Demolition Warnings for Houses at Beit Awwa Village

Israeli occupation forces distributed 8 “Stop Work” orders to the owners of 7 houses and a water cistern in Khillat Al Foul, Khillet Al Baraka and Ashbour in the town of Beit Awwa in the southwestern parts of Hebron Governorate. House owners indicated that on April 29th, 2008 an Israeli force accompanied by the so-called “Israeli Civil Administration” and a number of jeeps submitted the afore-mentioned orders which gave the owners a period of time to challenge the orders. Three of the houses are currently inhabited while the remaining four are under construction. The following table provides additional information about the targeted houses and their owners:

As such, the ghost of demolition haunts 50 Palestinians most of which are children. No one knows their fate in case the Israeli authorities carry out their decision.

13 Palestinians Live in a Storage Shop as Israeli Authorities Chase Them Off:

Abdel Rahman Taha Swieti and his two brothers, Musa and Mohammad, live in a small storage shop that fits them and their families barely. Mr. Abdel Rahman Swieti informed the Land Research Center’s field researcher the following: ' We live in a storage shop that we inherited from our father. Each one of us has one room, a small kitchen and small bathroom. Our financial situation is very tough especially that we’ve been unemployed for a while now. We can’t even finish the work on our houses. We went into debt in an effort to continue the construction of new homes to live a dignified life. However, Israeli authorities issued demolition orders against our unfinished houses. In case these carryout their decision, we will still continue to live in harsh conditions in our father’s storage shop. The occupation is killing our only dream.

Photo 1: The entrance to the storage/home in which the three brothers
live in. It has a Stop Worker Order issued against it.

Mr. Abdel Rahman continued: ' About three years ago we tried to build houses for us on a land that we owned west of the town. However, the Israeli Racist Isolation Wall was constructed atop of our lands. We moved more than a kilometer away from the Wall to build our new homes.

Even Water Cisterns Were Not Spared:

Hajj Taha Hasan Zein Swieti (age= 70) indicated that the water cistern he dug out to provide water for his plants was not spared the threat of being demolished. His plants will face a great damage in case the cistern is destroyed, he emphasized.

Photo 2: Hajj Taha Swieti sitting on his threatened cistern

The victimized families indicated that the Israeli authorities declared its intention to demolish the houses due to their “close proximity to the Wall.” That was despite the fact that work on these houses was started even before the construction of the Wall. Furthermore, some of these houses were established as early as 1994 while others are located about three kilometers away from the Wall.

Photo 3: Rajeh Abdel Aziz Swieti

Photo 4: Na’el Yousef Hasan Swieti

Photo 5: Haytham Abdel Hadi Swieti

Photo 6: Abdel Rahman Taha Swieti

Photo 7: Musa Taha Hasan Swieti

Photo 8: Mohammad Taha Hasan Swieti

Beit Awwa: A Victim of Israeli Occupation and Colonists:

• The town of Beit Awwwa has lost 3,000 dunums of its most fertile lands for the purpose of enlarging the Kibutz Amtisya colonial outpost.

• Israeli occupation forces have confiscated 4,000 dunums of Beit Awaa’s mountainous side for the purpose of reserving it as a grazing area for the said Kibutz.

• Around 500 dunums were confiscated for the establishment of the colony of Sheikav 1.

• Israeli occupation forces prevent Palestinians from using 800 dunums of the towns’ lands due to its close proximity to the Isolation Wall.

 
Photo 9 : A section of the Israeli Segregation Wall in Beit Awwa

• About 25 dunums were plowed by Israeli occupation forces to be used as part of a by-pass road.

• The town loses on yearly basis 150 tons of grains and 5 tons of olives due to land access restrictions imposed by both the Israeli forces and the colonists. This causes the inability of Palestinian farmers to take care of their lands which leads to crop loss.

• About 400 olive trees were cut by Israeli forces.

The Town of Beit Awwa: A Brief:

The town of Beit Awwa is located 22 kilometers west of the City of Hebron. Its population is estimated to be 2490. Its area is around 470 dunums. Given the fact that the town is located close to the Green Line, its losses in terms of land has been immense as it lost about 70% of its original lands beyond the Green Line. After losing their fertile lands, the residents of the town became as laborers inside of Israel. However, most of them are currently unemployed due to the Wall and closure system imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities.

 Prepared by:
The Land Research Center
LRC