Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign: Apartheid Wall strangles Beit Jala: Heritage and landscape destroyed

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Apartheid Wall strangles Beit Jala: Heritage and landscape destroyed
Latest News, Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, June 28th, 2006

On Tuesday 27 June, Occupation Forces began the destruction of land in Beit Jala to complete the Wall that ghettoizes Palestinians throughout Bethlehem district. Bulldozers are working in the Cremisan area, one of the most fertile and historically important areas in Bethlehem, as the Apartheid Wall enters its final construction stage in the district.

The destruction of Beit Jala land started in late December 2005 when bulldozers started uprooting to prepare the Wall’s path and secure the expansion of the Har Gilo settlement. A total of 345 dunums of land planted with olive trees and almonds was slated for destruction. However, construction had been held up since the New Year. Now the Occupation Forces and their bulldozers are back and will continue finalizing the closure of the Bethlehem ghetto on July 2nd. The town council of Beit Jala sends an urgent appeal calling for immediate action to protest and confront the Occupation forces and their bulldozers. (See below.)

So far some 500 trees of various species have been uprooted. The town council highlights that the targeted area has “the only remaining forest in the town, and the most fertile agricultural land, which is the main source of income to many farmers in the town.” Moreover, the area is of considerable historical significance, as the site of two monasteries, a school and one of the most renowned wineries in Palestine. The Wall will swallow the remaining open spaces and tighten the grip of the Occupation on the built-up areas.

When the Wall is completed, Beit Jala will have lost access to two-thirds of its land, leaving the city with only 4500 dunums from its 14,500 dunums. The Wall in Bethlehem district runs 52 km from northwest, in Beit Sahour, to northeast, Al-Walaja village. In Beit Jala it divides itself and runs parallel to the walled-in Jewish-only road towards al Khader. In Bethlehem area, the Wall snakes along the built up Palestinian areas isolating 70,000 dunums (around 2.5% of the entire district) to ensure a expansion of the settlements and an imprisoned existence for Palestinians.

Immediate Action Needed in BEIT JALA City – Bethlehem District – Palestine