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ProgressiveMuslim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Dec-23-08 07:13 AM
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Major Israeli settlement 'unlawful'


By Tim Franks
BBC News, Ofra


Israeli settlements on occupied territory are seen as illegal by the rest of the world. But now an Israeli human rights group is saying that even under Israeli law, one of the most significant and well-established settlements is unlawful.

The human rights group B'tselem has published a report in which it states that almost 60% of the settlement of Ofra has been built on land which remains in private Palestinian ownership.

The settlement was established in 1975, just to the north-east of Ramallah.

A history of the settlement recounts how about 20 Jewish settlers, with sleeping bags and jerry cans, came one Sunday to set up camp.

Ofra's population now numbers more than 4,000 people.

The settlement's streets are suburban. Around the neat, red-tiled houses there are cherry orchards. The ancient hills of the West Bank provide an impressive backdrop.


'Very peaceful'

From the kitchen of her tidy house, Judy Kramer, 61, sighs with pleasure as she looks at the view through her picture windows.


"Orchards, mountains, fir tree... very peaceful, very peaceful," she says.

Judy Kramer moved here in 1990 from England, with her husband and five children.

She has seen the settlement grow hugely. And she believes that all this land belongs to the Jewish people.

Just half a mile away, the Palestinian villagers could not disagree more.

Ziad Abdul Rahman, 65, runs a grocery shop in the village of Ein Yabrud.

As we talk, I am shown photocopies of documents in Arabic, which purport to show how most of the land on which Ofra has been built is in fact still owned by the Palestinians here.

Ziad and his 60-year-old friend Walid Hussein insist that the only recourse now is for the settlers to go, and the land to be returned.

"There will be no peace," said Walid, "if you don't give me my right, my ownership." Ziad says that money is not the issue.

Walid chips in: "The true owner never will sell one metre of land in this country."

read on...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7795139.stm
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