Apartheid in planning rights - Opinion Israel News

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  • Apartheid in planning rights
    Israel’s discriminatory planning policy in the West Bank violates its most basic obligations.
    Haaretz Editorial | Apr. 28, 2014

    Haaretz
    http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.587690

    The High Court of Justice is scheduled to hold a hearing Monday on the issue of planning rights in Area C of the West Bank, which is under full Israeli control and constitutes 60 percent of the territory. The petition, filed in 2011 by, among others, the village of Dirat-Rafa’aya in the southern Hebron Hills, Rabbis for Human Rights and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, asks the court to restore the planning committees that dealt with Palestinian development that were annulled in 1971 by the Israel Defense Forces and their authority transferred to what eventually became the Civil Administration, which is appointed by the military and consists solely of Jews.

    The planning body’s affiliation and composition reflect the policy of discrimination and lack of representation suffered by the Palestinians in the regional planning system, which leads to their eviction so that settlements can be expanded. From the data supplied by Bimkom − Planners for Planning Rights, it emerges that the areas currently designated for Palestinian development total only 1 percent of Area C, while the settlement areas with master plans constitute 26 percent of Area C (as reported by Amira Hass on Sunday). The petitioners note that the land area the state allocates to Palestinian towns is significantly less than that allocated to settlements and limits Palestinian options for future development and expansion.

    The result is that nearly all Palestinian construction in the area is considered “illegal” and subject to demolition. Between 2009 and 2013, 2,224 Palestinian structures were demolished for this reason.