Al Khader Village to lose its lands for the construction of the Israeli Segregation Wall

The village of Al Khader is located some 4.5 kilometers west of Bethlehem city, with an altitude of 880 meters above sea level. It is bordered by Bethlehem city from the east, Husan and Battir villages from the west and northwest, Al Doha and Beit Jala cities from the north and northeast, and Al Duheisha camp and Artas villages from the south.

 

The urban area of the village stands on 601 dunums of land, about 3% of the village’s total land area and is a home to 9258 inhabitants (PCBS 2008), most of who tended to work in Agriculture after loosing their jobs as constructional workers inside Israel following the eruption of the second Intifada in September 2000. Today, the village of Al Khader stands on 20090 dunums of land.

 

Land Classification of Al Khader Village

In the Oslo II Interim Agreement that was signed in September 1995 between the Palestinians and Israelis, the Palestinian areas in the West Bank were classified into three areas A, Band C which aimed at a phased withdrawal of the Israeli military forces from these areas until the accomplishment of a final status agreement.

 

Accordingly, the 20090 dunums of Al Khader Village were classified to areas A, B and C; 565 Dunums of which were classified as Area A ( 2.8 % of the total village area) where most of the built up area is concentrated; while 1176 dunums (5.9 of the total village area) were classified as Areas B and the remaining area of the village, a total of 18349 dunums of Al Khader village lands were classified as Area C (91.3 % of the total village area) and contain all the agricultural lands and the open spaces in the village. See Table 1

 

Table 1: Classification of Lands in Al Khader village  according to Oslo II Agreement of 1995
Classification of Area	Area in dunums	% of the Village’s total area
Area A	565	2.81
Area B	1176	5.85
Area C	18349	91.3
Total Area	20090	100
Source: ARIJ GIS Unit – 2008

 

 

Al-Khader village sets in is exceptional high quality and valuable agriculture lands. It is highly cultivated with all sorts if fruitful trees with particular emphasis on the vineyard trees, which the village is mostly famous of. The results of the Land Use Land Cover classification shows that 23 % of the total area of Al Khader village is natural or semi-natural areas (open space and Forests) and Shrub and/or herbaceous vegetations associations); whereas, the agricultural area makes up 59 % of the total village area. The remaining land use land cover classes include the Palestinian urban fabric 3 % and the Israeli Settlements 13.9%. See Table 2

 

Table 2: Land use Land cover 2006 for Al Khader Village Boundary	Area in Dunum
Agricultural Lands	11919
Forests and Open Spaces	4574
Artificial Surfaces	146
Palestinian built-up area	601
Israeli Settlement	2791
Israeli Outpost	12
Wall Zone	47
Total Area	20090

 

 

The fairly abundant sources of clean water next to the rich and fertile soil along with suitable climate has made farming and agriculture feasible in the village and enabled the village to form and produce its own food supply; therefore, agriculture has been and is still considered the major source of income for the residents of the village and plays an important role in its economy; as seen in Table 2.

 

Even with the good fertile soil in Al Khader village, not all its lands are cultivated and this is due to many reasons; the first of which is the Israeli colonization activities that took place in the village following the 1967 war exemplified in the construction of six Israeli settlements and 1 bypass road on lands of the village. The second reason is largely due to the absence of suitable agriculture roads that provide access to farmers to access their agricultural lands and this is attributed mainly to the fact that most of the agricultural lands are located in area (C) where the Israeli has complete control, which allow them to hinder any efforts by farmers to construct agricultural roads to access their lands with equipment necessary to cultivate it. Thirdly, the Israeli closures that have been and still imposed on the occupied territory, including Al Khader village throughout the years of occupation has immensely obstructed the marketing process of the agricultural products and therefore made farmers less encouraged to utilize their lands fearing of economic loss; and the fourth reason is the  scarcity of water quantities available to Palestinians as the Israeli Army dictate the Palestinian share of water to less than minimum, next to the fact that the Israeli Army deny the Palestinian the right to use their natural water resource; in fact, in the year 1999, the Israeli Army has destroyed more than 30 water wells and irrigation pools used by Al Khader farmers for agricultural purposes. Today, the village is mostly dependent on rain-fed farming, water tanks and piped water networks for cultivation.

 

The Establishment of Israeli Settlement Program in Al Khader Village

Following the 1967 war, the village lost considerable share of its lands (2791 Dunums all agricultural lands) for the establishment of 6 Israeli settlements, Neve Daniel, Alon Shevut, Rosh Tzurim, Efrat and Elazar and Migdal Oz; in addition to the lands that were also confiscated and used for the construction of Bypass Roads to links Israeli settlements with each other (Bypass Road No. 60). Table 3 below lists the Israeli settlements established on lands of Al Khader Village

 

Table 3: Israeli Settlements established on land of Al Khader Village
Israeli Settlement	Establishment Date	Pop 2007	Area (Dunum)	Location
Rosh Zurim	1969	302	3	West of Al Khader (Bethlehem)
Allon Shevut	1971	2960	38	Southwest of Al Khader (Bethlehem)
Migdal Oz	1977	327	45	South of Al Khader (Bethlehem)
Neve Daniyyel	1982	1065	583	Southwest of Al Khader (Bethlehem)
Elazar	1975	870	449	Southwest of Al Khader (Bethlehem)
Efrat	1979	6996	1673	Southeast of Al Khader (Bethlehem)
Total Area		12520	2791

 Source: ARIJ GIS Unit – 2008

 

 

In addition to the settlements, a total of 5 settlement outposts were also constructed on the lands of Al Khader in the period between 1996 and 2005. Table 4 below details the settlements’ Outposts and their status inside the village boundary. See Table 4:

Table 4: Distribution of Israeli Outposts in Al Khader Village
Closest Mother Settlement	No. of Structures	Outpost Name	Period of Establishment
Elazar	22	Derech Ha’avot	Feb 2001 – Nov 2002
Neve Daniyal	2	Neve Daniyal North	Feb 2001 – Nov 2002
Neve Danyiel	12	North Neve Danyiel	1996- Feb 2001
Efrat	17	West Efrat	2002 – June 2003
Neve Danyel	3	North Neve Danyel	June 2003 – Jan 2004

 

 

Today, the village of Al Khader as the rest of the Palestinian villages and cities faces the threat of the Segregation Wall. A 6.73 kilometers long section of the Segregation Wall stretching from north to the south is set to cut most of Al Khader village western agricultural lands as thousands of dunums of agricultural lands and open spaces will be isolated behind the Segregation Wall along with the five Israeli settlements established on Al Khader village lands and settlements’ outposts. When completed, the Segregation Wall will end up isolating some 15144 Dunums of land (75.4 % of the village’s total land area) detailed in table 5 below,

 

Table 5: Classification of Isolated Palestinian Lands in Al Khader Village.

Isolated Land use Land cover 2006 for Al Khader Village Boundary	Area in Dunum
Agricultural Lands	8874
Forests and Open Spaces	3369
Artificial Surfaces	38
Palestinian built-up area	14
Israeli Settlement	2791
Israeli Outpost	12
Wall Zone	46
Total Area	15144