Photo 1: an inscription engraved by Israeli soldiers on the detainees
confinement shed at the checkpoint of Azzun Atma. Photo Courtesy of Daphne Banai
confinement shed at the checkpoint of Azzun Atma. Photo Courtesy of Daphne Banai
Owners of two structures in Azzun Atme village, Qalqiliya governorate, received halt of construction notifications for their structures under the pretext of un-licensing for allegedly being located in zone C which is under total Israeli civic and security affairs by the Oslo agreement. The notifications were issued and handed over on 22 June, 2009, by representatives of the Israeli higher council of the so-called civil administration in the West Bank.
The notifications gave the owners three weeks during which time they have to get building permissions or face demolition, a task seems impossible given the lengthy and complicated Israeli procedures in this regards.
Table 1: Notified structures by owner’s name, type and area
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#
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Owner’s name & age
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Type of structure
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Area
M2
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1
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Ibrahim Hasan Ali Ahmad (41 years old)
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An addition to an old house
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32
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|
2
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Abdul Mun’im Said Yunis (36 years old)
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A concrete wall around a house
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14
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Total
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46
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The two notified structures are located in the vicinity of the Sha’are Tikva colony in the eastern part of the village.
Azzun Atme
It is located to the south east of Qalqiliay governorate and three km from the green line. Its population toll is about 1900, while its surface land area is 8081 dunums of which 336 dunums built up area (source: GIS department at LRC). See Map 1
Surrounding colonies
The village is surrounded by four colonies as followed:
1. Sha’ari Tiqva colony from both the eastern and northern directions (established in 1982, its population by the end of 2007 was 3931, its built up area is 915 dunums and its municipal area is 1045 dunums- Source: Foundation For the Middle East Peace). It confiscated more than 1000 dunums from the lands of the village as well as lands of the villages of Sinirya, Masha, Beit Amin and as Zawiya. This colony cuts the geographical continuity between Azzun Atme and the sisterly neighboring villages of Beit Amin and Siniriya.
2. Oranit colony from the western direction ( established in 1984. its population by the end of 2007 was 5987, while its built up and municipal area is 878 dunums (Source: ibid).
3. Elkana colony from the south eastern side ( established in 1977, its municipal area is 1198 dunums, built up area is 758 dunums and its population by the end of 2007 was 3000 settlers (Source: ibid).
4. Ets Efrayem colony from the eastern side of the village between the colonies of Sha’ari Tiqva and Elkana ( established in 1985, its population by the end of 2007 was 704 settlers, its municipal area is 458 dunums and its built up area is 184 dunums (Source: ibid). See Photo 2
Azzun Atme Ghetto
The wall construction started to be built around the village in the year 2006 and was completed in January, 2009.
The whole village population find themselves now in a complete prison with only one passage gate at the northern entrance to the village. This gate is called by local people the ‘ death gate’ due to the harsh and humiliation measures on the part of the Israeli army against people entering or leaving the village. The gate opens daily from 6 AM until 10 PM which puts the lives of local people under potential risk.
To make it even worse, the Israeli occupation authorities partitioned the village by completely separating 9 houses in which 75 people live from the rest of the village. The houses which are located at the southern side of the village are about 200 meters away from the rest of the village and their residents are obliged to commute in and out of their area only on foot carrying their stuff and every day needs. After the completion of the Wall further restrictions were imposed on the movement of those people living in these houses, such as, the restrictions on the types of commodities and stuff that are allowed access as well as daily raids and harassment which have turned the lives of those people into a continuous nightmare. See Photo 3
According to local village councils, the Wall has isolated behind thousands of dunums from Azzun Atme and neighboring villages as followed:1800 dunums from Azzun Atme and Siniriya mostly planted with olive trees and covered ground crops ( inside plastic houses) ;
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1100 dunum from az Zawiya and Masha planted with olive orchards;
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800 dunums between Azzun Atme and the green line opposite Kafr Qasem town inside the green line. On the whole, the total of 3700 dunums of land lie inside the Wall at the current time which threatens the very existence of many families in the area who totally depend on agriculture as main income.
Prepared by:
The Land Research Center
LRC
The Land Research Center
LRC
