The Israeli Occupation Forces Closes Kifl Haris entrances with earth mounds

On November 12, 2009, the Israeli occupation authorities closed the western entrance to Kifl Haris village, Salfit governorate, with earth mounds cutting the geographical continuity between this village and Haris village. In related development, the Occupation authorities closed the iron gate which is located at the southern entrance of the village and leads to bypass road number 505 under the pretext of stopping stone throwing at settlers cards traveling on road 505.

 

 

The latest Israeli move is an act of collective punishment that comes at the time the Israeli occupation authorities claim to have reduced the number of checkpoints and road barricades in the

 

It is noteworthy that such a move of collective punishment of the population of the town, which coincides with the Occupation’s claim to remove road barriers throughout the West Bank that hinder the movement of Palestinian citizens, is a clear proof of the false allegation of movement easing.

 

As done by the Occupation Authorities of removing some of the minor barriers scattered here and there is designed to mislead the world public opinion and is only a temporary step to buy time and gain the confidence of the world, especially Goldstone’s report which condemns the Occupation of war crimes in Gaza.

 

 

It should be noted that the southern (main) entrance to Kifl Haris village is not the first time to be closed, but it was closed more than once, for example,  on the ninth of July, 2008 when the Israeli army raided the town under the pretext of stone throwing on road 505.  Consequently, this led to the suspension of citizens’ movement  outside the village. The village’s southern entrance was totally closed by an earth mound from the beginning of Al Aqsa Intifada in 2000 until December, 2008, when it was  replaced by an iron gate and watch tower under the control of the Israeli army. This situation impacts negatively on the lives of people in the town through the difficulty of the movement of people and goods to and from the town, as well as the difficulty of transporting sick people to hospitals, in addition to the psychological effect of this bad situation on the town population who find themselves inside a big prison.

 

On the other hand, settlers have continued to visit the shrines in the village since the occupation of the West Bank in 1967 at the rate of twice a year in addition to random visits by settlers from time to time who deliberately cause harm to private property and spread the spirit of fear in the hearts of children and women in the village. The menacing settlers come to the village by large buses guarded by the Israeli occupation army who intentionally impose  curfew on the village, paralyze the movement of citizens for allegedly  protecting the lives of settlers. While visiting the settlers write hostile anti Arab graffiti on the shrines and their walls. Note that there are three religious shrines in the village, namely: (Nabi Yusha or Joshua, Zulkifli believed to be Hezekiah and ZuNoon or Jonah ).

 

 

 

Picture 3: Tomb Thu Alkufl  

 

The village is located about 4 km to the north of the town of Salfit surrounded by the villages of Deir Estia, Qira, Haris, Zeta Jammain and Marda. It was named Kifl Haris after Prohet Zulkifli ( Hezekiah). The village’s total land area is about 9,254 dunums of which 786 dunum is built up area The village’s population toll was 3,248 residents.

 

 

 

 The nearby Israeli settlement of Ariel has confiscated about 278 dunums of Kifl Haris land, in addition to 2.77 km² that was seized from the village’s land  for  the construction of  the trans-Samaria highway number 505.

 

Related case studies:

1.     Israel Issues Stop Work Orders against Palestinian Structures in the Village of Kafl Haris, 13,August, 2009;

2.     The Closure of Kafl Haris’s village Entry Points with Earthmounds & the Increase of Colonists’ Attacks against Religious Sites
02,August,2008;

3.     Confiscating Palestinian Lands in the Village of Kufl Haris
16,December,2008

 

[1] GIS department at LRC

[2] PCBS census for the year 2007.