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ACTION ALERT - Christian Peacemaker Teams call upon you to oppose Proposed Settler Road in Tel Rumeida Area, Hebron A new Israeli military order threatens to confiscate more Palestinian land, further restrict the Palestinian families' lives, and pave a road through a Muslim cemetery, all in Tel Rumeida, the oldest part of the city of Hebron. The small Israeli settlement in Tel Rumeida consists of a few houses, tight against Palestinian neighbors who suffer constant restrictions from theIsraeli military and harassment from Israeli settlers. The military order or decree, number t/17/05 of 11 February 2005, is attempting to create a new settler road connecting the Tel Rumeida settlement with the settlements of Beit Romano and Avraham Avinu, near Abraham's Tomb in the Old City Hebron. Implementing this decree violates the Hebron Protocol, which was signed between Palestinians and Israelis in 1997. Additionally, creating this road will expand Israeli settlement holdings inTel Rumeida in direct violation of the "Road Map" for peace. The creation of this road will include demolishing parts of historic houses, disturbing Muslims' graves, uprooting long-lived olive trees, and destroying ancient monuments in the area. Additional security fences along the route will exacerbate the prison-like conditions under which the Palestinians of Tel Rumeida are already living, where they endure virtual house arrest in their own homes, on their lands. It will also increase Israeli military and settler control of the area, abetting settler violence and harassment of the Palestinian families, including schoolchildren, living in Tel Rumeida that has reached a crisis stage in recent days. (Please refer to CPT Hebron Release: "Hebron Palestinian Families in Crisis: Settlers Escalate Violence; CPT Offers Opportunities for Reporters to Visit Besieged Palestinian Families", 9 May 2005.) It is to be noted that all settlement development in occupied lands by the occupying power is illegal according to the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949, to which Israel is a signatory. Palestinian residents of Old City Hebron have expressed fears to CPT that a consequence of the increasing settler violence and harassment, even prior to that surrounding the proposal of the new road, will be to put more pressure on Tel Rumeida Palestinians to move out, thus providing unoccupied homes and lands for takeover by settlers to be evacuated from Gaza in the summer. The Hebron Rehabilitation Committee (HRC) has raised an objection to implementing the above- mentioned decree to the Israeli Supreme Court through an Israeli lawyer. The court refused to give a cease work order immediately, contrary to its usual policy of postponing their decision for ten days. This time, however, after ten days, no decision was taken; and the court informed HRC verbally that no decision would be taken before 1 May. Following this, HRC obtained a cease work order from the court until the court is scheduled to discuss it on 15 May. CPT CALLS UPON YOU TO EXPRESS YOUR OPPOSITION PROMPTLY TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS ISRAELI MILITARY DECREE ! ACTION A sample text below. We are all busy but it only takes a minute to copy the suggested text or part of it and send to Paul Martin pm@pm.gc.ca Fax 613-941-6900 and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pierre Pettigrew pettigrew@parl.gc.ca Fax 613-996-3443 Letters received by surface mail are regarded more seriously than e-mail. No postage required. Mail to: House of Commons Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 SAMPLE TEXT FOR MESSAGE Please challenge the Israeli military decree, number t/17/05 of 11 February 2005, that takes the land of Palestinian families and disrupts their lives to add a new settler road in Tel Rumeida, at the heart of Old City Hebron. These Palestinian families have already suffered enormous loss and constant assaults ever since the establishment of the illegal Israeli settlement inTel Rumeida. This new Israeli military order expands the settlement in violation of the Hebron Protocol of 1997 and the "Road Map" for peace. The road will destroy historic houses, disturb Muslim graves, uproot long-lived olive trees, and damage ancient monuments in the area. If not stopped, a consequence of this decree will be to put more pressure on Tel Rumeida Palestinians to move out, thus providing unoccupied homes and lands for takeover by settlers. Evacuated Gaza settlers must not be relocated to Hebron! We urge you, then, to send a clear message to the Israeli government that implementation of military decree t/17/05 of 11 February 2005 is unacceptable in view of commitments agreed by Israel in both the Hebron Protocol of 1997 and the "Road Map" for peace; it will increase Israeli military and settler control of the area, escalating settler violence and increasing tension in Hebron city. For further information on this matter, please refer to: CPT Hebron Release: "Hebron Palestinian Families in Crisis: Settlers Escalate Violence; CPT Offers Opportunities for Reporters to Visit Besieged Palestinian Families", 9 May 2005. The press release may be found at the following link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cpthebron/ Yours sincerely, for peace, [Your name and full address.] ******************************* Please Copy or Bcc CPT and/or keep us posted on your activities on this Urgent Action. Hebron Rehabilitation Committee at: Phone: 02-222-3595 / Fax: 02-222-6994 / E-mail: hebronrc@hebronet.com Web Page: www.hebronrc.org Christian Peacemaker Teams at: Phone: 02-222-8485 / E-mail: cptheb@palnet.com / Web Page: www.cpt.org/Hebron Your Comments |
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