ASIA/HOLY LAND - "The last nail in Bethlehem’s coffin": A dossier on the Cremisan wall

Friday, 4 September 2015

Beit Jala (Agenzia Fides) - "The last nail in Bethlehem’s coffin: the annexation wall in Cremisan". This is the title of a new, detailed report, released yesterday by the Society of St. Yves, the Catholic Center for Human Rights that works under the patronage of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem. The 90-page dossier, complete with maps and photos - explain official sources of the Patriarchate - aims to reconstruct and analyze in all its present and future implications, the "Cremisan case", the construction of the separation wall imposed by the Israeli authorities and built largely on Palestinian land. Its realization, first interrupted and then again authorized by the Supreme Court of Israel, will disfigure the Cremisan valley forever, green lung for the whole area with a high population density that includes the cities of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour.
In particular, what can be anticipated is the devastating impact the construction of the wall will have on Christian families living in that area. "There will be no future for the permanence of Christians: the population density will rise to unsustainable levels and many will eventually choose the path of exodus, which recently has already reduced the Christian presence in the Holy Land", said Vera Baboun, mayor of Bethlehem to Agenzia Fides.
The dossier examines civil and Israeli military laws used for the confiscation of private Palestinian land, with the intent to use those areas to give rise to new settlements of Jewish settlers. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 04/09/2015)


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