Land Confiscation Orders in Marda and Kafl Haris

Violation: confiscation orders for Palestinian lands.

Perpetrators: the Israeli Occupation Army.

Victims: farmers of Marda and Kafl Haris.

Date: December, 29, 2011.

 

Colonization and land confiscations are considered pillars of the Israeli Occupation Policy, a policy aiming for creating unalterable facts on the ground by disconnecting Palestinian communities. On December 29, 2011, the Israeli Occupation so-called District Coordination Office handed 2 military orders which include 87 dunums of Palestinian lands.

 

It is an extension of an order issued in 2005 with the purpose of the construction of the security fence surrounding Ariel colony. The orders numbered T/32/05 and T/31/05, entitled ‘lay control orders’, and signed by the Israeli Forces Commander in the West Bank, Moshe Levnski, renew a previous order issued on February 11, 2010.

 

Order	Location	Area of lands used for construction (dunum)	Area of lands isolated (dunum)	Date	First extension	Second extention
T/31/05	Parcel 6 (Kafl Haris)	1.3	42	Feb, 2005	February 11, 2010	December 29, 2011
T/32/05	Parcel 6 (Kafl Haris)	1.300	42	Feb, 2005	February 11, 2010	December 29, 2011
	Parcel 3 (Marda)	85	198

 

Mr. Ahmad Bozya, Kafl Haris Governor, stated to an LRC observer: ‘these orders are extremely dangerous; they only imply putting facts on the ground to prevent Palestinian farmers from reaching their lands which were isolated by the ‘security fence‘ around Ariel colony; eventually, hundreds of dunums will be amended to the colony. Usually the Israelis use an old Ottoman law implying that any land not used for a period of 5 years will automatically become state property; the same had happened in Qarawat bani Hassan days ago‘.

 

Ariel was established in 1978 over Salfit lands; it rapidly expanded throughout the years to consume lands of the villages of Eskaka, Yasouf, Kafl Haris, Marda, and Bruqin. Its total area nowadays has reached somewhere around 20,000 dunums with 1480 dunums of built up area. The colony is inhabited by 16,000 Israeli colonists. It should be pointed that Ariel has service centers, school, and a university; all placed in a city in the heart of the West Bank.