Three months ago we launched a letter campaign
to stop the expulsion of the cave dwellers south of Hebron. Our efforts
resulted in the government's request to postpone deliberations in the
High Court of Justice. Their intention was to hold the deliberations
when public attention was diverted.
We believe that this terrible act of expulsion
can only be achieved when there is no public attention. Therefore we
appeal to you again to write to Israel's ministers, to Israeli Embassies
in your countries, and to your own Foreign Ministries demanding that
no expulsion of Palestinians from the South Hebron Hills be allowed.
Your assistance is very important to the struggle.
In the first third of the 19th century (1830s),
poverty-stricken Palestinian families left their villages in the South
Hebron region and went to eke out their livelihoods in the surrounding
hills and fields on lands they could
afford to purchase on the outskirts of the existing villages living
in the numerous and spacious caves spread throughout the area (today
the south West Bank).
In the generations that followed these families
developed a unique culture and way of life based on their sheep herding,
agriculture and cave dwelling. the occupationled to expropriation of
the palestinian farmer's land due to establishment of military bases,
declaration of certain areas as "drilling zones", closed military
zones.
From the early eighties, the israeli government
confiscated more land as it began building settlements in the area.
Today this scattered pastoral palestinian population numbers a few thousand
- but their very existence is now in danger.
THEY ARE FACING IMMINENT EXPULSION BY THE
ISRAELI OCCUPATION AUTHORITIES.
In November 1999 the decades-long harrassment
of this population reached a new level when the Israeli army violently
expelled some 750 inhabitants (mostly children and women) from their
homes and land. Israeli peace and human rights organizations mounted
a major public campaign to return the cave-dwellers to their homes,
and the High Court of Justice issued an temporary injunction to this
effect in March 2000.
As a result of the Court ruling things remained
relatively quiet until July 2001 when, without any warning, the Israeli
army and Civil Administration tore through a wide area with bulldozers
- destroying caves and other dwellings, stopping up water wells with
rocks and dirt, mowing down crops and livestock, and expelling hundreds
of people.
Since then Israeli and Palestinian peace and
human rights organizationshave mobilized in defense of this vulnerable
population - but the army and the settlers reign supreme on the ground.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
IT IS CLEAR THAT THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT ASPIRES
TO EXPEL THE POPULATION OF CAVE DWELLERS, TO REINFORCE ITS OWN SETTLEMENTS
IN THE AREA, AND TO EVENTUALLY ANNEX THIS TERRITORY TO ISRAEL "CLEANSED"
OF ITS PALESTINIAN INHABITANTS.
Lately we have been hearing from Palestinians
who have been repeatedly haraassed and harmed by settlers. Their complaints
to the police receive no attention and are ignored. Complaints to the
military authorities and to the government are no more successful. It
must be remembered that even now the settlers continue to build new
settlements in the region, as they do in many parts of the occupied
territories.
PLEASE WRITE TO ISRAEL'S PRIME
MINISTER, DEFENSE MINSTER AND FOREIGN MINISTER, TO THE ISRAELI AMBASSADOR
IN YOUR COUNTRY, AND TO YOUR OWN FOREIGN MINISTRY - DEMANDING A STOP
TO THE HARRASSMENT AND EXPULSION OF THE PALESTINIANS FROM THE SOUTH
HEBRON HILLS, AND WARNING THAT SUCH CRIMES WILL NOT BE TOLERATED IN
THE 21ST CENTURY.
A sample letter:
Dear Minister....
I am saddened by the ongoing strife between the Israelis and the Palestinians
and by the many victims it has created.
I find it difficult to understand Israel's intention to expell the Palestinian
population - many of whom live in caves - from the South Hebron hills.
I was amazed to learn that the Barak government
expelled 750 residents from this area at the same time that it was promoting
the Peace Process. This puts a question mark on the true intentions
of the Israeli government.
Other expulsions committed by your government
between July and October of 2001, as well as the construction of new
and expansion of old settlements throughout the period do not lend credibility
to Israel's desire for a cease fire and for peace.
I consider the expulsion of Palestinian residents
a military act of war against defenceless civillians. This is an act
defined as a war crime and it violates the Fourth Geneva Convention.
I appeal to you to prevent this terrible action
and to abide by the the Fourth Geneva Convention in all the territories
occupied by Israel in 1967.
