This piece from Haaretz starts describing the Peace Now's settlement tracking project's assessment of the area being seized, familiar more to Israelis than Americans and noting how it seems designed to create a link between Israel proper and the large illegal settlement block of Gush Etzion.
Then they delve into the ugly details of what this sudden confiscation involves for the Palestinian residents.
Peace Now: Land grab means to link Israel with West Bank, not just expand settlements
The biggest West Bank land appropriation in 30 years could turn the Palestinian village of Wadi Fukin into an isolated enclave.
By Chaim Levinson
Except for small enclaves of Palestinian villages, the state declared a contiguous area eligible for construction between Rosh Tzurim and Betar Ilit, which are in the West Bank, and the Green Line.
Of the five villages whose land has been declared state land in the takeover, 1,155 dunams (289 acres) — more than a quarter of the land appropriated — belongs to Wadi Fukin. The expropriated land is east of the village, turning it into an enclave that could be surrounded by settlements. Since 1967, around three-quarters of the village’s land has been seized for settlement construction.
So the Israeli occupation regime had already stolen 3/4 of Wadi Fukin's land, so now Israel is stealing what was left of Wadi Fukin's economic base.
Photo links:
Traditional agriculture in Wadi Fukin
Wadi Pukin
According to 2013 data from the Civil Administration, of 671,000 dunams declared state land in the West Bank, 400,000 have been transferred to the World Zionist Organization to establish settlements, and 103,000 have been allocated to Israeli local authorities in the West Bank.
So the recipients of the stolen property like the World Zionist Organization already had arranged how to divvy their booty.
Only 8,600 dunams, 0.7 percent of the total, have been allocated for use by Palestinians, mainly for the resettlement of Bedouin. In addition, private land has been expropriated for military purposes and then transferred to settlements.
Israel is also forcibly relocating the traditionally nomadic Bedouin, who have been on friendly terms with Israeli Jews for decades. Military necessity is often the pretext Israel uses for land theft then the IDF fences the stolen property to the clamoring settlement developers.
West Bank's Wadi Fukin big loser in newest Israeli land grab
By Elizabeth Austwick
Wadi Fukin residents told the AIC of their fears that the village's sole entrance - a narrow road - could easily be cut off by Israel to strangle the village surrounded by Israeli settlements.
Photo link:
On the way from Wadi Pookin to Gvaot
You see the West Bank has a segregated road system. A modern system of multi lane highways reserved for Israeli Jews serves the settlements on three sides of Wadi Fukin, but the residents of Wadi Fukin are consigned to a primitive track that may now be swallowed up by yet another settlement.
Photo link: Israelis only road serving settlement next to Wadi Pukin
The difference between the two photos is shocking, or at least it should be. It shows the stark disparity in the way Palestinians and Israelis are treated by Israel's racist occupation regime. An occupation regime that treats Palestinians as inconveniences that are in their way.
Israel has five methods for land seizures in the West Bank: seizure for military purpose, declaration of state lands, seizure of absentee property, confiscation for public needs and initial registration. Israel has been able to take over 50 percent of West Bank land though these processes, whilst 90 percent of West Bank settlements were established on land declared as state land.
Palestinians are given 45 days to submit objections to declarations of state land. Appealing a declaration is costly and proof of ownership is based on the Ottoman Land Code of 1858. For an individual to gain possession over land they must either provide documents demonstrating it was registered to them, or the land must have been cultivated for the previous 10 years.
West Bank land land registration was not common during Ottoman and British rule as land rights could be exercised without it. Israel stopped any form of land registration after 1968, at which point only 33 percent of all West Bank land had been registered. Since then Israel has declared 900,000 dunams to be state land.
Wadi Fukin council members and local villagers already gathered on Monday to discuss plans for appealing the land confiscations. Some individuals possess land registration documents, while Mayor Sokal says the council will assist those without the requisite papers to prove their land has been cultivated. One of the obstacles they face, however, is that much of the land is rocky terrain and thus not arable. But the land is still used for such economic activities as grazing.
Israel slammed for West Bank land expropriation
By Ben Wedeman, and Susannah Cullinane
"The seizure of such a large swathe of land risks paving the way for further settlement activity, which -- as the United Nations has reiterated on many occasions -- is illegal under international law and runs totally counter to the pursuit of a two-state solution," United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement Monday.
UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond issued a similar statement, criticizing the move.
"This is a particularly ill-judged decision that comes at a time when the priority must be to build on the cease-fire in Gaza. It will do serious damage to Israel's standing in the international community," he said. "Our position on settlements is clear: they are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace and take us further away from a two state solution at a time when negotiations to achieve this objective urgently need to be resumed."
Hammond said efforts should be focused on securing a durable cease-fire in Gaza and lasting peace. "We strongly urge the government of Israel to reverse this decision," he said.
Unfortunately the US government sanctioning Israel for its expansionist action (in an election season) is in the realm of the unthinkable. Never mind that Obama is in the Baltic Republics trying to reassure them that the US won't tolerate an newly expansionist Putin's Russia to threaten them as members of NATO. But it becomes more difficult for Obama to condemn Putin's unilateral expansion by force in the Ukraine, when his government is effectively indifferent to Netanyahu's unilateral expansion by force.
Kerry to meet Palestinian delegation, calls on Israel to reverse land grab
Netanyahu's cabinet used the tragic murder of three Israeli youths as their reason for seizing this land in retribution or as "Price Tag' as Israeli settlers like to call their malicious attacks against unarmed Palestinians and their property.
Can we please keep this discussion about events and conditions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, leaving Gaza for other diaries.