clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Calls for protection of Solomon’s Pools from Israel settler desecration

June 17, 2023 at 11:55 am

Far-right Jewish settlers guarded by Israeli police raid the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem. [Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency]

Following the raid by Israeli settlers backed by Israeli forces, a Palestinian youth movement has called for the protection of Solomon’s Pools in Bethlehem, Al-Resalah newspaper reported on Friday.

Solomon’s Pools are located between the villages of Artas and Al-Khader, four kilometres south of Bethlehem, in a small valley surrounded by pine and cypress trees.

The youth movement reiterated that the settlers’ raids of the Solomon’s Pools violated their sanctity.

Residents of Artas and Al-Khader said that they have the exclusive right to the Solomon’s Pools, stressing that: “Settlers must not be allowed to raid or expropriate them.”

READ: UNRWA resumes services to Palestine refugees in West Bank

According to Al-Resalah newspaper, land traders have leaked a portion of the area to settlers and the Palestinian Authority did nothing to punish the perpetrators or prevent the repetition of such illegal action.

The youth movement called for Palestinians in the areas around Solomon’s Pools to spend as much time as possible there in order to undermine any Israeli occupation plan.

It is worth noting that the Israeli occupation opened a settler road in 1979 to connect Israeli settlements around the eastern and western sides of Bethlehem.

READ: Israel: US arms left in Afghanistan reach Gaza