Palestinians Blast West Bank Clear-Out
Israel’s plan to evict Palestinians from their West Bank homes to make way for army training zones aims at “evacuating the Palestinians from their land,” Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Wednesday.
“There is no other explanation,” he insisted, while visiting a partially demolished mosque in Mufaqara, where some 1,500 people live without running water or electricity.
Fayyad told European Union diplomats who were also visiting Mufakara that Israeli settlement expansion and forced evictions of Palestinians had undermined the viability of reaching a peaceful solution with Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“As a matter of principle, this is not Israeli land. If they want to practice military training, they should go elsewhere,” he said.
Israel has asked for Supreme Court approval to move the residents to the nearby village of Yatta, where the Defense Ministry argues many of them have permanent homes.
Palestinian villagers say Israel wants to remove them so that nearby Jewish settlements can be expanded. “We are one kilometer away from one settlement, and 700 meters from an outpost. Why aren’t they being evacuated?” asked one resident.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
