[ 02/04/2011 - 09:27 AM ] THE NEGEV, (PIC)-- Israel has planned to confiscate a million square meters of Palestinian and Arab land in the Negev desert, occupied in 1948, on the anniversary of Land Day which fell two days ago, the president of the council of regional villages of the Negev, Ibrahim al-Waqili warned.
The plan falls under the recommendations made by the Israeli Goldberg committee which was formed in 2008 headed by retired judge Eliezer Goldberg.
”The disclosure of these plans on the anniversary of Land Day will only increase our determination to continue to struggle. There will be no bargains or concessions on the land. We have paid the tax of blood and have given martyrs to preserve our existence,” said Waqili.
He added that Israeli occupation authorities have sights set to settle 300,000 Jews in the Negev within the next ten years and wants to accelerate the implementation of the said recommendations.
Israel considers the recommendations a project to settle the conflict and organize housing in 45 unrecognized Arab villages where nearly 120,000 people live. Israel wants to seize a million square meters of land and turn it into state property and demolish nearly 30,000 homes and pay compensation over the land, reserving only 200 thousand square meters for the Arabs.
Waqili told Al-Jazeera.net that his council has rejected the recommendations and has refused to bargain the land.
He said that steadfastness would be the best response to thwart the plan.
Israel has begun implementing a plan targeting individual farms in the Negev and has set up nearly 70 farms across thousands of square meters.
Uprooted Palestinian
No comments:
Post a Comment