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Peace Now Petitions the Supreme Court re: New Illegal Construction

Read Peace Now's statement on the new illegal neighborhood in Halmish settlement, plus related articles from YNET and AFP
Illegal Construction in West Bank Halmish Settlement

PEACE NOW STATEMENT

Requests that  Minister of Defense immediately halts the construction of an new illegal neighborhood in the Settlement of Halmish (Neve Tzuf)

Today, Thursday, May 7, 2009 Peace Now submitted a petition to the courts requesting that they enforce the law and order an immediate halt to the construction of a new and illegal neighborhood in Halmish settlement (found in the Binyamin area of the West Bank.)

In addition Peace Now is requesting that the courts enforce the law by requiring the law enforcement agencies to issue and execute demolition orders for construction already completed.

Accordingly to information discovered by Peace Now, the AMANA movement (a branch of the Gush Emunim movement) began to construct in this area without ever receiving official authorization or permission over construction plans. This illegal move is supposed to house 25 new families in this settlement.

Furthermore on the AMANA website they themselves claim "A new neighborhood is being constructed with the assistance of AMANA, in which 25 families can be housed."

Publications advertising the construction also show that the local council of the Binyamin region is also involved in the construction.

The construction in this neighborhood began approx 4 months ago; to date 10 permanent structures have been completed on site and are ready to be populated. Despite constant appeals by Peace Now to the Civil Administration on this issue, no steps have been taken by the authorities to prevent continued construction.

This is not the first time that Gush Emunim, and its settlement branch Amana, have constructed in the West Bank without the proper authorization and required permits, other such example was the Amona outpost.

In addition other such illegal construction is presently taking place throughout the West Bank, partly on private Palestinian land.

Accordingly Peace Now requests that the courts use this case as an example to those law breakers, who to date have not been deterred by previous rulings or court orders and continue to disregard the law so blatantly.

Go HERE for more details on the petition.



AFP: "Israeli group asks court to halt settlement growth"

May 7, 2009

JERUSALEM (AFP) - An Israeli anti-settlement group on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to block what it said was the illegal expansion of an Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Peace Now said construction of 25 new houses in the Halmish settlement north of the Palestinian political capital Ramallah began in November 2008 without valid planning permission.

"In order to prevent a public outcry over such construction, the new tactic is to build illegally, without official overt government authorisation and without valid planning permission," the group said.

"This is an attempt by the government to avoid its responsibility and avert public criticism."

"Peace Now decided to appeal the Supreme Court requesting that it forces the government to uphold the law and to stop this illegal construction taking place in Halmish," the group said.

The Haaretz newspaper said construction in West Bank settlements has been accelerating for months, putting Israel on a collision course with the US administration.

Israeli settlements on occupied land are viewed as one of the main stumbling blocks in the Middle East peace process and Israel's main ally Washington has on numerous occasions spoken out against the continued expansion.

Peace Now estimates that there are about 280,000 Israeli settlers living in some 121 settlements in the West Bank. Another estimated 200,000 live in annexed east Jerusalem.


YNET: "Peace Now petitions court to stop settlement construction"

Left-wing group says ten permanent structures built without authorization in center of Halamish - Neve Tzuf, demand court order defense minister to prevent their use

by Aviad Glickman

Peace Now petitioned the High Court of Justice on Thursday, demanding that court instruct Defense Minister Ehud Barak and head of the IDF Central Command, Major-General Gadi Shamni, to order the immediate cessation of construction activities in the West Bank settlement of Halamish - Neve Tzuf.

The organization further demands to know why no stop-work orders were issued, why the existing construction has not been demolished and why the necessary steps have not yet been taken to investigate and begin legal proceedings against those responsible for the illegal project.

According to the petition, the permanent structures were built on land belonging to the state.

Attorney Michael Sfard, who is representing Peace Now, says that the construction was carried out without building permits and that the project is in contradiction with the existing plans for the area.

"As with all the cases of illegal construction carried out by Jewish residents in the West Bank, here too the arm of the law is absent and furthermore, the plaintiff's attempts to alert (law enforcement agencies) of the developing situation were ignored," said Sfard.

The petition further asserts that Barak and Shamni have failed to enforce zoning and construction laws in the area under their jurisdiction, this despite their pledged to do so.

Peace Now is seeking an interim order that would force Barak and Shamni to prevent the existing structures from being populated or used.

The Defense Ministry has yet to submit its response to the petition.