. "I was completely flabbergasted when an Israeli reporter telephoned me today to inform me that the investigation had been announced on the radio. I have no idea who leaked it and very surprised that it's now been released. The police told me not to discuss the interrogation and I didn't. Therefore I am very surprised that the matter is now being exposed in the media." Goldman said that she had been unaware that she had broken any laws, adding that, "if I had known there was no way I would have gone." She told Haaretz that she had received congratulatory calls from "very senior members of the Prime Minister's Office" after her report from Lebanon had been broadcast on Channel 10 television, and it seems that they "were not aware of the law either." Goldman said that she had been surprised by the fact that police were investigating the issue at all, given that a significant number of Israeli journalists had traveled to Arab states in recent years. "I'm very surprised that the police have now opened an investigation against three Israeli reporters when there must be at least 10 who traveled to Arab countries using foreign passports over the last couple of years alone, and there are certainly many, many precedents over the last decade."
By Sara Miller, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
The Israel Police recently interrogated three Israeli journalists suspected of unauthorized travel to an enemy state, following visits to Syria and Lebanon. The journalists were named as Ron Ben-Yishai, who reported for the "Yedioth Aharonot" newspaper from Syria; Tsur Shezaf, who wrote from Lebanon for the Israeli geographical magazine "Masa Aher" (A Different Voyage) and Lisa Goldman, who traveled twice to Lebanon for Channel 10 television. All of the visits took place in the last few months. The travel by Israeli citizens to enemy states is considered a serious crime, even if they travel with foreign passports, due to the risk to their own lives and to the security of the state. The maximum penalty for the offense is four years in jail.
Alon Shahrabani, head of the economic and security branch of the International Crimes Investigations Unit, told Israel Radio that the journalists under investigation had not received the necessary permits from the prime minister and interior minister to make the journeys. "They left on a personal mission to those states, and were investigated because we take a grave view of these actions, which place Israel under great risk, beyond the personal risk to their security," Shahrabani said. He added that the evidence gathered in the investigation would be transferred to the State Prosecution. Dalia Dorner, president of the Israel Press Council, said that "one of our missions is to preserve the freedom of the press - that is fundamental. The catch is that if a journalist commits a deed that is considered a legal offense, then of course we cannot get involved." "I understand the security aspect - the law must be protected. Myself - when I read those articles, I thought they traveled with permits," Dorner said. "I hope that the matter stays within the limits of an investigation and a warning. Ultimately, these are good people who wanted to work on their journalistic craft." Lisa Goldman confirmed to Haaretz on Thursday that she had been interrogated a month ago, but expressed great surprise that details of the investigation had emerged, given that the police had told her not to discuss it. "I have no idea who leaked this story," she said. "I was completely flabbergasted when an Israeli reporter telephoned me today to inform me that the investigation had been announced on the radio. I have no idea who leaked it and very surprised that it's now been released. The police told me not to discuss the interrogation and I didn't. Therefore I am very surprised that the matter is now being exposed in the media." Goldman said that she had been unaware that she had broken any laws, adding that, "if I had known there was no way I would have gone." She told Haaretz that she had received congratulatory calls from "very senior members of the Prime Minister's Office" after her report from Lebanon had been broadcast on Channel 10 television, and it seems that they "were not aware of the law either." Goldman said that she had been surprised by the fact that police were investigating the issue at all, given that a significant number of Israeli journalists had traveled to Arab states in recent years. "I'm very surprised that the police have now opened an investigation against three Israeli reporters when there must be at least 10 who traveled to Arab countries using foreign passports over the last couple of years alone, and there are certainly many, many precedents over the last decade."
mardi 4 décembre 2007
Peace Now: IDF carried out only 3% of settlement demolition orders
Haaretz 12:13 04/12/2007
By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Peace Now, settlements
The Israel Defense Forces Civil Administration carried out only three percent of its own demolition orders for illegal construction in West Bank settlements over the past ten years, according to a Peace Now report published Tuesday. According to the report, from 1997-2007 the Civil Administration issued 3449 demolition orders for illegally built structures in the settlements and settlement outposts, but evacuated and demolished only 107 of them, the report stated. The report, issued at a Jerusalem press conference Tuesday, was based on statistics provided by the Civil Administration, after Peace Now petitioned the High Court of Justice on the basis of the Freedom of Information Law.
"Among the construction violators: industrial companies, cellular companies, public officials, and the IDF," the report stated, adding that the largest amount of "illegal construction was carried out in Ofra and Beit El." Over half of the cases of illegal construction -1887 files ? involve construction inside the settlements themselves, while 1554 cases involve construction in the illegal settlement outposts. According to Peace Now, the Civil Administration no longer enforces construction laws inside the settlements' official municipal boundaries, due to a 1998 directive from the IDF Central Command. Peace Now said "the significance is that the number of construction violations inside the settlements is much higher then the number provided by [Civil Administration] statistics." According to the report, "the leader in illegal construction cases is the settlement of Ofra, with 196 cases of illegal construction, followed by the settlement of Beit El with 107 cases. Bruchin heads the list of outposts with 104 cases, followed by Shvut Rachel with 98, and then Migron with 75 and Hayovel with 62 cases. The Binyamin area (near Ramallah) is the area with the largest number of illegal construction cases." A significant portion of the demolition orders were addressed to the settlement or regional council in which they were built, and at times to local and regional councils' "development companies." "This statistic is evidence of the regional councils' extensive role in illegal construction in the territories," the report said. Some of the orders are addressed to the company or private individual who built the illegal structure, including cellular phone companies such as Orange, Cellcom, and Pelephone. The IDF itself also violated construction laws, and a case was opened against the military for work conducted near Beit Omer in November 2002. According to Civil Administration records, the "case was closed." Some 72 percent of the demolition orders were issued for construction carried out east of the West Bank fence, in no small part due to the fact that 80 percent of the illegal settlement outposts are situated east of the fence.
