U.S. Warns Israel: Susiya’s Destruction Will Hurt Jewish, Palestinian Relations
Shortly before the U.S. warns Israel that Susiya should not be demolished, an organization called Rabbis for Human Rights claimed the Israeli military was planning on evicting the residents of the village in order to demolish half the town before an impending High Court of Justice hearing on August 3. The U.S. State Department is intervening, claiming that destroying the village will only harm relations between Jews and the Palestinians.
In a related report by the Inquisitr, Oskar Groening, the so-called bookkeeper of Auschwitz, was found guilty for the death of 300,000 Jews during the Holocaust.
According to Voice Of The Cape, Khirbet Susiya has been facing the threat of demolition since May, when the Israeli High Court approved the demolition of the ramshackle village, which is mostly composed of huts and tents. On Sunday, it was claimed the demolition of the Palestinian village of Khirbet Susiya was being pushed forward in order to preempt the court system.
“On Sunday, July 12th, top Israeli Army brass showed up in the South Hebron Hills Village of Susiya to tell them that sometime after the Moslem holiday of Eid El Fitr ends on Sunday night and before a scheduled High Court Hearing on August 3rd, the army will demolish homes,” wrote Rabbi Arik Ascherman, President and Senior Rabbi of Rabbis for Human Rights. “We received the list last night, and IT INCLUDES SOME 32 STRUCTURES, HALF OF THE STRUCTURES IN SUSYA. On Sunday, the officers openly admitted that they were preempting the High Court because of settler pressure.”
According to the Jerusalem Post, Attorney Qamar Mashraki from Rabbis for Human Rights claimed the plan to demolish Susiya before the planned court hearing is an “unacceptable form of coercion, intended to put pressure on the residents in order to force them to leave their homes and create facts on the ground before the petition.”
In response to this claim, the U.S. warns Israel that Susiya should not be demolished.
“We’re closely following developments in the village of Susiya in the West Bank, and we strongly urge the Israeli authorities to refrain from carrying out any demolitions in the village,” State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a Thursday press briefing. “Such actions have an impact beyond those individuals and families who are evicted. We are concerned that the demolition of this village may worsen the atmosphere for a peaceful resolution and would set a damaging standard for displacement and land confiscation.”
Around 300 Bedouin residents are expected to be evicted if this plan is carried out. The court case has been working its way through the system since 2012, and a petition is asking that Israel’s government stop.
[Image via B’Tselem]
