Tag: Sarra

3rd July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Sarra, Occupied Palestine

On the morning of the 30^th of June, settlers from the illegal outpost of Havat Gilad rallied 100 settlers from the nearby illegal settlement of Qedumim to attack the land of the Palestinian village of Sarra.

Late in the morning, settlers went to the land located between Sarra and the illegal Israeli outpost and set fire to the land, resulting in twenty dunums of land burnt and two hundred olive trees destroyed. The Palestinian fire brigade arrived at the scene to put out the fire, but was prevented from reaching the land by the Israeli military. The fifteen Palestinian farmers who own this land have not been able to access it for years – they have been denied access because of its proximity to the illegal outpost.

The village of Sarra, located southwest of Nablus city, has seen 2000 dunums of their land annexed bythe illegal Israeli outpost of Havat Gilad. This outpost was erected in 2002 and is considered illegal under both international and Israeli law. The Israeli government dismantled some structures of the outpost in 2011 which led to ‘price-tag’ attacks in retribution against Palestinian communities nearby. The structures were soon rebuilt by the settlers and have since then been protected by the Israeli military.

This is a regular tactic of Israeli settlers to create ‘facts on the ground’ by establishing illegal outposts, which are then protected by the Israeli military and eventually designated as neighbourhoods of exisiting settlements. There are currently around 121 settlements in the West Bank, along with around 100 illegal outposts.

The illegal outpost of Havat Gilad on the right and the burnt land on the left (Photo by ISM)

19th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Sarra, Occupied Palestine

On Monday 10th June Israeli occupation forces in jeeps visited six homes in Sarra and left demolition orders that affect the lives of around fifty people all with young children. The homes have been declared ‘illegal’ under Israeli planning law, claiming that they are within Area C which is under full Israeli civil control. They were all given planning permission by the Palestinian Authority (PA) who are allowed to issue permits under the occupation as part of the Oslo Accords from joint administration in land labeled as Area B.

Right paper land ownership, left paper building permit by PA (Photo by ISM)

Sarra a village in the Nablus area with a population of around 4000 falls under the territory of area B. The village is surrounded on three sides by land of Area C and on one side reaching back to Nablus it joins with Area A. As the village expands, there becomes a lack of space for new homes and planning permission is very rarely granted in Area C.
The threat of demolition is due to the Israeli belief that the homes fall under the boundary of Area C, but the families involved believed the land to be in Area B and paid costs and were granted permission from the PA. One home owner affected, Mustafa Durabi said ‘If I had known it was Area C I would not have built here. I have other land but here is nice and quiet that is why I build here.’
Although the homes are very close to the border with Area C, some other homes are closer or just as close, but have not been issued with demolition orders. The homes facing demolition house new families, new couples with children at the start of their lives together. The families have invested all their money into the homes, to which a council member from the village says ‘It’s like their dreams are going to be demolished too.’
The families are in deep shock and are challenging the ‘decision’ in court on the 9th of July at Bet El settlement. The village think that the recent demolition orders are in response to plans to resist against an approved construction of an electrical transformer station in the land of Area B of the village.

Tag: Sarra

20 dunums of land and 200 olive trees set on fire by settlers in Sarra

Six homes in Sarra threatened with demolition orders