By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Peace Now, settlements
The Israel Defense Forces Civil Administration carried out only three percent of its own demolition orders for illegal construction in West Bank settlements over the past ten years, according to a Peace Now report published Tuesday. According to the report, from 1997-2007 the Civil Administration issued 3449 demolition orders for illegally built structures in the settlements and settlement outposts, but evacuated and demolished only 107 of them, the report stated. The report, issued at a Jerusalem press conference Tuesday, was based on statistics provided by the Civil Administration, after Peace Now petitioned the High Court of Justice on the basis of the Freedom of Information Law.
"Among the construction violators: industrial companies, cellular companies, public officials, and the IDF," the report stated, adding that the largest amount of "illegal construction was carried out in Ofra and Beit El." Over half of the cases of illegal construction -1887 files ? involve construction inside the settlements themselves, while 1554 cases involve construction in the illegal settlement outposts. According to Peace Now, the Civil Administration no longer enforces construction laws inside the settlements' official municipal boundaries, due to a 1998 directive from the IDF Central Command. Peace Now said "the significance is that the number of construction violations inside the settlements is much higher then the number provided by [Civil Administration] statistics." According to the report, "the leader in illegal construction cases is the settlement of Ofra, with 196 cases of illegal construction, followed by the settlement of Beit El with 107 cases. Bruchin heads the list of outposts with 104 cases, followed by Shvut Rachel with 98, and then Migron with 75 and Hayovel with 62 cases. The Binyamin area (near Ramallah) is the area with the largest number of illegal construction cases." A significant portion of the demolition orders were addressed to the settlement or regional council in which they were built, and at times to local and regional councils' "development companies." "This statistic is evidence of the regional councils' extensive role in illegal construction in the territories," the report said. Some of the orders are addressed to the company or private individual who built the illegal structure, including cellular phone companies such as Orange, Cellcom, and Pelephone. The IDF itself also violated construction laws, and a case was opened against the military for work conducted near Beit Omer in November 2002. According to Civil Administration records, the "case was closed." Some 72 percent of the demolition orders were issued for construction carried out east of the West Bank fence, in no small part due to the fact that 80 percent of the illegal settlement outposts are situated east of the fence.
samedi 1 décembre 2007
Israel's dumping ground
Haaretz Last update - 22:14 01/12/2007
By Amira Hass
"When a truck unloads its garbage, it sounds like a battle is going on in the wadi," says Umm-Ahmed Musalah. And she knows whereof she speaks: Her house is located right at the entrance to a dump in the Palestinian village of Na'alin, about three kilometers north of Modi'in. In the two years since the site began operating, a big mound of garbage has accumulated on top of the wadi, and its outer edges are steadily encroaching on the vegetable garden and small orchard behind the house. Some of the trees have already dried out. Even as she speaks, another truck dumps its load - construction waste this time - with a thundering noise, just two or three hundred meters from Musalah's garden. A cloud of dust rises skyward, momentarily obscuring the tile roofs of the Hashmonaim settlement on the nearby ridge. In the course of about two hours on the afternoon of Monday, November 19, eight trucks added their loads to the mountain of garbage.
"It's like this 24 hours a day; the trucks come even at night," says Musalah. "And they all pass right under the windows of the children's bedrooms and my father-in-law's window. At night the smell is the strongest. Underneath the mounds of dirt you see here, there's garbage." The mayor of Na'alin, Ayman Sa'id, says that between 50 and 60 trucks come down the village's narrow main street every day, on their way to this dump or to another dump site to the west, which is situated on the lands of the neighboring village of Qibiya, amid its olive groves. Sometimes there's a traffic jam that lasts for up to an hour on the two-way street, when a truck has trouble maneuvering between the parked cars, falafel stands, lines of vehicles traveling in both directions and pedestrians crossing the road. Once, logs that were protruding from the back of a truck struck some power lines, cutting off the village's electricity for several hours.
From his office in the municipal building on the main street, Sa'id can tell just when a dump truck is passing, by the heavy rumble of the engine and a slight tremor in the building's windowpanes. Residents who live along the street confirm that the trucks also pass by at night and wake them up. The street can't take the stress of such heavy trucks driving down it every day, and the municipality can't keep up with the expenses of ongoing maintenance and repairs. Umm-Ahmed prefers not to give her full name and is not willing to be photographed.
