On June 30, 2009, the Israeli occupation Army handed over 13 Palestinian families in Al Khader village west of Bethlehem city halt-of-construction warnings notifying them that their houses and agriculture wells will be demolished under the pretext of lacking of proper authorization and building licenses from the Israeli Laison Office in Bethlehem (ILA). Table 1 below gives a detail of the targetted Palestinian structures:
Table 1: Targeted Palestinian Structures in Al Khader Village west of Bethlehem city
|
Owner�s Name
|
Description of the threatened structures
|
Area- Square Meter
|
Building Date
|
|
Ramzi Mustapha Salah
|
Under-construction house
|
150
|
2009
|
|
Miriam Isma�eel Mousa
|
Agriculture Well
|
**
|
2009
|
|
Issa Mohammad Salah
|
Inhabited House
|
120
|
2008
|
|
Omar Abdel Salam
|
Inhabited House
|
100
|
2007
|
|
Khalid Abdel Salam
|
Agriculture Well
|
**
|
2009
|
|
Bilal Abdel Salam
|
Inhabited House
|
120
|
2008
|
|
Ibrahim Ghneim
|
Agriculture Well
|
**
|
2009
|
|
Mohammad Saleh Abdel Salam
|
Agriculture Well
|
**
|
2009
|
|
Hisham Mustapha Salah
|
Under-construction house
|
200
|
2009
|
|
Muafaq Hassan Abu Surra
|
Under-construction house
|
200
|
2009
|
|
Munther Yousef Salah
|
Inhabited House
|
200
|
2006
|
|
Mohammad Ahmad Salah
|
Stockyard
|
150
|
2008
|
|
Mohammad Mustapha �Omran
|
|
90
|
2004
|
Source: Al Kahder Municipality – 2009
Map 1: Location of the targeted Palestinian structuresin Al Khader Village
Al Khader is one of the villages of Bethlehem Governorate, 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 spread on 601 dunums of land, about 3% of the village’s total land area (20090 dunums) and is a home to 9258 inhabitants (PCBS 2008), most of who tended to work in Agriculture after loosing their jobs in the construction field inside Israel following the second Intifada of September 2000.
The Dilemma of Building in Area C
According to the Interim agreement (Oslo II of the year 1995), the Palestinian territory was divided into areas A, B and C. In Area A, the Palestinian Authority had complete autonomy over administrative and security issues; where in area B, the Palestinians had civil responsibilities; and in Area C, Israel had full control over this area which constitutes 61% from the total West Bank area.
The Palestinian residents of the villages and communities located in Area C of which is Al Khader village suffer from the absence of planning schemes to cope with the population growth, the lack of permits to build on their land and the systematic denial of the Israeli Civil Administration to grant them building permits had made life for them unbearable as the number of people continues to exceed the available areas where building is allowed.
What is happening in Al Khader village is just a sample of what the Palestinians living in area ‘C’ has to go through. Worries for adequate living conditions continue to remain a main concern for all the Palestinian residents of area ‘C’ and the Israeli procedures their stand to be nothing less of Israeli attempt to evacuate the land from its original inhabitants to allow more space for the illegal Israeli settlers who continue to build at will on confiscated Palestinian lands.
Conclusion
The Israeli aggressive violations in the occupied Territory clearly contradict the International law rules and conventions as follows:
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Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention indicated that: Extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly, is a grave breach of the Convention.
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Also Article 53 of the same convention provides that ‘any destruction by the Occupying power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or other public authorities or social or cooperative organizations is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.
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Article 23 of the Hague Convention of 1907 also provide: In addition to the prohibitions provided by special Conventions, 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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Moreover, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of, December 10, 1948, Article 17 reads: ‘No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.’ Which means it bans Israel from destroying or confiscating the property of the Palestinians at any case.
Finally, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965) Article 5 provides that ‘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’.
Prepared by
The Applied Reserach Institute – Jerusalem
The Applied Reserach Institute – Jerusalem
