Throughout the 36 years of Israeli occupation to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel has been using all means of power and authority to implement the population transfer policy on the Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories. In order to pave the way for the illegal construction of Israeli settlements, hundreds of houses have been demolished on the basis that they were not supported by the required construction permits and vast areas of land have been confiscated. This policy raises serious political concerns, in addition, it has serious ramifications on the Palestinian economy which is based on agriculture. Lately, and since the beginning of the current strife, Israel has been destroying private homes, uprooting olive tress confiscating and bulldozing large areas of agricultural land to cut-off the Palestinian territories from Israel.
'' 'Anata'', is a small village located to northeast of Jerusalem, it has a total population of 9067 inhabitants (PCBS 2003), on the western side of the village located the Palestinian Refugee camp ''Shu'fat''. Both the village and the camp has a total built up area of 3.9 km2 and most of the residents depend totally on agriculture as the main source for their income.
Today, the Israeli forces are building a Segregation Wall with a length of 3700 meter within the village lands, which will cut-off the northern part of the camp form its southern part. The number of residents who will be affected by the Wall is 45 thousands distributed between Shu'fat, Ras Khamis and Dahiyat al-Salam neighborhood. The residents though they are Palestinian they have the Israeli identity cards and pay taxes (Arnona) to Israel.
The Israeli ministry of Interior issued military orders to confiscate about 107 dunums of land in '' 'Anata'' village and ''Shu'fat'' Refugee camp for the building of the Segregation Wall which includes 37 parcels of land with the following numbers; 30541, 30542, 30545, and 30571.
It is worth mentioning that the Israeli forces previously seized most of the agricultural land in '' 'Anata'' for the building of outposts as well as the Segregation Wall using similar orders. See map of military order
The order issued on January 8, 2004 stated that the confiscation of land located within Jerusalem municipality will be for security reasons and for the purpose of protecting the state of Israel from any possible attack. The order gave the residents the opportunity to object within 14 days to the court in Tel Aviv. However, in case of no objections and no court order is issued, the new plan will start to be implemented on January 18, 2004. See map of military order
The plan of the Segregation Wall in '' 'Anata'' and the neighboring Palestinian villages is intended to be implemented in three stages. The work on the Wall in the first stage will start from ''Assawahre'' and ''Abu Dis'' reaching '' 'Anata'' village, bulldozing Palestinian lands and demolishing tens of houses while the work in the second and the third stage is not clear yet.
The construction of this wall will cut-off the aforementioned villages from the city of Jerusalem which will have a negative impact on their residents. First, the wall will prevent the students from accessing their schools and universities. Most of the students who live in '' 'Anata'' and the adjacent villages attend a school or a college in East Jerusalem, therefore they will face serious difficulties attending their schools regularly. Moreover, the wall will prevent many of the residents from entering Jerusalem to work and earn their living, in addition to many other services that are located in East Jerusalem.
Apart from land confiscation, the Israeli forces are demolishing and threatening to demolish a number of houses in '''Anata'' village. The Israeli authorities handed some military orders to the residents in the village to evacuate and demolish their houses for the construction of the Segregation Wall. The Wall will also cut-off tens of houses and Baraxes in the area mainly in ''Dahiyat Al-Salam'' neighborhood whose residents have the Jerusalem identity cards. In addition, the Israeli forces asked the residents of the area to apply for special permits in order to access their land, shops and houses under the pretext that these properties are located within the Jerusalem municipality boundary.
Recently, demolition of Palestinian houses has taken a new dimension. Houses are no longer demolished under the guise of security, rather they are demolished as an administrative procedure on the basis of Israeli urban planning. Palestinians, Israeli, and international human rights organizations, countered that the house demolition in '' 'Anata'' and ''Shu'fat'' is part of a larger Israeli strategy to drive Palestinians away from Jerusalem. However, Israel describes such actions as necessary to its security, which on the other hand the Israeli forces are breaking the international laws and conventions by following its strategy of collective punishment. Under the 4th Geneva Convention the Occupying Powers are prohibited from using collective punishment against occupied people, also ''Article 33'' of the convention includes the imposition of prolonged closures and curfews, as well as demolitions).
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Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