"We're fed up with complaining. Nothing has helped," she explains. Her daughter also avoids the camera and does not want her name mentioned, and explains why the protests have not helped: "It doesn't help because where there's money, there's power."
The residents of Na'alin have been trying for a year and a half to have the two dump sites, which are being filled with unknown waste products and making their lives miserable, shut down. The two sites are private ventures of their landowners: Mohammed Nafa from Na'alin and Abdel Hakim Abd a-Nabi from Qibiya. Both sites are located in Area C, under Israeli security and administrative jurisdiction, in an area that is under the full jurisdiction of the Civil Administration. Both are close to the Green Line and to the separation fence, which goes right by the village lands. And both are visited exclusively by Israeli trucks unloading Israeli-made garbage.
"A truck bringing milk from Israel to the village isn't permitted through the checkpoint [on the Modi'in road]," says Sa'id, the mayor. "The soldiers at the checkpoint won't let it pass. It has to unload the merchandise back-to-back at the Bitunia crossing, about 15 kilometers east of the village, and from there another truck, a Palestinian truck, carries it west through all the villages and the narrow roads, in order to bring us the milk. That's how it works with all kinds of goods, including vital food products. They aren't allowed through the checkpoint that is right near us. But the soldiers, the inspectors of the Civil Administration and the police don't block the Israeli garbage trucks that pass through there all the time, even though they're well aware that the drivers are breaking Israeli law, and not just Palestinian law, when they dump the garbage in an unlicensed site."
The difference between garbage and waste People in Na'alin say the two landowners receive a payment of NIS 100 for each truck. Baha Sawalha of the environmental division of the Palestinian health ministry in the Ramallah district says the owners receive NIS 50 for each truck that dumps between 15 and 30 tons of waste. For comparison's sake: In Na'alin, which has 6,000 residents, a single truck collects and dumps garbage twice a week at the village's makeshift dump, unloading between 6 and 10 tons each time.
Mohammed Nafa, owner of the land at one of the unlicensed sites in Na'alin, warmly welcomes his uninvited guests: "Just write the truth. That's enough for me," he says. "There's a difference between garbage and waste: All that is brought here is waste - construction waste - not garbage, and the dirt that you see. The land here is rocky, it's not suitable for agriculture, and it's forbidden to build on it [an Israeli prohibition]. If they let me build on it, we wouldn't have turned it into a dump. It's an area of about five dunams. I'd like to improve the ground and turn it into a blooming garden. I also prepared a road to the hilltop across from it, which is covered with olive trees, but maybe the separation fence will go through there."
In the village, people say that at first it wasn't only construction waste that was tossed here, but other waste, too - the kind of garbage that creates a stench. Nafa vehemently denies this. He says that about two years ago, it was actually the neighbors from the Musalah family who suggested he open the site: They proposed that he have trucks come and unload construction waste so they could pick out the iron and sell it; they coordinated everything with the Israeli drivers. He agreed, but after a year they quarrelled and then he started operating the site by himself.
Umm-Ahmed Musalah refutes this, and says only that when dirt was dumped at the site they didn't object. The mayor, Sa'id, offers another, combined version of events: Yes, the initiative came from the Musalah family. Nafa received payment for each truck, and the Musalah family scavenged the iron and copper and sold it. But when they saw that the trucks were also dumping other sorts of garbage, some unidentifiable, which wasn't construction waste, they objected and complained.
An investigation by the Palestinian health ministry found that 90 percent of the waste is construction waste, and the rest is made up of textiles, iron and electric and telephone cables. There have been several cases in which children climbed on the mounds and got hurt as they scavenged in the dump. Nafa says he doesn't take money from every truck, that sometimes he pays for the dirt that is brought in. Sometimes he charges NIS 50, and sometimes NIS 100. At the northern end of the plot, there is an encampment of goat breeders who moved up here from Yata. The father of this family, Mahmoud Ismail, says Nafa permitted them to pitch their tents and huts on his land, for free. He doesn't understand what all the fuss is about and has nothing but praise for his host. "He has 20 mouths to feed, he has no work, everything's fine here, he can't work in Israel. What do they want from him?"
Nafa corrects this: He actually does have a permit to work in Israel, "But this place provides a livelihood for many more people who come and collect the iron and wood and pieces of countertops. When trucks came and wanted to dump garbage and pay me for it I refused. I won't burn garbage."
Immunity in Area C
One of the drivers, an Arab citizen of Israel who had just finished dumping construction waste for an Israeli contractor from Asheklon, explains: "In the Negev it costs [the building contractor] NIS 1,000 to dump waste, and here you can dump it for free, or pay just NIS 100 per truck. I don't know exactly how much he pays. I'm not the one who pays. I've been working here for about two months, and there are a few more places like this in the territories. We got permission - oral, of course - to come through and dump the waste. The permission comes from the Israelis. It's better for them if we dump here than in Tel Aviv or Rosh Ha'ayin. They prefer for us to dump in the territories. And it's all construction waste here. There are no carcinogenic substances." The driver says that he used to dump waste at the Qibiya site, but stopped "because there they burn [the waste] and you choke. I won't go there because of the smell. Here it's a pleasure. I don't think the place bothers people. There are Jewish neighbors here, too, and I don't think they've complained. If it bothered them, they'd be the first ones to complain, before the Arabs."
