{"id":2919,"date":"2015-05-20T07:46:16","date_gmt":"2015-05-20T04:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jahalin.org\/?p=2919"},"modified":"2015-05-20T07:46:16","modified_gmt":"2015-05-20T04:46:16","slug":"un-officials-urge-israel-halt-plans-transfer-palestinian-bedouins-expand-settlements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/?p=2919","title":{"rendered":"UN officials urge Israel to halt plans to transfer Palestinian Bedouins, expand settlements"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo by\u00a0UNRWA\/Alaa Ghosheh<\/em><\/p>\n

Originally published by the\u00a0UN News Service<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 May 20, 2015<\/em><\/p>\n

Two United Nations humanitarian officials with responsibilities in the occupied Palestinian territory have today expressed their grave concern over the Government of Israel\u2019s \u201crapidly advancing plans\u201d to transfer Palestinian Bedouins in the central West Bank from their current communities.<\/p>\n

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, James W. Rawley, and the Director of Operations in the West Bank for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA<\/a>) , Felipe Sanchez, released a\u00a0joint statement<\/a>that recalled a report of the UN Secretary-General from March this year, drawing a link between the proposed transfers and illegal settlement expansion and warning that the move would breach the Fourth Geneva Convention and violate human rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistory has shown us that these transfers have not proven to be in the interests of the Bedouin communities,\u201d said Mr. Sanchez. \u201cThis would represent a continuation of developments that commenced in 1997 when Palestine refugees were loaded on trucks and taken to the same urban site in Eizariya, after which an illegal settlement was constructed on their former land.\u201d<\/p>\n

On 28 April, residents of Abu Nwar, in Area C of the West Bank, where Israel retains control over security, planning and building, were informed that some families would have to move to the Al Jabal area outside of East Jerusalem. Area C accounts for over 60 per cent of land in the West Bank and is home to an estimated 300,000 Palestinians.<\/p>\n

According to the joint statement, the plan to move the families comes amid a discriminatory zoning and planning regime that facilitates the development of illegal Israeli settlements at the expense of Palestinians, for whom it is almost impossible to obtain permits for construction. A total of 70 per cent of the land is off-limits to Palestinian construction, with heavy restrictions on 29 per cent and just one per cent zoned for Palestinian development by the Israeli Civil Administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsraeli practices in Area C, including a marked increase of demolitions and confiscations of donor-funded structures in the first quarter of 2015, have compounded an already untenable situation for Bedouin communities,\u201d said Mr. Rawley.<\/p>\n

The Bedouins currently living in Abu Nwar are one of 46 Palestinian Bedouin communities \u2013 most of whom are refugees \u2013 who are slated for transfer to three proposed \u201crelocation\u201d sites, with the Israeli authorities claiming that Bedouin communities lack title over the land and that \u201crelocation\u201d will improve their living conditions.<\/p>\n

The communities are subject to eviction and home demolitions as the area in which they live has been allocated for the expansion of the Ma\u2019ale Adumim settlement \u2013 the so-called \u201cE1 Plan\u201d \u2013 and the joint statement warns that the forced urbanization of Bedouin communities in the three relocation sites would destroy their culture and livelihoods.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is also concern over the strategic implications of these plans,\u201d said Mr. Rawley. \u201cMany of the communities are located in areas slated for further Israeli settlement, including the E1 plan, which has long been viewed as an obstacle to the realization of a two-state solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Sanchez stressed the obligations held by Israel as occupying power to ensure the wellbeing of such communities and to respect international law.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are fast approaching the point of irreparable damage,\u201d he said. \u201cI strongly urge the Israeli authorities to halt all plans and practices that will directly or indirectly lead to the forcible transfer of the Bedouin and call on the international community to support the Bedouins\u2019 wish to remain where they are, pending their return to the Negev, and prevent this transfer from occurring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Original article link:\u00a0http:\/\/www.un.org\/apps\/news\/story.asp?NewsID=50917#.VWlAfs9Viko<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo by\u00a0UNRWA\/Alaa Ghosheh Originally published by the\u00a0UN News Service\u00a0\u2013 May 20, 2015 Two United Nations humanitarian officials with responsibilities in the occupied Palestinian territory have today expressed their grave concern over the Government of Israel\u2019s \u201crapidly advancing plans\u201d to transfer Palestinian Bedouins in the central West Bank from their current communities. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2919"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}