CPTnet
10 February 2007
HEBRON DISTRICT URGENT ACTION: Five families facing loss of homes. Contact
embassies in Tel Aviv

The Israeli military has issued stop building orders to five Palestinian
families living in the Khirbtkasah area of Hebron district. In the past,
such orders have often been followed by demolition orders. Five extended
families live in seventeen dwellings in Khirbtkasah, near the village of
Idhna. The families, consisting of 235 people, already face severe hardship
because their homes and land lie in a 'closed area' between Israel's
Separation Wall and the Green Line.

Since Israel began construction of the Wall in 2002, observers have feared
that the Israeli government would eventually forcibly remove thousands of
Palestinians living near the wall from their homes. The UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that the wall
adversely affects 250,000 Palestinians. Of those, 17,000 live in 'closed
areas.' They cannot legally travel to Israel, or access any services there.
The Israeli army also controls their access to markets, schools and
hospitals in the occupied Palestinian West Bank through a gate in the wall.
They are thus enclosed by a physical wall on one side and by an
administrative one on the other.

The families in Khirbtkasah, who have legal documentation of ownership of
the land dating from the time of the Ottoman rule, will appeal the stop
building orders in an Israeli military court on 22 February 2007.

ACTION Please, e-mail or write to your embassy in Tel Aviv. Copy your
Members of Parliament or Representatives and Senators. Urge them to send a
clear message to the Israeli government that driving Palestinians from their
land is a violation of international law and must stop.

SAMPLE TEXT FOR MESSAGE "Please protest Israeli Military harassment
Palestinians trapped between the Separation Wall and the Green Line.

Five families living in the Khirbtkasah area of Hebron district, near Idhna,
will present an appeal petition in the Military Court on 22 February 2007.
The families of Ahmad Shehdeh Hamed Natah, Isat Muhama Abu Sa'adum, Saley
Ahmad Natah, Yosef Abdelkader Natah and Aref Muhamad Ahmad Abu-Sa'adin have
legal documentation proving ownership of this land. Threats to displace
these families are a violation of international law.

At present, the families farm their land, raising goats and sheep and
growing wheat. The Israeli army controls the families' access to markets and
other services because the area is between the Green Line and the Israeli
Separation Wall. These restrictions of movement have already threatened
their livelihoods.

I urge you to investigate these cases and send a clear message to the
Israeli government that driving Palestinians from their homes is wrong and
must stop. Sincerely

[Your name and full address]

ADDRESSES

Canada: Embassy in Tel Aviv -- The Canadian Embassy, PO Box 9442, Tel Aviv
67060, Israel. Fax: (011 972 3) 636-3380. Email: taviv@dfait-maeci.gc.ca
<mailto:taviv@dfait-maeci.gc.ca <mailto:taviv@dfait-maeci.gc.ca>
<mailto:taviv@dfait-maeci.gc.ca > >

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Office of the Prime Minister, 80 Wellington
Street, Ottawa, K1A 0A2. Fax: 613-941-6900 or Email: pm@pm.gc.ca
<mailto:pm@pm.gc.ca <mailto:pm@pm.gc.ca> <mailto:pm@pm.gc.ca > >

Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter McKay, House of Commons, Ottawa ON, K1A
0A6. Fax: (613) 992-2337 or Email: Mackay.P@parl.gc.ca

You can mail your MP at the House of Commons address, or find their email
address go to http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/house/PostalCode.asp?Source=S
M
<http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/house/PostalCode.asp?Source=
SM>
<http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/house/PostalCode.asp?Source=
SM
<http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/house/PostalCode.asp?Source=
SM> >

UK:

Embassy in Tel Aviv -- British Embassy, 192 Hayarkon Street, Tel Aviv 63405,
Israel. Fax: (+ 972 3) 527 8574. Email:

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