WEST BANK/FILE: Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad speaks out on Israeli destruction of 'Freedom Road'

Record ID: 562535

  • Title: WEST BANK/FILE: Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad speaks out on Israeli destruction of 'Freedom Road'
  • Date: 17th December 2010
  • Summary: QARAWAT BANI HASSAN VILLAGE, WEST BANK (RECENT-NOVEMBER 25, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF YOUTHS THROWING STONES TOWARDS ISRAELI SOLDIERS BY DESTROYED ROAD VIEW OF ISRAELI SOLDIERS YOUTHS RUNNING WHILE ISRAELI SOLDIERS FIRE STUN GRENADES YOUTHS RUNNING QARAWAT BANI HASSAN VILLAGE, WEST BANK (RECENT-NOVEMBER 27, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VILLAGERS ARRIVING WITH PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER SALAAMA FAYYAD TO CHECK DAMAGE TO ROAD VARIOUS OF DAMAGED ROAD FAYYAD LOOKING AT DAMAGE MORE OF ROAD FAYYAD SPEAKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER SALAM FAYYAD, SAYING: "Yes, the Israeli army can send its bulldozers, tanks and soldiers to destroy what we rebuilt, what was rebuilt by the villagers of Qarawat Bani Hassan. But they will never succeed in destroying the will power of the Palestinian people, and our hope to be free." FAYYAD WALKING DESTROYED ROAD PEOPLE WALKING ON ROAD
  • Embargoed: 1st January 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Palestinian Territory, Occupied
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA5QFYGWB5JYZC38HZS60Z5WYRT
  • Story Text: Israeli authorities have destroyed a new road built by Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad to serve residents of the Palestinian Qarawat Bani Hassan village in the West Bank. Israeli authorities say this is because the road falls under Israeli military occupation, although most of the village does not.
    Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad assessed the damage at a newly constructed road to serve residents of the Qarawat Bani Hassan Village in the West Bank.
    The road labelled Freedom Road by Fayyad was bulldozed and parts of it were levelled by Israeli authorities.
    Israel said the route runs through an Israeli-military occupied area in the West Bank known as 'Area C', and as such, the Palestinian Authority did not have the jurisdiction to construct the road.
    Under interim peace agreements with the Palestinians, Israel exercises full military and civil control over some 60 percent of the West Bank, the zone known as "Area C."
    Youths were seen throwing stones at the side of the mile long road as Israeli soldiers stood on higher ground.
    The stretch of road which cost 335,000 U.S dollars to construct which was funded by the Palestinian Authority and inaugurated by Fayyad earlier in the year.
    Looking at the scale of the damage, he said Israel will not sap Palestinian morale.
    "Yes, the Israeli army can send it's bulldozers; tanks and soldiers to destroy what we rebuilt, what was rebuilt by the villagers of Qarawat Bani Hassan. But they will never success in destroying the will power of the Palestinian people, and our hope to be free," he said standing on the road surrounded by villagers.
    The road leads to a spring which is located near a Jewish settlement called Havat Meir. The settlement, like many others that flank the village, are seen as being illegal under international law. Israel disputes this.
    The Palestinian Prime Minister is a frequent visitor to "Area C," where Jewish settlements are planted among the Palestinian towns and villages of the West Bank's 2.5 million Palestinians.
    Earlier in the year when the road was opened, he congratulated the villagers on the development.
    ''To the people of Bani Hassan, congratulations, congratulations on this project and its success. Congratulations on the Freedom Road project, the way to freedom. Everything that this project represents, the hope of ending this occupation,'' said Fayyad speaking to reporters and villagers.
    Fayyad has promised villagers that he would pave dirt roads, a promise he has kept in a number of the more remote West Bank villages.
    He is also leading efforts to get the Palestinians ready for statehood by building institutions with financial and political backing from Western governments.
    His administration exercises limited self-rule over patches of territory in the occupied West Bank. The peace process which the Palestinians hope will deliver them statehood is now stalled due to a dispute over Jewish settlement on the land where the Palestinians want their state.
    As part of his state-building efforts, Fayyad has directed funds towards Palestinian areas of the Jerusalem municipality where Palestinians complain that the Israeli authorities have denied them services provided to other parts of the city.
    Israel says Fayyad's two-year plan to build up the institutions and infrastructure of a viable state may be a precursor to an attempt to declare independence unilaterally.
    Palestinians want to establish their state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. But Gaza has been ruled since 2007 by the Islamist group Hamas, which rejects any treaty recognising Israel and opposes Fayyad and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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