CPTnet
3 August 2013
SOUTH HEBRON HILLS URGENT ACTION: Ask
U.S. Secretary of State Kerry to heed Israeli jurists’ and writers’ petitions
against forced evacuation of people in Firing Zone 918
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| Map of “Firing Zone 918,” courtesy of B’Tselem |
On 2 September 2013, the Israeli High Court will rule
on whether more than 1,000 Palestinians, including 452 children may remain on
land in the South Hebron Hills where their families have lived for many
generations. The Israeli military wants
to force the villagers off their land so they can use the land for live fire
training, which is in absolute
contravention of international humanitarian law, including the Fourth Geneva
Convention, Article 49, and the Hague Regulations, Articles 46 and 52. For further background see the following
expert legal opinions:
Expert
Opinion by Prof. Michael Bothe on The Limits of the right of expropriation
(requisition) and of movement restrictions in occupied territory (Firing Zones)
Christian Peacemaker Teams has had a relationship with villagers in this area
since the late 1990s, including a seven year period when it had a team in the
village of At-Tuwani. It is asking its
constituents to express their support for petitions sponsored by prominent Israeli
writers and legal advocates–available on CPT’s Palestine team’s website–who
are speaking out on behalf of the residents of the region. The petition CPT is asking its consituents to sign adjures U.S. Secretary of
State John Kerry, who is trying to foster new peace negotiations between
Israelis and Palestinians, to demand
that the Israeli military cease its ongoing live fire training in
the South Hebron Hills and stop trying
to expel the more than 1,000 Palestinian shepherd families from their villages.
To sign the petition and obtain more information, click
here.
