RAMALLAH: Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din yesterday said that Palestinian farmers in the West Bank are paying the price for the Israeli government’s efforts to evacuate illegal settlement outpost in the region.
According to data published by the group, in recent weeks there has been an alarming rise in the number of attempts to uproot or damage trees in villages in the area, and the phenomenon is expected to expand if the Israeli security forces do not take action against the Jewish occupiers.
In a letter sent to Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Central Command Chief Gadi Shamni and West Bank District Police Commander Hagai Dotan, Yesh Din wrote that since the end of April and throughout the month of May, some 300 trees — mostly olive trees — have been uprooted or sawed in four West Bank villages. According to the group no one has been questioned in relation to the incidents.
Meanwhile, the head of the northern branch of Islamic Movement inside Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, yesterday said that Israeli authorities plan to build a new hotel at a former Muslim graveyard in the mixed city of Jaffa. Hundreds of Jaffa Arab Palestinian residents and Islamic Movement supporters demonstrated Tuesday in protest of the Israeli move.
