CHAPTER EIGHTEEN — Part 2 of 10

settlements: Tirza, acommunal settlement near Tubas, northeast of Nablus (an aide to one of the ministers noted that Nablus was already surrounded by Jewish settlements but that there was agap in the Tubas area); ulanit, in Western Samaria, and a fishermen's village in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. (Jerusalem Post, 13,19 and 23 July 1984; Ha'aretz, 10, 13, 17,18,22 and 23 July 1984)

2. Expropriation of property

The following paragraphs contain references to "dunums" to describe surface area. A dunum is equivalent to 1,000 square metres.

Two hundred and fifty dunums of land were confiscated on 7 October 1983 in the Beit Sahur area. The land, described as a "mountainous agricultural area" is situated near a military camp and was confiscated for "military purposes." The military order under which the land was confiscated reportedly gave owners an unspecified period of time to oppose the confiscation order and to claim compensation. (Al Fajr, 14 October 1983)

Israeli military authorities reportedly seized more than 200 dunums of land belonging to villagers from Jamma, south of Nablus, by declaring it "government property." It was also reported that 10,000 dunums were taken from Lubban al Sharqiyeh, allegedly in order to be afforested and handed to the Shilo settlement. Four thousand dunums were reportedly declaredpublicproperty near the village of Jin, in the ~ulkarm area. The expropriated lands are the areas of Jabal Saris, Kurm-Abid and Khalat Hilal. (Al Fajr, 11 November 1983)

It was reported that between 4,000 and 6,000 dunums were declared government property on 17 November 1983 in the village of Beit Ula, in the Hebron district. The 60 owners of the land were notified verbally through themukhtars that they could protest the decision within 30 days. The confiscated land is in the fertile valleys and is planted with vegetables and wheat. The Israeli army had occasionally used other parts of Beit Ula for training and manoeuvres. It was also reported that over 1,500 dunums were seized on 16 November 1983 from Ramallah, Beitunia and Rafat. According to Israeli sources the land was taken for military purposes. (Al Fajr, 25 November 1983)

The military authorities confiscated 3,000 dunums from the village of 'Ajul (Ramallah). This confiscation brings the total of land confiscated to one third of the village land in less than four years. The land confiscated from 'Ajul is located south of the village. Not far from this land is the ATERET settlement which was erected four years ago on 'Ajul and Om Safa property. The land in question is cultivated up to 80 per cent with olive and fig trees as well as barley and wheat. (Al Ittihad, 19 January 1984

The West Bank civil administration declared 4,500 dunums near the village of Jaba, between Ramallah and Jericho, as State land. (Jerusalem Post, 12 February 1984

Landowners from the village of Aboueen, near Ramallah, appealed to the Military Objections Committee against the expropriation of 1,300 dunums of their land. (Al Fajr, 15 February 1984)

In late January 1984, settlers from Karmei'la settlement erected fences around Arab Ka'abneh houses and lands covering an area of some 1,800 to 2,000 dunums, and claimed that the land is State property. Over 10,000dunums belonging to Ka'abneh Bedouin have been confiscated since 1967 for military purposes.

Kufr Labad village council (Tulkann) was reportedly informed by the military government that 1,200 dunums of farm land in their village of Shoufa had been expropriated. (A/ Fajr, 27 April 1984)

The Halhul municipal council was informed by the military government of the expropriation of 2,000 dunums of land in Dhahr Khilal, Ras Ashraf and Qannieh, near Beit Ula and Nuba. (Al Fajr, 4 May 1984)

The Israeli archaeological department was making preparations to fence and confiscate large land areas at Tal Balata, east of Nablus. Reportedly, the authorities had earlier opened a road through Arab-owned land belonging to villagers from Kufr Qallil in order to connect the Eilon-Moreh settlement with the Bracha settlement, on top of Mount Jerzim. The targeted area contained the two largest schools in Nablus: Haj Ma'azouz al-Masri School and Qadri Toukan School with 1,500 students each. (Al Fajr, 1 June 1984)

The Gaza military governor reportedly handed residents of Beit Lahiya an order closing 2,450 dunums of planted citrus land. This order banned 2,000 peasant farmers from entering their land north of the village to work on it. (Al Fajr, 1 June 1984)


USURPATION OF PALESTINIAN LANDS AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF JEWISH SETTLEMENTS IN 1985

The United Nations Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of theOccupiedTerritories reported on October 4, 1985 (19) as follows:

Much of the information examined by the Special Committee concerned the policy followed by the Government of Israel in the occupied territories in regard to the establishment of settlements and the measures taken in implementing this policy. The following paragraphs give a summary of this information divided as follows:/ep

1. Policy;
2. Measures;
3. Expropriations.

1. Policy

Minister Yuval Ne'eman, the Chairman of the Joint Ministerial- WorldZionist Organization (WZO) Settlement Committee, said at its meeting on 12 August 1984 that his committee had decided over the past three years to establish more than 70 settlements and that only two or three had yet to be populated. His statement came in response to a paper presented on 15 July 1984 by the Chairman of the WZO Settlement Department, Mattityahu Drobles, alleging that during the previous three years the committee had decided to establish 65 settlements but only 36 had in fact been established; 19 were under construction and progress on the remaining 10 was halted due to budgetary constraints. In a related development it was reported that the Chairman of the WZO Settlement Department had left for Latin America and France to organize groups of would-be immigrants-settlers for settlements in the West Bank and in other regions in Israel. (Ha'retz, 12 August; Jerusalem Post, 13 August 1984)

On 9 September 1984, it was reported that the Finance Minister had approved the unfreezing of $2 million for what was described as the "setting up of a minimum infrastructure for new settlements in Judea and Samaria." Commenting on this report, sources in the Finance Ministry said that the Settlement Department had indeed requested the unfreezing of I.S. 600 million (approximately $46 million) but added that the request was still "under consideration." (Yediot Aharonot, 9 and 10 September 1984)

Under the agreement to set up a national unity government, signed on 10 September 1984 by the Labour Alignment and the Likud, the new government pledged not to uproot existing settlements. Their existence, defence and development would be guaranteed "at a place to be decided on by the government."Regarding the 28 settlements already agreedon by the Likud Government but not yet established, the new government has undertaken to establish five or six within the next year, with the next to be decided by the government. The establishment of new settlements would need the approval of an absolute majority of Cabinet Ministers, thus giving Labour a veto over the establishment of new settlements. (Jerusalem Post, 1 1 September 1984)

The State President, Mr. Chaim Hertzog on 2 October 1984 visited Jewish settlements in the Katif'Bloc, in the Gaza Strip. He stated during the tour that Jews had the right to settle anywhere in Eretz Yisrael, but they should establish settlements only when and where there had been a governmental decision to do so, and only if this deprived no one of his land or property. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 3 October 1984)

On 26 September 1984, Mr. Rabin and Likud representatives agreed to establish a new settlement in northwestern "Samaria" close to the pre- 1967 armistice line. The new settlement would be called "Avney Hefetz" and located not far from Tulkarm. According to reports the two parties differed on where five more settlements should be set up; the Likud delegation argued for more settlements in the densely populated areas of the West Bank's mountain ridge, and Mr. Rabin proposed the Jordan Valley, the Etzion Block and the southern Mount Hebron area. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, Yediot Aharonot, 27 December 1984)

On 1 January 1985, it was reported that Mr. Nissirn Zvilli, the co-Chairman of the WZO Settlement Department, had written a letter to Prime Minister Peres in which he said that it was "sheer insolence to demand to set up new settlements" in the West Bank "when joblessness is spreading, development towns are crying for help and farms are collapsing under their debts." Mr. Zvilli added that existing settlements under the auspices of the WZO in the West Bank had debts of $75 million and that 350 houses and flats in these settlements were empty. More than 40 settlements were inhabited by less than 30 families each, and in some there were fewer than 10 families. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 1 January; Ma'ariv, 2 January 1985)

On 17 January 1985, it was reported that following complaints from United States government officials a meeting was held "at a most senior level" with senior officials of the Government and the Jewish Agency, and it was decided not to transfer any of the 6,000 new immigrants from Ethiopia to settlements in the West Bank and the Golan Heights. (Ha'aretz, 17 January 1985)

On 14 February 1985, the Prime Minister Alternate and Foreign Minister, Mr. Yitzhak Shamir, said that within two would be twice the present 50,000. "I am authorized to tell you that nothing has changed in our policy of settling western Eretz Yisrael up to the Jordan. Settlement in every part of the country will continue and will not be reversed or changed," Mr. Shamir declared. In another declaration on the same day, Mr. Shamir stated that the Golan Heights were an integral, inseparable part of Israel and not subject to negotiations. Mr. Shamir was reacting to a statement by a United States official that the Golan was subject to negotiation. (Jerusalem Post, 15 February 1985)

On 1 March 1985, it was reported that the WZO Settlements Department was planning the construction of six new settlements in 1985. Four would be rural settlements: Nwt- Adumin, Assael, Nigdalim and Maskot (in the Jordan Valley). The other two, ~ e i t a r and Avnet-Hefetz, would be urban settlements. The creation of the six settlements had been approved by the Government. A special budget would be allocated for the construction, in addition to the $30 million, which is the Settlement Department's current budget for the development and consolidation of existing settlements. In another context, the Housing Minister, David Levy, announced that during the current year there would be 1,400 new construction sites in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. (Ha'aretz, 1 March 1985)

On 29 April 1985, Mattityahu Drobles, the co-chairman of the Jewish Agency's Settlement Department, told representatives of the 13 Jewish settlements in the Katif region in the southern Gaza Strip that four or five new settlements would be built there in the next three years. "There will be 5,000 families, which means 25,000 people, here by 1988, and this will be accomplished with an annual budget of only $2.5 million." In the same context it was reported that the Ministry of Tourism's Investments Committee had approved a project of building a religious vacation-village in the Katif Bloc, at a cost of $3.5 million. (Ha'aretz, 29 April 1985; Jerusalem Post, 30 April 1985)

On 6 May 1985, the Knesset Finance Committee earmarked I.S. 1.9 billion (approximately $146 million) for the creation of two new settlements in the West Bank: Neot- Adumim and Migdalim. A further amount of I.S, 5 billion (approximately $375 million) would reportedly be earmarked for the creation of means of production in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and in particular in the Katif Bloc. (Ha'aretz, 7 May 1985)

On 24 June 1985, a spokesman for the State Employment Service, Mr. Zalman Chen, reported that the Service would "in the very near future" be extended to approximately 100 settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The spokesman said that this would be done by military order. He added that the Employment Service Law and the Unemployment Insurance Law would soon be applied in accordance with a recent cabinet decision "in order to serve interests of the Jewish population." According to the report, separate labour exchanges and job registration offices already operated in 28 Arab communities in the territories, but only three labour exchanges existed in the Jewish settlements of Kiryat-Arba, Maaleh-Adumim and Maaleh-Efraim. (Jerusalem Post, 25 June 1985)

On 10 July 1985, it was reported that, as of that day, the Employment Service Law and the National Insurance Institute Law had been extended to the territories by order of the military government. Under those laws Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza would be entitled to unemployment compensation and income supplements. The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Moshe Katzav, said the extension of the laws to the territories was a "reparation of a wrong caused to the settlers for 18 years. With the deterioration of the employment situation the state's duty is to provide the minimum to those who could not find employment in the region." (Ma'ariv, 10 July 1985; Jerusalem Post, 11 July 1985)