And in fact, the secretary of the Hashmonaim local committee confirms that they have not received any complaints from residents. "We heard about this place from other drivers, and so we started coming here, too," says the Israeli-Arab driver. It's a lot better here than in Qibiya, he says, "because there, the stink always stays on your clothes." Do only Jews dump garbage there? "No, no, Arabs do, too."
Abdel Hakim a-Nabi, on his land west of Na'alin, emerges from the clouds of smoke rising from his hilltop and from the mountains of waste and garbage. On this dreary day, the ground there looks like muddy coal. He is surrounded by a half-dozen youths with sooty faces and hands, who are scavenging in the piles of refuse. The remains of a mattress emit some final puffs of smoke. All that's left now are the iron springs. Amid aerosol cans, papers and plastic bags, an unidentified reddish liquid is visible.
People in the village say they are afraid that hospital waste is also thrown out here. Abdel Hakim a-Nabi was also willing to talk: "Look first of all at the municipality's waste site, which is below my site." He pointed to mounds of household trash at the edges of his plot: Amid the piles of puffed out and torn plastic bags, there were cow carcasses and poultry remnants. "There they throw everything. That's what's damaging. "With us it's only construction waste. Three or four families earn a living from my site. I cover everything with dirt. I'd like to improve the ground and plant olives. The diseases are not from Israel's garbage, the diseases are from here. From Israel they don't bring animal innards, there are no chicken and cattle carcasses. Would they dump like this in the Jewish state? No way."
The mayor of Na'alin does not deny Abd a-Nabi's claims about the garbage scattered in the municipal dump. He says the municipality has dug a pit and now always buries the animal carcasses and covers them with earth. "We're waiting for the opening of a central site for waste disposal in Ramallah," he says. Local officials in the 75 other Palestinian communities in the district are also waiting. But the central waste site is not due to open before 2011, or 2010 at the earliest. Abd a-Nabi says he opened his site in June of this year. "The land is of meager quality, there's not much you can do with it. But all the complaints are from Hamas people [who won in the Na'alin municipal elections]. If the Fatah from Ramallah asked us to stop, we'd stop. The Bedouin here collect the iron. They earn NIS 50 a day from it. At most, I get NIS 100 a day. I'm ready to close down the site right now, but only if the municipality also stops dumping its garbage here."
In June, say people in Na'alin, Abd a-Nabi was released from a Palestinian Authority prison. The reason for his incarceration is unknown to them. But it had nothing to do with the waste site, in any case, as one of his brothers, along with a resident of Dir Amar had been operating it for over a year prior to that. And "the Fatah from Ramallah" - i.e., the governor's office in Ramallah - actually did issue a warning to Abd a-Nabi, as it did to Nafa, too. Nafa was summoned to police headquarters in Ramallah and detained for a week at the Bitunia station. An indictment was filed against him, but the Palestinian courts work very slowly. In Na'alin, they say that Abd a-Nabi also received a police summons, but that he is keeping away from Ramallah and protecting himself by remaining in Area C, which is under Israeli security and administrative control.
Complaints didn't help
At night, and sometimes during the day, the fire and smoke rising from Abd a-Nabi's plot give off a sharp smell that stings the eyes and throat. In homes in Na'alin, toward which the wind blows, people complain of a burning sensation and respiratory problems. Children suffer from asthma. People do not work the agricultural area beneath the site on the assumption that whatever is irritating them is also bad for the olives. In Na'alin and Qibiya, they have decided to stick to legal protest actions and appealed to the law enforcement authorities in Ramallah. The local authorities encouraged people to stage protest demonstrations and talk to the media, but have generally tried to keep the anger from turning into a personal dispute with the landowners. But the Palestinian Authority cannot have its police operate within Area C, and so its power here is very limited.
The municipality's decision that the sites must be closed hasn't changed things a bit. Nor has the complaint filed with the Palestinian police. The order issued by Palestinian Interior Minister Abd a-Razaq al-Yihya to close the sites also had no effect. The latest warnings from the governor's office in Ramallah were sent last weekend. But they, too, do not seem to make a difference. Reports from the environmental division of the Health Ministry saying that the sites are dangerous and being operated in violation of Palestinian law aren't worth the paper they're written on. On occasion, local residents have stood in the way of the trucks and blocked their path until they compelled the drivers to turn around and leave. But then the landowners found other roundabout routes for the drivers to take. They feel protected in Area C, under Israel's jurisdiction.
In the Ramallah District, next to the village of Shudah, five similar sites are operating for the disposal of Israeli waste. One operates non-stop; the others are only open intermittently. Each one has a different landowner. The Palestinian Health Ministry knows of at least six more unlicensed sites in the Salfit and Nablus area, where drivers dump Israeli waste. "A week ago, we heard in a meeting with mayors that if we don't take action against this phenomenon, a year from now there will be 20 of these sites," says Sawalha of the Health Ministry's environmental division.
