On the 11th of February 2015, a group of Israeli settlers living Har Samuel settlement northwest of Jerusalem city attacked the land of citizen Eid Barakat in An Nabi Samuel village northwest of Jerusalem city and removed steel fence posts and barbed wire fences surrounding his 14.5 dunums land. See Photo 1

 

Mr. Barakat benefited from a project funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and implemented by the Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem (ARIJ) back in 2012 which aimed at supporting and sustaining agricultural activities and food security of 425 vulnerable women-headed HH and small-scale farmers/herders affected by the Israeli Segregation wall and Seam Zone in 18 localities in Qalqiliya, Nablus, and Jerusalem Governorates including East Jerusalem. The project focused on improving the agro-practices of the targeted households in addition to improve their access to water resources which was achieved through providing the households with chicken farms, sheep, beehives, and home gardens, in addition to the rehabilitation or construction of water cisterns and the rehabilitation of lands or farms. See Photos 2-5
 

    

 

The Project, which was implemented during the period of March 2012 and February 2013, targeted 18 Palestinian localities in Qalqiliya, Nablus, and Jerusalem Governorates. ARIJ was responsible for implementing the project in Jerusalem (West Bank) in: Jaba', Hizma, As Sawahira ash Sharqiya, Ash Sheikh Sa'd, and 'Anata, and in East Jerusalem in Jabal Al-Mukabbir & As Sawahira Al Gharbieh, Silwan and Al-Esawiah; while the Economic and Social Development Center of Palestine was responsible for implementing the project in Qalqilyia and Nablus Governorates. ARIJ managed to expand the targeted areas to include Sur Baher and Nabi Samuel in East Jerusalem.

This is not the first time that the land of Mr. Eid barakat was attacked by Israeli settlers; where, during the past three years, the family witnessed several attacks carried out by settlers of Har Samuel settlement. These attacks aimed at terrorizing the family so as to facilitate the future annexation of the land to the settlement. Note that the settlement is adjacent to the land of Mr. Barakat and only a barbed wire fence separates them..

Before Mr. Barakat reclaimed his land, settlers razed a large tract of land and stole rich soil and took it to their settlement. This in turn has resulted in a large hole in the land which accumulated water and by time became contaminated with bacteria and became both environment and health risk. See photo 6

Following the completion of the reclamation process, Israeli settlers uprooted tens of  seedlings that were cultivated in the land[1] of Mr. Barakat and destroyed the water network. Only six months after the uprooting of the seedlings, settlers again attacked Mr. Barakat land and uprooted the remaining seedlings in addition to destroying a water well that Mr. Barakat uses to irrigate the trees. 

Additionally, on the 26th of June 2014, the Israeli Civil Administration handed Mr. Barakat a military order to stop the work on 400 meters barbed wire fence surrounding the family land. The order was given to Mr. Barakat under the pretext that the land is classified as “C” area according to OSLO II Interim agreement of 1995 where Israel still retains full control over the administrative and security issues.  See Photo 7

 

Below is the translation of the military order as served by the Israeli Civil Administration to Mr. Barakt:-

“Since you are the owner / liable / contractor / Work Manager / of the aforementioned mentioned property, which is undergoing construction (as detailed in the warning) without a license and / or violating the content of the license and / or built contrary to the regulations and orders and instructions in force and / or violating the master plan of the area/ height/ number of floors/ site/ prohibited construction, you are required under Article 38 (1) (3) of Planning of Towns, Villages and Buildings law, No. 79 of the year 1966 to immediately halt construction in the property.”

The Israeli Civil Administration gave Mr. Barakat until the 16th of July 2014 to proceed with license procedures. However, they also pointed out that pursuing license procedures does not guarantee Palestinians a license by the Israeli civil administration as stipulated in the Order or stop possible demolition during that time. Mr. Barakat appealed to the Israeli military court of Beit El; however, the case is still pending until the day of this report.  See Map 1

Map 1: The Targeted land of Citizen Eid Barakat in An Nabi Samuel village

 

Glance on An Nabi Samuel Village

An Nabi Samwil is a Palestinian village located north-west of Jerusalem City. It is bordered by Beit Hanina al Balad village and Bir Nabala lands to the east, Al Jib village to the north, Beit Iksa village lands to the west, and Beit Iksa village to the south (ARIJ, 2014 ). Today, and following the construction of the Israeli segregation wall, the village of An Nabi Samuel became entrapped in what became known among Palestinians as “the western Segregation Zone”, which is the area segregated between the Green Line (Armistice Line 1949 ) and the line of the wall.

The village is surrounded by the settlements of Neve Samuel and Har Samuel from its southern and western sides respectfully. The villages has a total land area of 2261 dunums and is inhabited by more than 300 Palestinians forming 143 families and living in 41 housing units. All of the village inhabitants hold the Palestinian ID and depend on agriculture for their daily living in addition to working inside Israel.

An Nabi Samwil Village and the Israeli Segregation Wall Plan

The Israeli Segregation Wall has had a negative and destructive impact on An Nabi Samwil Village. According to the latest revised route of the Israeli Segregation wall, published on the webpage of the Israeli Defense Ministry on 30th April, 2007, the wall isolates An Nabi Samwil village from its surrounding Palestinian villages and includes it within the Giv'at Ze'ev settlement bloc. The isolated lands include Israeli settlements, agricultural, and open spaces

Suffering of Palestinians in An Nabi Samwil Caused by the Construction of the Segregation Wall

According to the Segregation Wall plan, the Wall isolates the village from neighboring Palestinian villages and towns, surrounding it and including it within the Giv'at Ze'ev settlement bloc. The village has been separated from Al Jib, Biddu, Beit Hanina al Balad and Beit Iksa localities, to which the village residents used to travel for educational, health and commercial services. This move has created a new socio-geographic reality for the village residents that are difficult to reverse now, as these policies have led to a high population and urbanization density in the village due to the lack of land for construction, as all of the village’s lands were classified within area ‘C’ where Israel retains full control over security and administration issues. Therefore, Palestinians living in the village must obtain building permits from the Israeli civil administration which is virtually impossible, particularly in areas near Israeli settlements. The residents of An Nabi Samwil village therefore have two choices: to keep living in the same houses and adapt to the situation caused by population growth, or to leave the village.

To conclude,

The Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians and their properties in the occupied Palestinian territory remains to be a main concern especially that such attacks are carried out under the protection and direct sight of the Israeli occupation Army. The settlers premeditated attacks has grown over the past decade in number of and also in types of attacks, which have grown more violently than even the Palestinians expected over years. During the year 2014, more than 763 attacks were carried out by Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestinian Governorates and varied between attacking Palestinian civilians (ranked top of the attacks) to attacking religious and historic places in addition to attacking land and property. Figure 1 gives details of the types of Settlers attacks in the oPt. See Figure 1

 

 

[1]  Mr. Barakat was provided with 350 seedling of Olives, Almonds, Apples, Pomegranate, plums and apricot. 

 

Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem