Associated Press (ap.org,
Feb. 6, 2017); Wisdom Quarterly
Israel passes law [retroactively] legalizing thousands of settlement homes
Hey, kids, you can't make such comparisons! |
JERUSALEM, Palestine - Israel's
parliament [or Knesset] on Monday passed a contentious law meant to retroactively
legalize thousands of West Bank settlement homes built unlawfully on
private Palestinian land, a step that is expected to trigger
international outrage and a flurry of lawsuits against the measure.
Israel was a total headache for me, too. |
The explosive law is the latest in a series of
pro-settler steps taken by Israel's hard-line government since the
election of Donald Trump as U.S. president.
He is seen as more
sympathetic to Israel's settlement policies than his fiercely critical
predecessor, and the Israeli government has approved plans to build
thousands of new homes on occupied territory since Trump took office.
US gov't ministers love that Israel money (AP). |
"We are voting tonight on our right to the land,"
Cabinet minister Ofir Akunis said during a stormy debate ahead of the
vote. "We are voting tonight on the connection between the Jewish people
and its land. This whole land is ours. All of it."
Critics say the legislation enshrines into law the
theft of Palestinian land, and it is expected to be challenged in
Israel's Supreme Court. According to the law, Palestinian landowners
would be compensated either with money or alternative land, even if they
did not agree to give up their property.
The
vote passed 60-52 in Israel's 120-member Knesset following a raucous
debate in which opposition lawmakers shouted from their seats at
governing coalition lawmakers speaking in favor of the vote from the
dais.
Some legislators supportive of the law took pictures of the plenum
during the vote while some spectators in visitors' seats raised black
cloth in apparent protest. More
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