Confiscating a Tractor and a Water Tank in Sweidat – Jericho

Violation:  confiscating a tractor and a water tank.

Location: Sweidat – Auja – Jericho.

Date: September 27, 2011.

Perpetrators: the Israeli Occupation Army.

Victim(s): Mitib Sweidat.

 

Despite the simple and primitive life led by 130 people residing in Sweidat who live in houses built out of hay, wood, and metal slabs while lacking the basic services of water and electricity.They depend on Al Auja for their water which they use water tanks to bring it into the village.The simple life that the people have been leading for four decades where they depended largely on herding was not miserable enough in the eyes of the Israelis and their ethnic cleansing policies.

 

On September 27, 2011, Israeli troops broke into the village and confiscated a water tank and a tractor, both used to transport water, on the pretext of trespassing and passing through a military zone before acquiring the needed permits.The owner was also penalized an amount of 4000 ILS as a result; this time because of parking near a military camp.

 

Sweidat, similar to various other nomad gatherings, has been suffering from day-to-day aggressions; raids by Israeli troops and colonists are reported on daily basis as well as property confiscations and harassment. In addition, most of the structures are threatened of demolitions, any development of infrastructure is prohibited, beside the fact that most of the area is planted with mines.

 

 

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It is located 6 km to the north of Jericho. The people are nomads and shepherds coming from Shuna in Jordan and settled in the area in the 1950’s. 130 people, lacking the basic services, reside in Sweidat.

 

The residents get their water by transporting it from the nearby Auja; paying 100 ILS for 15 m³ of water which is considered highly costly process.It must be pointed that most of the structures in Sweidat are threatened with eviction and demolition on the pretext of building in a ‘military zone’.