The Higher Planning Council (HPC) approved last month for deposit the plan number 210/22 for the establishment of a cemetery for the settlement of Modi’in Illit on the lands of the village of Deir Qaddis. The plan covers an area of 67 dunams outside the Separation Barrier built by Israel for the protection of the settlements. The plan’s provisions stipulate that a wall will be built around the cemetery. The planned cemetery will accommodate 14,000 graves and is presented as a burial solution for the residents of Modi’in Illit, an ultra-Orthodox settlement with about 80,000 residents. The next steps for approval of the plan are its publication for deposit and allowing the public to oppose it, hearing the objections, and approving the plan to make it valid (see more on planning procedures in settlements).
Peace Now: This is an ugly example of Israel’s exploitation of the Occupied Territories for its benefit. While in Israel, cemeteries have to be crowded, with graves stacked in layers due to the lack of available land, in the Occupied Territories, Israel has no problem taking Palestinian land for field burials for settlers. It also turns out that the Separation Barrier, which was so necessary for Israel to block potential terrorism, is merely another line that can be crossed to expand settlements, and in fact, the planned cemetery increases the extent of the Separation Barrier. The cemetery takes away from the nearby Palestinian village of Deir Qaddis the land remaining for its development, deepening Israel’s hold on the land, so that in the future, when Israel will need to withdraw from the Territories, it will be difficult and painful to relocate the graves elsewhere.
Not all settlements in the West Bank have a cemetery. While many of the rural settlements have a cemetery for their residents, many settlers are still buried in cemeteries within Israel. In recent years, the state has been promoting the establishment of a large cemetery in Nahal Raba, which has been approved in planning terms, and is officially intended for settlers. However, documents from the burial society indicate that the intention is also to allow Israelis who wish to be buried in field burials (i.e., graves next to each other, not in layers and without graves above or below them) to be buried in the planned cemetery in Nahal Raba.
It should be noted that the plan documents do not address the question of who will be allowed to be buried in the cemetery, and whether it is intended only for the settlement’s residents, or if Israelis will also be allowed to be buried there.
In 1989, the HPC approved a plan to establish a regional cemetery for the residents of Jerusalem in the West Bank, on lands of Abu Dis. Peace Now filed a petition to the High Court of Justice (case no. 997/91), arguing, among other things, that the burial of Israelis in the Occupied Territories is prohibited under international law. In response to the petition, the state announced that:
After examining the issue raised in the petition, respondents 2, 4, and 5, represented by the State Attorney’s Office, wish to inform that it is agreed that a cemetery should not be established for the residents of Jerusalem within the Judea and Samaria area. (Emphasis added).
This announcement was given the status of a ruling, and instead of the cemetery in the Occupied Territories, it was decided to expand the cemetery at Givat Shaul in Jerusalem for the residents of Jerusalem.