Briefing Description: Bethlehem District Threatened by Israel's Land Confiscation in the West Bank
Monday, November 24, 2014
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Rayburn House Office Building - Room 2168
Four days after the ceasefire took effect in Gaza late this summer, Israel announced it would expropriate 1,000 acres of Palestinian land in the Bethlehem district of the West Bank. The land annexation is intended for settlement expansion in violation of international law, which prohibits such actions in occupied territories. The area is currently in agricultural use by five Palestinian villages—Wadi Foquin, Husan, Nahalin, Surif, and Jab’a—supporting families and a rural way of life as it has for many generations.
This action was foreshadowed a year ago, when residents of Wadi Foquin travelled to Washington D.C. to describe the existential threat expanding settlements posed to their homes, their families, and their livelihood. Since 1967 every U.S. administration has opposed the settlements and has viewed settlement expansion as a major obstacle to peace in the region. The U.S. State Department has strongly urged Israel to reverse this latest action of land expropriation. The briefing will provide members with general information on the settlement enterprise and the specific impact of this latest action on Wadi Foquin and neighboring villages in the West Bethlehem district.
Speakers:
Ata Manasra, Coordinator, Wadi Foquin CDP
Ahmad Sukar, Mayor and Village Council President of Wadi Foquin
Adel Hroub, Youth Coordinator, Wadi Foquin CDP
Moderator: Susan Wilder
Sponsored By:
Friends of Wadi Foquin
General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) of the United Methodist Church
US Campaign to End the Occupation
Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace (PCAP)
Faith Forum on Middle East Policy
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