On the 21st of November 2011, two Israeli armoured bulldozers, protected by Israeli occupation army troops and accompanied by Israeli Civil Administration raided the land of Hasan Abdallah Erekat in the northeast of Jericho city, and razed around 18 dunums of his land cultivated with Corn shrubs, and destroyed the irrigation network that irrigates more than 120 dunums of lands owned by farmer Erekat. The irrigation network is used by Farmer Hasan Erekat and another Palestinian farmer in the area, Khaled D’abis.
The Israeli Army troops declared the area as ‘closed military zone’ before the razing process took place. The razing and destruction of lands and facilities took about 3 hours, during which the IOA forbid Palestinian farmers and officials from from getting close to the area. Mr. Erekat was able to enter his land, and met with the officer of the Israeli Civil Administration who informed him that this piece of land belongs to the State of Israel and it must be evacuated immediately. It is worth mentioning that Mr. Erekat’s family has been cultivating the land since the days of the Jordanian Rule and they own land ownership papers dated back to that time (Jordanian Taboo). Furthermore, the land was razed without prior notification, and he didn’t receive any written orders (documents) from the Israeli Civil Administration stating the razing and evacuation of land.
The total area of Mr. Hasan’s land is 170 dunums, of which 120 dunums are cultivated with vegetables. The total land area is located in ‘Area C‘ and is also under the threat of being razed and evacuated similar to what happened to the aforementioned 18 dunums.Map 1 indicates the location of the razed land.is also under the threat of being razed and evacuated similar to what happened to the aforementioned 18 dunums indicates the location of the razed land.
Map 1: Erekat’s razed lands – Jericho Governorate
It is worth mentioning that the razing of the land and the destruction of the agricultural facilities in the targeted area was carried out 10 days before the date of harvesting the crops. Furthermore, the economic losses resulting from the demolition were double, this is due to the agricultural classification of the land as ‘extensive farming’ land, where each dunum is cultivated with the same amount of seeds that are used to cultivate 2 dunums of land; this in turn has led to the loss of 36 dunums of land instead of 18 dunums, financially wise. Photos 1-9 show the razed land and destroyed corn crops in Erekat’s lands.
Photos 1-9: 90% of the grown crops in Erekat’s land were destroyed
Additionally, the remaining 120 dunums of Erekat’s land ran out of water, due to the destruction of the main water supply lines, which are located in the 18 dunums land that was razed by the Israeli Occupation bulldozers. These lands are also cultivated, mainly with field crops, such as cauliflower, cabbage, and Spinach; Mr. Erekat added that ‘these crops are in the final stages to be harvested, but these final stages need extensive supply of water; and now that the main water supply was destroyed, will further increase our economic loss as the crops will dry out.
Map 2: the remaining 120 dunums of Erekat’s land.
Conclusion:
The razing and destruction of Palestinian lands and field crops by the Israeli Occupation Army is a grave breach of the International law rules and human conventions such as 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.’ This means that it bans Israel from destroying or confiscating the property of the Palestinians at any case. Also Article 23 of the Hague Convention of 1907 states that ‘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.‘ Furthermore, article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 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.‘ As well as article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which indicates that the ‘Extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly, is a grave breach of the Convention.’ and finally the uprooting and destruction of trees and field crops violates the trade policies of the Paris protocols of 1954 which calls for ‘free access for Palestinian goods to the Israeli market and vice versa.’ The curfews and the uprooting are a clear violation of this protocol.
[1] Area C: falls under the full Israeli control according to OSLO II Interim agreement of 1995
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