Extension of a Confiscation Order
Converting over 3000 dunums into closed military zones.

Violation: converting over 3000 dunums into closed military zones.

Location: the villages of Az Zawiyya, Deir Ballout, and Rafat in Salfit.

Date: April 1, 2012.

Perpetrators: the Israeli Occupation Army.

 

On April 1, 2012, the Israeli Occupation Authorities handed the so-called Palestinian Civil Coordination Office a renewal for a confiscation order of over 3000 dunums in Salfit. The order entitled ‘closure order (prohibition of entry and trespassing) number T/3/93, adjusting borders’ which was issued in 1993 ordered the continuity of confiscation of over 3000 dunums of Salfit lands.

 

   

Khader Shqer, Az Zawiyya Governor, said: ‘the very Palestinian existence in the area is at stake here, for Az Zawiyya, we lost over 5000 dunums for the construction of the segregation wall which was aroused in Jabal al Kroum area, to the west. The Israelis tried many times to capture the lands and only the determination of the town folks stood in their way. As a result, they used a different approach; they turned most of the village area into a military zone using various ‘security’ justifications knowing that the town has a strategic location overlooking areas west of the wall in addition to the availability of water and fertile lands.  The order is a proof to the Israeli intentions to continue their land confiscation and judaization policy. Az Zawiyya alone will lose an extra 2000 dunums added to what it already lost’.

 

Salfit’s total area is 202.1 km 2, inhabited by 59570 (PCBS 2007). Salfit’s towns and villages are ripped apart because of the Israeli colonization policy and the spread of colonies and bypasses. Colonization started as early as 1975 in Salfit because of its strategic location. It started with tiny outposts which expanded to become as large as cities bigger than Salfit city itself. Now, colonization has reached extremely alarming levels as colonies are steps away from Palestinian houses in some areas.

 

The colonial invasion of Salfit started in the 1970’s; Israel started bringing into the area Jewish colonists coming from all around the world in order to imbalance the demographic status of Salfit. The rapid increase in the number of colonists has never been natural; it has been a result of pumping colonists into the area by giving them extreme privileges and facilitating acquiring lands and work for them. The colonial policy in Salfit was intended to split the West Bank into halves as well as taking over the fertile agricultural lands and the rich water sources.

 

On April 12, 2004, the Israeli Prime Minister at the time, Ariel Sharon, declared that Ariel colony and colonies around it will forever be under Israeli political and security control meaning that the danger Salfit is facing is permanent. The Israeli colonies created disconnection between the Palestinian communites which had drastic effects on the geographic, political, social, and economic status in the governorate. It also hindered development and rendered any expansion in Palestinian communities next to impossible.