Lecture Discusses Policies Forcing Palestinian Displacement

The Birzeit University Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies held on November 1, 2014 a lecture on Israeli plans and regulations pertaining to the forced displacement of Palestinians. The lecture was delivered by Basem Sbaih from Badil Resource Center, who manages the campaign for the defense of Palestinian refugee rights.

Sbaih addressed Israeli legal policies that are forcing Palestinians off their land and the systematic building of settlements under the pretext of demographic needs.

Sbaih also overviewed laws applied by Israel since 1967 to this day, pointing to the difficulties encountered in obtaining building licenses in the West Bank. Sbaih also talked about the high taxes imposed on Palestinian Jerusalemites and house demolitions - all within the context of punishment aimed at displacing Palestinians.

The lecture also included the showing of two documentary films, the first about the mechanisms of forced migration in the Jordan Valley, and the second about forced migration in Nabi Samwel village.

BADIL is also known as the Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights in Bethlehem, and this lecture is one of a series held by the BADIL Campaign for the Defense of Palestinian Refugee Rights Unit.