A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Israel demolishes 9 West Bank settler units it deems illegal
Since
Trump took office in January, Israel has announced plans to build 6,000
more settler homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem
Police carried some of the settlers and protesters out of the red-roofed structures in the settlement of Ofra (Reuters)
Tuesday 28 February 2017
Israeli police began removing settlers and hundreds of supporters on
Tuesday from nine houses built on privately owned Palestinian land in
the occupied West Bank.
Israeli authorities deem those units "illegal" - i.e. built without it's
authorization - but international law and most countries consider all
settlements to be illegal.
Police carried some of the settlers and protesters out of the red-roofed
structures in the settlement of Ofra, while others walked out, escorted
by officers.
They had
cleared eight of the nine houses but dozens of predominantly young
protesters made a final stand on the roof of the ninth.
Two people were arrested for attacking officers, a police statement
said, and eight officers were lightly injured, including by being
bitten.
Israel's supreme court had ordered the demolition of nine buildings in
the settlement of more than 3,000 people after finding that those homes
were constructed on land where Palestinians proved ownership.
Such judicial rulings upholding Palestinian property rights have riled
Israel's right wing, as it promotes plans to expand construction in
settlements built on occupied territory Palestinians seek for a state.
Israeli
policemen remove pro-settlement activists and residents from several
homes in the Israeli settlement of Ofra, in the occupied West Bank
(Reuters)
Yet the nine-house demolition is a paltry number compared to the fact
that 550,000 Israelis live in settlements located in the West Bank -
including East Jerusalem.
There was
little initial sign of the kind of violence that accompanied a
larger-scale evacuation on 2 February of Amona, a West Bank
settlement-outpost built without Israeli government permission in 1995.
More than 100 youths had protested against the removal of Amona's 300
settlers. Some 60 officers and at least four demonstrators were hurt in
scuffles there that included bleach being thrown at police.
Palestinians want to establish a state in the West Bank and in the Gaza
Strip, which Israel continues to blockade, with East Jerusalem as its
capital. They say settlement construction could deny them a viable and
contiguous country.
Three weeks ago, Israel's parliament retroactively legalised about 4,000
settler homes built on privately owned Palestinian land. The new law
did not apply to Amona or the nine dwellings in Ofra because of standing
court rulings.
Since US President Donald Trump took office in January, Israel has
announced plans to build 6,000 more settler homes in the West Bank and
East Jerusalem.
But at a White House news conference with Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu on 15 February, Trump startled the Israeli leader by saying he
would like to see him "hold back on settlements for a bit". Netanyahu
later said he hoped to "reach an understanding" with Trump on
settlements.