Peace Now petitions court to halt Modi'in Illit construction

[Wordie]

Peace Now petitions court to halt Modi'in Illit construction

By Yuval Yoaz and Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondents

Peace Now petitioned the Supreme Court Wednesday to halt the illegal construction of a Jewish neighborhood being built in the West Bank settlement of Modi'in Illit.

The appeal was made after Haaretz revealed that the neighborhood was being built on land that belonged to Palestinians in the nearby village of Bil'in.

Lawyer Michael Sfard asked the Supreme Court on behalf of Peace Now to order a halt on construction work being carried out and issue demolition orders for buildings already erected.

The state prosecutor for Modi'in Illit said that the construction constituted a "colossal construction infringement," and that though the local civil administration had admitted its illegality, they failed to act to stop it.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/666315.html

There are 750 housing units (out of 3,000 that are planned) currently under construction.

[Tom Joad]

1. The continued land theft, dispossesion continues unabated,

that is the Middle East tragedy this week. It does not depend on a personality.

Thankfully, so does resistance, as this article shows.

[Violet_Crumble]

2. This one seems like a nobrainer...

Illegal construction in an illegal settlement in occupied territory on land that belongs to Palestinians living in a nearby village...

Violet...

[Coastie for Truth]

3. I guess Peace Now is getting more assertive (at last)

et seq., i.e.,

...snip... but the criticism of Peace Now that you spoke about is one I've heard before, and nothing against the good intentions of Peace Now, but sometimes they can be just a bit too nambypamby about things for my liking. That's not saying that I think Peace Now should be dismissed at all, but that I'm aware of the limits Peace Now works under and places on itself...

G'day :hi:

[eyl]

4. State mulls criminal probe into illegal settlement construction

In a rare move against settlement expansion, the State Prosecution on Friday told the High Court of Justice it will look into the possibility of opening a criminal investigation pertaining to the illegal construction in the the Matityahu East neighborhood in the West Bank settlement of Upper Modi'in.

Attorney Aner Helman of the State Prosecution told the court it should issue a temporary injunction to forbid the plan to double the housing units in the neighborhood from 1,500 to 3,000.

Justice Ayala Procaccia on Friday ordered to halt construction immediately of the hundreds of illegal housing units in the neighborhood.

Helman added that the court should demand that Upper Modi'in's local planning and construction committee ensure the construction be halted, and stop allowing construction without permits from the West Bank command's central planning bureau.

He said that if proper actions are not taken by local officials, inspectors from the central command would be forced to act.

Haaretz

[Wordie]

5. Excellent. These Israeli officials should be applauded! eom