On 5 July 1985, the co-chairman of the WZO Settlement Department, Nissim Zvilli, who had been appointed by the Labour Party, appealed to Prime Minister Peres and to his Deputy Yitzhak Shamir to waive the clause in the coalition agreement calling for the establishment of six new settlements in the territories by September at a cost of over $10 million. He warned that the creation of the new settlements would badly harm existing settlements and revealed that settlements, principally those situated in the Golan Heights, the Jordan Valley and the Katif Bloc, owed over $80 million to "outside elements." He further revealed that over 400 apartments in settlements in various areas were still empty, and that in about 50 settlements there were only 15 to 20 families. Only 25 per cent of the settlers had jobs in the settlements. In response to that appeal the Council of Jewish Settlements in the West Bank and Gaza said on 7 July 1985 that unless the Government established new settlements there within the next two months the settlers would do so themselves. The secretary of the Council of Settlements, Otniel Schneller, said Zvilli's stand was "malicious and quarrelsome. There is no truth to it." But one senior Gush Emunim source conceded that the question of whether to use the money to help existing settlements or establish new ones was legitimate. (Ha'aretz, 7 July 1985; Jerusalem Post, 8 July 1985)

2. Measures

New settlements were reportedly set up on 8 August 1984 inside Hebron. The settlements, consisting of seven housetrailers, were set up on three plots which, according to a Justice Ministry official, belonged in the past to Jews. One plot was located about the old Jewish cemetery, the second was in Tel-Rumeida, opposite the old Jewish quarter, and the third was on the outskirts of Hebron, the three settlements received the Defence Minister's approval and that of the Israeli-run municipality of Hebron. On 10 August 1984, it was reported that the settlers had already been provided with running water, electricity and gas. The settlement in Tel- Rumeida reportedly aroused anger among archaeologists, since it is located in the midst of what was described as a most important archaeological site dating back to the early Israelite period where construction is prohibited. The name of the new settlement was meanwhile decided: Ramat-Yishai. Some 70 left-wing Israelis, led by two Knesset members, on 1 1 August 1984 demonstrated against the new settlements in Hebron. On 14 August 1984, it was reported that more house-trailers to set up four more settlements inside Hebron were organized. The settlers were waiting for legal approval before seizing other formerly Jewish plots of land. On 22 August 1984 it was reported that work at the new settlement's site continued. (Jerusalem Post, 9 and 10, 12 and 13, 22 August 1984; Ha'aretz, 9 and 10, 12, 14 August 1984)

The establishment was reported of two new religious settlements in the West Bank: Puedel, located near the old fortress of Deir-Kala' in "Samaria," and Carmi-Tzur, south of the Etzion bloc, three kilometres north of Halhul. Puedel had at its disposal some 1,000 dunums and it was planned for 250 families. Eighteen families were living there in housetrailers. Carmi-Tzur had only 80 dunums at its disposal. (Ma'ariv, 2 1 August 1984)

Two new settlements were reportedly set up in "Samaria7' during the second week of September 1984: "Nahliel" - an orthodox settlement converted from a Nahal outpost, located north-west of Ramallah, between Neveh-Tzuf and Dolev, and "Givat-Halevona," a Gush Emunim settlement created by the Zionist Federation and located 2 kilometres from Shilo, north of Ramallah. On 14 September 1984, it was reported that the IDF had prevented the settlers from placing six house-trailers in the Tel-Rumeida site since they were acting without authorization or approval. (Hay aretz, 13- 14 September 1984)

On 11 January 1985, it was announced that a joint Labour- Likud forum had agreed upon the establishment of six new settlements in the West Bank. The settlements, due to be set up by September 1984, are the following:

- Avney-Hefetz, south-east of Tulkarm and very close to the pre- 1967 border;

- Peles, now a military camp, in the northern sector of the Jordan Valley;

- Migdalim, south of Ma'aleh-Ephraim, on the eastern slopes of the Samarian hills;

- Assa'el, in the southern Mount Hebron area;

- Neot Adumin, near the Jerusalem-Jericho road, and a sixth settlement, either Beitar or Tzoref, in the Etzion bloc.

The decision was reportedly meant to implement a clause in the coalition agreement and was described as a compromise between the conflicting views of Labour and Likud, which wanted settlement throughout the West Bank. The decision was reportedly expected to cost $6 million, but according to another source each new settlement in the West Bank costs between $2 and $2.5 million. Sources in the Agriculture Ministry said the decision to set up a new settlement in the Jordan Valley was incomprehensible since the existing settlements in that region were in "bad financial distress." (Ha'aretz, ~erusakm Post, Yediot Aharonot, 11 January 1985)

On 10 February 1985, "The West Bank and Gaza Strip Project," aresearch institute headed by Dr. Meron Benvenisti, published a document giving details about the number and composition of the Jewish population of the territories. By the end of 1984 the number of settlers reached 42,600, living in 114 settlements. Seventy-two per cent of the settlers (some 30,000) live in 15 large settlements and the remaining ones in 100 small settlements. According to the same document, it was reported on 31 March 1985 that 52 per cent of the land in the West Bank was under total Israeli control through direct seizure or administrative restrictions. (Ha'aretz, 1 1 February 1985; Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 3 1 March 1985)

On 7 May 1985, Knesset member Ran Cohen (Citizens' Rights Movement) declared that the Histadrut (Israel's Labour Federation) had invested $100 million to date in construction and infrastructure works in the West Bank. (Ha'aretz, 8 May 1985)

On 8 May 1985, a group of settlers quietly moved into a tent encampment near the Arab village of Hussan, between Gilo and Battir, south of Jerusalem, and declared it the settlement of Hadar Beitar. Gush Emunim's settlement department, Amana, said the site was one of six the Government had decided to establish in the West Bank by September. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 10 May 1985

On 14 June 1985, it was reported that during 1984,6,000 Jews moved to settlements in the West Bank. (Ha'aretz, 14 June 1985)

On 2 March 1985, the Director-General of the Ministry of Health, Mr. Dan Michaeli, decided to close the Hospice Hospital in East Jerusalem, allegedly because of several cases of "medical neglect" and to low medical standards. The decision was reportedly approved by the Minister of Health, Mordechai Gur. On 5 March 1985, however, according to Health Ministry sources, the Hospice may not be completely closed down, but was to serve as a "sophisticated emergency facility and diagnostic clinic." (Jerusalem Post, 5 March 1985; Yediot Aharonot, 3 March 1985)

