Israel steals 1.8 million sqm of West Bank land for ‘archaeology’

In a move reminiscent of an Indiana Jones movie, Israel’s so-called ‘Civil Administration’ (CA) — in reality a branch of the Israeli defence ministry — has begun the process of ‘expropriating’ — or legislative theft in more honest language — 1,800 dunams (445 acres or 1.8 million square metres) of Palestinian West Bank land in the West Bank, so that it can ‘preserve and develop’ an archaeological site.

West Bank land theft

The stolen land surrounds the Sebastia site near Nablus, which Israel feels entitled to take because it was part of northern Israel back in the Bronze Age  — a little like the Picts turning up and demanding Aberdeen back because they were once there before anyone who’s possessed the land since.

The Civil Administration, according to the Times of Israel, expects:

to enable infrastructure development, the expansion of archaeological excavations, and the uncovering of additional historical findings.

In a smear reminiscent of Israel’s ‘land without a people’ — lies about the Palestinians they dispossessed in 1948 — the CA claims that the land was being “intentional[ly] neglecte[ed] by the landowners and the Palestinian authorities” before the occupation decided to ‘liberate’ it.

The occupation claims this is all ok because it “is being done in accordance with the law” — which could be said about any number of atrocities by wicked governments.

Sebastia’s archaeology covers periods from the Bronze Age to modern times, from the original Canaanite inhabitants, to the kingdoms of Israel, to the Phoenicians, to the Romans, to the Arabs, to the Crusaders and, of course — since the liberation from the crusaders — the Palestinians. But that inconvenient point is not, of course, being allowed to interfere in the latest land-grab.

Featured image via LeMonde