Following a visit to the occupied West Bank, U.S. Democratic Congressman Andy Levin, earlier this week, criticized Israel for repeatedly demolishing Palestinian homes in a small village that has been rebuilt numerous times, WAFA reported.
The trip included a tour of the Susya village, in the southern occupied West Bank, which has been repeatedly under threat of demolition for the past 30 years based on Israeli claims that homes in the area were erected without the necessary permits.
Levin said he was also deeply concerned to see the Israeli government denying local residents access to water in the village.
He tweeted:
“Yesterday, I travelled to the southern West Bank, including the Palestinian village of Susya, which the Israeli government has destroyed twice and currently denies access to water.”
“Yet we watched the government utility, right before our eyes, lay in pipes right across the village’s land to deliver tap water to an illegal Israeli outpost nearby,”
– as quoted by the London-based Al-Arabi Al-Jadid.
Levin watched how Jewish settlers nearby are granted government-supplied amenities, yet the Palestinians remained “resilient”.
He stated: “It was simply incredible. As angry as the situation made me, the resilience of the Palestinian villagers left an even stronger impression.”
Levin was among the numerous members of US Congress to condemn Israel’s decision to ban Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib, also a representative from Michigan, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota from visiting Israel.
Edited for IMEMC: Ali Salam
