Azzun Atma Wall Section – Qalqiliya Governorate

Violation: the Israeli Occupation Army started the construction of a section of the segregation wall.

Location: ‘Azzun Atma – Qalqiliya

Date: November, 2011

Perpetrators: the Israeli Occupation Army.

Victims: Azzun Atma inhabitants.

 

Hani Omar, a resident of Mas-ha, life has turned into a living hell, not only because of the confiscation of thousands of dunums of his village lands because of the wall construction which resulted in the isolation of his house and disconnecting him from the village but also because of the uprooting of a hundred 120-year-old trees as well as 56 orange trees. Also, 47 dunums of his lands were left behind the wall.Hani was expelled from his lands in Kafr Qasim village during the Israeli conquest in 1948. The Israelis partially demolished his house in 1990.

 

   

 

The Israelis also demolished a restaurant owned by Hani as well as a number of mobile homes in 1996. he placed the caravans after being assured by the Israeli Occupation Civil Administration that he is allowed to do so. Laying foundation of the wall resulted in the destruction of a 500-m2 chicken farm that he owned. To add to his miseries, in 2003, his house became surrounded by the wall with only an Israeli-controlled gate leading in or out.

 

An estimated loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars has been recorded throughout the years. 8 years later, the Israelis started to build a new section of the wall, adding to the desolation of the people of ‘Azzun.

 

 

 

 

The Israeli Court ordered the modification of the wall route in order to distant it from Oranit colony, thus, destroying and confiscating hundreds of dunums of Palestinian lands. According to the Village Council, the following are a consequent of the construction of the 5-km-long section:

 

Abdul Kareem Ayyub, spokesman of Azzun village Council, said in a statement: ‘the new route of the wall deprives 70% of the residents from their agricultural lands. The Israeli operations in the village are criminal; the Israelis seek turmoil and instability, not peace.‘

 

The village is located east of the Green Line at a distance of 3 kilometers away from the city of Qalqiliyya and around 1 km from the ‘Green Line’. Its population is 1783. Around 80% of its workforce work in farming while an additional 15% work inside Israel. The remaining 5% work in commerce and in the public sector. The village is surrounded by the Israeli colonies of Oranit, Sh’ar Tikva, and Elkana.