Monthly Archives: January 2021

Trees uprooted, land razed and wall demolished by Israeli occupation forces in the south of the West Bank

BETHLEHEM, Thursday, January 28, 2021 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces today uprooted dozens of grown olive trees, razed large tracts of Palestinian-owned land, and demolished retaining walls in an area south of the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, according to a local official.

Hasan Breijieh, who heads the Bethlehem office of the Wall and Settlements Resistance Commission, told WAFA that occupation soldiers raided Khillet al-Nahleh area of Wad Rahal village where they uprooted dozens of olive trees that were more than 10 years old, razed lands, and tore down retaining walls. (more…)

Israel: “A Regime Of Jewish Supremacy”

By Rima Najjar

The criminal political reality of Israel has now been detailed in unambiguous language that pairs “Jewish” with “supremacy” by B’Tselem, the largest human rights organization within Israel itself: “One organizing principle lies at the base of a wide array of Israeli policies: advancing and perpetuating the supremacy of one group — Jews — over another — Palestinians.”

The slow, agonizing and ongoing transformation of Jerusalem into a predominantly Jewish city at the expense of its Palestinian Muslim and Christian inhabitants is perhaps the most dramatic example of how Israeli Jewish supremacist policies and practices manifest themselves, an anathema to the very soul of this magnificent city. But these structures are deeply embedded in every aspect of the Jewish state, as B’Tselem shows. (more…)

In ‘watershed’ moment, B’Tselem labels Israel ‘apartheid regime’

The reality is that there are millions of Palestinians and Israelis living under the control of a single regime, but with vastly unequal rights.

BY YUMNA PATEL

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has labeled Israel as an ‘apartheid regime’ for the first time in the group’s 30 year history of documenting human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

The current reality in Israel and the oPt necessitates a change in position and approach, the group says, due to the fact that “in the entire area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, the Israeli regime implements laws, practices and state violence designed to cement the supremacy of one group – Jews – over another – Palestinians.” (more…)

How Israel’s road projects are ensuring apartheid is here to stay

The expansion of settler bypass roads in the West Bank has been central to turning Israel’s ‘temporary occupation’ into a permanent one-state reality.

By Ahmad Al-Bazz and Edo Konrad

As the world began reeling from the outbreak of COVID-19 in March, Israeli authorities were busy with a string of infrastructural projects across the occupied West Bank. They include installing a new section of the separation wall, building bypass bridges for Israeli settlers, digging tunnels, and approving Palestinian-only separation roads in various locations east and southeast of Jerusalem. In pursuing these initiatives, Israel has been working hard to achieve its future geographic and demographic vision for the West Bank, turning what was once described by many as a “temporary occupation” into a permanent reality of apartheid.

One of these projects has been the expansion of Route 60 — commonly referred to as the “Tunnels Road” — the main highway leading from Jerusalem southwards to the West Bank settlements between Bethlehem and Hebron. Located between Beit Jala and Bethlehem, the road lies between two giant concrete walls and serves vehicles with yellow Israeli license plates only.

The expansion, which began a year ago and is slated for completion in 2025, includes adding two traffic lanes and building two new tunnels next to the existing ones. The goal is to double the entrance capacity of settlers traveling to Jerusalem from the Gush Etzion area, just south of Bethlehem. In order to widen the road, the Civil Administration — the arm of Israel’s military government that governs the 2.8 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank — confiscated around three acres of land from the Palestinian village of al-Khader and the city of Beit Jala. (more…)