From Israel Hayom – 12-6-2019 - By Naomi Kahn
A joint project of
the Palestinian Authority and the European Union is taking over a strategic
area in the center of Gush Etzion, creating a "historic" village out
of thin air.
The Palestinian
Authority, aided by the European Union, is taking control of a strategic area
in the heart of the Gush Etzion bloc, between Highway 60 and Neveh Daniel. Over
the past two years, the P.A. has created, out of thin air, a “historic” village
– that just so happens to be located on a strategic point adjacent to the
Jerusalem-Hebron highway. The name given to this new “ancient” village:
Shoshkhalah.
Yishai Hemo, Judea
and Samaria field coordinator for NGO Regavim, describes the methodology: “Over
the course of the past two years, activists from the Arab town of Al Khader,
backed by P.A. and European Union funding, occupied the ruins of two ancient
shomerot (watchman’s huts) – primitive stone structures used by passing
shepherds or farmers as shelter from the elements – that dot the landscape in
the Jerusalem and Sataf areas. They renovated these abandoned structures and
turned them into homes – and from that point, in very short order, totally new
structures have been added in the surrounding area.”
The signs posted on
the refurbished buildings, proudly bearing the European Union emblem, explain
that the site is an ancient village – Shoshkhalah – despite the fact that
aerial photos paint a completely different picture: In the past two years, more
than 15 homes have been built in this “village,” each connected to solar power
infrastructure and water tanks paid for by the Europeans. Analysis of aerial
photos from 1967, as well as historic maps dating back to 1880, prove that
there was never any settlement of any kind at the site.
“This is another
phase in the PA-European Union program to seize control over strategic
areas,” says Hemo.
“We are all too
familiar with the program – from illegal construction in the Adumim Region,
from land grabs and highly developed construction projects on Israel Defense
Forces training grounds in the Hebron Hills and Gush Etzion, and from the
extensive agricultural work that the P.A. is carrying out as a means of
securing ownership rights to tens of thousands of dunams that have been
illegally seized for Roots Project activity.
“The ‘ancient
village’ of Shoshkhalah is just one more example of the fact that there is no
such thing as a vacuum. When the State of Israel fails to regulate and register
land in Judea and Samaria, the PA takes advantage of the opportunity to seize
this land and annex it, de facto, to its jurisdiction.”
The correct Israeli Government Departments should be notified,
ReplyDeletethen the problem will be dealt with.