-
   - Now Netanyahu is painting Yair Lapid as an
anti-Semite<http://972mag.com/now-bibi-is-calling-yair-lapid-an-anti-semite/67001/>
   ByLarry Derfner <http://972mag.com/author/larryd/>| 11 CommentsPublished
   March 3, 2013
   <http://972mag.com/now-bibi-is-calling-yair-lapid-an-anti-semite/67001/>
   There is no Jewish memory too tender for Netanyahu to exploit, no matter
   how base the political objective. (UN Photo/Marco Castro)
   - Why is a border cop shaking hands with masked
settler?<http://972mag.com/why-is-a-border-policeman-shaking-hands-with-a-masked-settler/67027/>
   ByMairav Zonszein <http://972mag.com/author/mairavz/>Published March 3,
   2013

   
<http://972mag.com/why-is-a-border-policeman-shaking-hands-with-a-masked-settler/67027/>
   Prisoner's death in PA jail highlights violations, loss of
legitimacy<http://972mag.com/prisoners-death-in-palestinian-jail-highlights-violations-loss-of-legitimacy/67004/>
   ByDahlia Scheindlin <http://972mag.com/author/dahlias/>Published March
   3, 2013




http://972mag.com/a-divided-palestinian-neighborhood-torn-in-two-by-an-israeli-highway/66978/

By Mairav Zonszein <http://972mag.com/author/mairavz/> |Published March 2,
2013A divided Palestinian neighborhood, torn in two by an Israeli highway

Beit Safafa is a Palestinian neighborhood just south of West Jerusalem,
inside annexed and occupied East Jerusalem, all within the boundaries of
Israel’s vast Jerusalem municipality. It is situated between the Green Line
to its northern perimeter, and the Israeli settlement of Gilo on its
southern perimeter. (To find Beit Safafa on Ir
Amim’<http://eng.ir-amim.org.il/>s
map below, move your eyes directly down from “West Jerusalem” and you will
see it, just below the Green Line.)
<http://972mag.com/beyond-the-separation-wall-a-visit-to-jerusalems-forsaken-enclaves/54368/attachment/145/>

Greater Jerusalem Map (Ir Amim)

Until 1967, Beit Safafa was divided between Israeli-controlled West
Jerusalem and the Jordanian-controlled West Bank. Train tracks ran through
it along the 1949 Armistice Lines. When Israel occupied East Jerusalem,
Beit Safafa came entirely under Israeli rule and despite what Israeli
governments will tell you, it was not united, but rather torn apart once
again: most of its residents became permanent residents, but a minority in
the northern part received Israeli citizenship, instantly giving the same
neighborhood’s population very different political rights.

Beit Safafa, which has a population of just under 10,000, is now facing
it’s third major bisection, this time by a highway being constructed by
Israel that will literally cut through the neighborhood. Highway 4, or the
Begin Highway, is a Jerusalem ring road intended to create one continuous
stretch of highway from the Gush Etzion settlement bloc south of the city
to the Givat Ze’ev settlement bloc in the north.

It would ultimately link the West Bank’s two most controversial highways:
the Tunnel Road connecting Gush Etzion to Jerusalem in the south and Road
443, a.k.a. the Apartheid Highway, which routes settler traffic north of
the city to Tel Aviv while denying access to Palestinians. The width of the
road planned to cut through the neighborhood ranges from 33 to 78 meters.
Part of it will exist as a six-lane highway and other parts could have as
many as 10-11 lanes.

According to Ir Amim, which has published an excellent fact
sheet<http://www.ir-amim.org.il/sites/default/files/english%20for%20web.pdf>
on
the issue, the municipality has found a way to bypass the necessary
procedures that require public inclusion, making it impossible for Beit
Safafa residents to formally object to the plans. As Nir Hasson recently
reported for 
*Haaretz<http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/residents-of-palestinian-village-accuse-israeli-authorities-of-harassment-1.504699>
*:

The road is based on a general plan dating from 23 years ago, that the
courts decided was detailed enough to enable construction to start. Under
Israeli law, you can get compensation only if you prove that a specifically
approved plan caused you damage. In this case, the villagers would have to
have appealed against the plan back in 1990.

On December 12, 2012, 15 Beit Safafa residents filed an administrative
petition against the Jerusalem Municipality and its construction company,
Moriah, which was rejected last week. They plan on appealing to the Supreme
Court.

For weeks now, residents have been regularly holding protests at the
construction site, which police have been dispersing with force. Residents
have also complained of
harassment<http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/residents-of-palestinian-village-accuse-israeli-authorities-of-harassment-1.504699>
and
collective punishment by the authorities, for example stepping up fines for
illegal construction and arresting residents for organizing labor strikes.

Yesterday (Friday), activists reported that police exerted excessive force,
using stun grenades gas,
tasers<http://972mag.com/arrested-protesters-tasered-beaten-threatened-with-rape-by-police/45378/>
and
pepper spray, violently arreesting eight people and injuring 10. One of the
eight arrested is a minor who has since been released. The rest are still
being held in Jerusalem’s Russian Compound. Here are several videos taken
by protestors:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=okzye2tzOdg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RNz4CYUmmqY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GyM3PSWmJ7k


How can the Israeli regime really think building this highway in this
manner on occupied Palestinian territory is safe for anyone? Is it really
going to guarantee long-term security for Israeli Jews to safely and freely
travel between Jerusalem and the settlements?

Does Israel really think it can unilaterally implement policies that
violate human rights – not to mention the civil rights of its own residents
and citizens – forever without paying the price?


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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