Deltanine

Israel has quietly seized large tracts of Jerusalem land owned by Palestinian residents of the West Bank after they were cut off from their property by Israel's separation barrier.

The land was taken after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government decided several months ago to enforce a long-dormant law that allows Israel to seize lands of Palestinians who fled or were driven out during the 1948-49 Mideast war that followed Israel's creation.

The landowners affected so far live in the West Bank towns of Bethlehem and Beit Jalla, just south of Jerusalem. Their land was taken in August, after Israel's West Bank separation barrier cut them off from their land in the city.

Bethlehem resident Johnny Atik said Sunday that he lost eight acres of olive groves within Jerusalem's municipal boundaries as a result of the new policy. The land is just 100 yards away from his home, on the other side of an electronic fence and patrol road that are part of the separation barrier.

"The olives fall on the ground," he said. "We see them, but we can't get to them."

Atik said 40 families in his neighborhood alone have had land taken.