Violation: 4 stop-work orders in Al Ramadeen.
Date: September 20, 2010.
Violators: the Construction and Organization Committee in the Israeli Occupation Civil Administration.
Preface:
Al Ramadeen people have been suffering from the Israeli measures not because of something they did but because of their determination to remain in their lands which they inherited from the parents before them. This has cost them their freedom and deprived them their rights.
Al Ramadeen people were totally expelled from their lands in Be’r Shiva in 1948. part of them settled to the south of Hebron; another part went further north and settled around Qalqiliya after buying lands there.
They lived in relative peace from 1948 to 1967, before the Israeli conquest of the West Bank and Gaza. They spent the period planting their lands and herding.
The Israeli conquest of the West Bank had had drastic effects on the lives of these people. The Israelis targeted the nomads gatherings all around the West Bank in an attempt to cleanse certain areas of them. They tried to expel the 150 people living in Al Ramadeen for the sake of the expansion of Alfei Menashe colony. The colonists residing in the aforementioned colony are granted all the services they need including electricity, water, and communication. Whereas the owners of the land cannot have peace even in their simple house built out of metal and wood.
23 demolition and eviction orders have been issued against them. This clearly embodies the discrimination policy adopted by the Israeli Occupation.
Details:
On September 20, 2010, the Israeli Occupation Army ordered the immediate stoppage of the construction of four simple residences in Al Ramadeen. The houses are built out of steel and lumber.
The Israelis excused their actions by saying that the houses were being built without receiving the needed permits in area classified ‘C’ according to Oslo agreement. At the same time, Alfei Menashe colonists re-initiated the colony expansion by randomly placing a number of caravans.
The Israeli Occupation Army gave the residents till October 18, 2010; the date of the hearing session in Beit El Military Court.
Table 1: victims:
|
Victim
|
Structures
|
Area (m2)
|
Family members
|
Children (under 18)
|
Structure type
|
|
Kamil Sha’oor
|
1 | 60 | 7 | 5 |
Agricultural structure
|
|
Kisab Sha’oor
|
2 | 38 | 9 | 5 |
House + stove
|
|
Maher Sha’oor
|
1 | 60 | 8 | 4 |
Shack
|
|
‘Adnan Sha’oor
|
1 | 74 | 8 | 2 |
Shack
|
|
Total
|
5 | 232 | 32 | 16 |
|
General Information on Al Ramadeen:
It is located to the south east of Qalqiliya city, 1.5 km away from Alfei Menashe colony. Around 60 families, consisting of 200 members live in 100 structures in the area. People of Al Ramadeen depend largely on agriculture and herding in their living.
The construction of the Segregation Wall around the West Bank resulted in the complete isolation of Al Ramadeen, Arab Abu Farda (150 people), Al Day’a (279 people), Wad al Rasha (180 people), and Ras Tira (410 people) gatherings.
They were isolated in one pocket, more like a ghetto; these gatherings are surrounded not only by the wall but also by Alfei Menashe colony. Two gates control the flow of people and goods in the area, gates number 109, 3 km away from Al ramadeen and links it with road 55, and gate 1351, 6 km away from Al Ramadeen and connects it to Ras Atiyya village.
At the beginning of 2009, the Israeli Occupation Army initiated a large plowing campaign aiming at the modification of the segregation wall sector in the area.
The modifications resulted in the reattachment of Wad al Rasha, Ras Tira, and Al Day’a from the ghetto. However, Al Ramadeen remained isolated in the ghetto. The Israeli Occupation plans failed due to the determination of Al Ramadeen who rejected any decision that included expulsion. In 2008, their determination forced the Israeli Supreme Court to submit to the fact that Al Ramadeen owns the land long before the Israeli Occupation. The Court decided preventing the compulsory eviction of Al Ramaden people. Apparently, the Israeli Occupation Army was not satisfied by the Court sentence so it started strangling the people through making their lives difficult. For instance, the Army diverted the movement of the people from the relatively close gate 109 to another gate, 8 km away from the gathering.
The Army also increased the number of military orders targeting their structures in an attempt to making them leave. However, Al Ramadeen people have learned their lesson the hard way and they do not intend to suffer another Nakba like in 1948. It must be pointed that the aggressions against Al Ramadeen are ongoing.
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
The Land Research Center
LRC
