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<font size=4><b>UNRWA: Israel Quadruples Displacement Numbers Since July
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<a href="http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10747&Itemid=56" eudora="autourl">
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10747&Itemid=56<br>
</a>13.10.11 - 02:56 <br>
PNN<br><br>
The United Nations Refugee Works Association (UNRWA) said on Wednesday
that Israel was “becoming more and more efficient” in displacing
Palestinians, quadrupling the monthly total from July to September
2011.<br>
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“There has been a shocking rise in the number of people displaced and
affected due to Israeli demolitions in the West Bank,” said UNRWA
spokesman Chris Guinness, citing recently published statistics in a
Wednesday press release. “Following the unofficial Israeli suspension of
demolitions during the Holy Month of Ramadan in August, in September, 990
people were displaced or affected by Israeli demolitions.”<br><br>
In July 2011, that number was 247.<br><br>
A full third of September’s displaced Palestinians came as a result of an
Israeli policy of targeting water cisterns for demolition. In the West
Bank, where only about 5 to 10% of available water is clean enough to
drink, the destruction of cisterns can mean the removal of whole
populations. The practice of demolition, according to UNRWA’s Demolition
Watch website, is the leading cause of displacement of West Bank
Palestinians.<br><br>
“One cistern in Khirbet Atuf [in the Jordan Valley]…served about 300
people,” Guinness explained.<br><br>
The majority of Palestinians displaced in September were children, making
up 439 of the 990 displaced persons. In July, 120 children were
displaced.<br><br>
Palestinians living in Area Cabout 60% of the West Bankcomprise most of
those affected by demolitions. They must apply for permits from Israeli
authorities to build in Area C, but UNRWA figures show that 94% of permit
applications are rejected.<br><br>
“Forced displacement is illegal under international law,” said Guinness,
“and UNRWA calls for an end to all practices and policies that lead to
the forced displacement of Palestinians. With at least three thousand
outstanding demolition orders in the rural parts of the West Bank,
affecting tends of thousands of people, whole communities are living with
the daily trauma and anxiety of losing their homes and
livelihoods.”<br><br>
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