On the early morning of September 4, 2011, the Israeli Army bulldozers protected by the Israeli Occupation Forces stationed in ‘Aein Qasis area in Al-Khader village west of Bethlehem Governorate, and closed a dirt road that leads to about 5000 dunums of farm lands which are planted with fruit, Olive and grape vines.
In an interview with ARIJ field workers, Mr. Mahmoud Issa member of Al-Khader Municipality indicated that: the Israeli Army bulldozers closed a dirt road that goes of from the Israeli controlled bypass road # 60 without a prior notification, thus shutting access of the local farmers to reach their agriculture lands; some 5000 dunums.
Mr. Issa added that Al-Khader Municipality had contacted the Israeli Occupation authorities through the Palestinian District Coordination Liaison Office where the Israeli authorities claimed that the closure of the road came according to a recommendation submitted by what is so-called “Israeli Traffic Department in the Israeli Ministry of Transport and Road Safety” under the pretext of the successive road accidents resulting from using this dirt road by the Palestinian residents!
Mr. Issa provided that Al-Khader Municipality had formally submitted an objection to the Israeli Occupation authorities disproving the Israeli claims, where this road had been built 7 years ago and since that time no single accident was registered from using the aforementioned agriculture dirt road. Accordingly the Municipality is calling the Occupation authorities either to open the road again or to open another one for the Palestinian farmers to enable them to reach to their lands to benefit from the grape season. See the photos below:
It is worth mentioning that Al-Khader village which is located about 4.5 km east of the city of Bethlehem, and according to its proximity to Gush Etzion settlements’ bloc, became a legitimate target to the Israeli Occupation Army and Illegal settlers of the surrounding Illegal settlements. Over the years, Al-Khader village lost about 14% from its lands for the construction of the six Illegal Israeli settlements of (Rush Tzurim, Allon Shevut, Migdal ‘Oz, Nevi Daniel, Eli’ezar and Efrat).
Furthermore, the Israeli Segregation Wall constitutes another Israeli colonial tool to loot as much land as possible from Al-Khader town, where it stretches 6.7 km on the lands of the village and cuts most of the village’s agriculture lands and open spaces behind the Wall. When completed, the Segregation Wall will end up isolating 15,144 dunums (75.4%) of the town’s lands. Together, the lands confiscated to build the six Illegal Israeli settlements along with the lands isolated behind the Segregation Wall path, constitute % 89.2 from the total village lands.
To read more about the recent Israeli colonial activities in Al-Khader village, refer to the previous written case study : 300 dunums leveled for the Expansion of the Illegal Israeli Outpost of Nevi Daniel North” Residents of Al-Khader town West of Bethlehem Governorate devastated by the loss of their lands19,August,2011.
Conclusion
The Israeli wing right extremist government headed by Netanyahu is a settlement and apartheid government that only mastered imposing facts on the grounds , expanding the Illegal settlements and their outposts, building an Apartheid Wall, seizing and confiscating the Palestinian lands , demolishing the Palestinian houses tightening and strangulating the Palestinian residents of the oPt by its colonial plans and procedures, where now its escalates its violations towards the Palestinian people and their property in an attempt to dissuade them from demanding the United Nations and its Security Council in September 20, 2011, for their legitimate right to get rid from the prolonged Israeli Occupation and to regain their legitimate confiscated rights to have their sovereign independent State and East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Israeli unilateral colonial procedures that taking place in all over the oPt are Illegal and contradicts with the International law rules and conventions as follows:
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‘Article 12’ of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence.
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Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,: Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