On 2 June 1985, Israeli soldiers reportedly uprooted over 1,500 olive trees belonging to residents of Abeidiya village, east of Bethlehem, on the grounds that they were planted illegally. The land, which totaled 500 dunums, was owned by a family from Obeidiya. The trees were the main source of income to the more than 300 family members. (Al Fajr, 7 June 1985)

On 8 July 1985, a source in the Likud party revealed that work on the infrastructure of four of the six new settlements to be established under the coalition agreement had already begun. The settlements are Migdalim, Neot-Adumim, Asa'el and Peles. Migdalim may be ready by the end of August, the source said. (Jerusalem Post, 9 July 1985)

On 22 July 1985, Housing Minister David Levy declared in the Jordan Valley settlement of Maaleh Efraim that his Ministry would this year lay the groundwork for the establishment of 15 new settlements, including seven in the territories. Mr. Levy was speaking at a cornerstone-laying ceremony for a new neighbourhood of 52 homes. One of Levy's assistants, Dan Yitzhaki, told a correspondent that he expected the new settlements in the West Bank to be populated this year and noted that people were already living on a hill near Beitar - another proposed settlement south-west of Jerusalem. Atzmona and Bedolah were to be populated in the Gaza district. More roads were to be built and additional infrastructure was to be prepared this year for three settlements in Judea area: Malkishua, Avney-Hefetz and Mezadot Yehuda. (Jerusalem Post, 23 July 1985)

3. Expropriation

The Israeli authorities reportedly confiscated 450,000 dunums of West Bank land and declared them "State land." The head of the civil section in the Israeli Attorney General's office was checking the ownership of another 150,000 dunums. According to Israeli estimates, about 600,000 dunums were being used for Jewish settlement, agriculture and industry. (Al Fajr, 24 August 1984)

On 23 August 1984, the Israeli authorities reportedly announced their decision to confiscate 100 dunums from the small village of Khirbat Batir near Bethlehem. The land in question is planted with olive, fig, and almond trees, as well as with grapevines. The authorities had confiscated 1,000 dunums from the same village a year ago. (Al Fajr, 24 August 1984)

On 18 September 1984, the Israeli military authorities reportedly confiscated more than 1,300 dunums of land belonging to more than 30 families from the village of Mazra al Qibiliyeh, allegedly for expanding settlements in the area. (AlFajr, 2 1 September 1984)

Several residents of the village of Deir Quds in the Ramallah district reportedly received a notification from the Israeli authorities that they had decided to confiscate 1,500 dunums of their land. The authorities claimed that the land was government- owned and gave the villagers 30 days to appeal the decision. (Al Fajr, 1 6 November 1984)

More than 1,500 dunums of agricultural land, near the village of Arroub in the Hebron district, on 7 November 1984 were declared "State land" by the Israeli military commander. (Al Tali'ah, 6 December; Al Fajr, 7 December 1984)

On 15 December 1984, the villagers of Rantis, north of Ramallah, said that they had been notified by the military government of the expropriation of 1,380 dunums of land belonging to them. Most of the area consists of farming land, which constitutes the source of livelihood of 20 families in the village. The villagers had one month to appeal the decision. (Ha'aretz, 16 December 1984)

The Israeli authorities notified a number of residents of Beit Fajjar village in the Bethlehem district of their decision to confiscate 700 dunums from the land owned by the village. (Al Fajr, 21 December 1984)

On 21 January 1985, IDF tropps seized an area of 200 dunums in the Gaza Strip, in a region known as "Kurum al Luz," in Wadi Gaza, south of the city of Gaza. Troops used bulldozers and uprooted dozens of olive and fig trees, as well as vines. Security sources said that the lands were Stateowned and that the local residents had "invaded them in recent years.'' (Ha'aretz, 23 January 1985)

On 27 January 1985, it was reported that residents of the village of Samu', south of Hebron, had been notified that some 2,000 dunums of land bordering on the village were about to be declared State-owned. The villagers were given one month to appeal the decision, if they so requested. (Ha'aretz, 27 January 1985)

On 18 June 1985, Israeli military authorities reportedly demolished seven tiny Hebron area villages, displacing nearby 200 families in order to convert their land, 40 dunums, into a military training zone. The land had been declared a closed military area one and a half months earlier. The Israeli authorities had then informed Yatta notables that the land was being seized for "military purposes." (Al Fajr, 21 June 1985)

Israeli authorities reportedly confiscated a 50 dunums-plot in the Hebron area. Mr. Alami, the owner of the land, received a warning to give up the land within 24 hours. (Al Fajr, 21 June 1985)

Palestinian landowners from the village of Qousin, eight kilometers west of Nablus, protested the notice they received on 16 June 1985 that more than 1,200 dunums of their agricultural land had been slated for confiscation. They were given 45 days to appeal the decision. No official reason was reportedly given for the confiscation. (A/ Fajr, 28 June 1985)


USURPATION OF PALESTINIAN LANDS AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF JEWISH SETTLEMENTS IN 1986

The United Nations Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories reported on October 20, 1986(20) as follows:

