The occupied West Bank is divided into three Areas. Area C comprises those parts of the territory that are under full Israeli control. Some of the villages in this territory are not connected to the electricity grid, but the Spanish and German NGOs have brought electricity to them with solar panels paid for by European governments. Unfortunately, these solar panels are now about to be demolished by the Israeli authorities, as they were built without the necessary planning permission.
It seems to be very difficult for Palestinians in Area C to get planning permission for anything, let alone solar panels. The Israeli campaigning group, Peace Now, reports on the basis of civil administration figures that from 2001 to 2007, just 91 permits for Palestinian construction projects were issued in Area C, while 663 Palestinian structures were demolished. In the same period, some 10,000 Israeli settlement units were built in that territory, even though Israeli settlement activity in Area C is illegal under international law.
Figures in the localities that will lose electricity when the solar panels are destroyed report that this will trigger an exodus from those areas, as people have become used to the modern comforts that energy provide. This will of course leave the areas more open for further Israeli settlement, which might just be the reason for the solar panels' destruction.
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1 comment:
That's more that a bit rich of the Israelis, given their massive illegal building of so-called "settlements" on Palestinian land.
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