Violation: ravaging over 300 olive and prune trees in Nahhalin.
Location: Ein Fares and Wadi Salem areas in Nahhalin – Bethlehem.
Date: December 19, 2012.
Perpetrators: the Israeli Occupation Army.
Victims: the heirs of Amin Najajra, Mohammad Shaban, and Abdul Halim Sawad.
Details:
At around 9:00 on December 19, 2012, a large Israeli force broke into Nahhalin village before embarking on a large-scale bulldozing campaign that targeted over 30 dunums of olive and prunes fields in Wadi Salem. The Israeli troops loaded the uprooted trees in trucks before taking them towards an unknown destination. The owners clashed with the soldiers and moments later villagers started to gather in support with the victims. The Israeli soldiers responded by firing a number of gas grenades resulting in injuries to a number of Palestinians.
Abdul Rahman Najajra, one of the victims, told the soldiers that he would ‘die before eaving his land while you [the soldiers] are there’. However, he passed out moments later because of the large amount of gas he inhaled. He said to an LRC observer: ‘even if they cut the trees, my brothers and I will replant them and will never let the Israelis take it‘.
Moments after the soldiers left, the owner started replanting the field. The Israeli soldiers moved to Ein Fares area where they ravaged a 15-dunum-field, cutting and uprooting over 150 trees.
The Head of Nahhalin Village Council commented on the attack saying that the purpose is connecting the colonies of Bitar Elit and Gibot by penetrating those lands.
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picture 1: Abdul Rahman Amin explaining the route of the attack
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picture 2-3: leveled lands in Ein Fares
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picture 4-5: replantation
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picture 6: damage control
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picture 7-8: Israeli troops ravaging lands
Nahhalin:
The village is located 9 km to the south west of Bethlehem and 3.5 km to the east of the armistice line of 1949. It is edged by Bitar Illit and Hadar Bitar colonies (north), al Khader (east), Wadi Fukin and the armistice line (west), and number of Israeli colonies (Rush Tzorim, Ealazr, Allon Shevut, and Ezyon) (south).
The village’s total area is 17250 dunums including 496 dunums of built-up area, inhabited by 7460 people according to the PBS statistics of 2007. Israel has confiscated 2988 dunums of the village lands for colonial expansion purposes. 5 colonies inhabited by more than 30,000 colonists reside over the village lands. They are all part of Ezyon colonial compound which hold 11 colonies within.
