CMEP Bulletin: Settlements-An Enduring Flash Point

CMEP Bulletin: Settlements-An Enduring Flash Point

CMEP_logo.jpgPalestinian Shoots Dead 3 Israelis at Settlement Near Jerusalem [The Washington Post]
“A Palestinian shot dead an Israeli policeman and two security guards at the entrance to the settlement where he worked near Jerusalem on Tuesday, an attack Israeli officials said could have ‘serious implications’ for the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have Israeli work permits. The attacker, who was killed at the scene, was crossing through a security checkpoint to Har Adar from his neighboring village of Beit Surik, about 500 yards away, when he opened fire just after 7 a.m., residents and security officials said. … The settlement, home to roughly 4,000 people, has a special arrangement that allows about 100 workers to enter each day without going through the main, clogged West Bank checkpoints, where Palestinians line up for hours,” according to The Washington Post.

US Ambassador Says ‘Settlements Are Part of Israel’ [The Times of Israel]
“US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said Thursday that West Bank settlements ‘are part of Israel’ and that the two-state solution ‘is not a helpful term’ and ‘has largely lost its meaning,’ drawing an angry response from the Palestinians. … ‘There was always supposed to be some notion of expansion into the West Bank, but not necessarily expansion into the entire West Bank; and I think that’s exactly what Israel has done. I mean, they’re only occupying two percent of the West Bank,’ he elaborated, seemingly referring to the the built up area of settlements beyond the Green Line. Israel maintains civil and military control of the entirety of Area C, which makes up roughly 60% of the West Bank, and control of all the borders,” according to The Times of Israel.

Israel Has Created A Palestinian Ghetto In Hebron [Forward]
Palestinian human rights activist Issa Amro writes, “It has been over three months now that the Salayma and Gheith neighborhoods of Hebron have been imprisoned. The children play in the small space between the houses and the fence. Wheelchair-bound individuals require assistance to get through the gate. Even while the gate is unlocked during the day, a loud buzzer sounds each time it is opened. There is no other way to say it: These families have been locked inside a ghetto.”

CMEP will be hosting Issa Amro for couple events while he’s in D.C. this week. If you’ll be in the Washington, D.C. area you’re invited to attend “Palestinian Non-Violent Activism: A Conversation with Issa Amro” on Sunday, October 1 from 3-4:30pm EDT at Rock Spring Congregational United Church of Christ in Arlington, VA.  CMEP’s Director of Advocacy and Government Relations will also be recording a conversation with Issa Amro. Keep an eye out for the release of that webinar in late October.

Another Palestinian West Bank Village to Be Emptied, Israeli Security Official Says [Haaretz]
Haaretz reports, “A senior security official has said that residents of the Palestinian village of Sussia in the southern West Bank will be evicted within a few months, like the Bedouin village of Khan al-Amar. … The demolition of Sussia, near the Jewish settlement of Susya in the South Hebron Hills, has been before the High Court of Justice for years. In recent months the state has repeatedly asked for postponement, one reason being the diplomatic sensitivity involved in evicting the residents from the village, which was built without construction permits. Now eviction is expected within two months. … Presumably the attempt to postpone the eviction of Khan al-Amar’s residents is related to diplomatic pressure. In the past the European Union and the United States under President Barack Obama sharply opposed the eviction of residents of the village – which has become a symbol of Bedouin settlement on the West Bank after the “Tire School” was built there by an Italian NGO.”

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