On 25 November 1985, it was reported that Meron Ben venisti said at a press conference that most of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank were too weak to sustain thernselves, and that if the Government stopped supporting them they would collapse. According to the West Bank Data Base Project, the number of settlers in the West Bank increased by 10,000 over the past year and at present reached 52,000. The increase was mostly in settlements close to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. Three-quarters of the settlers lived within 20 kms of Jerusalem, or within a 40-minute drive from the Tel Aviv area. Benvenisti said that the 52 settlements established by Gush Emunim, with a population of some 10,000 settlers, stagnated over the past year. Benvenisti found that the Government was spending large amounts on keeping the settlements going. According to Benvenisti, if the present rate of settlement should continue, the forecast of 100,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank by the end of the decade should remain unaltered. On 27 November 1985, it was reported that the Gush Emunim rejected Dr. Benvenisti's findings as "distorted and erroneous." There were at present 62,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank, and not 52,000, and the potential for more settlers was not weakening. The decline in construction was similar to the one felt in other parts of the country, and 19 new settlements were established recently in tough locations, peopled by "ideologically motivated" groups, numbering some 150 families. These settlements are: Beit-Hagai, Maaleh-Levona, Eli, Yitzhar, Peduel, Nahliel, Sanur, Rafiah- Yam and Netzarim. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, M a ' d v , 25 November 1985; Ha'aretz, 27 November 1985)

On 30 December 1985, the Knesset Finance Committee approved a budget of I.S. 5 billion (approximately $3.5 million) for settlement in the territories, following an agreement between the representatives of the Alignment and Likud and the Committee chairman. (Ha'aretz, 31 December 1985)

On 10 January 1986, it was reported that, according to a study by Michael Romann published earlier in the week by the West Bank Data Base Project headed by Dr. Meron Benvenisti, the future development area of Kiryat Arba would totally surround Hebron, and would be larger than the entire municipal area of jurisdiction of the Arab town. The process of locating state-owned lands for Kiryat Arba was still under way. When completed, it could reach 4,000 to 6,000 dunums, allowing for the construction of 5,000 housing units - including the existing flats - and for a population of 21,000. According to the study, there were at present 3,000 Jews in Kiryat Arba and Hebron, and some 6,000 Arabs in Hebron. According to the plan, all the State-owned lands within that area were designed for Jewish construction; access and connection roads, would reportedly be expropriated from their Arab owners. The Arab areas within that zone would be restricted for farming, open areas or future development, and urban construction there would be prohibited. In a related development, the Committee for the Renewal for Jewish Settlement in Hebron published a blue-print providing for the seizure of 70 dunums of formerly Jewish property inside Hebron, in the sites of the wholesale market, bus terminal and Tel-Rumeida. Under the plan 500 flats would be built in that area, with a Jewish population of 3,000. At a later stage, the plan proposed to connect the three sites inside the old town (Hadassa House, Romano House and "Abraham the Patriarch" compound), by buying or expropriating lands, and to create a continuous Jewish settlement similar in its dimensions to the Jewish quarter in the old city of Jerusalem. As a long-term plan it was proposed to connect the Jewish quarters with the Patriarchs' Cave through the Casbah of Hebron. (Ha'aretz, 10 January 1986)

On 14 January 1986, the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Moshe Shahal, told members of the Jordan Valley local council that the Jordan Valley would remain part of the State of Israel in any future arrangement with Jordan. (Ha'aretz, 15 January 1986)

On 15 January 1986, the Minister of Housing and Construction, David Levy, told a meeting of his Herut movement, held at Maaleh-Adumim, that 13 new settlements would be set up in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during 1986, Finance Minister Yitzhak Modai said at the meeting that the national unity government had to set up 27 new settlements during its term of office, according to the coalition agreement. (Ha'aretz, 16 January 1986)

On 27 March 1986, the Central Bureau of Statistics released figures on changes in the population in the State and in the territories. The number of Jewish settlers in the territories increased by 4,800 in 1985, bringing the total to 42,000. (Jerusalem Post, 28 March 1986)

On 6 August 1985. the head of the Jewish Agency's Settlement Department, Mattityahu Drobles, said that the Migdalim settlement, south-east of Nablus, bordering on the Jordan Valley region, would be set up on 1 September 1985. The second of the six settlements that would be created, Neot-Adumim, had its infrastructure under construction, while the remaining four settlements, Peles, Assa'el, Beitar and Avney-Hefetz, were still being planned. (Ha'aretz, 7 August 1985)

On 6 August 1985, the secretary-general of Gush Emunim, Daniela Weiss, told the Jerusalem Post that Gush Emunim leaders had concluded that their movement must pass from the stage of spreading out over the area to the stage of strengthening its hold over it. Accordingly, it was decided that Eli, a small new settlement on the Nablus-Ramallah road, should be turned into a full-fledged town. The expansion of Eli should be followed, according to the Gush Emunim planners, by the development of Eilon Moreh, Brakha and Kiryat Arba. On 2 .October 1985 the cornerstone-laying ceremony of Eli took place. According to the report the Gush Emunim planned there a town of 2,000 families. Speaking at the ceremony Deputy Prime Minister David Levy said that 8 new settlements had been set up in the West Bank over the past year, and 8 more should be set up in the coming year. Some 6,000 housing units were being built at present. David Levy added that some 250 families were expected to live in Eli initially. At present, only 12 families reportedly lived in the settlement. (Jerusalem Post, 8 August and 3 October 1985)

The Israeli Military Objection Committee at Ramallah rejected a petition by Mr. Mohammed al-Nabahin of Ta'amreh village against the confiscation of his 12-dunum plot near Bethlehem. (Al Fajr, 9 August 1985)

