Record number of Palestinians forced from homes by Israel

BY MARK MOLONEY

Armoured Israeli bulldozers demolish Palestinian homes in the West Bank

RECORD NUMBERS of Palestinian families are being forced from their homes due to Israeli Government demolitions and attacks from armed Israeli settlers.
Throughout 2011, more than a thousand people were forced to flee as Israeli armoured bulldozers, backed by heavily-armed troops, destroyed their homes to make way for the development of more settlements.
The Israeli Government has also approved the building of 4,000 additional housing units for settlers in the occupied territory of East Jerusalem. These settlements are considered completely illegal by the International Court of Justice and the United Nations has said they constitute a violation of the Geneva Convention. More than 300,000 Israelis live in these illegal outposts in the West Bank and almost 200,000 in East Jerusalem.
As well as the demolition of homes, Palestinians living near these illegal settlements are faced with continued harassment and intimidation by armed gangs of Israeli settlers. Palestinian homes are frequently attacked and their occupants assaulted while the Israeli police turn a blind eye. Olive and fruit trees, which many Palestinian families rely on to earn a living, are a favourite target of these gangs with more than 10,000 damaged or destroyed in attacks in 2011.
In other incidents the settlements, which are usually built on hilltops, occasionally pump their sewage and wastewater out onto the surrounding Palestinian fields and orchards, ruining their crops and contaminating underground water supplies.
Jeremy Hobbs, Executive Director of Oxfam International, said:
“The increasing rate of settlement expansion and house demolitions is pushing Palestinians to the brink, destroying their livelihoods and prospects for a just and durable peace.”
Derry City Sinn Féin Councillor Gerry Mac Lochlainn, who was recently kidnapped by Israeli forces along with other activists onboard the MV Saoirse as they attempted to deliver aid to the beleaguered Gaza Strip, said that it is up to governments throughout the world to ensure that Israel complies with international law.
“Israel has acted with impunity for too long both at home and abroad. The Irish Government must take a firm stance with Israel.”