Stop Work Orders against Palestinian Structures in the Town of Ya’abad

March 9, 2009

On the 16th of February, 2009, the so-called Israeli “Civil Administration” gave 4 Palestinians living in Ahra’ash Imra in the town of Ya’abad stop work orders against their agricultural structures. The pretext used by the Israeli occupation authorities is that the lands atop which the structures are located are considered to be “State Lands.” The Orders gave the owners of the structures 7 days to demolish them. Otherwise, Israeli bulldozers will carryout the task and the owners will be taken to court. The following table lists the owners of the structures and its relevant information:

Name	Order Number	Structure	Area
Yousef Mohammad Yousef Zeid	303208	An agricultural room	12 m2
Attiya Mohammad Yousef Zaid	303230	Water pool	80 m3
Hilal Tawfiq Yousef Zaid	143030	Water pool	60 m3
Rafeeq Saleem Qabha	143031	An agricultural room	9 m2

Photo 1: The agricultural rooms belonging to Mr. Yousef Zeid

Photo 2: The water pool belonging to Mr. Attiya Zaid

Ahra’ash Imra is located 6 kilometers west of the town of Ya’abad on land parcels 25 and 26. Around 47 Palestinian, originally from Ya’abad, currently live there. They depend mainly on herding and agriculture.

The establishment of the Israeli Racist Wall in the western side of Ya’abad has led to the isolation of a number of Palestinian communities and villages including Ahra’ash Imra and the village of Barta’a Al Sharqiya. The lives of the 20,000 Palestinians living in these isolated communities have become increasingly difficult as they cannot access their service centers except through a number of military gates operated by the occupation forces and only after getting the necessary permits.

It is worth pointing out that occupation forces have increased its pressure on the residents of Ahra’ash Imra via issuing Stop Work and demolition orders against their structures; up until February 2009 around 9 agricultural structures have received such orders under the pretext that they were built on “State Lands.” In addition, occupation forces are chasing off Palestinian herders when they get “too close to the Wall.”

The Town of Ya’abad: General Information

The town is located 17 kilometers south west of the city of Jenin.
Its population is almost 15,000 Palestinians.
The built-up area covers around 15 km2
The total area of the town’s lands is about 37,000 dunums, 7,000 of which are currently isolated behind the Racist Wall.
19% of the residents of the town are registered refugees.
According to the Ya’abad Municipality, there are a number of clans in the town including Abu Baker, Atatra, Zeid, Amarna, Qabha, Badarna, Harz Allah, Abu Shamla and Abbadi.