Israel/Palestine
Related: About this forumCouncil builds West Bank bypass on Palestinian-owned land, for Israelis only
Mateh Binyamin says it is solving a traffic problem for Israelis at a busy West Bank intersection north of Jerusalem. Critics label it unimpeded apartheid.An Israeli regional council has illegally built a road on privately owned Palestinian land in the West Bank, allowing Israeli citizens to avoid traffic jams at a busy junction north of Jerusalem. The bypass is not accessible to Palestinians from the West Bank.
Route 437 runs northeast of Jerusalem through the West Bank and is used by both Palestinians and Israelis. It feeds into Route 60 the main north-south highway in the area and is the scene of frequent afternoon traffic jams near the Jewish settlement of Geva Binyamin (also known as Adam). In recent years, Jewish residents of the area have complained about major traffic congestion getting onto Route 60.
In an effort to relieve congestion at the intersection, this week the Civil Administration issued an order expropriating 5.4 dunams (a little over an acre) of privately owned Palestinian land, to widen the highway near the Adam junction. Palestinians contend that the plan could result in the demolition of several privately owned buildings at the site.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.618995
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)However, in addition, in recent weeks the Mateh Binyamin regional council has arranged an alternative route for Israeli motorists in the afternoon hours, over privately owned Palestinian land. At 3 P.M., a gate is opened at the settlement, which adjoins the main highway. A guard at the site said Israelis may enter what he claims is land belonging to the settlement to bypass the traffic. In the evening, the gate is closed and all traffic is redirected to the main road. The road was built without any authorization from the Civil Administration (the Defense Ministry agency that constitutes the civil authority in Israeli-controlled parts of the West Bank).
A demolition order has been issued for the proposed new route, a portion of which is a security patrol route for the settlement paved at the initiative of the Israel Defense Forces. But the IDF has not stopped motorists from using the new bypass route.
Dror Etkes, a researcher into settlement activity, told Haaretz that the new road was paved on an illegal thoroughfare that the settlement built illegally in 2002-2003 to expand Geva Binyamins boundaries. Portions of it cross land owned by residents of the nearby Palestinian village of Jaba, he claimed.
The coordinator of government activities in the territories, of which the Civil Administration is a part, provided a response that related to Route 437 but not the new road through the settlement itself. The new highway serves both Palestinians and Israelis, a spokesperson said. First and foremost it was renovated to improve safety due to the many accidents that have taken place there. In addition, the renovation of the highway will reduce traffic congestion in the region for all its residents.
Mateh Binyamin regional council responded: The Adam-Hizmeh highway was declared a dangerous road from a safety and security standpoint by professionals, because it doesnt have an alternative access route and, in the event of an accident or security incident, it is not possible to reach [the scene] to evacuate the injured. In addition, there is insufferable traffic congestion at the location, which includes waiting for hours in traffic jams, which imposes substantial difficulties on both the Israeli and Palestinian populations.
In an effort to provide a temporary solution until the Transportation Ministry deals with the problem, the Adam community is opening its security route during periods of heavy traffic, in favor of an alternative access route with access for residents of the community and holders of blue [Israeli] identity cards Jews and Arabs alike (in accordance with directives from security authorities) thereby providing a safe and secure response on one hand, and easing the highway congestion on the other.
The council is investing major efforts into solving the difficult problem and providing a solution for all of those who travel on the highway. It is unfortunate that Haaretz has chosen to relate to this dangerous highway only with regard to the opening of the access route, and not with regard to the danger for all who travel on it.
The head of Jaba council, Abdel Karim Basharat, told Haaretz, There is no doubt this involves an apartheid road paved on Palestinian land. The road was paved, he said, after the Adam settlement fenced in the section where the road has run since 2003, citing security concerns. Now it is being used to ease the situation for the settlers, but the fencing has deprived Palestinian villagers of access to their land, he said. Basharat said the village also plans to appeal this weeks order expropriating Palestinian land for the widening of Route 437. He has also approached Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah seeking the prime ministers intervention.
Basharat said there are also plans for a larger highway interchange and bridges, which will involve the expropriation of more of Jabas land and will serve the settlers in the area rather than benefiting Jabas residents.
