Israel uses firing areas as tool to deport Palestinians
A document dating back to 1981 uncovers methods by the Israeli occupation to deliberately deport Palestinians in Yatta to take over their lands for army trainings
(QNN) – An Israeli document has recently revealed methods practiced by the Israeli forces to deport Palestinians from their lands and put these lands under Israeli control as “training areas with firearms.”
The institution for Civil Rights in ‘Israel’ submitted the document to the Supreme Court, coinciding with a petition by Palestinians of villages in the area of the town of Yatta, south of Hebron, against their deportation. The document was found by the Akefot Institute – for the Study of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
The document goes back to 1981; it has information on the Israeli then Minister of Agriculture Ariel Sharon’s plans to take over Palestinian lands in Yatta by deporting its residents, and turning them into training areas for the Israeli army.
According to the document, Sharon said, “I want to tell the representatives of the General Staff that we are suggesting to you other areas for training. Other training areas should be close to the borders at the slopes of Hebron Mountains.”
Sharon added, “we have an interest in expanding the size of the training areas, in order to impose our sovereignty over these areas, and we can add training areas for your benefit there, so we have a great interest for you to be in this place.”
Haaretz newspaper quoted today from the director of “Akifot”, Lior Yavne, that he “expects the document to strengthen the position of the Palestinian residents against their deportation from their lands. The lawyer Ronnie Bailey of ACRI said the document reveals careless use of training areas.”
The institution for Civil Rights in its petition said that the Israeli claims ignore the clear historical documentation, including the data of the Ministry of Security, which indicates that Palestinians have inhabited these villages from the last generations. It also stressed that deporting Palestinians from their villages will leave them homeless.
Therefore, the institution submitted a third document to the Supreme Court, which is a legal opinion written by the Military Advocate General in 1967, Meir Shamgar, stating that civilians should not be deported from areas in favor of the military training.
The document said that “it is forbidden to evacuate the Palestinians from their lands in order to establish training areas for the Israeli army, for political and humanitarian reasons, as well as for reasons related to international laws.”
