Location and population: the town of Silat Al Harithiya is located 8 km to the southwest of Jenin city. Its population is estimated at 10000 people, mostly working in agriculture.
Town area: Silat Al Harithiya total area is 13000 dunums (one dunum equals 3250 acers) of which 200 dunums were confiscated by the Israeli government for the construction of the Segregation Wall where the town's built up area is 2500 dunums.
The Wall and Silat Al Harithiya town:
The newly constructed Segregation Wall was built on a ''2 km long'' land to the west of the town. See map of Silat Al Harithiya
The town of Silat Al Harithiya to the north west of Jenin city
On April 28th2003, citizens of Silat Al Hartheyia were informed of the Israeli military order to confiscate lands of Ben 'Amer plain for the purpose of constructing the Wall in the area. One month later, specifically on May 23rd, 2003, the Israeli bulldozers backed by military troops started to destroy the land preparing for the construction of the wall. The confiscated land is flat and was cultivated with cereals such as wheat, humus, and lentil. Clover and sesame were also amongst the crops destroyed.
Impact of the wall on People and Land:-
Impact on agriculture: Most of the town's land is agricultural and is divided into:
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950 dunums flat land;
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8000 dunums mountainous land;
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10 dunums green houses.
In addition to the land confiscated for constructing the wall, the following problems arose:
1- Marketing problems: Before the Intifada, farmers used to sell their products in local markets and markets inside Israel. Nowadays, the only possibility is to sell the products in local markets which suffer economic recession due to the ongoing closure and construction of the Wall.
2- Farmers face difficulties in getting fertilizers, pesticides, and agricultural material and equipments as a result of cutting off roads and constructing the wall.
Impact on the economy:
1- Depriving 600 workers from reaching their workplaces inside Israel;
2- The destruction and confiscation of land has led to further deterioration in the economic situation and an increase in unemployment rate.
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
