Settlement on West Bank Endangered

Ecumenical News International reports that a development housing hundreds of Palestinian Christians in the West Bank is threatened by the construction of a security fence and other facilities by the Israeli government. In 2002, according to the report, Israeli officials issued a demolition order for all the buildings, which are built on property owned by the Greek Orthodox Church. The Israeli government maintained that the land is located in a zone known as Area C, where Israel has complete military and civil control. Although the demolition orders have not been carried out, the residents of the housing project say the threat is growing larger. “We are concerned that any new [Israeli] government will close us in or confiscate our land,” one resident told the news service. “We will be in a cage if they don’t demolish the complex,” he said.