On 13 August 1985, it was reported that a police investigation was under way into some 200 complaints by Arab landowners in the West Bank, who maintained that their signatures had been forged on purchase documents and their land had been sold without their knowledge. Some also claimed their land was taken from them through threats, force and extortion. Deputy state attorney, Plia Albeck, the Justice Ministry's expert on West Bank land, reportedly forbade - following the uncovering of several cases of illegally conducted land deals in the area - land sales by Israelis in areas unapproved for settlement, but private entrepreneurs and contracting companies continued to sell land, apparently with political backing from certain quarters (such as the Agriculture Ministry, when Ariel Sharon was Minister and Michael Dekel was his Deputy). It was reported that two more West Bank dealers were arrested in the first week of September 1985, as police continued to investigate land fraud on the West Bank. Thus far, 10 people had been arrested in connection with the case, including two Israeli lawyers - Mr. Uri Ben Yehuda and Mr. Sami Me'olam - and West Bank land dealer Ahmed Odeh. It was also reported that despite police requests, Tel Aviv District Court Judge Hamrah Sharon released three of the principal suspects in the case from police custody. They were suspected of forging signatures on land deeds. Three of them were released on IS 5 million (approximately $3,335) bail each after spending the previous 45 days in detention. On 24 October 1985, new fraudulent deals were discovered after investigation into fraud cases was halted by Israeli authorities. On 10 January 1986 it was reported that nearly two dozen Arabs from Nablus and surrounding villages were being held by police on suspicion of falsifying documents related to the West Bank land-fraud investigation. The police had reportedly questioned the suspects for 14 days but had not yet charged them. It was learnt that formal charges would be brought against only four or five of the suspects. The Arabs had complained to police and the Israel Lands Administration that their land was wrongly taken from them and that they were forced to sell their property under threats, but according to information in the hands of the police, the Arabs had falsified documents in order to show that the land sales were "fraudulent." (Jerusalem Post, 13 August 1985 and 10 January 1986; Al Fajr, 6 September 1985; Al Tali'ah, 24 October 1985)

On 28 August 1985, it was reported that the Planning Department of the Jerusalem Municipality had prepared a detailed plan for the expropriation of the south-eastem slopes of the Temple Mount, at present owned by the Waqf. According to the report the plan was not submitted to the local Planning Commission, as it was feared that a political storm could arise, after the Waqf had learned of the plan and threatened to create an "international scandal." Sources in the Jerusalem Municipality, who admitted that such a plan did exist, argued that an expropriation of the area would have had no practical repercussions, since the area, which was at present an archaeological garden, would have remained such a garden, and only its ownership would have been changed. (Ha'aretz, 28 August 1985)

On 3 September 1985, it was reported that farmers from the village of Surif and Jaba, south of the Etzion bloc, recently complained that Kfar Etzion settlers had been preventing them access to an area of 2,000 dunums of farming land that they claimed was theirs for many generations. The farmers were allegedly told by the settlers that the area was Stateowned. It was also reported that the assignment of the area would be decided only after the decision to declare it Stateland was confirmed. (Ha'aretz, 3 September 1985)

On 1 October 1985, it was reported that 200 Jews lived at present in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, both in houses bought from Arabs and houses that formerly belonged to Jews. (Ha'aretz, 1 October 1985)

Israeli authorities reportedly confiscated vast areas of land belonging to the village of Yasuf in the Nablus area for the purpose of expanding the nearby Tafuah settlement. According to the report, 200 dunums were already confiscated in the village for the same purpose. (Al Fajr, 1 1 October 1985)

A number of Jewish zealots allegedly attempted to seize Arab land in Ras el-Amoud in Jerusalem, claiming graves existed on the 15-dunum plot. (Al Fajr, 25 October 1985)

On 5 November 1985, it was reported that the Investment Committee of the Ministry of Tourism had approved the construction of a hotel in the West Bank settlement of Kedumim. The hotel, the first in the West Bank to be approved by the Commission, would cost $1,000,000. (Ha'aretz, 5 November 1985)

Hebron's military governor reportedly notified the Mukhtars of Arab al-Ramadin near Dhahiriya of the decision to confiscate a 15,000-dunum plot extending from Arab al- Ramadin to Wadi al-Khalil. The land was surveyed a week earlier. (Al Fajr, 8 November 1985)

Israeli bulldozers began working on land belonging to the village of Sur Baher, south of Jerusalem, following a decision to confiscate the 1,000-dunums plot. (Al Fajr, 15 November 1985)

According to a report appearing in the Al-Qudsnewspaper of 15 November 1985, bulldozers have begun digging up a 130-dunum plot south of Nezarim settlement in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. (Al Fajr, 22 November 1985)

On 24 November 1985, it was reported that the Israeli forces on 22 November 1985 prevented some 40 members of the "Jericho nucleus" from settling in the Jericho area. The nucleus members, residents of Kiryat Arba and yeshiva students, intended to settle in an area where ruins of a sixth-century Jewish synagogue were discovered. Security sources said the nucleus members would not be authorized to settle in that area. The IDF stopped the nucleus members at a road-block and took them to a military camp several kilometres away. Ten members reportedly left the army camp and reached the site of the synagogue but they were forced to leave and two of them were arrested. On 26 November 1985, it was reported that another attempt to settle at the Jericho synagogue site was foiled by the army. On 8 December 1985, soldiers and border guards foiled an attempt, the third in one month, to establish a settlement at the ruins of an ancient Jewish synagogue north of Jericho. The settlers, members of a movement called the Faithful of the Land of Israel, stated that the attempts at settling in the area would continue. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24,26 and 27 November 1985; 9 December 1985)

Seven farmers from Ubaidiyah village in the Bethlehem area were reportedly to go on trial before an Israeli military court on charges of working on their land without permission from military authorities. They were accused of violating article 34 of the 1966 law of organization of cities, villages and buildings by opening a road blocked by authorities in preparation for establishing a new settlement. (Al Fajr, 29 November 1985)

On 1 December 1985, nine families of Ethiopian Jews, totalling some 50 persons, were transferred to Maaleh- Adumim. The Housing and Absorption Ministries reportedly planned to settle some 40 families in Kiryat Arba. (Ha'aretz, 2 December 1985)

On 2 December 1985, the inauguration was reported of a new road linking the Jordan Valley to the coastal plain. At the inauguration ceremony Deputy Prime Minister David Levy said that the road had a "political significance" and was therefore given a special priority - so as to remove any doubt regarding the future. (Ha'aretz, Jeru.salem Post, 3 December 1985)

On 19 December 1985, Gush Emunim created a fund for redeeming lands, whose objective is to raise contributions and funds in Israel and abroad in order to "redeem lands, particularly in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza district," (Ha'aretz, 20 December 1 985)

