http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/790748.html
Last update - 17:57 21/11/2006
Study: 40 percent of settlements
were built on Palestinian land
By Yair Sheleg, Haaretz Correspondent,
Haaretz Service and Agencies
A new study conducted by
left-wing group Peace Now has found that
approximately 40 percent of settlements,
including long-standing communities,
are built on private Palestinian land
and not on state-owned land.
In a press conference held
in Jerusalem on Tuesday,
the group presented a re****t
asserting that out of a total
area of 157,000 dunams used by
West Bank settlements and
industrial zones, 61,000 dunams
(approximately 38 percent) are
privately owned by Palestinians.
The re****t singles out the two
largest settlements, both of
which have city status.
It says that 86.4 percent of
Ma'ale Adumim is built on
Palestinian land, and 35.1
percent of Ariel.
The group says that the data
presented in the re****t
"demonstrates that the property rights
of many Palestinians have been systematically
violated in the course of settlement building."
State-owned lands amount to 87,000 dunams
(including 2,000 dunams soon to be declared
as owned by the state) and just 2,000 dunams
are Jewish-owned.
The leaders of Peace Now said at the
press conference that the re****t is
a serious indictment of the entire
settlement movement.
"Israel has violated even its own
norms and laws in the West Bank,
through the confiscation of private
Palestinian property and the building
of settlements upon them," the re****t says.
According to the group, the data
shows that settlers are guilty
not only of larceny,
by stealing collective assets
of the Palestinian people,
but also disinherit Palestinian
residents from their privately
owned property.
Peace Now said it based its findings
on the database of the Israel Defense
Forces-run Civil Administration in
the West Bank.
The Civil Administration declined
comment on the apparent leak,
pending its examination of the
re****t.
The re****t cites the case of
the settlement of Elon Moreh,
which was established in 1979
on 700 dunams of land belonging
to a village near Nablus,
which had been seized by
Israel for military purposes.
The order to seize the land was,
according to the re****t, issued
by the then-commander of the
Israel Defense Forces
in the West Bank,
Benjamin Ben-Eliezer,
who is now minister
for infrastructure.
The Yesha Council of Settlements
said in response to the Peace Now
re****t that Israel had halted
authorization for construction
on privately owned land in the
West Bank after the 1979 court
ruling.
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