Tag: Land confiscation - Page 2 - International Solidarity Movement

Arrests and stolen land in Osarin village

10th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Osarin, Occupied Palestine

In the last month, the Israeli army has arrested 10 boys under the age of 16 from Osarin village. As of today, they all remain in the prison.

This is the latest in a long line of tactics employed by the Israeli military to intimidate the people of Osarin the surrounding villages. According to a member of the village’s local council, the Israeli army approached the village around six months ago demanding that Osarin and three other neighboring villages sell three dunams (3,000 square meters) of land to the Israeli government. The threat was that if they did not comply the army would simply take the land. Despite this pressure, the people of the village collectively chose to refuse and have had to live with the consequences of this choice ever since.

The land the army asked for originally was intended to build three watchtowers, one of which would be just outside Osarin. The other two would be near the villages of Yatma and Qabalan, who also had demands from the Israeli army to sell their land. In total the army was trying to obtain 320 dunams of important farmland, containing olive trees, other crops and grazing areas from the three villages.

The village’s decision to refuse was met with a new plan by the army to build a wall on either side of the main road (route 505), running adjacent to the village, all the way to Za’tara checkpoint. This would be roughly 10km in length and would unsurprisingly require the confiscation of land on either side of the road, which belongs to the village of Osarin. The reasoning for this intrusion into Palestinian land was allegations that boys from the village had been throwing stones onto the main road, where settlers from the illegal settlements pass by in their cars and sometimes on foot. In fact, the Israeli army used these allegations to call a meeting with four villages, one of which was Osarin, the others being Beita, Beit Furik and Madama. In this meeting the army told the representatives from the villages that unless the alleged stone throwing ceased they would make all four of the villages into closed military zones. In other words, force out the inhabitants of all four villages and make it impossible for them to return.

While the Israeli army demands that children stop throwing stones, they are also at the same time increasing attacks on the civilian population of Osarin. During these periods physical force has been used, including punching individuals with no just cause and firing live ammunition into the air to intimidate the local population. Also during these incursions, the roads are closed around the village even when ambulances need to either enter or leave the village, endangering lives in the process.

The village has attempted to go through the court system to block the Israeli authorities’ plans for the area, but have lost each court battle numerous times. This is despite the fact that the village is located in Area B (Palestine Authority and Israeli control) and therefore any seizure of land, including for the purposes of military building construction, is illegal. The area has long been an area of high activity for the Israeli military, where in November 2013 witnesses report that military training took place involved up to 1,000 Israeli soldiers. During the weeklong action villagers were told to stay in at night, creating a curfew, and at times local groups of boys were used to provide training with how to deal with stone throwing.

When a local representative was asked if he felt matters had gotten worse in terms of Israeli military interference and intimidation, his answer was an unequivocal yes. The construction of the wall along either side of Route 505 has yet to begin but will most probably commence in the near future. In the meantime, arrests of children and physical violence towards the villagers continue.

Photograph of Route 505 where the wall will be built (photo by ISM).

Injustice in Al Maleh

17th March 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Jordan Valley, Occupied Palestine

The Israeli occupation in Palestine can be seen in many different ways.

In the Al Maleh area of the Jordan Valley (area C, which is under full Israeli military control) 450 Palestinian families, including 100 Bedouin families are spread through 13 villages. All of them live in tents and have no running water or electricity.

Within the Al Maleh area there are six illegal settlements and seven Israeli military bases daily harassing and intimidating Palestinian villagers. Five days ago, Israeli forces “confiscated” 300 dunums of Palestinian land, ignoring the Palestinian owners who hold legal ownership.

When international activists visited the stolen land yesterday, the site was already under construction, possibly to build a new illegal settlement or an extension of a military base.

The Israeli military bases in the Al Maleh area are responsible for many crimes against the Palestinian villagers. Two years ago, two young people, aged 18 and 20-years-old respectively, were assassinated during a “training” session.

The “training” is regularly used to justify demolitions of homes, destroying livelihoods and families in the process. Currently, there are 275 active demolition orders and 750 Palestinian structures that have been destroyed and forced to rebuild in the last year.

It is clear that living in Al Maleh is a daily struggle. In this part of the Jordan valley, agricultural working is the main source of income. However the lack of water, caused by Israeli government polices, continually hinders this way of life. For instance, 33-years-ago in Hamamat al Maleh village, the Israeli government poured concrete into the ground in order to cut off access to a natural spring access. This injustice continues to affect the village every day.

In many villages cultivating livestock is the main income, however the Israeli military can and does claim “security reasons” and confiscates some of these vital animals. Confiscated animals are then held in a structure in Jericho. 3000 shekels is the normal fine Palestinian farmers must to pay in order to have their cow returned.

It seems evident that in Al Maleh, the Israeli military seeks to make life as difficult as possible for the Palestinian villagers living in the area. Israeli forces have not been held accountable for the crimes they have committed and it is clear that these offences will continue while the international community stays silent about the daily injustices being carried out in the Jordan Valley

The confiscated land where construction has already begun (photo by ISM).