"Every landowner tells me: I'll only close down if the others do." Dr. Sa'id Abu Ali, the Ramallah governor, says he has personally spoken with the head of the Coordination and Liaison Department in the Ramallah region, Mansour al-Khatib, to complain about the unlicensed dump sites that are in the area under the jurisdiction of the Civil Administration. But so far, he says, he has not tried to coordinate with Israel the entry of Palestinian police into Na'alin in Area C.
The Civil Administration responds: "The Civil Administration has been working for a long time to eradicate this phenomenon. The head of the Civil Administration, Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai, recently signed two injunctions that will give legal force to the prohibition against putting waste in unlicensed sites and the prohibition against causing olfactory hazards and air pollution. The Civil Administration's inspection unit regularly carries out enforcement actions at the unlicensed waste disposal sites in Judea and Samaria. In June and July, dozens of confiscations were made of dump trucks, mechanical engineering equipment and shelters."
And yet, every day, dozens of Israeli drivers continue to bring Israeli waste to the western part of the West Bank, to an area that is under full Israeli responsibility, via Israeli military checkpoints. The managers of the unlicensed sites continue to accept the Israeli waste and garbage completely unhindered. What a difference between the helplessness of the Civil Administration here, to judge by the results at least, and its energetic activity against the villages northwest of Jerusalem, which are searching for an orderly dump site sufficiently distant from homes and schools, where they could dispose of their waste.
The regulated site closed
Until 2004, the Beit Anan municipality used to collect and dump waste at a site south of the village that had been in operation since before the Palestinian Authority was established. In 2004, the separation fence was built in the area, and the village was no longer permitted to use the site. As a temporary alternative, the municipality had to choose an empty and isolated plot of land located amid olive groves, on the edge of a road connecting it with nearby villages. This was during a period of proliferating checkpoints, which made it impossible to dispose of waste in the overflowing sites in Ramallah and El-Bireh.
Meanwhile, west of the village, far from the concentration of homes and the cultivated land, there is an area totaling 56 dunams that is owned by the village council. Beit Anan and six other local villages decided to create a common waste disposal site there. A dirt road was paved on the side of the mountain and covered with gravel. Village officials began thinking about ways to recycle the waste, about planting trees along the road, about charging each truck a small sum. The site opened in March 2006. But on August 3 of that year a big bulldozer from the Civil Administration came and tore up the road and installed seven barriers of large boulders and mounds of dirt. With the encouragement of the village council, the residents reopened the road so they could resume using the site. Several months went by, and then inspectors from the Civil Administration again closed the road, and also confiscated the truck used to remove waste from three villages (Qatana, Diya and Beit Anan) for 40 days. It was returned after receipt of an NIS 10,000 payment and a written commitment that it would not be used at the site again.
From 1997 to 2002, the villages of Beit Lakiya and Beit Sira used the dump to the north of them, near the gas station on Highway 443. But five years ago, the Civil Administration forbid them to continue using it. The Beit Lakiya garbage truck was confiscated and spent six months sitting in a Civil Administration lot. It was returned full of dents and other problems, and still does not run smoothly. For lack of an alternative, the garbage from Beit Lakiya is being dumped at a site just a few hundred meters from the village houses, amid olive groves. A guard and his daughters remain there to try to keep people from dumping garbage in an uncontrolled way or setting it on fire. Still, the metal collectors often come and burn the plastic, and the heavy, searing smoke reaches the houses. The Civil Administration told Haaretz that the two sites were unlicensed, and therefore were closed. Representatives of the villages say they heard from Civil Administration inspectors that the sites were closed because they are in Area C. It's a bit of a problem when the vast majority of the village lands in the area are defined as part of Area C, meaning they cannot be developed. In Beit Lakiya, out of 16,000 dunams, only 1,080 are defined as being part of Area A or Area B. And 4,000 dunams were swallowed up on the other side of the separation fence. In Beit Anan, out of 12,000 dunams, just 1,241 are defined as part of Area B (Israeli security control and Palestinian administrative control). The rest is Area C. This is more or less the situation in all the villages northwest of Jerusalem and west of Ramallah. "And the Civil Administration," says the mayor of Beit Lakiya, "always tells us that Area C is Israeli territory."
By Amira Hass
"When a truck unloads its garbage, it sounds like a battle is going on in the wadi," says Umm-Ahmed Musalah. And she knows whereof she speaks: Her house is located right at the entrance to a dump in the Palestinian village of Na'alin, about three kilometers north of Modi'in. In the two years since the site began operating, a big mound of garbage has accumulated on top of the wadi, and its outer edges are steadily encroaching on the vegetable garden and small orchard behind the house. Some of the trees have already dried out. Even as she speaks, another truck dumps its load - construction waste this time - with a thundering noise, just two or three hundred meters from Musalah's garden. A cloud of dust rises skyward, momentarily obscuring the tile roofs of the Hashmonaim settlement on the nearby ridge. In the course of about two hours on the afternoon of Monday, November 19, eight trucks added their loads to the mountain of garbage.