For more information you can visit the following
website:
www.southebron.com.
Israeli organizations active in defense of
the South Hebron Hills Palestinians include: Alternative
Information Center (AIC), Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI),
Bat Shalom, B'tselem, Gush Shalom, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
(ICAHD), Peace Now, Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Rabbis
for Human Rights, and Ta'ayush - Arab-Jewish Partnership. We
do it in cooperation with the Palestinian Land Defence Committee.
Addresses of protest letters (it is preferable
to send faxes):
Israeli Defense Minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer
Ministry of Defense
37 Kaplan st.
Tel-Aviv 61909, Israel
e-mail: sar@mod.gov.il
Fax: ++972-3-696 2757 / ++972-3-691 6940 / ++972-3-691 7915
CC to:
Israeli Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres
Fax:+972-2-5303704
sar@mofa.gov.il
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
fax:(+972-2) 566-4838 or 651-3955 or 651-2631
webmaster@pmo.gov.il
US Secretary of State Colin Powell,
Fax: +1-202-261-8577;
"Secretary od State, Colin Powell" secretary@state.gov
US President George W. Bush
Fax:(202) 456-2461
president@whitehouse.gov
Mr. Terje Rod Larsen
Personal Representative of the Secretary General
to the United Nations in Palestine
Fax: + 972 8 282 0966
unsco@palnet.com
Oversettelse av forslag til brev (Translation
to Danish of the sample letter above):
Kære minister ...
Jeg er bedrøvet over den fortsatte strid mellem israelere og
palæstinensere og over de mange ofre. Jeg
har svært ved at forstå Israels forsøg på at
fordrive den palæstinensiske befolkning - mange af dem bor i grotter
- fra det sydlige Hebrons bjerge. Jeg blev forbavset over at høre
at Baraks regering havde 750 af disse mennesker der bor i hulerne i
området samtidig med at forsøge at fremme fredsprocessen.
Det sætter spørgsmålstegn ved de virkelige hensigter
af Israels regering. Andre fordrivelser foretaget mellem juli og oktober
2001 af den israelske regering, samtidig med anlæggelse af nye
og udbygning af gamle bosættelser bidrager ikke til Israels troværdighed
med hensyn til ønske om våbenhvile og fred.
Jeg anser fordrivelse af de palæstinensiske
beboere som en militær krigsaktion mod forsvarsløse civile.
Det er defineret som en
krigsforbrydelse og overtrædelse af den 4.Geneve Konvention.
Jeg appelerer til dig om at forhindre denne frygtelige
aktion og få Israel til at opfylde den 4. Geneve Konvention i
alle de besatte områder siden 1967.
Med venlig hilsen
Baggrunds information
I 1830'erne forlod fattigdomramte palæstinensere deres landsbyer
syd for Hebron og prøvede at overleve i omkrigliggende bjerge
og på jord som de havde råd til at erhverve i udkanten af
de eksisterende landsbyer. De lavede et stort antal rummelige huler
i området som nu er den sydlige del af vestbredden.
I løbet af de næste generationer
har disse mennesker udviklet en unik kultur og leveform baseret på
fåreflokke , landbrug og
hulebeboelse. Besættelsen har medført konfiskering af de
palæstinsiske småbønders jord ved at oprette militærbaser
og erklære området for lukket militær område.
Fra de tidlige 1980'er konfiskerede Israels regering
yderligere jord og bgyndte at bygge bosættelser i området.
Idag udgør denne
spredte, pastorale palæstinensiske befolkning nogle tusinde mennesker
- men deres eksistensgrundlag er nu i fare. For 3 måneder siden
prøvede en gruppe israelere at stoppe fordrivelsen af hulebeboerne.
Den israelske højesterets behandling af
sagen er blevet udskudt efter henstilling fra regeringen. Dens hensigt
har formodentlig været at få en afgørelse når
der var mindre opmærksomhed om sagen.
Den israelske gruppe mener at denne frygtelige
handling kun kan lade sig gøre når der ikke er opmærksomhed
omkring sagen. Derfor anmoder gruppen om at vi skriver til israelske
ministre, til den israelske ambassade og til vores udenrigsminister..
Vores hjælp udefra er vigtig for disse
mennesker.
Udenrigsminister Per Stig Møller
Asiatisk Plads 2
1448 København K
Israels Ambassade
Lundevangsvej 4
2900 Hellerup