Today, a letter signed by 14 national religious leaders, including Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, was sent to Secretary Kerry. The leaders called on the US Government to take immediate action to stop the forced transfer of Palestinian Bedouins living in the West Bank.
September 23, 2014
The Honorable John Kerry
U.S. Department of State
2201 C St. NW
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. Secretary,
On behalf of the signing
organizations, we are writing to urge the U.S. government to take immediate
action to stop the forced transfer of Palestinian Bedouins living in Area C of
the occupied West Bank. As you know, the U.S. has consistently indicated to
the Israeli government that building in the E-1 area is unacceptable and, as a
State Department spokesman noted in 2012, “would be especially damaging to
efforts to achieve a two-state solution.”
In September, Israel published
six spatial plans to forcibly transfer Palestinian Bedouins from their communities
around Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Jericho and relocate them to planned townships.
The published plans show that as many as 7,000 Palestinian Bedouins could be
affected. If implemented, the plans will lead to a situation of individual and
mass forcible transfers, which are prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention,
regardless of the motive. A violation of this nature may be considered a Grave
Breach of Article 49, giving rise to individual criminal liability and codified
as a war crime.
The six plans have raised
serious concern over Israel’s intent to officially annex Area C in order to
establish and expand settlements, in violation of international law. The
publication of the six plans follow recent moves within the Israeli Knesset in
August to de-centralize jurisdiction and expand decision making power over Area
C to Knesset sub-committees, which are heavily influenced by Israeli settlement
lobby groups.
The plans have also been
published within weeks of Israel’s announcement to annex a large piece of
Palestinian land situated between Jerusalem and Bethlehem in order to expand
the existing settlement of Gush Etzion. The six published plans also include
moving Palestinian Bedouins from the politically sensitive E1/Jerusalem
Periphery, where the Israeli-approved E1 master plan shows that Israel intends
to demolish Bedouin villages in order to expand the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim
and link it to settlements between the Jordan Valley and Jerusalem. Settlement
expansion in this area could render the two-state solution unachievable, as it
would cut the West Bank in half and further isolate Palestinians from
Jerusalem.
Area C, which makes up 60
percent of the West Bank, is economically and geographically vital to the
sustainability of the Palestinian state, as it contains the natural resources
and space necessary for Palestinian development. Although Area C is within the
internationally recognized 1967 borders of the occupied Palestinian territory,
Israel only allows Palestinians to build on one percent of it. The lack of
authority to build makes Palestinians vulnerable to home demolition,
displacement, and forcible transfer and limits their ability to realize their
rights to water, to adequate shelter, to education, health, and to livelihood.
In recent months, Israel has heightened the pressure on Palestinian communities
in Area C, using coercive tactics such as demolition and
eviction
notices to get them to move off their land. Israel has also restricted the
ability of aid agencies to respond to the needs of people affected by
demolition, demolishing and seizing aid items. According to data recorded by UN
OCHA, Israel has already demolished more than 350 Palestinian homes or
livelihood structures in Area C in 2014, 39 of which were demolished in the
E1/Jerusalem Periphery. Of these 39 structures, at least 12 were provided by
international donors.
Israel has stated that the six
plans to relocate Palestinian Bedouins are with their best interests in mind,
despite the fact that Bedouin have vehemently opposed them. Around 80 percent
of the Bedouin faced with forced transfer are registered refugees, originally
from the Negev in what is now the state of Israel. While their lifestyle is no
longer nomadic, they do depend on the vast natural resources, mainly open land
for grazing, found within their current communities. Similar transfer plans
executed by Israel between 1997-2007 had devastating effects on the Palestinian
Bedouin who were relocated. Research indicates that, 17 years after the
forcible transfer of 150 Bedouin families to a planned township called Al
Jabal, life in the township is neither economically nor socially sustainable
for the Bedouin, and the impact on women has been particularly harsh.
We therefore urge you to
take all necessary steps to ensure these six transfer plans are cancelled and
that Palestinians can remain in and develop their communities. Such steps
should include:
Ø Applying
immediate and effective pressure on Israel, at the highest political level, to
cancel their Bedouin relocation plans.
The United Nations Secretary-General has previously stated that the
implementation of “relocation” plans may amount to individual and mass forcible
transfers and forced evictions, prohibited under international humanitarian law
and human rights law. In their May 2012 Foreign Affairs Council Conclusions,
the European Union and member states called on Israel to halt forced transfer
in Area C and in their March 2014 EU Heads of Missions report on Jerusalem, the
EU and member states recommended that they monitor and respond appropriately to
forced transfer of Bedouin communities in the E1. The U.S. and the EU have
condemned settlement expansion in the E1, warning that changes to the
status-quo in the E1 present a risk to the two-state solution that they support.
Ø Calling
for a freeze to all outstanding demolition orders in the E1 and the rest of
Area C and for Palestinians to have access to a fair and representative
planning system. In a February 2014
UN Secretary General report, the SG called on Israel to: cease the
violations of Palestinians’ human rights resulting from discriminatory and
unlawful planning policies, laws and practices. Israel has to, in compliance
with international law, amend the planning legislation and processes in order,
in particular, to ensure the security of tenure and the full participation of
Palestinians. Israel must also refrain from implementing evictions and
demolition orders based on discriminatory and illegal planning policies, laws
and practices.
Ø Continuing
to pledge for and implement humanitarian and development programs for
vulnerable communities in Area C, in a manner consistent with international
humanitarian law. International donors should ensure their aid is
delivered in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law and that
they take all necessary precautions to ensure that their aid efforts do not
recognize violations or comply with the coercive environment facilitating the
forced transfer of vulnerable communities in Area C.
Thank you for hearing our
concerns. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Shan Cretin
General Secretary
American Friends Service
Committee
Stanley J. Noffsinger
General Secretary
Church of the Brethren
Eli S. McCarthy, PhD
Director of Justice and Peace
Conference of Major Superiors
of Men
Diane Randall
Executive Secretary
Friends Committee on National
Legislation
Rev. Julia Brown Karimu
Co-Executive
Global Ministries of the
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ
Rev. Dr. James Moos
Co-Executive
Global Ministries of the
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ
Gerry G. Lee
Director
Maryknoll Office for Global
Concerns
J Ron Byler
Executive Director Mennonite
Central Committee U.S.
Grace Said
Chair
Palestinian Christian Alliance
for Peace
Marie
Dennis
Co-President
Pax Christi International
Sr. Patricia Chappell
Director
Pax Christi USA
J. Herbert Nelson
Director, Office of Public
Witness
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Donna Baranski-Walker
Founder & Executive
Director
Rebuilding Alliance
Susan
T. Henry-Crowe, MDiv.DD
General
Secretary
General
Board of Church and Society
The
United Methodist Church
