The Palestine People's Party (PPP) denounced the latest Israeli decision to demolish five Palestinian homes in the town of Bruqin in the northern West Bank Oct. 31. Senior PPP member Isam Baker called the decision "part of the ethnic cleansing policy that is carried out by the Israeli authorities in the Palestinian territories."

Baker said the residents of Bruqin, which sits in the path of the Israeli separation wall, are fearful that their homes will be demolished imminently. The proximity of the village to the planned route of the wall and the Khirbet Susa and Burkan Israeli settlements, in the Ariel bloc, has already lead to the demolition of dozens of homes in the town, as well as a constant Israeli army. (Ma'an News Agency, Oct. 31)

Earlier this month, as the olive harvest began, local activists reported that settlers had burned down some 30 of Bruquin's olive trees. "The settlers are not allowing the farmers to enter their land to put out the fires," said Mohammad Uthman of Stop the Wall. (PNN, Oct. 16)

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