Razing large areas of agricultural lands for the expansion of Brukhin settlement

• Violation : Razing Palestinian lands for the sake of Israeli settlements

• Location : Bruqin and Kafr al –Deek villages, west of Salfit governorate
• Date of violation : 12/4/2018.
• Perpetrators : “Brukhin”- Israeli settlement .
• Victims : Number of farmers from Bruqin and Kafr al-Deek villages .

Details of the violation :

The Israeli occupation continues the policy of judaization of Palestinian lands and changes features for the benefit of colonial expansion in the West Bank .This comes in the course of controlling as much Palestinian lands as possible to execute this colonial project. To the west of Salfit , any passerby these days in the two villages of Bruqin and Kafr al-Deek would hear the roars of the Israeli occupation`s heavy machinery while it is leveling vast areas of land in order to expand both the control span and the area of “Brukhin” settlement. Razing is currently concentrated on the eastern side of the settlement directly where roads are being established and geography is rapidly being changed.

According to the field observation in the location, at least 60 acres of agricultural land, unused due to restrictions from the occupation, were razed and deformed as the field research witnessed. In the targeted lands, colonial roads and disfiguring of mountain tops take place to set the course of establishing developed infrastructure and a new location which can become a new area for construction as a residential suburban attached to “Brukhin” settlement .

Commenting on what is happening, Jamal Hammad -settlement file official in Salfit Governorate – said : “ Brukhin settlement is considered as a nail lodged in the heart of Salfit governorate. Its name was derived from the adjacent Palestinian village of Bruqin It, now, represents a link connecting the settlements west of the governorate- Bado`el and Ali Zahaf with Ariel settlements and the industrial zone of Burkan. Therefore , it is a colonial link connecting the large concentrations of settlements to become a single unit responsible for the judaization of the Palestinian lands in its entirety."

Pictures 1-5 : Razing Palestinian lands to expand “ Brukhin” settlement

Pictures 6-10 : Fence established by the settlers in the vicinity of citizen Hamed's place

Undoubtedly, the real danger now that threatens the Palestinian existence and the Palestinian land around “Brukhin” settlement is the obstacles put by the Israeli occupation army or, what is also called Settlement security, in front of farming the land in the area of that settlement. Hamed Osama al-Deek – (39 years old ) a farmer from Kafr al-Deek village– states for LRC researcher :

“While heading to my land located in al-Harayiq area in which I own 25 acres in the area planted with olive trees , I was shocked , at the start of April 2018 , with Brukhin settlers constructing a metal fence around my land to become literally inside the fence surrounding the settlement . As I tried reaching the location , I faced many harassments from the IOF who stopped me from accessing my land unless a prior arrangement is to be made as the occupation claims .This is the same case with tens of farmers of that area and others near the settlements”. 

The farmer also pointed out the severe effect on him and his family saying : “ We have been farming this land and cultivating olives from it and our only concern is to preserve this land and sustain our income in spite of any obstacles. Yet, the occupation has never stopped harassing us many times in order to make us back down and dominate the land, so what the occupation did was expected”.

Brukhin settlement was established in 1999 as a nucleus for settlements on Bruqin village lands from the north-western side of the village. After the events of the second Intifada in 2000, that colonial midpoint started expanding notably and rapidly. Settlers took advantage of the events of the Intifada and the inability of Palestinian farmers to reach their lands through the security line , which surrounds the Israeli settlements, by means of expansion through confiscating as much agricultural lands as possible following the instructions of the former Prime Minister of the occupation state “ Ariel Sharon” who called settlers to capture as much lands as possible and build random settlements units which received support and favoring from consecutive occupation governments. 

About Kafr al-Deek village¹

Kafr al-Deek village is located 15km to the west of Salfit city and to the south of Bedya and to the west of Der Ballout. To the east of it you find the villages of :Burqin , Sartah and north of Bani Zayd villages.
In 2014 , the population of said town reached 5871 people. The overall land area is 15529 acres, 797 of which are construction-ready land mass for the village .

 The occupation confiscated 2477 acres of its lands as it is shown :

1. Settlements took 1225 acres of lands away from the village. 
2- Bypass road took away 362 acres.
3- The separation wall took away 890 acres along its path and it will isolate about 8842 acres behind it. It is spread 8905 meters across the lands of the village.  

Kafr al-Deek lands are categorized to B area, according to Oslo accords ,which constitutes 15 % of the village area. On the other hand , C areas which are under Israeli occupation control make up to 85% of the village`s lands.

Bruqin Village

Burqin village is located 10km to the west of Salfit city. On its lands, the Israeli industrial zone “Araeil” is built. Kafr al-Deek is located to the west and Farkha and Salfit are to the east. From the south, Kafr Ein and Bani Zayid villages .

Israel confiscated large areas of the village ( 3,385) acres as shown below :

1. Settlements devoured about 3,334 acres of the village`s land : 

1. The interstate route pillaged about 503 acres of the village .
2. The Apartheid Wall is planned to go over (785) acres and it will isolate about (5159) acres with its length of (7855) meters .

The Establishing settlement units and expanding the existing Israeli settlements on the expense of Palestinian lands done by the Israeli settlements councils with the favoring of the occupation authority within all the West Bank based settlements is considered to be a loud violation on many primary codes for international human rights including Security council resolutions, Hague conventions of 18^th of October 1907 and the Fourth Geneva convention regarding the protection of civilians in the time of wars 12^th August 1949. The resolutions in question are the following : 

• Resolution No. 242  (1967) : Which calls for the withdrawal of armed Israeli forces from the lands it occupied in the year 1967 . It also affirms on the prohibition of taking over lands throughout the war and the necessity to work on a durable and just peace which can enable any country in the region to live under security .
• Resolution No.446 (1979) : Which states the illegitimacy of the Israeli colonial policy in the occupied Arab lands, including Jerusalem, and considering it a major obstacle facing peace in the Middle East. 
• Resolution 452 adopted in the year 1979 which states “the policy of Israel in establishing settlements in the occupied Arab territories has no legal validity and constitutes a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949" and "calls upon the Government and people of Israel to cease, on an urgent basis, the establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem."
• United Nations Security Council resolution 465, adopted unanimously on 1 March 1980 which urged Israel to cease the building of the settlements and not to build new ones and dismantle the ones  already built back then. It also urged the members of the council not to give aid to Israelis in building settlements.
• United Nations Security council resolution adopted in 1980 : Calling for not recognizing the “ Basic Principle” in regards to Jerusalem and encouraging other countries to recall their diplomatic envoys from Israel.

Hague Convention /1907:-

Article 46 : The occupying state shall not confiscate private property .

• Article 55 : The occupying state shall be considered a manager for the occupied country lands and shall deal with the country`s property as private property .

4^th Geneva Convention /1949:

•  Article 49 : The occupation authority shall not transfer its citizens to occupied lands or do any demographic change in said lands .
• Article : 53 : Occupation forces shall not destroy individual or people`s property or property that belongs to the state or any authority in the occupied country .
• Article 147 :  Destroying or perishing properties without any military pretext on a large scale arbitrarily is considered a grave offense .

Prepared by
 The Land Research Center
LRC