It was reported that an eight-dunum plot belonging to Mr. Musa Ayyad has been confiscated by the Israeli authorities in the village of Sharfat in the Jerusalem area. The land was reportedly given to the Israeli Keren Kayaimet, which started uprooting Mr. Ayyad's olive trees. (Al Fajr, 20 December 1985)

Israeli forces reportedly seized about 2,000 square metres of land near Natzarin settlement (Gaza Strip). The reason given for the seizure was to expand the intersection. The land was owned by the Al-Ashram and the Attalah families. (Al Fajr, 20 December 1985)

On 9 January 1986, Israeli military authorities reportedly confiscated hundreds of dunums of Samu' village near Hebron. (Al Fajr, 17 January 1986)

On 20 January 1986, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Housing and Construction, David Levy, inaugurated the renovated Hadassa House at Hebron. In the renovation works apartments were built for 11 families, and rooms were set aside for a synagogue and a dormitory for pupils of the yeshiva at the nearby Romano House. An adjacent house, called Hasson House, would also be renovated to accommodate five families (at present three families lived there) and a yeshiva. The main project involved the "Jewish Courtyard," also known as the Abraham the Patriarch compound. According to the plan, low-rise buildings would be built that would blend in with the Arab structures in the area. On 12 February 1986, it was reported that 11 Jewish families from Jerusalem and Kiryat Arba would move shortly into new apartments prepared for them in the Hadassa building in the centre of Hebron. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, Ma'ariv, 21 January 1986; Jerusalem Post, 12 February 1986)

It was reported that the Israeli authorities informed Arab landowners from the village of Beit Furik, near Nablus, of its decision to confiscate 4,000 dunums of their land. (AlFajr, 7 February 1986)

It was reported that several dozen Arab residents from the villages of Irtas and al-Khader, near Bethlehem, submitted an official objection to opening a road on their land. The road would reportedly link Jewish settlements in the Bethlehem area. (Al Fajr, 14 February 1986)

On 24 February 1 986, the corners tone-laying ceremony wqs reported of a permanent settlement called "Metzadot- Yehuda" in southern Mount Hebron. Housing Minister David Levy attended the ceremony and also inaugurated a new road crossing the Mount Hebron area from north to south. {Yediot Aharonot, 25 February 1986)

On 28 March 1986, it was reported that the Housing Ministry had granted $40,000 to a Gush Emunim-oriented yeshiva that had been leading the move to buy out Muslim owners of houses surrounding the Temple Mount. The money was reportedly given to the yeshiva to help it acquire flats in the Muslim quarter of the Old City. There was no authorization in the State budget for that allocation. (Jerusalem Post, 28 March 1986)

On 31 March 1986, Housing Minister David Levy and the mayor of Jerusalem Teddy Kollek inaugurated the new neighbourhood of Pisgat-Zeev, located between Neveh Yaacov and the French Hill, in East Jerusalem. The new neighbourhood was planned to consist of 12,000 housing units; 400 families already live there. A new tract of road, linking Neveh Yaacov and Pisgat-Zeev to the Maaleh Adumim road, was also inaugurated on 31 March 1986. (Ha'aretz, 1 April 1986)

On 27 April 1986, Housing Minister David Levy took part in a cornerstone-laying ceremony at Neve Daniel, a new settlement in the Etzion bloc. Mr. Levy announced that within a few weeks his ministry would begin settling dozens of Jewish families in the heart of Hebron. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 28 April 1986)

On 20 May 1986, it was reported that the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ariel Sharon, said during a visit to the Mount Hebron area that an industrial zone would be created in Deir Razah shortly, on a stretch of land of 600 dunums, located near the settlement of Adurayim. Mr. Sharon said the land was State-owned, and stressed the geographical and strategic importance of the site. According to local residents the lands were privately owned. The industrial zone would provide jobs for settlers in the 11 settlements located in the region. Mr. Sharon also announced that he intended to set up a 60-dunum site for high-technology industries in Porcelaine Hill, near Kiryat Arba. He said some $15 million were invested, during the previous year, in industry in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. (Ha'aretz, 20 May 1986)

On 25 May 1986, it was reported that three residents of the village of Artas, in the Etzion bloc, applied to the High Court of Justice, claiming that Jewish settlers in the area had set up hen-coops on lands confiscated from them for security purposes. The applicants were asking the High Court to instruct the security authorities to return the lands to their owners. (Ha'aretz, 25 May 1986)

On 29 May 1986, it was reported that an inauguration ceremony was held that day for the settlement of Kadim, in northern Samaria. Kadim had been created as a Nahal outpost and was now being turned into a permanent civilian settlement. (Ha'aretz, 29 May 1986

On 1 June 1986, the security authorities fenced with barbed wires an area of 203 dunums near Abu-Median, south of Gaza, and another area of 116 dunums north of the Amer project. The land, located near the Netzarim settlement, had been bulldozed before being fenced. In another development it was reported that the military authorities had notified mukhtars of the village of Samu', near Hebron, of their decision to confiscate 2,500 dunums of the village's lands. The landowners were given 45 days to appeal the decision to the military objections committee. (Al Fajr, 6 June 1986

On 4 June 1986, Housing and Construction Minister David Levy participated in the inauguration ceremony of a new housing project with 750 flats in the settlement of Ginot, in Samaria. Speaking at the ceremony Mr. Levy promised that settlement in Samaria would continue. In a visit to several settlements in Samaria, Mr. Levy said that some 100 rural settlements and 10 urban settlements had been established over the past 10 years in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with a total of 15,500 housing units. In another development it was reported on 4 June 1986 that a Bedouin settlement, Lagia, would be established shortly in the southern Mount Hebron area, with a planned population of 10,000. Another Bedouin settlement, Houra, should be set up in Israel. (Ha'aretz, 4 June 1986)

