Chronological Review of Events/January 1999 – DPR review

D i v i s i o n    f o r    P a l e s t i n i a n    R i g h t s

Chronological Review of Events Relating to the

Question of Palestine

Monthly media monitoring review

January 1999

3

The Israeli Construction and Housing Minister announced that seven Israeli businessmen had put in tenders for the construction of a Jewish settlement, known as “Har Homa” at Jabal Abu Ghneim, south of East Jerusalem.  The Ministry said work would start once the contractors have been selected.  The initial tenders were for the first stage of 1,025 units.  (AFP)

4

The Knesset voted 55-35 to approve the first reading of a bill stipulating that any Israeli withdrawal from “sovereign territory” would require the consent of 61 out of 120 Knesset members and a referendum.  The Knesset motion was submitted by a group of legislators opposed to the withdrawal from the occupied Syrian Golan. The Palestinian Authority rejected the decision that would obstruct any Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Golan Heights and East Jerusalem.  Palestinian Cabinet Minister Nabil Amr said Jerusalem was occupied territory, just like the rest of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and therefore any decision or measure that does not take this fact into consideration was illegal.   (DPA)

5

Germany and the PA signed three agreements on financial cooperation totalling US$11.2 million.  The agreements were signed in Ramallah by the PA Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nabil Shaath and the Head of the Germany Representative Office, Mr. Horst Freitag.  The aid would go towards infrastructure projects in the West Bank including a waste water treatment plants and improvements in a water supply network.  The agreements were part of the 1998 German-Palestinian bilateral development assistance programme worth a total of US$65 million.    (DPA)

A survey conducted by the Tel Aviv University Peace Research Institute found that 55 per cent of the Jewish population in Israel backed a peace settlement which would give the Palestinians independence and require further withdrawals from the occupied Palestinian territory.  Thirty-nine per cent opposed such an agreement and the rest were undecided.   Sixty-three per cent of poll respondents said they believed that if Prime Minister Netanyahu were re-elected, he would eventually grant the Palestinians independence. (AFP)

 6

Solidarity International, a US-based human rights group, reported that the Israeli Army destroyed 147 homes in 1998 under its policy of demolishing structures built without Israeli authorization in the occupied Palestinian territories.  A count carried out by the group found that the Army and police destroyed 45 houses in East Jerusalem, 40 around Hebron, 16 near Ramallah, 13 in the Nablus area, 11 around Bethlehem, 10 near Jenin, 6 near Qalqilya, 4 near Jericho and 2 in the Gaza Strip.  According to the independent Palestinian Committee on Land and Environment, Israel has destroyed nearly 700 Palestinian houses since the signing of the 1993 Oslo accords.  (AFP)

A Palestinian, carrying what turned out to be a toy pistol, was shot by Israeli soldiers and died several hours later. The Israeli Army said the man had been acting suspiciously and began approaching the army patrol inside the Israeli-controlled sector of Hebron carrying what appeared to be a weapon.  The shooting sparked protests by Palestinians in Hebron.   (AFP, Reuters, The Jerusalem Post)

 7

Six UN-sponsored cooperation accords covering areas of medical research, tourism, music education and inter-religious dialogue were signed by Palestinians and Israelis.  The set of  agreements, sponsored and financed by UNESCO, involved Israeli and Palestinian universities and non-governmental organizations, and was part of the “people-to-people” peace efforts arranged within the framework of the 1993 Oslo accords.  (AFP) 

About 20 Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli troops in Hebron after the burial of the man who was shot and killed by soldiers on 6 January.  No injuries were reported.   (AFP)

8

At least 5 Palestinian youths were injured by rubber bullets during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the border line dividing Hebron into Israeli- and Palestinian-controlled areas.  The Palestinians were angry over a five-day-old curfew imposed on Palestinians living in the Israeli sector since unidentified gunmen fired on an Israeli car, wounding two women.  The Fatah movement called for the lifting of the curfew and ending the siege in Hebron.  (DPA, AFP)

Ha’aretz reported that the Israeli Construction and Housing Ministry was to market lots in the Palestinian territory for building 3,729 residential units.  A ministry document,which was carried by the paper, said another 1,320 lots were to be made available at the settlement of “Har Homa”  on top of the 1,000 recently put on the market there after a year’s freeze.  The tenders to be issued for lots in West Bank settlements included 500 units for “Ariel,” 500 in “Alfei Menashe” and 400 in “Emmanuel.”  In the areas near Jerusalem, the programme included the construction of 811 homes in “Givat Ze’ev,” 636 in “Betar,”  600 in “Ma’aleh Adumim,”  1,982 in “Adam” and  100 in “Efrat.”   Another  404  apartment units were slated for “Tsur Bahe,” near Bethlehem.  (XINHUA)

Israeli settlers blocked a road near the settlement of “Gush Katif” in the Gaza Strip to protest an Israeli Army’s decision to open the road to Palestinian traffic.  A senior Palestinian police officer, Khalid Abu Ula, said settlers had stoned his car near the roadblock and had threatened to shoot him if he came closer.   The Army had undertaken to move the settlers on and re-open the route.  (AFP) 

Construction work commenced to prepare the site for a new Jewish settlement of "Tel Zion", southeast of El-Bireh and near the existing settlement of "Kokhav Yaakov".  (AFP)

10

Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura called for the establishment of a ''multilayered partnership'' to simultaneously promote bilateral and regional relations between Japan and the Middle East.  The creation of the relationship would be based on three pillars, the first of which would be active political dialogue between Japan and those engaged in the Middle East peace process.  Mr. Komura said he intended to use his Middle East trip as a springboard to adopt a greater political presence with the aim of establishing direct and indirect contact with officials of the peace process.  The other two pillars involved Japan's efforts to promote building trustful relations between Japan, Arab States and Israel, as well as Japan's continued cooperation toward economic development in the region, he said. (Kyodo)