"It's like this 24 hours a day; the trucks come even at night," says Musalah. "And they all pass right under the windows of the children's bedrooms and my father-in-law's window. At night the smell is the strongest. Underneath the mounds of dirt you see here, there's garbage." The mayor of Na'alin, Ayman Sa'id, says that between 50 and 60 trucks come down the village's narrow main street every day, on their way to this dump or to another dump site to the west, which is situated on the lands of the neighboring village of Qibiya, amid its olive groves. Sometimes there's a traffic jam that lasts for up to an hour on the two-way street, when a truck has trouble maneuvering between the parked cars, falafel stands, lines of vehicles traveling in both directions and pedestrians crossing the road. Once, logs that were protruding from the back of a truck struck some power lines, cutting off the village's electricity for several hours.
From his office in the municipal building on the main street, Sa'id can tell just when a dump truck is passing, by the heavy rumble of the engine and a slight tremor in the building's windowpanes. Residents who live along the street confirm that the trucks also pass by at night and wake them up. The street can't take the stress of such heavy trucks driving down it every day, and the municipality can't keep up with the expenses of ongoing maintenance and repairs. Umm-Ahmed prefers not to give her full name and is not willing to be photographed.
"We're fed up with complaining. Nothing has helped," she explains. Her daughter also avoids the camera and does not want her name mentioned, and explains why the protests have not helped: "It doesn't help because where there's money, there's power."
The residents of Na'alin have been trying for a year and a half to have the two dump sites, which are being filled with unknown waste products and making their lives miserable, shut down. The two sites are private ventures of their landowners: Mohammed Nafa from Na'alin and Abdel Hakim Abd a-Nabi from Qibiya. Both sites are located in Area C, under Israeli security and administrative jurisdiction, in an area that is under the full jurisdiction of the Civil Administration. Both are close to the Green Line and to the separation fence, which goes right by the village lands. And both are visited exclusively by Israeli trucks unloading Israeli-made garbage.
"A truck bringing milk from Israel to the village isn't permitted through the checkpoint [on the Modi'in road]," says Sa'id, the mayor. "The soldiers at the checkpoint won't let it pass. It has to unload the merchandise back-to-back at the Bitunia crossing, about 15 kilometers east of the village, and from there another truck, a Palestinian truck, carries it west through all the villages and the narrow roads, in order to bring us the milk. That's how it works with all kinds of goods, including vital food products. They aren't allowed through the checkpoint that is right near us. But the soldiers, the inspectors of the Civil Administration and the police don't block the Israeli garbage trucks that pass through there all the time, even though they're well aware that the drivers are breaking Israeli law, and not just Palestinian law, when they dump the garbage in an unlicensed site."
The difference between garbage and waste People in Na'alin say the two landowners receive a payment of NIS 100 for each truck. Baha Sawalha of the environmental division of the Palestinian health ministry in the Ramallah district says the owners receive NIS 50 for each truck that dumps between 15 and 30 tons of waste. For comparison's sake: In Na'alin, which has 6,000 residents, a single truck collects and dumps garbage twice a week at the village's makeshift dump, unloading between 6 and 10 tons each time.
Mohammed Nafa, owner of the land at one of the unlicensed sites in Na'alin, warmly welcomes his uninvited guests: "Just write the truth. That's enough for me," he says. "There's a difference between garbage and waste: All that is brought here is waste - construction waste - not garbage, and the dirt that you see. The land here is rocky, it's not suitable for agriculture, and it's forbidden to build on it [an Israeli prohibition]. If they let me build on it, we wouldn't have turned it into a dump. It's an area of about five dunams. I'd like to improve the ground and turn it into a blooming garden. I also prepared a road to the hilltop across from it, which is covered with olive trees, but maybe the separation fence will go through there."
In the village, people say that at first it wasn't only construction waste that was tossed here, but other waste, too - the kind of garbage that creates a stench. Nafa vehemently denies this. He says that about two years ago, it was actually the neighbors from the Musalah family who suggested he open the site: They proposed that he have trucks come and unload construction waste so they could pick out the iron and sell it; they coordinated everything with the Israeli drivers. He agreed, but after a year they quarrelled and then he started operating the site by himself.
Umm-Ahmed Musalah refutes this, and says only that when dirt was dumped at the site they didn't object. The mayor, Sa'id, offers another, combined version of events: Yes, the initiative came from the Musalah family. Nafa received payment for each truck, and the Musalah family scavenged the iron and copper and sold it. But when they saw that the trucks were also dumping other sorts of garbage, some unidentifiable, which wasn't construction waste, they objected and complained.
An investigation by the Palestinian health ministry found that 90 percent of the waste is construction waste, and the rest is made up of textiles, iron and electric and telephone cables. There have been several cases in which children climbed on the mounds and got hurt as they scavenged in the dump. Nafa says he doesn't take money from every truck, that sometimes he pays for the dirt that is brought in. Sometimes he charges NIS 50, and sometimes NIS 100. At the northern end of the plot, there is an encampment of goat breeders who moved up here from Yata. The father of this family, Mahmoud Ismail, says Nafa permitted them to pitch their tents and huts on his land, for free. He doesn't understand what all the fuss is about and has nothing but praise for his host. "He has 20 mouths to feed, he has no work, everything's fine here, he can't work in Israel. What do they want from him?"