This story encapsulates the microcosm of the existence of the occupation and dispossession that Israel has created in the West Bank, which is gradually becoming open and unimpeded apartheid, Etkes said. Its an apartheid that benefits Israelis in every aspect of their daily lives and, as in this instance, is always carried out at the expense of West Bank Palestinian residents whose property and respect are totally up for grabs in the eyes of the Israeli authorities.
The IDF spokesman responded, Most of the route is part of the delineated plan for the Adam settlement and is within the local councils jurisdiction. As for the additional part of the road and its connection to route 437, the inspection unit has issued orders to stop its construction. Until the supervision procedure is regulated, the route has been blocked by a locked gate.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.618995
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)the Afrikaans word coined in 1947 to describe how the government of South Africa dealt with the indigenous population
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)Israelis can be of any race or ethnic background.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)or not I think Israeli answered such stuff in comment 12
http://www.democraticunderground.com/113483083#post12
oberliner
(58,724 posts)But Israelis of any race or ethnic background can use these roads.
The restriction is based on Israeli citizenship.
ForgoTheConsequence
(4,869 posts)And if you disagree you're an anti-semite.
Mosby
(16,319 posts)ForgoTheConsequence
(4,869 posts)And forcing African immigrants to be sterilized isn't systematic racism. Israel can't be racist, nuh uh, no way! Nothing to see here at all!
Mosby
(16,319 posts)Israeli officials were not forcing anyone to be sterilized.
ForgoTheConsequence
(4,869 posts)Israel admits Ethiopian women were given birth control shots
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-admits-ethiopian-women-were-given-birth-control-shots.premium-1.496519
Mosby
(16,319 posts)The Haaretz stories were based on a Dec. 8, 2012 Israeli broadcast called Vacuum, with host Gal Gabai. Ignoring information to the contrary, and placing words in the mouths of her interviewees, Gabai relentlessly pushed her pre-determined and unsubstantiated thesis that the coerced injections of Depo-Provera, a contraception shot which lasts three months, led to a 50 percent decrease in the birth rate among Ethiopian immigrants in the last decade.
Besides the abhorrent possibility that Israeli officials and/or employees of the Joint Distribution Committee, which operates the Ethiopian clinics, maintained a systematic mechanism (Gabais words) to ensure the women receive the shots, are there are other feasible explanations for the prevalent use of Depo-Provera among Ethiopian Jews? Yes, but Gabai, Talila Nesher of Haaretz and their foreign colleagues failed to consider them.
Depo-Provera is the most popular birth control method in African countries, including Ethiopia. Many women prefer the shot, a discreet means of birth control, which can be administered without the knowledge of disapproving husbands. A 2005 study carried out by Family Health International found: Because contraceptives may introduce social discord, leading at times to intimate partners violence among African couples, women of low bargaining powers often resort to family planning methods that are suitable to covert use. . . Consequently, a general pattern that has been observed in the contraceptive method mix in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere in the developing world is the predominance of injectables.
http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/02/07/lets-get-the-facts-straight-about-ethiopian-jews-and-contraception/
JDC's Ethiopia Medical Director Denies Forced Sterilization
http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2012/12/jdcs-ethiopia-medical-director-denies-forced-sterilization-234.html
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)It exists in a total vacuum, is totally unique, nameless, and undefinable. We cannot use any term to describe it, because every term is deemed wrong by the people who support the indescribable situation. Since we cannot describe it, since we cannot compare it, since we cannot name it, we cannot speak of it, and must instead be silent about it.
Israeli
(4,151 posts)Or .... leader of the Meretz party .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shulamit_Aloni
Ref : This Road is for Jews Only
http://www.counterpunch.org/2007/01/08/yes-there-is-apartheid-in-israel/
No apartheid here, move along.......
No " systematic racism " either ....
Its all a figment of your imagination ForgoTheConsequence......move along ....
How dare you question The Algemeiner !!!!!!!
Haaretz just makes up stories ....
King_David
(14,851 posts)Do you really believe Haaretz just makes up stories ?
Strange beliefs about Haaretz here , yesterday a poster claimed Haaretz was pro government and anti Palestinian .
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1134&pid=82844
Israeli
(4,151 posts)....are you playing dumb on purpose ?
Quote Mosby : " That story was made up " ......post # 5.