The Israeli Settlers wreaking havoc with the Palestinian Lands and Properties in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Introduction

With the coercive launch of the Israeli settlements program in the occupied Palestinian territory, the Israeli settlers� constitute an immanent and constant threat to the original Palestinian inhabitants of the lands, which exceeded life threat to include their livelihood. The Israeli settlers have always induced violent acts against Palestinians by attacking their properties, burning their fields, razing and destroying their agriculture lands, uprooting their trees, occupying their lands and properties and preventing the Palestinian landowners from reaching to their lands to cultivate it.

Over the years, the constant attacks and violence committed by the Israeli settlers� have cost many Palestinian their lives as well as economic losses much of which on the agricultural level, which is perceived by the consecutive Israeli governments and settlers as a prime target next to the Palestinians themselves as it represent a tie between the people and the land that they are desperately trying to break.

Absence of deterrent

Palestinian civil society organizations as well as human rights organizations (including Israelis) have noted, corroborated and recorded over the years that the Israeli settlersâ�� violations against the Palestinians and their properties have always been ultimately supported and often covered and protected by the Israeli Army, and legal proceedings are rarely brought against them.   

In light of absence of the accountability and/ or deterrent factor, and with the clear collusion of the Israeli Army in the interest of the settlers, the latter were encouraged without hesitant to escalate their violations and attacks against the Palestinians on their lands, which became a daily practice throughout the occupied territory, which ended at many time with the arrest of the Palestinian farmers defending their lands or worse than that with the death of one of them

Terrorize to Seize

Next to Al-Khader village southwest of Bethlehem district three Israeli settlements were established on agricultural lands confiscated from Palestinian residents from Al-Khader and nearby villages back in the 1970â��s and 80â��s and today the attacks of these the Israeli settlers continue to grab more lands by any means necessary. Over the years, the Israeli settlers organized systematic attacks against Palestiniansâ�� agricultural lands; to destroy and seize, terrorize the owners to abandon their lands after they threaten their lives and all of which being carried out under the supervision and the cover of the Israeli Army.  â��Miriam Ismaeelâ�� a resident from Al Khader village northwest of Bethlehem and the owner of a piece of land that lays between three Israeli settlements Neve Daniel, Efrat, Elazar and three outposts set as bases for three new settlements in the area. Miriamâ��sland was attacked by the Israeli settlers who uprooted more than 100 olive trees from the land. This time the attackers came from the Israeli settlement Neve Daniel settlement northwest of Bethlehem Governorate, See Map 1

The fact of the matter goes beyond this incident, as the Israeli settlers� real target rest in the 2000 Dunums, (of which Miriam�s land is a part of) located in-between the Israeli settlements and the outpost. The targeted land which is part of the Israeli Gush Etzion settlements bloc is the object of future expansion plans for the Israeli settlements and the outposts. Moreover, this is not the first time the Palestinian lands at that area had been attacked by the Israeli settlers. In the last year, the Israeli settlers attacked the same land area (2000 Dunums) and uprooted hundreds of Olive trees. See the Table 1

Source: ARIJ GIS Database 2006

To Conclude

Even after decades of Israeli harassments and illegal seizure of Palestinians� lands, still the Israeli settlers are improvising new methods and ways to squeeze and push the Palestinians� out of their lands; uprooting trees, destroy and burning the field crops, pumping wastewater onto the agricultural lands; causing numerous and enormous economic losses and hazardous health problems to the Palestinian residents. In fact, the Israeli bullying methods exceeded harassing Palestinian on their lands to include their residential houses as many houses were destroyed as a way to push the people to abandon their lands; even though such procedure comes in violation of The Fourth Geneva Convention, and is a war crime under the convention and the protocols additional to the convention.

Article 33 prohibits all forms of collective punishment, and land leveling and property destruction carried out by Israeli forces are collective punishments. The article states: �No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.�
�Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.�

Article 147 of the convention considers �extensive destruction and appropriate of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly� as a grave breach of the Convention and thus constitute a war crime.

Article 55 of the Hague Convention stipulates that 'the occupying state shall be regarded only as administrator and usufructuary of public buildings, real estate, forests, and agricultural estates belonging to the hostile State, and situated in the occupied country.

Uprooting and Land leveling also contradict the International covenant on Economics, Social or Cultural Rights. Article 1 of the Covenant states that �in no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence.�
Article 5 does not give any state, group or person any right to â��engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights or freedoms recognized herein…â�� 

Prepared by
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
ARIJ