Nafa corrects this: He actually does have a permit to work in Israel, "But this place provides a livelihood for many more people who come and collect the iron and wood and pieces of countertops. When trucks came and wanted to dump garbage and pay me for it I refused. I won't burn garbage."
Immunity in Area C
One of the drivers, an Arab citizen of Israel who had just finished dumping construction waste for an Israeli contractor from Asheklon, explains: "In the Negev it costs [the building contractor] NIS 1,000 to dump waste, and here you can dump it for free, or pay just NIS 100 per truck. I don't know exactly how much he pays. I'm not the one who pays. I've been working here for about two months, and there are a few more places like this in the territories. We got permission - oral, of course - to come through and dump the waste. The permission comes from the Israelis. It's better for them if we dump here than in Tel Aviv or Rosh Ha'ayin. They prefer for us to dump in the territories. And it's all construction waste here. There are no carcinogenic substances." The driver says that he used to dump waste at the Qibiya site, but stopped "because there they burn [the waste] and you choke. I won't go there because of the smell. Here it's a pleasure. I don't think the place bothers people. There are Jewish neighbors here, too, and I don't think they've complained. If it bothered them, they'd be the first ones to complain, before the Arabs."
And in fact, the secretary of the Hashmonaim local committee confirms that they have not received any complaints from residents. "We heard about this place from other drivers, and so we started coming here, too," says the Israeli-Arab driver. It's a lot better here than in Qibiya, he says, "because there, the stink always stays on your clothes." Do only Jews dump garbage there? "No, no, Arabs do, too."
Abdel Hakim a-Nabi, on his land west of Na'alin, emerges from the clouds of smoke rising from his hilltop and from the mountains of waste and garbage. On this dreary day, the ground there looks like muddy coal. He is surrounded by a half-dozen youths with sooty faces and hands, who are scavenging in the piles of refuse. The remains of a mattress emit some final puffs of smoke. All that's left now are the iron springs. Amid aerosol cans, papers and plastic bags, an unidentified reddish liquid is visible.
People in the village say they are afraid that hospital waste is also thrown out here. Abdel Hakim a-Nabi was also willing to talk: "Look first of all at the municipality's waste site, which is below my site." He pointed to mounds of household trash at the edges of his plot: Amid the piles of puffed out and torn plastic bags, there were cow carcasses and poultry remnants. "There they throw everything. That's what's damaging. "With us it's only construction waste. Three or four families earn a living from my site. I cover everything with dirt. I'd like to improve the ground and plant olives. The diseases are not from Israel's garbage, the diseases are from here. From Israel they don't bring animal innards, there are no chicken and cattle carcasses. Would they dump like this in the Jewish state? No way."
The mayor of Na'alin does not deny Abd a-Nabi's claims about the garbage scattered in the municipal dump. He says the municipality has dug a pit and now always buries the animal carcasses and covers them with earth. "We're waiting for the opening of a central site for waste disposal in Ramallah," he says. Local officials in the 75 other Palestinian communities in the district are also waiting. But the central waste site is not due to open before 2011, or 2010 at the earliest. Abd a-Nabi says he opened his site in June of this year. "The land is of meager quality, there's not much you can do with it. But all the complaints are from Hamas people [who won in the Na'alin municipal elections]. If the Fatah from Ramallah asked us to stop, we'd stop. The Bedouin here collect the iron. They earn NIS 50 a day from it. At most, I get NIS 100 a day. I'm ready to close down the site right now, but only if the municipality also stops dumping its garbage here."
In June, say people in Na'alin, Abd a-Nabi was released from a Palestinian Authority prison. The reason for his incarceration is unknown to them. But it had nothing to do with the waste site, in any case, as one of his brothers, along with a resident of Dir Amar had been operating it for over a year prior to that. And "the Fatah from Ramallah" - i.e., the governor's office in Ramallah - actually did issue a warning to Abd a-Nabi, as it did to Nafa, too. Nafa was summoned to police headquarters in Ramallah and detained for a week at the Bitunia station. An indictment was filed against him, but the Palestinian courts work very slowly. In Na'alin, they say that Abd a-Nabi also received a police summons, but that he is keeping away from Ramallah and protecting himself by remaining in Area C, which is under Israeli security and administrative control.
Complaints didn't help
At night, and sometimes during the day, the fire and smoke rising from Abd a-Nabi's plot give off a sharp smell that stings the eyes and throat. In homes in Na'alin, toward which the wind blows, people complain of a burning sensation and respiratory problems. Children suffer from asthma. People do not work the agricultural area beneath the site on the assumption that whatever is irritating them is also bad for the olives. In Na'alin and Qibiya, they have decided to stick to legal protest actions and appealed to the law enforcement authorities in Ramallah. The local authorities encouraged people to stage protest demonstrations and talk to the media, but have generally tried to keep the anger from turning into a personal dispute with the landowners. But the Palestinian Authority cannot have its police operate within Area C, and so its power here is very limited.
