New Demolition Orders in Arab Al Ramadien Al Shamali

At the beginning of March 2008 Israeli occupation authorities issued demolition orders against five Palestinian residency structures in Arab Al Ramadien Al Shamali. The orders call for their demolition under the pretext that they were built without a permit. The orders gave the owners of the structures a grace period of 15 days to vacate their residence places for the demolition to take place. The owners of the threatened structures are:

Photo 1: The residence of Mr. Mohammad Khaled Mohammad Suleiman Ramadien
against which a demolition order was issued

Photo 2: The demolition order.

Location and Population:

Arab Al Ramadien Al Shamali village is located north east of the city of Qalqilia and about 700 meters away from the colony of Tzufin. There is also a nearby Israeli military camp. The threatened structures are made of wood and zinco and are providing the only shelter for 15 Palestinians living in it.

The residents of the Al Ramadien Al Shamali come originally from Beer Sheva which was occupied in 1948. They were transferred by Israel to a number of locations in the West Bank. Part of them resided in south Hebron area and became known as Arab Al Ramadien Al Janoubi while the other ended up north of Qalqilia and became known as Arab Al Ramadien Al Shamali. Both branches of Al Ramadien are threatened with  yet another transfer and ethnic cleansing (Please refer back to the case study titled The Expansion of the Colony of Eshkolot at the Expense of the Lands of Arab Al Ramadien Al Janoubi).

Arab Al Ramadien Al Shamali consists of around 100 housing and animal pen structures. About 200 people live in the village and they depend largely on herding as their main source of income. The service center (educational, heath and official) for the residents of the village is the city of Qalqilia. See Photo 3

Photo 3: One of the threatened housing structures.

The Racist Isolation Wall Surrounds the Village from Three Directions:

The Israeli Racist Isolation Wall (established in Qalqilia in 2002) has negatively impacted the life of the residents of the village as it became one of the villages isolated behind the Wall in the Governorate of Qalqilia. The Wall surrounds the village from three directions. Entry to the village is possible only through a military gate (number 1037) that is shared with the nearby isolated village of Jayyous. Israeli occupation soldiers controls the time of the movement of the residents through this gate. They also prevent any Palestinian from outside of the village to enter expect with a special permit. Moreover, the occupation forces have placed severe punishments on the residents through controlling the type and quantity of merchandises the residents are allowed to get through the gate; for example, a military order was issued to prevent the entry of agricultural fertilizers for “security reasons.” Israeli soldiers have also prevented the residents from bringing in large quantities of chicken under the pretext of preventing it from being smuggled to the Israeli proper. In addition, incidents of physical attacks and beatings by the soldiers manning the checkpoint were reported as well as forcing the Palestinians to unload (and then upload) all of the agricultural content and cargo of their trucks under the pretext of “searching the trucks.”

The Israeli Occupation and Water Sources in Al Shamali:

Israeli occupation forces have also widened the war front against the residents of the village to include water sources; springs in the area are the main source of water for the residents of the village as they use it for their daily consumption as well as for their animals. Water is usually transported in specially-made tanks to the houses. However, Israeli occupation forces have made it increasingly harder for Palestinians to gain access to water sources which negatively affects the possibility of the continuation of their presence in the village.  

It is worth noting here that when the Racist Wall was completed in Qalqilia in 2004, Israeli occupation authorities issued 11 military orders calling for the demolition of housing structures in Arab Al Ramadien Al Shamali under the pretext of building without a permit. That was despite the fact that the residents were living in that area even before the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in 1967. The residents were also surprised when they received at the beginning of March 2008 immediate demolition orders against five of the threatened housing structures. 

The owners of the threatened housing structures have expressed their anger at the actions stemming from the Israeli racist policies. They have stated that the demolition orders are a part of ethnic cleansing, land grab and colony expansion policies actively practiced by the Israeli occupation authorities. The demolition orders, the residents are convinced, are evidence of the occupation’s intention to control all of the agricultural lands located behind the Wall to be used later for colony expansion or to transfer it for military use. The indication of the presence of such a policy was the establishment of an Israeli military camp near the colony of Tzufin after the establishment of the Racist Wall.

The owners of the threatened housing structures are going to appeal the demolition orders to the Israeli High Court through one of the legal rights’ organizations. See Map 1

Prepared by:
The Land Research Center
LRC