Israel steals more land from West Bank

**bb1** Mon Sep 01, 2014 11:37 am

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/09/us-urges-israel-reverse-land-appropriation-20149111628544678.html

Israel seizes 400 hectares of West Bank land
US official describes as "counterproductive" Israeli announcement to appropriate land, said to be largest in 30 years.

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The United States has urged Israel to reverse its decision to seize nearly 400 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank, a move anti-settlement activists termed the largest land grab in 30 years.

Israel announced the massive land appropriation on Sunday in the Etzion settlement bloc near Bethlehem just days after Gaza ceasefire.

A Palestinian official said the latest land grab by Israel would cause only more friction after the Gaza war that left more than 2,000 Palestinians dead and over 10,000 injured.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called on Israel to cancel the appropriation. "This decision will lead to more instability. This will only inflame the situation after the war in Gaza," presidential spokesman Abu Rdainah said.

A US State Department official called the announcement as "counterproductive to Israel's stated goal of a negotiated two-state solution with the Palestinians".

"We urge the government of Israel to reverse this decision," the official said in Washington.

Peace Now group, which opposes Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank, territory the Palestinians seek for a state, said the appropriation was meant to turn a site where 10 families now live adjacent to a Jewish seminary into a permanent settlement.

International criticism

Construction of a major settlement at the location, known as "Gevaot", has been mooted by Israel since 2000. Last year, the government invited bids for the building of 1,000 housing units at the site.

Peace Now said the land seizure was the largest announced by Israel in the West Bank since the 1980s and that anyone with ownership claims had 45 days to appeal. A local Palestinian mayor said Palestinians owned the tracts and harvested olive trees on them.

srael has come under international criticism over its settlement activities, which most countries regard as illegal under international law and a major obstacle to the creation of a viable Palestinian state in any future peace deal.

Israel has said construction at Gevaot would not constitute the establishment of a new settlement because the site is officially designated a neighbourhood of an existing one, Alon Shvut, several kilometres down the road.

About 500,000 Israelis live among 2.4 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territory that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

And doubtless Israel will run crying to the US, playing the victim as usual, if the REAL owners of the land dare to fight back against this theft. Why Israel is allowed to help itself to other people's land like this is quite beyond me.

**Lamplighter** Mon Sep 01, 2014 12:27 pm

From Haaretz:

U.S.: Israel's West Bank land grab 'counterproductive' to two-state solution
State Department urges Israel's government to reverse its decision to lay claim to land belonging to five Palestinian villages.
By Reuters and Chaim Levinson | Sep. 1, 2014 | 12:47 AM

Israel appropriates massive tract of West Bank land
By Chaim Levinson and Jack Khoury
Aug. 31, 2014 | 11:13 PM | 3

The United States sees Israel's announcement on Sunday of a land appropriation for possible settlement construction in the West Bank as "counterproductive" to peace efforts and urges the Israeli government to reverse the decision, a State Department official said.

Israel’s Civil Administration in the West Bank announced the takeover of 988 acres (3,799 dunams) belonging to five Palestinian villages between the Etzion settlement bloc and Jerusalem. The move clears the way for construction of a new settlement named Gvaot.

The announcement follows the cabinet’s decision last week to take over the land in response to the June kidnapping and killing of three teenage Jewish boys by Hamas militants in the area.

"We have long made clear our opposition to continued settlement activity," the U.S. official said. "This announcement, like every other settlement announcement Israel makes, planning step they approve and construction tender they issue is counterproductive to Israel's stated goal of a negotiated two-state solution with the Palestinians."

"We urge the government of Israel to reverse this decision," the official said in Washington.

The appropriated land belongs to five Palestinian villages in the Bethlehem area: Jaba, Surif, Wadi Fukin, Husan and Nahalin.

The Peace Now anti-settlement group termed it the biggest appropriation in 30 years and a Palestinian official said would cause only more friction after the Gaza war. Representatives of the settler movement welcomed the announcement.

Israel maintains that construction at Gvaot would not constitute a new settlement because the area is officially designated a neighborhood of a long-standing settlement, Alon Shvut. However, the area of Gvaot lies several miles away from Alon Shvut.

**bb1** Mon Sep 01, 2014 12:36 pm

I simply do not understand why Israel is allowed to do this, LL. That isn't their land, they have no right to that land, yet they get away with helping themselves, time and time again.

If you were one of the Palestinians whose farm was stolen from under them for yet more of those horrible, ticky-tacky boxes Israel splatters everywhere it can, would you feel like 'living in peace' with the thieves?

I certainly wouldn't.

**Lamplighter** Mon Sep 01, 2014 1:03 pm

Having a very suspicious mind where the Israelis are concerned, can I see a connection between the Gaza situation, the fact that, at present, things are in a kind of limbo, and the sudden announcement of the unlawful appropriation of Palestinian land? Possibly or even likely. LL

**bb1** Mon Sep 01, 2014 1:12 pm

I won't pretend to know enough about it to work out what they're up to this time, LL - besides 'something'. But you can absolutely guarantee that if someone as much as throws a stone at an Israeli bulldozer as his farm is ploughed under, they will be screaming 'victim' as usual.

**lily** Mon Sep 01, 2014 4:20 pm

This is utterly disgraceful behavior.

**bb1** Wed Sep 03, 2014 11:52 am

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/09/02/stephen-harper-nobel-prize_n_5752828.html

Stephen Harper's Nobel Prize Nomination Sparks Outrage
The Huffington Post Canada | By Michael Bolen
Email

Stephen Harper's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize by a Canadian Jewish organization has sparked a viral online petition to deny the prime minister the honour.

Harper is being nominated by B'Nai Brith Canada, the same Jewish group that gave the PM its Gold Medallion for Humanitarianism and which is planning to build the Stephen Harper Centre for Human Rights.

In a press release issued Friday, B'Nai Brith CEO Frank Dimant praised Harper's leadership.

More at link.

Have they forgotten Peace Prizes are supposed to be awarded for STOPPING killing, not causing it? The thing's been worthless since Obama got one.

Harper's another lunatic, between Gaza and Ukraine. Canada saw fit to send 'non-lethal aid' to the Ukraine military - with Javelin missiles included. Wonder how many Donbass civilians those will kill?

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