A Catholic monastery and convent near Bethlehem lost a seven-year legal battle against the building of Israel’s West Bank security barrier on its land.
The Society of St. Yves, a Catholic group that argued the case on the monastery’s behalf, said an Israeli appeals court had endorsed a plan to expand the barrier in the area, Reuters reported April 26. The barrier would surround the convent on three sides and cut it off from most of its land, St. Yves said in a statement.
Salesian monks and nuns tend vineyards and olive trees on terraced hillsides adjacent to Israeli settlements in the area. A convent school teaches 400 local children.
In 2002, Israel started building the West Bank security barrier — a mix of metal fencing, barbed wire and concrete walls — in response to a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings. Israel says the barrier keeps its citizens safe from terrorists. — jta