Israeli Occupation Forces Demolish a Number of Commercial Sheds and Confiscate its Content in the Village of Al Jalama

Violation: The destruction of a number of commercial sheds and the confiscation of its goods.

Location: The village of Jalama, Jenin, close to Al Jalama Crossing Terminal.

Date: 22^nd of July, 2010.

 

On Thursday the 22^nd of July, 2010 a large number of Israeli occupation forces surrounded a number of commercial sheds on the main road leading to Al Jalama Crossing Terminal north of Jenin Governorate. They proceeded to demolish all of the sheds after confiscating part of its commercial contents. The occupation forces declared that the demolition took place due to the close proximity of the sheds to the Terminal.

 

 

 

The demolition has negatively affected a large number of Palestinians who were pushed to have these sheds to face life’s on-going demands especially that most of them cannot access the Israeli labor market as it was the case in the during the pre-Intifada years. The victims of the demolitions included the following:

 

About three weeks before, Israeli occupation forces distributed 3 military orders ordering the eviction of the sheds. These orders were executed on the 22^nd of July, 2010. Mr. Mohammad Abu Farha expressed the following to the Land Researcher Center (LRC)’s field researcher vis-à-vis the demolitions: ‘I used to own a shed to sell pottery and statues. I received about two weeks ago a military order from the occupation army ordering me to leave the area under the pretext that I was too case to the Terminal. When I asked them to where I should go they told me that I need to move at least 40 meters away from the Terminal. That was exactly what I have done. Yet, I was shocked to see them on Thursday destroying my shed. I tried to reason with them that I have moved the needed distance as dictated by them, yet they wouldn’t listen to me. I went to the Palestinian DCL and a number of official Palestinian Authority offices, yet to no avail. The shed was the only source of income for me and my 8-member family. I don’t know what to do now !!!’

 

The village of Al Jalama has suffered tremendously due to the Israeli occupation. The latest disaster that befell the village was the establishment of the Israeli Racist Isolation Wall at a length of 3.5 kilometers and a width of 50 meters. As such, the village has effectively lost 175 dunums of its most fertile lands. The Racist Wall has, also, isolated the village from its sister villages inside the Palestinian lands occupied in 1948 namely Al Maqbeila and Sandala villages whose residents are originally from Al Jalama.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2,600 resident of the village depend mainly on agriculture and working inside the Green Line. It is estimated that that 94% of the work force of Al Jalama used to depend on working inside the Green Line before the inception of the current Itifada. Also, according to the Ministry of Agriculture in Jenin, Al Jalama used to have 550 Green Houses in addition to 3000 dunums planted with olive trees and other crops. Moreover, of the 5000 dunums that constituted the village’s area, around 700 dunums were classified as grazing area. However, after the inception of the current Intifada the marketing of the crops into the Green Line and throughout the West Bank became so difficult that is led to the accelerated deterioration of the agricultural field in Al Jalama that half of its population became unemployed.

 

It is worth highlighting the fact that Israeli occupation forces have increased the pressure on Al Jalama residents lately as owners of agricultural lands were prevented from reaching their lands located 50 meters away from the Racist Wall for “security reasons”. Moreover, the same “security reasons” were used while carrying out nightly raids into the village on frequent bases which led to a noticeable increase in the psychosocial problems faced by the children specifically.