Stop Silwan settlements!

Published on 02 October 2014 Written by Alternative Information Center (AIC)

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Settlers in Silwan/Photo: Silwanic.net

The new settlements in Silwan, as all settlements within the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, are illegal and violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, regardless of the way properties were acquired. It is time the international community protect Palestinians and hold Israel accountable.

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Escorted by police and Israeli Knesset members, settlers took over 23 apartments in East Jerusalem's neighbourhood of Silwan on September 30.
The occupation of the homes in Silwan are part of an operation by the right-wing Elad (Ir David) association to settle Israelis within Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem, thus destroying the social fabric of the neighbourhoods and weakening Palestinian presence in the city.
Settlements in East Jerusalem, and particularly settlements within Palestinian neighborhoods, are part of an Israeli policy to cleansing the city of its Palestinian inhabitants.
Elad is an extreme right-wing, fundamentalist Jewish organization financed by US tax-exempted donations and actively supported by the Jerusalem municipality, Jewish National Fund and numerous Israeli political parties, amongst others.
This week's creation of new settlements in Silwan is thus not an isolated action, but one officially condoned by the state of Israel and its elected officials.
The new settlements in Silwan, as well as all Israeli settlements within the territories occupied by Israel during the 1967 Middle East war, are illegal and blatantly violate Chapter 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, regardless of the way properties were acquired.
Tuesday's takeover by settlers was the largest in Silwan since the process began in 1986, and was a clear provocation aimed at signalling world leaders meeting this week in New York about the absence of Israeli interest in engaging with any peace process.
It is abut time the international community meet is obligation to protect the Palestinian people in the territories occupied by Israeli during the 1967 Middle East war.
It is about time the international community meet its obligations under international law and end Israeli impunity by prosecuting individuals who contribute to the violation of international humanitarian law in the occupied Palestinian territory.
It is about time the international community secure reparations for the Palestinians victimized by Israeli settlement and ethnic cleansing policies.