Further to the preposterous Israeli led house demolishing campaign against the Palestinians of East Jerusalem and displacing hundreds of people; justified by no less absurd excuses such as restoration of biblical gardens, the Israeli government has widened it’s policy of displacement throughout the occupied West Bank Governorates, targeting at this time, Al- Buqai’a’ Valley east of Tubas city located northeast of the West Bank.
Right from the time Israel Occupied the West Bank Territory including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in 1967, it declared the eastern terrains of the West Bank ‘Closed Military Area’, subjected it to special regulations in terms of housing and land utilization and imposed restrictive, unjust and harmful laws to the way of life of all Palestinian localities in the area; such laws were exemplified in the many forms of Israeli aggressions such as tightening the grip on the residents’ movements, imposing closures, hassling Palestinian farmers when moving their agricultural products to other areas in the West Bank to the point where the Israeli Occupation Army damage the entire crops products, delaying them at checkpoints and mostly preventing them from crossing to and from the valley unless they are residents of the valleys’ communities or holding special permits; In addition, The Israeli Occupation Authorities restricted Palestinian building and construction in the area and hindered Palestinians from utilizing their lands for agriculture purpose and animal herding. At the same time, the Israel went on with its settlement program as to emphasize its control over the area. Today, there are 43 Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley occupying a total land area of 38 km² and are inhabited by just about 13000 Israeli settlers. Furthermore, the Israel military bases in the Jordan valley area added up burdens on the Palestinian communities living there as much as the Israeli settlements did; as they represent constant danger and threat to the lives of the Palestinians living nearby, of who many have died during the Israeli Army’s live target practices, or because of the discarded live ammunitions.
The Recent Israeli Violation in the Jordan Valley Area
On June 4, 2009, the Israeli Occupation bulldozers guarded by Israeli Police carried out a demolition in Ar Ras Al Ahmar hamlet in Al Buqai’a Valley east of Tubas city. The bulldozers also razed vast areas of agricultural lands and confiscated water tanks and tractors used for agricultural purposes.
On June 1, 2009, two communities of Al Buqai’a Valley were targeted with new Israeli military orders that aimed at displacing 32 Palestinian families with a total population of 304 residents from the area under the pretext that the area is classified as ‘Closed Military Areas’.
Al Hadidiya Hamlet was targeted with 15 demolition and evacuation orders; of which 2 families were instructed to evacuate their houses within 24 hours; other four families were instructed to evacuate within 48 hours; while the remaining families are to appear at the Beit IL military court on the 25th of June 2009. Al Hadidiya Hamlet is entirely threatened with evacuation and displacement as all families received orders of such.
In Ar Ras Al Ahmar hamlet, 17 Palestinian families out of 47 living there were targeted with military orders that required them to immediately evacuate their houses under the same pretext ‘Closed Military Areas’. Approximately 140 people are threatened with displacement. See Table 1:-
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Table 1: Israeli Military Ordered delivered to Al Hadidiya and Ar Ras Al Ahmar Hamlets.
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No.
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Location
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No. of delivered Military Orders
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No. of Palestinian Families threatened of Displacement.
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1
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Al Hadidiya
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15
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167 (Two families are threatened of immediate evacuation; four families are threatened of Evacuation within 48 hours; while the remaining families are to attend at Beit IL court on the 25th of June, 2009.
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2
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Ar Ras Al Ahmar
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17
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137 (All families were instructed to immediately evacuate the area.
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Total
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32
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304
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Source: OCHA, DWG – June 2009
Al Hadidiya and Ar Ras Al Ahmar Hamlets: Location & Population
Al Hadidiya Hamlet has a population of around 200, and is one of two communities that were targeted by military orders; the hamlet is located east of ‘Roi & Beqa’ot’ Israeli settlements and west of Hemdat settlement. Evidently the Israelis seem to believe that the two Palestinian Hamlets located among Israeli settlements, threatens their future expansion plans and hinders their contiguity. This is absolutely right, and both the settlements and the Israeli Army see eye to eye on this and the use of ‘Closed Military Areas’ pretext is only to realize the settlers’ aspiration to bring their settlements closer to gather into one big cluster and to accommodate their false claim of the so-called natural growth of settlements in the West Bank.
