Asalamu alykum

Let me first start by saying, how appreciated and happy I؟ am of this internet site creation that came about, to encourage our activists and youth, to keep in contact with there homeland ( jilijliyya , Palestine), and to also express there feeling about there homeland, town, and friends. I also wanted to thank Ayyoub Assad for posting the pictures of the historical building and houses that our grandfather and great grandfathers had lived in. I also wanted to talk, and maybe have some discussion about the selling of the land that I have been hearing about between the town of jiljliyya and abwain in an area called hait-yousif. Let me just get to the point and tell you my opinion, of this tragic political Israeli persuation. I think this operation of buying land or selling the land, is an Israeli diplomatic way of starting a settlement between those two towns, through individual who call them selves business men. I really don؟t think that a university or a hospital or a refugee place of return, is going to be put there. This is all a strategic way of starting a settlement for the Jewish occupiers and there supporters, those of whom are from the Palestinian people or the out side world. In the west bank there is enough settlement that are being build or expanded.

Not to long ago I had read online that the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert approved plans to build more than 300 homes in a West Bank settlement days before a visit by a U.S. general to monitor compliance with an American-backed peace plan that requires a freeze of such construction. The planned building at Givat Zeev, near Jerusalem, drew sharp condemnation from the Palestinians. And I think this is the reason that there is a lot of land buying from small and poor families that live in the west bank, for example like the town of jilijliyya and abwain.

Despite all of the Palestinian rejection to expanding of the east Jerusalem settlement, The construction was approved three days after a Palestinian killed eight students at a prominent Jewish seminary in Jerusalem that is the ideological base of the settlement movement in the West Bank. And Palestinians that live in small towns in the west bank, have to know, and understand the Zionist way strategic way of building there settlement on stolen Palestinian land.

There are currently 120 Israeli settlements and 102 Israeli outposts built illegally in the West Bank including East Jerusalem, which is Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967. All of these settlements and outposts are illegal under international law and numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions. Israeli outposts are also illegal under Israeli law. These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of some 460,000 Israeli settlers. Settlements are built on less than 3 percent of the area of the West Bank. However, due to the extensive network of settler roads and restrictions on Palestinians accessing their own land, Israeli settlements dominate more than 40 percent of the West Bank.

In September 2005, as part of its ؟disengagement plan؟ Israel evacuated all of its 21 settlements in Gaza with a total population of 8,692. It also evacuated 4 West Bank settlements with a population of 674.
However, the settler population in the West Bank has since grown by 5.3 percent (14,000 people). 3.5 percent (9,300 people) of the growth has been from natural population growth within the settlements, whilst the other 1.8 percent (4,700 people) have moved from the Gaza Strip or Israel itself. This undermines Israeli claims that the disengagement represented an unprecedented compromise and a move towards peace on its part.

"Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, are illegal and an obstacle to peace and to economic and social development [... and] have been established in breach of international law."
International Court of Justice Ruling, July 9, 2004

After the approval of expanding the settlement in the west bank and east Jerusalem, Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian negotiator and a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called the Israeli decision "another slap in the face of the peace process." But what is really bothering me, what is Palestinian government official have to say about this beside it؟s a ؟slap on the face؟. The people of jilijiyya and abwain are against the expanding of jewish settlement and or the new construction of any settlement, and this would include hait-yousif area. The two towns will not tolerate such construction, but we are open to any approved and legit, documentation of any construction that is intended to benefit both towns in the future.

The people of both town are very simple people. We live in very difficult circumstances, many in intolerable conditions. The lack of infrastructure in the two towns (jilijliyya and abwain) means that many of the services we take for granted don't exist. Imagine living in an environment where disposal of rubbish is your own responsibility, where letters aren't delivered to your door but rather to a PO Box, where many buildings lie empty because there isn't the money to finish them or because people had to leave the West Bank, where many roads are in dire condition, where there are no street names where groups of young men stand about street corners for large parts of the day because there is no work to go to, where income is often dependent on handouts, donations and the black market.

Despite all of the hardship that people from both town face on a daily base, are just a way of life under occupation. But Let me just remind all people that come and visit these two towns, not to be surprised when you see the proud people who get on with their life, who smile a lot, who laugh and dance, who make do, with what they've got, who are determined to resist Israeli occupation, who welcome you into there homes, who are well educated. We the people of jilijliyya who are know to be the most generous and kind people, welcome any thing that is going to benefit our town and kids future. But we will always stand against the occupation and the expanding of jewish settlement in Palestinian land. So in conclusion if you were to ask anyone if they are willing to give up there land or homeland. I think the answer to the question with no explaination is NO.

Luay kattoum
(Abu Dawoud)

If you are the aboveauthor of the Article, you can edit your Article by clicking the button below:

The above documents, article, interviews, movies, podcasts, or stories reflects solely the research and opinions of its authors. PalestineRemembered.com makes its best effort to validate its contents.

   

Post Your Comment Please be respectful, humble and considerate; any abusive or disrespectful comments will be deleted promptly. Name/User Id eMail Address* Language English Arabic Comments with URL links will be rejected *It should be NOTED that your email address won't be shared, and all communications between members will be routed via the website's mail server.

 

What is new?

-Gaza Jail Break
-Arabic version now available - النسخة العربية للموقع الان متوفرة
-Nakba Oral History Video Podcast: Over 370 Oral History interviews (including 1,350 hours of recording) can be viewed now online.
-Videos:Documenting the destroyed villages in video: Tracing all that remains since Nakba.
-Videos: Responding to Zionist Propaganda
-Satellite View & Google Earth: Over 6,000 placemarks identifying all destroyed towns, W. Bank & Gaza Strip Towns, & refugee camps.
-Interview:The ethnic cleansing of Palestine: George Galloway interviews Israeli Historian Ilan Pappe.
-For Palestinians, memory matters. It provides a blueprint for their future By George Bisharat.
-Zionist FAQ now available in Hebrew שאלות שציונים שואלים, עכשיו בעברית
-Video: The Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer report on the influence of the Israel Lobby on U.S. Foreign Policy
-The Nakba - an event that did not occur (although it had to occur) By Eitan Bronstein
-The Palestinian-Israeli conflict for beginners

Return to Jiljilyya

Home | Mission Statement | Zionist FAQ | Maps | Refugees 101 | Zionism 101
Zionist Quotes | R.O.R. 101 | Pictures | Towns Listing | Ethnic Cleansing 101 | Search
Chronology | Site Tour | Profile | Guest Book | What's New? | FAQ | Links | Looting 101 | Contact
Oral History | DONATE