CPTnet
14 April 2005
HEBRON DISTRICT URGENT ACTION: Stop Settlement Expansion Near Beit Ummar
We encourage you to participate in this letter-writing
Urgent Action. Below is background information, a
sample letter and addresses.
BACKGROUND
Farmers in the Palestinian village of Beit Ummar will
lose access to large portions of their land if plans
go forward for a new 'security' fence around the
Israeli settlement of Karme Tzur. Israeli military
officials gave notice to the farmers at a noon meeting
on Friday, 8 April about the pending confiscation of
land. Israeli officials gave the people seven days to
appeal the settlement expansion.
Although the confiscation order details only the
forty-five dunams (twelve acres) on the site where the
actual fence will be built, an estimated four hundred
forty-four dunams of prime agricultural land
surrounded by the proposed fence would increase the
area of the Karme Tzur settlement three-fold. If the
fence is built, Palestinian farmers will, in theory,
be able to access their land through three planned
gates if they have permits. The land confiscation
will affect the majority of the population of Beit
Ummar, 70% of whom are small farmers. The order also
impacts Palestinian farmers in the nearby village of
Halhoul.
The farmers of Beit Ummar have had difficulty over the
years caring for their fruit trees and harvesting
their produce because of harassment by residents of
the Karme Tzur settlement. The construction of the
new fence is the latest blow to their livelihoods.
Members of a Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT)
delegation visited farmers in the village on 12 April
and toured the affected land. One of the farmers, Abu
Jabr Sleibi, whose fruit orchards will lie within the
new fence, showed delegates where the Israeli Army had
already demolished part of his orchard. Another, Ahmed
Sabarneh said sadly, "The land is gone."
The proposed settlement expansion fence is separate
from the Security Wall being built with the aim to
divide the West Bank from Israel proper.
In conversation with CPT member Dianne Roe on 12
April, a political officer of the U.S. Consulate in
West Jerusalem confirmed that the U.S. State
Department considers this land confiscation illegal.
U.S. President Bush reiterated his opposition to
settlement expansion during his recent visits with
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
ACTION
Please fax, e-mail or send postcards to your Ministry
of Foreign Affairs or State Department and/or Prime
Minister or President. Send copies to your Members of
Parliament or Representatives and Senators. Urge them
to send a clear message to the Israeli government that
settlement expansion, including the expansion
represented by the Karme Tzur security fence, is
counter to the peace process and must stop. U.S.
citizens, please express your affirmation of the
stance President Bush has taken against settlement expansion.
SAMPLE TEXT FOR MESSAGE
Please stop new Israeli settlement expansion in the
West Bank near Beit Ummar. On 12 April, members of
Christian Peacemaker Teams visited farmers in the
village of Beit Ummar who received confiscation orders
on their land 8 April. Much of the village's farmland
will be taken for settlement expansion by a planned
'security' fence around the Israeli settlement of
Karme Tzur. The new fence will effectively increase
the area of the settlement three-fold and impoverish
Palestinian farming families. I urge you to
investigate this settlement expansion and send a clear
message to the Israeli government that settlement
expansion, including the expansion represented by the
new "security" fence around Karme Tzur, is counter to
the peace process and must stop.
Sincerely,
[Your name and full address]
ADDRESSES
USA:
President George W. Bush, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW; Washington, DC; 20500
Fax 202-456-2461
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; 2201 C Street NW;
Washington, DC; 20520
Fax (202)261-8577
Senator_____________; US Senate; Washington, DC;
20510
Representative______________; US House of
Representatives; Washington DC; 20515
For fax numbers, go to: http://congress.org/and enter
your zip code.
Canada:
Prime Minister Paul Martin; House of Commons; Ottawa, ON; K1A 0A6 Fax
613-941-6900
Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierre Pettigrew; House of
Commons; Ottawa ON; K1A 0A6
Fax 613-996-3443
You can mail MPs at the House of Commons address, or
find their fax numbers by looking them up at:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/senmemb/house/members/MemberList
UK:
Prime Minister Tony Blair; 10 Downing Street, London; SW1A 2AA Fax
020-7925-0918
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw; Foreign and Commonwealth
Office; Downing Street West, London; SW1A 2AL Fax 020-7839-2417
Find contact information for your MP at
http://www.parliament.uk/directories/directories.cfm.
For more information on the land confiscation near
Beit Ummar, you may contact Beit Ummar farmers Ahmed
and Edna Sabarneh, phone 972-2-252-0658 or
972-54-466-1204 (cell);
Abdel Hadi Hantash of the Palestinian Land Defense
Committee, phone 972-599-838-180; or
Christian Peacemaker Teams in Hebron,
phone 972-2-222-8485 or 972-54-691-3985 (cell).
email: guest.49296@MennoLink.org
___
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the
historic peace churches (Mennonites, Church of the
Brethren, and Quakers) with support and membership
from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations.
Supporting violence-reduction efforts around the
world is its mandate.
Contact CPT, POB 6508 Chicago, IL 60680; Telephone:
773-277-0253 Fax: 773-277-0291; e-mail:
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