Canadian writers urge Israel to halt evictions of thousands of Palestinians and Negev Bedouins

Seventy prominent Canadian writers, including Michael Ondaatje (The English Patient), Yann Martel (Life of Pi), Lorna Crozier, and Lisa Moore (Open), wrote an open letter to Canadian and Israeli officials urging Israel to cease its plans to evict Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills, and to reject the Begin-Prawer Plan that would forcibly relocate 20,000-70,000 Bedouins from their homes in the Negev.

Israel has designated the land of the South Hebron Hills as a military firing zone, and says that the native Palestinians must be evicted because the area will be an unsafe and unsuitable place to inhabit. International law, however, dictates that Israel’s annexation of land in the West Bank is illegal, and Canadian writer Yann Martel asked “if you’re going to have a firing zone, why don’t you have it on your own land, not in occupied land?”

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHAOPT), Israel has designated about 18 percent of the West Bank as Israeli military training territory, which “is roughly the same amount of the West Bank under full Palestinian authority.”

The Canadian writers also urge the rejection of the Begin-Prawer plan that, if approved by Israeli lawmakers, would forcibly relocate 20,000-70,000 Bedouin of the Negev desert, many of whom live in “unrecognized” villages that were established before the creation of the State of Israel. According to the Begin-Prawer plan, the unrecognized villages would be destroyed and the Bedouin – who are citizens of Israel – would be concentrated in government-approved townships, a move that many argue would force them to abandon their traditional way of life. more

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