11

Israeli military authorities lifted the curfew imposed on parts of Hebron a week earlier.  An estimated 30,000 Palestinians who live in the part of Hebron controlled by Israel had been under curfew since 4 January, when suspected Palestinian militants shot and wounded three Israeli women from the nearby Jewish settlement of “Kiryat Arba”. (AFP, DPA)

12

Israeli troops uprooted a Palestinian orchard near the Jewish settlement of “Beit Ariye.”   An army bulldozer guarded by Israeli soldiers and police tore up 90 olive, almond and fig trees near the village of Aboud. (AFP)

Former Israeli Prime Minister Peres announced the creation of an Israeli-Palestinian youth council to "prepare a new generation for peace."  Wrapping up a three-day international conference at his Tel Aviv-based Peres Center for Peace, he said the new council would seek to regularly bring Israeli and Palestinian youth together to improve dialogue and "people-to-people" contacts.  The council would be financed in part from the sale of a million inter-religious calendars designed by the Peres Center and including citations from the Torah, the Christian scriptures and the Koran. (AFP)

An unknown assailant believed to be a Jewish extremist stabbed and critically wounded a Palestinian man in an orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of Jerusalem.  The 57-year-old Palestinian, who was not identified by name, was stabbed in the stomach and was reported in critical but stable condition at Hadassah Hospital. (AFP, DPA, Reuters, XINHUA)

13

Dozens of Palestinian villagers from Kafr Salaf and Azzun, near Qalqilya, intervened to stop Israeli bulldozers guarded by armed Jewish settlers from levelling land and uprooting trees in an operation to confiscate several hundred hectares of Palestinian land near the villages.  The settlers were from the settlements of “Ginnot Shomron,”

“Emmanuel” and “Kiryat Shomron.”   (AFP)

19

Japanese Prime Minister Komura indicated the willingness of his Government to act as mediator in the Middle East by presenting a “four-point plan” during his visit in the region last week.  The plan included proposals for negotiations with Syria and Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.  Israeli Foreign Minister Sharon was said to be “very impressed” and welcomed Japan’s desire to become involved in the region.   (Tribune Information Services)

21

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern concluded a two-day visit in Gaza where he held talks with PA President Arafat and visited the refugee camp Jabaliya.  He departed for Dublin from the Gaza airport, becoming the first foreign minister to leave the Palestinian territory direct for his home country.  (AFP)

Russian Federation Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov told visiting Israeli Foreign Minister Sharon that Russia aimed to play a more active role in the Middle East.   Meanwhile, PA President Arafat called on Russia, the United States and the EU to spare no effort to save the Middle East peace process.   (Reuters, Itar-Tass)

23

The PA Cabinet issued a statement asking the European Union, the US, the Russian Federation, Japan and economic groups to boycott products from Israeli settlements, in view of the current stalemate in the implementation of the Wye River Memorandum.  The statement also criticised the recent increase in the Israeli settlement activity.  (AFP)

25

Palestinian negotiator Mr. Saeb Erakat and Director-General of the Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr. Eitan Ben-Tsur, agreed to extend the mandate of international observers who monitor and report on tensions in Hebron.  The 111-strong Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), whose personnel is drawn from six countries, was mandated to continue its work for another six months.  (AFP)

26

Israeli troops shot and seriously wounded a Palestinian man in East Jerusalem during protests over Israel’s demolition of two Palestinian homes in the Arab neighborhood of Issawiya.  The Makassed hospital in East Jerusalem said it admitted four other Palestinians who suffered injuries.  The troops responded to the protests with teargas, rubber-coated metal bullets and by beating.  The Palestinian man died 48 hours later.  (Reuters, AFP, DPA)

The Israeli Knesset voted 53 to 30, giving final approval to a law that would toughen conditions for any return of the Golan Heights to Syria and of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians.  The law would require that any such decision should have approval of at least 61 members of the 120-member Knesset.   In a separate vote, the Knesset adopted a draft bill annexing Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza to Israel.  This would give the Israeli settlements the same legal status as all other areas in Israel.  The draft bill was adopted, 10 to 4, when most of the Knesset members were absent.  The draft must still pass committee hearings and two additional readings before it became law, but its initial adoption ensures that it would be carried over to the next parliament to be formed after the May 17 elections.  (AFP, Reuters)

27

Four Palestinians were admitted to a hospital after being shot in the legs with live ammunition by Israeli soldiers during clashes in Qalandia refugee camp.  It was reported that Palestinians threw rocks at Israeli army jeeps near the camp and solders responded with gunfire.  (Reuters)

Israeli Public Security Minister  Kalahani and Palestinian negotiator Mr. Saeb Erakat held talks on disagreements over the 750 detainees Israel was supposed to release under the Wye River Memorandum.   Israel released a first batch of 250 prisoners in November, but only 100 of them were political detainees, the rest were being held for criminal offences.  The PA maintains that it referred only to “political prisoners” with regard to the Wye River accord.   (AFP)

29

Mr. Hussein Issa,  Principal of The Hope Flowers School in the village of el-Khader,  south of Bethlehem, said he received “a warning from the Israeli army on 27 January saying that on 1 March they will demolish the two top floors of the school and the kitchen as well as the front yard.”    Mr. Issa added that the number of elementary and secondary students fell from 350 to 160 because of harassment by the Israeli army and Jewish settlers living nearby.  (Reuters)

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