Urgent Action: Protest the illegal Sale of Palestinian Property
Prevent Israeli expropriation of Hebron Market;
Honor the 1997 Hebron Protocol Agreement
According to an article in Ha'aretz (Israeli newspaper), 30 January 2006, the state of Israel is preparing to expropriate the Hebron market and lease it to the Israeli settlers. The basis for expropriation is that the market was once Jewish property.
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) has been present in Hebron since the beginning of the Oslo II agreement in 1995 and the subsequent signing of the Hebron protocol in January 1997. For ten years militant Israeli settlers have intervened against the implementation of the agreements, and the Israeli Army has given in to settler demands. In article 7 of the protocol, b(1) The wholesale market - Hasbahe - will be opened as a retail market in which goods will be sold directly to consumers from within the existing shops, and (2) The movement of vehicles on the Shuhada Road will be gradually returned, within 4 months, to the same situation prior to February 1994. In article 9 both sides share the mutual goal that movement of people, goods, and vehicles within and in and out of the city will be smooth and normal, without obstacles.
CPT has observed the Israeli army's disregard for the signed agreements. Israeli settler violence and Israeli army closures have emptied the Old City of its Palestinian residents. (see B'Tselem Status Report, August 2003). The Israeli army welded shut the Palestinian shop doors on Shuhada Street and installed gates that turn the Old City into a prison. The international community must call on their governments to prevent this new proposed illegal expropriation, and for Israeli to fulfill its obligations called for in the Hebron protocol.
Talking points:
1. A legal examination by an illegal occupier is not a fair way to determine land ownership, especially when it counters signed agreements.
2. Some of the Palestinian shopkeepers have documents that prove they purchased the property from the previous Jewish owners.
3. The descendants of some of the original Jewish owners have stated that they prefer to honor their ancestors' wishes that the property be given to the Palestinian families who saved them in 1929.
4. (For US citizens) The American Plan on Shuhada Street, January 7, 1997, prepared by Ambassador Dennis Ross, is an official part of the Hebron Protocol. The US stated intentions to "facilitate the complete reopening of al-Shuhada Street in the city of Hebron." Although USAID paid for improvements on Shuhada Street, the stated US intentions have not been fulfilled.
ACTION
Please fax, e-mail or send postcards to your Ministry of Foreign Affairs or State Department and/or Prime Minister or President. Copy your Members of Parliament or Representatives and Senators. Urge them to send a clear message to the Israeli government that they must not expropriate the Hebron Market and that they must honor the 1997 Hebron protocol.
US Contacts
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice
State Department
2201 C Street NW
Washington DC 20520
Fax 1 202 261 8577
Email secretary@state.gov
Canadian Contacts
Ambassador to Canada
Embassy of the USA
100 Wellington Street
Ottawa ONT K1P 5T1
Fax 613 238 5720
For background information and updates, go to:
Hebron Rehabilitation Committee (English site under construction)
Phone:02-2255640/Fax: 02-222-6994
E-mail:hebronrc@hebronet.com WebPage: www.hebronrc.org.
Christian Peacemaker Teams at: Phone: 02-222-8485 /
E-mail: cptheb@palnet.com / Web Page: http://www.cpt.org/
B'Tselem-http://www.btselem.org/
For viewing of Hebron Protocol in Arabic and English go to Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre at http://www.jmcc.org/peace/agreements/hebprot.htm
Honor the 1997 Hebron Protocol Agreement
According to an article in Ha'aretz (Israeli newspaper), 30 January 2006, the state of Israel is preparing to expropriate the Hebron market and lease it to the Israeli settlers. The basis for expropriation is that the market was once Jewish property.
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) has been present in Hebron since the beginning of the Oslo II agreement in 1995 and the subsequent signing of the Hebron protocol in January 1997. For ten years militant Israeli settlers have intervened against the implementation of the agreements, and the Israeli Army has given in to settler demands. In article 7 of the protocol, b(1) The wholesale market - Hasbahe - will be opened as a retail market in which goods will be sold directly to consumers from within the existing shops, and (2) The movement of vehicles on the Shuhada Road will be gradually returned, within 4 months, to the same situation prior to February 1994. In article 9 both sides share the mutual goal that movement of people, goods, and vehicles within and in and out of the city will be smooth and normal, without obstacles.
CPT has observed the Israeli army's disregard for the signed agreements. Israeli settler violence and Israeli army closures have emptied the Old City of its Palestinian residents. (see B'Tselem Status Report, August 2003). The Israeli army welded shut the Palestinian shop doors on Shuhada Street and installed gates that turn the Old City into a prison. The international community must call on their governments to prevent this new proposed illegal expropriation, and for Israeli to fulfill its obligations called for in the Hebron protocol.
Talking points:
1. A legal examination by an illegal occupier is not a fair way to determine land ownership, especially when it counters signed agreements.
2. Some of the Palestinian shopkeepers have documents that prove they purchased the property from the previous Jewish owners.
3. The descendants of some of the original Jewish owners have stated that they prefer to honor their ancestors' wishes that the property be given to the Palestinian families who saved them in 1929.
4. (For US citizens) The American Plan on Shuhada Street, January 7, 1997, prepared by Ambassador Dennis Ross, is an official part of the Hebron Protocol. The US stated intentions to "facilitate the complete reopening of al-Shuhada Street in the city of Hebron." Although USAID paid for improvements on Shuhada Street, the stated US intentions have not been fulfilled.
ACTION
Please fax, e-mail or send postcards to your Ministry of Foreign Affairs or State Department and/or Prime Minister or President. Copy your Members of Parliament or Representatives and Senators. Urge them to send a clear message to the Israeli government that they must not expropriate the Hebron Market and that they must honor the 1997 Hebron protocol.
US Contacts
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice
State Department
2201 C Street NW
Washington DC 20520
Fax 1 202 261 8577
Email secretary@state.gov
Canadian Contacts
Ambassador to Canada
Embassy of the USA
100 Wellington Street
Ottawa ONT K1P 5T1
Fax 613 238 5720
For background information and updates, go to:
Hebron Rehabilitation Committee (English site under construction)
Phone:02-2255640/Fax: 02-222-6994
E-mail:hebronrc@hebronet.com WebPage: www.hebronrc.org.
Christian Peacemaker Teams at: Phone: 02-222-8485 /
E-mail: cptheb@palnet.com / Web Page: http://www.cpt.org/
B'Tselem-http://www.btselem.org/
For viewing of Hebron Protocol in Arabic and English go to Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre at http://www.jmcc.org/peace/agreements/hebprot.htm