IDF maps village of Susya as forced displacement looms

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

http://972mag.com/idf-maps-village-of-susya-as-forced-displacement-looms/106584/

A Civil Administration inspector accompanied by soldiers arrived Sunday morning in Susya to take photos and measurements of village structures, further stoking fears among its Palestinian residents that they will be expelled from their homes at any moment.

Nasser Nawajeh, a resident, longtime activist and volunteer with B’Tselem, took the following photo of the official, who goes by the name Carlos.
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The Israeli army has issued repeated demolition orders in the village on the basis of illegal construction and zoning. The only reason Palestinians in the south Hebron Hills build illegally, however, is because Israeli authorities have never granted them building permits or any planning rights. The Israeli army rejects 90 percent of Palestinian planning requests in Area C, and most villages in the area face almost identical restrictions and demolition threats. Settlements for Jewish Israelis, however, continuously pop up in the area, including an adjacent settlement that also named itself Susya.

The 340 residents of Khirbet Susya have for years been fighting in court for the right to stay on their land. Susya is located in the south Hebron Hills, in Area C of the West Bank, which according to the Oslo Accords is under full Israeli control. Its residents were first expelled from their lands in 1986 after the Jewish settlement of Susya was established and an archaeological site built on its former location. The Palestinian villagers then moved the village to their adjacent agricultural lands and have been fighting to subsist there ever since.

Yes, I know, this story isn't as glamorous as a rock concert in Tel Aviv, but it does portray the reality that Palestinians are faced with every day from the IDF, its Israeli overlords and the illegal colonists that take what is stolen for them.

Quite a racket the Israelis have going on, but I guess Old habits die hard.

[BillZBubb]

1. Israel's land theft marches on. And Israel's apologists applaud.