The municipality's decision that the sites must be closed hasn't changed things a bit. Nor has the complaint filed with the Palestinian police. The order issued by Palestinian Interior Minister Abd a-Razaq al-Yihya to close the sites also had no effect. The latest warnings from the governor's office in Ramallah were sent last weekend. But they, too, do not seem to make a difference. Reports from the environmental division of the Health Ministry saying that the sites are dangerous and being operated in violation of Palestinian law aren't worth the paper they're written on. On occasion, local residents have stood in the way of the trucks and blocked their path until they compelled the drivers to turn around and leave. But then the landowners found other roundabout routes for the drivers to take. They feel protected in Area C, under Israel's jurisdiction.
In the Ramallah District, next to the village of Shudah, five similar sites are operating for the disposal of Israeli waste. One operates non-stop; the others are only open intermittently. Each one has a different landowner. The Palestinian Health Ministry knows of at least six more unlicensed sites in the Salfit and Nablus area, where drivers dump Israeli waste. "A week ago, we heard in a meeting with mayors that if we don't take action against this phenomenon, a year from now there will be 20 of these sites," says Sawalha of the Health Ministry's environmental division.
"Every landowner tells me: I'll only close down if the others do." Dr. Sa'id Abu Ali, the Ramallah governor, says he has personally spoken with the head of the Coordination and Liaison Department in the Ramallah region, Mansour al-Khatib, to complain about the unlicensed dump sites that are in the area under the jurisdiction of the Civil Administration. But so far, he says, he has not tried to coordinate with Israel the entry of Palestinian police into Na'alin in Area C.
The Civil Administration responds: "The Civil Administration has been working for a long time to eradicate this phenomenon. The head of the Civil Administration, Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai, recently signed two injunctions that will give legal force to the prohibition against putting waste in unlicensed sites and the prohibition against causing olfactory hazards and air pollution. The Civil Administration's inspection unit regularly carries out enforcement actions at the unlicensed waste disposal sites in Judea and Samaria. In June and July, dozens of confiscations were made of dump trucks, mechanical engineering equipment and shelters."
And yet, every day, dozens of Israeli drivers continue to bring Israeli waste to the western part of the West Bank, to an area that is under full Israeli responsibility, via Israeli military checkpoints. The managers of the unlicensed sites continue to accept the Israeli waste and garbage completely unhindered. What a difference between the helplessness of the Civil Administration here, to judge by the results at least, and its energetic activity against the villages northwest of Jerusalem, which are searching for an orderly dump site sufficiently distant from homes and schools, where they could dispose of their waste.
The regulated site closed
Until 2004, the Beit Anan municipality used to collect and dump waste at a site south of the village that had been in operation since before the Palestinian Authority was established. In 2004, the separation fence was built in the area, and the village was no longer permitted to use the site. As a temporary alternative, the municipality had to choose an empty and isolated plot of land located amid olive groves, on the edge of a road connecting it with nearby villages. This was during a period of proliferating checkpoints, which made it impossible to dispose of waste in the overflowing sites in Ramallah and El-Bireh.
Meanwhile, west of the village, far from the concentration of homes and the cultivated land, there is an area totaling 56 dunams that is owned by the village council. Beit Anan and six other local villages decided to create a common waste disposal site there. A dirt road was paved on the side of the mountain and covered with gravel. Village officials began thinking about ways to recycle the waste, about planting trees along the road, about charging each truck a small sum. The site opened in March 2006. But on August 3 of that year a big bulldozer from the Civil Administration came and tore up the road and installed seven barriers of large boulders and mounds of dirt. With the encouragement of the village council, the residents reopened the road so they could resume using the site. Several months went by, and then inspectors from the Civil Administration again closed the road, and also confiscated the truck used to remove waste from three villages (Qatana, Diya and Beit Anan) for 40 days. It was returned after receipt of an NIS 10,000 payment and a written commitment that it would not be used at the site again.
From 1997 to 2002, the villages of Beit Lakiya and Beit Sira used the dump to the north of them, near the gas station on Highway 443. But five years ago, the Civil Administration forbid them to continue using it. The Beit Lakiya garbage truck was confiscated and spent six months sitting in a Civil Administration lot. It was returned full of dents and other problems, and still does not run smoothly. For lack of an alternative, the garbage from Beit Lakiya is being dumped at a site just a few hundred meters from the village houses, amid olive groves. A guard and his daughters remain there to try to keep people from dumping garbage in an uncontrolled way or setting it on fire. Still, the metal collectors often come and burn the plastic, and the heavy, searing smoke reaches the houses. The Civil Administration told Haaretz that the two sites were unlicensed, and therefore were closed. Representatives of the villages say they heard from Civil Administration inspectors that the sites were closed because they are in Area C. It's a bit of a problem when the vast majority of the village lands in the area are defined as part of Area C, meaning they cannot be developed. In Beit Lakiya, out of 16,000 dunams, only 1,080 are defined as being part of Area A or Area B. And 4,000 dunams were swallowed up on the other side of the separation fence. In Beit Anan, out of 12,000 dunams, just 1,241 are defined as part of Area B (Israeli security control and Palestinian administrative control). The rest is Area C. This is more or less the situation in all the villages northwest of Jerusalem and west of Ramallah. "And the Civil Administration," says the mayor of Beit Lakiya, "always tells us that Area C is Israeli territory."
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