| Table 2: Israeli settlements located in the vicinity of Al Hadidiya and Ar Ras Al Ahmar Hamlets | |||||
| Notes | Area | Pop. | Establishment Date |
Settlement Name |
No. |
| The settlement was established in Sep 1976 as a Nahal (military Settlement) and was converted to a civilian Moshav (Agricultural) two years later | 1572 | 128 | 1976 | Ro’i | 1 |
| Moshav Settlement (Agricultural) | 2352 | 200 | 1972 | Beqa’ot | 2 |
| Hemdat was first established in 1980 as a Nahal military outpost and was soon demilitarized and turned into a kibbutz when turned over to residential purposes | 316 | 150 | 1980 | Hemdat | 3 |
| Total | |||||
Source: ARIJ GIS Database – 2009
Map 1: the targeted communities with the 32 MO
The 2nd community which was targeted by the Israeli Occupation Authorities was Ar Ras Al Ahmar hamlet. The hamlet is located to the northwest of Ro’I and Beqa’ot settlements and is inhabited by more than 300 people, out of which, 140 are threatened of evacuations and displacement under the same pretext (being located in a closed military area). The hamlet was targeted with 17 military orders. See Table 1
Adequate housing is one of the basic needs and rights of each person, where ‘the right to adequate housing is the right of every woman, man and child to a place to live in security and dignity.’ In the occupied Palestinian territory, Israel as an occupier should abide by the international human rights treaties to which it is a state party including: The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,. As an occupier Israel should also abide by the international humanitarian law including: The Hague Regulations and the Forth Geneva Convention. The demolition of houses in Al Hadidyia and Ar Ras Al Ahmar hamlets and the evacuation of its citizens is a stark violation of these rights and covenants. Israel should be held accountable for its acts in occupied Palestinian Territory; should comply with the international legitimacy, laws treaties and United Nations’ resolutions; and Israel’s long time apathy of the international community’s wills must come to an end.
Following is a synopsis of Articles within these covenants, conventions and laws that address the issue of house demolitions and forced evictions under these articles:
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
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Article 11 (1): ‘The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions’.
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965)
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Article 5: ‘States’ Parties undertake to prohibit and eliminate racial discrimination in all of its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, color, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the following rights: … (e) in particular … (iii) the right to housing’.
Universal declaration of human rights, Article 17:
1. ‘Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.’
2. ‘No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.’
Article 25:
1. ‘Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.’
The Fourth Geneva Convention
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Article 53: ‘Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.’
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Article 47: ‘Protected persons who are in occupied territory shall not be deprived, in any case or in any manner whatsoever, of the benefits of the present Convention by any change introduced as the result of the occupation of a territory, into the institutions or government of the said territory, nor by any agreement concluded between the authorities of the occupied territory and the Occupying power, nor by any annexation by the latter of the whole or part of the occupied territory.’
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Article 147: ‘Grave breaches to which the preceding Article relates shall be those involving any of the following acts … extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.’
Hague Regulations 1907
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Section II Article 23: ‘it is especially forbidden- to destroy or seize the enemy’s property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.’
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Section III Article 46: ‘Family honor and rights, the lives of persons, and private property, as well as religious convictions and practice must be respected. Private property cannot be confiscated.’
Agenda 21 (UNCED, 1992)
Chapter 7.6: ‘Access to safe and healthy shelter is essential to a person’s physical, psychological, social and economic well-being and should be a fundamental part of national and international action. The right to adequate housing as a basic human right is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Despite this, it is estimated that at the present time, at least one billion people do not have access to safe and healthy shelter and that if appropriate action is not taken, this number will increase dramatically by the end of the century and beyond.’
‘People should be protected by law against unfair eviction from their homes or land’.
To Conclude:-
The constant Israeli violations of the Palestinians’ right to housing and their defiance of international law must come to an end. Israel’s military control of the Palestinian land must also stop and it must be made clear that the only illegal existence in the occupied Palestinian territory are the Israeli Army and the Israeli settlers and both of them must be evacuated if peace is ever to prevail on this land. The Palestinian suffered and yet continue to suffer for the last 62 years because of the Israeli occupation.
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‘Any violence by a large population is not because the people is more violent than any other. It’s an alarm, it’s a sign, it’s a signal that something is wrong in the treatment of this population.’ By: Amira Hass
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The international community is also no longer tolerant of the Israeli occupation not its violations of Palestinians’ rights; also they are no longer able to put up with the Israeli settlers violation and the Israeli consecutive governments leniency with the settlers, or their clear disregard of international law and UN resolutions and human rights conventions; demolishing all hopes of the moderated and civilized nations longing for Peace in the Middle East.
Prepared by
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
