On March 8, 2011, the Israeli Occupation Army handed over eight residents from Barta’a As-Sharqiya village west of Jenin city military orders notifying them that their houses and animal sheds will be demolished under the pretext of lacking building permits due to their location in areas classified as ‘C’ according to Oslo II interim agreement of 1995 which fall under the full Israeli administrative and Security control. Owners of the threatened structures are listed in table 1:
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Table 1: Owners of the threatened Structures in Barta’a Ash Sharqiya village
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No.
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Owner
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Description of Structure
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1
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Farouq Mohammad Qubha
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Two sheep barrackses
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2
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Mohammad Hasan Qasem Qubha
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Sheep Barracks
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3
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‘Abed Hussein Qubha
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Sheep Barracks
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4
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Shadi Mustapha Khalil Qubha
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Under construction House
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5
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Muhammad Mustapha Khalil Qubha
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Under construction House
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6
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Mohammad Tal’at Qubha
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Under construction House
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7
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Jawad Ahmad Hussein
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Under construction House
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8
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Muhammad Tewfik Mahmoud Qubha
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Chicken Farm
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Source: Barta’a Ash Sharqiya Village Council – 2011
It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time the residents of Barta’a Ash Sharqiya received demolition orders, where on the 18th of January 2010, the Israeli Occupation Army delivered 9 demolishing orders to Palestinian residents in the village. The nine orders that were set out by the Israeli Civil Administration and handed to residents of the village at the hands of the Israeli Occupation army came all under the pretext of lacking proper building authorization.
Later on February 10, 2010, the Israeli Occupation army also delivered 13 families in Barta’a Ash-Sharqiya village orders to demolish their houses under the same pretext.
Trapped Within an Enclave
According to the latest Israeli revised map of the Segregation Wall that was published on the Israeli Ministry of Defense website on April 30, 2007, Barta’a Ash- Sharqiya village along with 6 other Palestinian communities are trapped in an enclave and are totally isolated from the center of life in Jenin city. The enclave includes the communities of Khirbet Al Muntar Al Gharbi, Khirbet Ash- Sheikh Sae’d, Khirbit Abdullah Al Younis, Um Ar- Rihan, ‘Arab Al Hamdoun, Khirbit Al Malih and Barta’a Ash Sharqiya. The six communities are inhabited by 5,798 residents (PCBS 2010). Furthermore, Barta’a Ash Sharqiya enclave occupies a total land area of 27815 dunums (27.8 km²) and any movement from or to the aforementioned communities in the enclave is completely controlled by the Israeli Occupation Forces as only residents of the aforementioned communities are allowed access to and from the enclave. .
The Israeli Segregation Wall plan in Barta’a Ash Sharqiya village
The Israeli Segregation Wall in Barta’a Ash Sharqiya enclave extends for more than 17 kilometers starting from ‘Anin village near the 1949 Green Line (Armistice Line), then it extends to the east towards ‘Arqa village cutting through its lands and continues southwards towards Ya’bad and Barta’a villages where it isolates a considerable area of lands of the two villages and then continues towards Zabda village in the south where it also isolates some of its lands within the enclave. The wall alsoannexes 4 Israeli settlements to Israel within its path, table 2 & Map 1:-
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Table 2: Israeli Settlements located within Barta’a Enclave
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No.
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Settlements inside Enclave
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Population
(2008-2009) |
Area (Dunums)
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Date of Establishment
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1
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Rehan
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170
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418
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1977
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2
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Shakid
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578
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858
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1981
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3
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Hinnanit
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811
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769
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1981
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4
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Tel Menashe
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452
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275
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1994
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Total
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2011
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2320
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2320
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****
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Source: ARIJ Data base 2010
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Map 1: The Israeli Segregation Wall plan in Barta’a Ash Sharqiya Village
Barta’a Ash Sharqiya
Barta’a Ash-Sharkeyya is located 30 km away to the west of the city of Jenin. It is trapped within an enclave where the Israeli Segregation Wall surrounds the village from its four directions. Khirbit Barta’a, Khirbit Abdullah al Younis located to its east and Khirbet al Mintar to its south. The village is inhabited by 4,503 residents (PCPS 2010).
To Conclude
The demolition of the Palestinian houses by the Israeli Occupation is a grave violation of International law rules and conventions, where Israel should be held accountable for its acts in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and should comply with the international legitimacy, laws treaties and United Nations’ Resolutions.
- Art. 23 of the Hague Convention of 1907 also provides: In addition to the prohibitions provided by special Conventions, it is especially forbidden to destroy or seize the enemy’s property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war;
- Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of, December 10, 1948, Article 17 reads: ‘No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.’ Which means it bans Israel from destroying or confiscating the property of the Palestinians at any case.
- Articles 147& 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention indicated that: Extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly. is a grave breach of the Convention.
- Article 12′ of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights & ‘Article 13’ of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads: Everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence
Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
ARIJ
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
ARIJ