Israeli army confiscates land in Qusra

26th December 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qusra, Occupied Palestine

Israeli soldiers have declared a road south of Qusra, in Nablus District, a security zone, thus denying villagers access to over 500 dunams of their farmland.

At 10:00 this morning, Israeli soldiers positioned themselves at various strategic points around the village. The commander then held a meeting on the farmland with the mayor of Qusra. It was in this meeting that the Israeli army officially appropriated the land, claiming “security reasons.”

Farmers have been told that they may apply for permits to access their land. However, Palestinian farmers state that these applications are frequently ignored. One farmer stated: “I’m sure they will not give anything to the farmers. This is a military order: it will pass.”

Israeli soldiers on Qusra land (photo by ISM).

Israel shifts Oslo accord borders to continue to prevent Palestinians from using their land and building homes

10th August 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Huwwara, Occupied Palestine

Maher from the village of Huwwara close to Nablus, is one of many Palestinians who has been tricked into thinking that Palestinians have the power to issue building permits in areas labelled as ‘B’ under the Oslo accords.

986715_10201083510883525_640332638_n — Maher on his land, where he was planning to build his house (Photo by ISM)

Maher owns land designated as ‘B’ and so applied to the Palestinian Authority for planning permission to build a house to provide for his children when they grew up. The permission was accepted and he obtained the relevant documents and paid the relative charges to proceed. The land the house was going to be built on was being used as a rubbish tip and so he started to clear the land in order to build the house. For six months he cleared the land and dug the foundations of the house before Israel issued a stop work paper in early July. Maher was surprised by this, especially when the reason for the stop work order being issued was because of Israeli claims that the land was Area C. Maps obtained show that the proposed structure is in area B but Maher has no choice but to challenge the decision in the court if he wants to continue building.

Maher's house map issued by the PA (Photo by ISM) — Maher’s house map issued by the PA (Photo by ISM)

Maher, skeptical of the result of the court system speaks of his frustration and the inevitable expense, ‘I don’t have much money to build, then Israel comes and stops it. I don’t have money to risk if Israel will target it.’

The land is on the outskirts of a built up area of houses and Palestinian residents and so it is not clear why Israel is prohibiting the building of the property as there are no ‘security’ concerns of the occupation near by.’There’s just Palestinians here . No army , no settlers, nothing prohibiting us from building’ says Maher.

Since he received the stop work order, the site neighbouring his was also given a stop work order on their property that was nearing completion. Israel as the occupying power has to provide for services, infrastructure and allow for new accommodation for the inhabitants but almost universally rejects planning permission in area C. Maher’s land is in area B and so under the agreement where the Palestinian Authority and Israel have joint control, the permission granted by the Palestinian Authority should be sufficient to build the home. Similar cases of this denial of permission and dismissal of Palestinian Authority permits due to claiming that the land was area C, has happened in the village of Sarra.

Since the stop work order, the land that was dug and cleared has began to fill with rubbish again. Maher is still determined; ‘If I build, I’ll make it like a park.’

Under the Oslo agreement the occupied territories in the West Bank were divided into areas A, B and C. A small amount of area designated as ‘A’ gives full power to the Palestinian Authority to administer in civil and security matters. Land designated as area ‘C’ is under full Israeli military control where the occupying power has to provide security and services for all the inhabitants. Area ‘B’ is agreed to be under joint control by the Palestinian Authority and Israel.

Land grab in Qaryut; residents fear illegal settlement expansion

16th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qaryut, Occupied Palestine

On the 3^rd of July 2013, settlers from the illegal colony of Shilo bulldozed land belonging to Qaryut, destroying around two hundred recently planted olive trees. Citizens of Qaryut are now concerned that new houses for the illegal settlement are being built on this stolen land.

Settler bulldozer on Qaryut land (Photo by ISM) — Settler bulldozer on Qaryut land (Photo by Qaruout Alsmood)

At around 10am, five settlers with a bulldozer entered onto Qaryut land near to their illegal settlement, bulldozing several dunums of land and destroying around two hundred young olive trees planted recently by the landowners. Two jeeps full of heavily armed Israeli soldiers also accompanied the settlers onto the land.

The illegal settlement of Shilo is built on land belonging to Qaryut, and the land surrounding the colony also belongs to Palestinian villagers. Although the people of Qaryut have ownership papers for this land, they say that one of the settlers also has forged papers, stating that it is his land. The Qaryut land next to the settlement is considered by the Israeli authorities Area C, meaning that it is under Israeli control for both civil and security matters; this means that it is not possible for Palestinians to build there, nor to expand their village. On the other hand, the settlers from the illegal settlement of Shilo are regularly granted access to build and expand their colonies onto Palestinian land – this is the case across the West Bank.

In recent years Qaryut has suffered many problems from the various settlements which surround it, including a case of a a thirteen year old boy who was shot at by settlers from Eli colony. He broke his leg as he ran from settlers and was arrested and tortured by soldiers. In other cases, settlers have set fire to Palestinian land, destroying agricultural land, crops and trees.