Targeting Al ‘Aqaba… Yet Again

Violation: the destruction of Al Salam and Al Mohajereen roads in addition to two shacks in Al Aqaba.

Perpetrators: the Israeli Occupation Army.

Victims: Al ‘Aqaba residents.

Date: April 7, 2011.

 

The joy of milling and building Al Mohajereen road in Al ‘Aqaba which was paved early this year did not last long as the Israeli Occupation Army destroyed the road. The road was a step towards the development of the infrastructure in the village in order to attract the its former residents to reside the village again. It must be known that the Israelis do not recognize Al ‘Aqaba as a residential community and all of its lands are classified area ‘C’ according to Oslo Agreement.

  

 

On April 7, 2011, 3 Israeli dozers broke into Al ‘Aqaba destroying the two-year-old Al Salam road in the eastern part of the village.

They had also destroyed the 4-month-old Al Mohajereen road located in the western part of the village. In addition, they destroyed two shacks and a residential room in the village.

 

Road	Location	Opening date	Length	damage
Al Salam	East part	Beginning of 2009	1400 m	Destroying the asphalt, the light polls, and 300 m of retaining walls
Al Muhajereen	North western part	Beginning of 2011	1000 m	Destroying the asphalt and 500 m of retaining walls

 

Victim	Family members	Children	damages
Abdul Nasser Abed	7	4	Destroying a shack, a residential room including a kitchen and a bathroom, sabotaging 10 tons of yeast, 10 bundles of straw, destroying a water tank, and the destruction of cattle watering.
Mohammad Sbeih	6	4	Destroying a shack and veterinary instruments
	13	8

 

Al ‘Aqaba have been suffering for years; it has lived within an Israeli military camp for decades; deprived from the basic needs of life. The residents were determined to stay in the village despite losing 12 people and sustaining several injuries due to the Israeli Army “training”.

  

Sami Sadiq, one of the victims who sustained an injury in 1971 in his spine rendering him paralyzed from the waist below and using a wheel chair since and the Village Council president is determined to stand against the Israeli might alongside more than 3000 people of his fellow countrymen, he stated to an LRC Observer: “it is a crime! The unannounced objective of such an operation is forcing the villagers out; something that the Israelis see only in their dreams. It is our ancestors lands and we will never let the occupier capture it”.

 

 In 2003, the villagers succeeded to persuade the Israeli Occupation Supreme Court to order the removal of two Israeli Military camps located at the entrance of the village; Cobra 1 and Cobra 2 were actually dismantled in 2006 concurrently with the village receiving funding for the construction of a mosque, a school, and a medical center in addition to improving the village’s infrastructure.

 

The success in defying the Occupation had a drastic consequences on the village; the Israelis never recognized Al ‘Aqaba as a residential gathering and issued more than 55 demolition orders against various structures in the village including the mosque and the medical center.

 

The Village Council appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court many times to persuade it to approve an organizational structure for the village, however, their efforts were futile. It must be noted that the Village Council managed to obtain a freeze order for the demolition orders against the roads; nevertheless, the Court orders were useless.