Israeli occupation, not Islam, forcing Palestinian Christians out of the West Bank

Publié sur le site Mondoweiss le 18 mai 2009

Reuters has a good article today on what should have been obvious to Ethan Bronner - it is the Israeli occupation that is running Palestinian Christians out of the West Bank. From the article "Israeli barrier bites into Palestinian village":

One third of Aboud's open space has been turned into a buffer zone. Hundreds of olive trees have been uprooted to make way for a dirt road closed off with barbed wire and patrolled by the Israeli army. . .

Aboud's parish priest Father Firas Aridah blames the Israeli barrier for decimating the income of Aboud's Christian community and forcing 34 families since 2000 to leave in search of more stability and security.

"The biggest problem is the loss of their land. Their olive trees have been cut down, and this in turn has cut them off from their source of livelihood," said Aridah.

The Fawadleh brothers, George, Francis and Khalil, watched 117 trees owned by their family for generations being uprooted early last year. They now have only 26 left and worry those will be destroyed as well.

"It felt like having a stroke," said George Fawadleh, a Catholic. "It's our land. When they uprooted the trees, it was a catastrophe for us."

Lien de l'article:
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/05/israeli-occupation-not-islam-forcing-palestinian-christians-out-of-the-west-bank.html