On 13 June 1986, it was reported that mukhtars of the Bani-Naim village in the Hebron district had been notified the previous week of the confiscation of 950 dunums of land in the Kahlet Yaqin, Garon Batha, Urn Dahab and Um Halseh areas, on the pretext that the lands were State property. Landowners were given 45 days to appeal the decision. (Al Fajr, 27 June 1986)

On 18 June 1986, it was reported that an area of 300 dunums had been levelled by bulldozers and confiscated in the Jenin district. The land was reportedly used by herdsmen from the villages of Tura, Khuljan and Ya'bad to graze their sheep. (Al Fajr, 27 June 1986)

On 20 June 1986, it was reported that residents of Ya'bad in the Jenin area had complained to the authorities against plans by the zoning committee to open a road 500 m long and 40 m wide. Large numbers of olive trees would be destroyed if the plan were to materialize. (A/ Fajr, 27 June 1986)

On 23 June 1986, it was reported that the High Court of Justice had issued an interim injunction prohibiting the authorities from confiscating a 46-dunum Arab-owned plot to an Israeli settlement north of Rafah. The land was levelled in April 1986 in preparation for the confiscation. Reports also continued about land-levelling works in other areas in the Gaza Strip: some 102 dunums were being levelled near the Amer project, and 22 dunums near Netzarim. Gaza residents reportedly claimed they had documents proving their legal ownership of the lands. (Al Fajr, 27 June 1986)

On 27 June 1986, it was reported that several Palestinian lawyers representing four Hebron area families had filed a complaint earlier in the week with Israeli military authorities in protest of illegal work on a 700-dunum plot that was reportedly designed to become an industrial complex to serve Kiryat Arba. Land levelling works already started on the site, giving rise to clashes between local residents and security personnel. The creation of the industrial complex was proposed on 20 May 1986 by Minister of Trade and Industry Ariel Sharon. The four families owning the lands, situated in an area known as Beit-Inoun, reportedly had documents proving their legal ownership. In another development it was reported that the military objections committee had concluded earlier in the week that the authorities had erred in confiscating a 400-dunum plot owned by Palestinians near Yatta, south of Hebron. The committee advised the authorities, who declared the land State property, to return it to its owners. It also advised the authorities to return 400 dunums out of a 1,000-dunum plot near Surif, in the Hebron area, to its owners. (Al Fajr, 27 June 1986)

On 21 August 1986, the military authorities declared an area of about 3,000 dunums state land. The area was reportedly situated near the villages of Biddu and Surta, in the Tulkarem district. The authorities gave the landowners 45 days to contest the confiscation. The area in question had been allegedly fraudulently bought by Israeli real-estate companies. (Al Fajr, 22 August 1986)


THE USURPATION OF PALESTINIAN LANDS AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF JEWISH SETTLEMENTS IN 1987

The United Nations Special Committee to Investigate the Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories reported on October 15, 1987(21) as follows:

On 20 September 1986, Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir said in a radio interview that he intended, after becoming Prime Minister, to increase the number of settlements in the territories "within the framework of our economic limitations and the coalition agreement," which called for the establishment of up to 27 new settlements in the territories. In the same context, it was reported that over 20,000 Jews had settled in the West Bank since the establishment of the "national unity" Government in October 1984, 13,000 of them over the past year. According to a demographic survey carried out by the IDF, the Jewish population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip at present stood at some 60,000. (Ha'aretz, 24 September, 1986; Jerusalem Post, 13 November 1986; Ha'aretz, 14 November 1986)

On 13 November 1986, Prime Minister Shamir met, for the first time since he took office, with a Gush Emunim delegation. Shamir said he supported the idea of settling "in all parts of the Land of Israel" and asked that plans in writing be submitted to him, but he explained that, given budgetary and coalition-linked constraints, he preferred, for the time being, to expand existing settlements, and create new ones only at a later stage. (Yediot Aharonot, 12 November, 1986; Jerusalem Post, 13 November, 1986; Ha'aretz, 14 November, 1986)

On 9 December, 1986, a Housing Ministry official reported that a plan that was being completed by Minister David Levy comprised six new Jewish settlements in the territories. Mr. Levy also announced at the meeting that construction had just begun of a new housing project in the Jewish quarter of Hebron. (Jerusalem Post 10 and 17 December, 1986)

On 25 June, 1987 an agreement was reached between Prime Minister Shamir, Finance Minister Moshe Nissim and Housing Minister David Levy on finding the funds necessary for the establishment of two new settlements in the territories, whose creation had been approved by the Cabinet. The Ministers also decided to expand existing settlements and to build bypass roads near Qalqilyah and Dheisheh. (Jerusalem Post, 28 June, 1987)

On 15 July, 1987, the Chairman of the Tehiyaparty, Yuval Ne'eman, told his party's central committee that Prime Minister Shamir had promised that "thousands of new housing starts" would be carried out in the West Bank in the next 18 months - including 3,000 in 1987 and a further 3,000 in 1988. According to Ne'eman, the Likud also accepted a plan formulated jointly by Tehiya and the "Council of Settlements of Judea and Samaria" for construction of new roads on the West Bank. The Likud further undertook to speed up the construction of Avenei-Hefetz and Hadar Beitar, two of the six settlements whose establishment was provided for in the Government's guidelines. (Jerusalem Post, 16 and 20 July, 1987)

In the course of his testimony, a witness referred to the arbitrary seizure of land by the Israeli authorities:

"Any land in the West Bank is threatened with expropriation or confiscation for 'security reasons' or for reasons that are allegedly legal. There is no law that gives the Government the right to expropriate my land, but in most cases they allege that it belongs to the State, or it is close to the property of the State, or it must become the property of the State for security reasons. Then it is used for a settlement, whose settlers practise violence and expansion, thus forcing farmers to emigrate." (A/AC. 145/RT.464/Add. 1 )

On 1 September, 1986, a ceremony was held at the Nahal outpost of Beit-Ha'arava, in the northern Dead Sea area. The ceremony marked the turning of the outpost into a civilian ... Go to part 7

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