Adalah: Galilee village development plan backed by series of racist Israeli laws including Jewish Nation State Law

In light of the intention of Israeli authorities to approve the Givat Tantour development plan – expected to dramatically increase the number of residents of Jadeidi-Makr from 20,000 to 100,000 – a protest also commemorating Land Day will be held in the northern Arab town tomorrow, Friday, 29 March, at 15:00.

The protest is being organized by the High Follow-Up Committee and the town's local council.

Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights submitted an objection to the Givat Tantour plan earlier this week.

The objection highlighted the use of an accelerated planning process for the establishment of a city without legal authority and unreasonable planning. Adalah and Bimkom believe the plan will result in the creation of a ghetto of overcrowding and poverty in the Galilee.

Adalah, which filed the objection together with Bimkom on behalf of some 200 residents of Jadeidi-Makr, described the connection between Land Day and the objection:

"The Land Day protest is taking place in Tantour because the state is trying to impose a plan of forced urbanization that will reduce the living space of Palestinians in the Galilee. Instead of solving the housing shortage by expanding the jurisdictional boundaries of Arab villages in a way that will meet the needs of each community and match residents' lifestyle, the state is forcing overly-dense urban construction on Jadeidi-Makr. The Givat Tantour plan, which is also intended to prevent Arabs from moving to predominantly Jewish towns, is backed by a series of racist laws, including the Kaminitz Law, the Admissions Committees Act, and the Jewish Nation State Law."