FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
20 May 2007
On Sunday morning, May 20, Israeli Occupation Forces destroyed an apricot and date orchard comprised of 28 trees in the village of Artas near Bethlehem. Four Israeli activists were arrested.
At 5:30 AM, approximately 40 soldiers came and forcibly removed approximately 60 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists who had been maintaining a presence on the land since Wednesday, May 16. Soldiers hit and kicked activists who had chained themselves to trees, and forcibly threw others over a stone wall, including elderly Palestinian women. After the activists had been removed, the bulldozer entered the land and the army uprooted the trees and ripped apart the land.
Israel’s apartheid wall is being built through the village of Artas to allow for the expansion of the Efrat settlement and is confiscating approximately 4000 dunums of land. Two new settlement neighborhoods, Tamar and Dagan are being built on the land and will be attached to Efrat. This expansion is illegal under international law and the so-called “Road Map to Peace.” Sewage from Efrat will be piped out through this former orchard.
Later, at 1:30 pm, Palestinian Information Minister Dr. Mustafa Barghouti arrived at the demolition site in Artas. There, he held a press conference, highlighting speakers from the village and their recent trauma. Shortly after the media left, according to Mohammad Abu Swai, about 50 Israeli soldiers entered the site and started to brutalize the crowd. Dr. Barghouti was hit with a soldier’s club from behind.
Abu Swai explained, “The soldiers are acting like animals! They are hiiting anyone in their path, including the Minister!”
Soldiers are still currently stationed in the village. Palestinians were planning to replant their uprooted trees, including an additional 30 trees that were just purchased.
Like most settlements, Efrat was started illegally as an outpost but was later approved by the Israeli supreme court.
The orchard belonged to the Abu Swai family.
Video footage of demolition available upon request.
For more information:
Arabic: Awad Swai 0598305810
English: Jesus Martinez 0599943157
Hebrew/English/Arabic: Adar 0525444866
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The Israeli army attack farmers and peace activists near Bethlehem
Sunday May 20, 2007
Ghassan Bannoura, IMEMC
A massive Israeli army force attacked and beaten up a group of Palestinian farmers and peace activists in Artas village located to the south east of Bethlehem city in the southern West Bank on Sunday afternoon.
A group of Palestinian activists from stop bleeding of Bethlehem campaign and local farmers from the village of Artass joined by the Palestinian minister of information Dr. Mustafa Al Barghouthi started to plant trees in a land that is owned by local farmers, which the army demolished trees in on Sunday morning to make way for a sewage pip e for a nearby Israeli settlement.
IMEMC corresponded on location reported that while the group planting trees the Israeli soldiers attacked them using rifle buts and batons, several people were heavily beaten among them Dr. Barghouthi.
On Wednesday morning, at least 30 Palestinian, International and Israeli peace activists and farmers attempted to prevent the Israeli army from bulldozing land near the village of Artas, the protestors arrived at the site after receiving news that bulldozers were approaching the village.
The Israeli army is bulldozing the land near the Monastery in order to build the wall in the area. Troops prevented the peace activists from reaching the bulldozers and claimed the area as a closed military zone. When asked, troops failed to provide any evidence proving that the construction site was a closed military zone.
On Thursday, the popular committee activists set up tents on the site and decided to stay overnight to guard the area from further bulldozing attempts. On Saturday late night soldiers arrived to the tents location and took photos, after several hours, on Sunday early in the morning the soldiers came with bulldozers, forced farmers and their supporters out then demolished the tents and that trees.
IMEMC correspondent stated that the army is still attacking any one who tries to plant trees or to protect the old trees from being illegal demolished against all laws known to human kind.
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