Story from BBC NEWS:
More than a third of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank are built on privately owned Palestinian land, an Israeli campaign group has reported.
Peace Now says nearly 40% of the land the settlements sit on is, according to official data, "effectively stolen" from Palestinian landowners.
This, the group says, is a violation of Israel's own laws.
Settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law, although Israel rejects this.
About 430,000 Jews live in these residential areas in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Leaked data
Peace Now called on the Israeli government to return the private land to its Palestinian owners.
In recent years the Israeli government has said repeatedly that it respects Palestinian property rights in the West Bank.
An Israeli official has said the government is reviewing the report. READ ON
2 comments:
Yeah, unfortunately the story has been lost behind the assassination in Lebanon. No prizes to Peace Now for stating the obvious, either.
But that is exactly it... Peace Now is not stating the obvious. Israel has been hiding the fact that this land is privately owned by Palestinians... it had been referring to it as State Land.
The fact that the records have been leaked by someone in the gov't is a huge development! It gives actual evidence to supports the illegality of Israeli action.
Natalie
Post a Comment