Violation: 3 stop-work orders for residences in Al Auja.
Date: January 29, 2013.
Victims: 3 Palestinian families.
Perpetrators: the Israeli Occupation Army.
Details:
A new wave of Israeli orders hit Al Auja in Jericho on January 29, 2013. The Israeli stop-work orders targeted 3 residences on the pretext of unlicensed construction in area classified ‘C’ according to Oslo. The Israeli Occupation Authorities targeting of Palestinians’ right to residency is a policy adopted since the Israeli Occupation of Palestine. It has been done in a bid to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians and open the way for further colonial expansions. This resulted in numerous victims and hundreds of Palestinian families losing their homes.
Table: victims:
No. | Victim | Area (m2) | Family members | Children | Notified structure | picture |
1 | Yaser Najada | 120 | 3 | 1 | Under construction residence | |
2 | Ahmad Najada | 60 | 2 | — | Under construction residence | |
3 | Abdul Rahim Najada | 90 | 3 | 1 | Residence, inhabited | |
Total | 270 | 8 | 2 | |||
It is worthy to mention that over 25 other structures are threatened with imminent demolitions in Al Auja, all for the proclaimed ‘unlicensed construction’.
Al ‘Auja – an Overview:
It is located 12 km to the north east of Jericho city, adjacent to the Jordan River. It is edged by the eastern regional road that leads far north to Bisan. Its total area is 106900 dunums, inhabited by 4131 people. The village’s boundaries reach up to Fasayel in the north and An Nuwei’ma (south), Jordan River (east) and Ramallah Mountains (west). Residents depend largely on agriculture in their living because of the availability of water.
The Israeli Occupation captured huge areas of Al ‘Auja for colonial expansion purposes besides having several military bases there. The Israelis, in addition, have isolated more than 20 dunums in an area known as As Sahel and was announced as a ‘military zone’.
The Israelis have established several colonies around the village, Nitaf (1967), Niran (1977), Noomi (1979), Tomer, and Netiv Hagedud in addition to placing numerous watchtowers around the village. Most importantly, the lack of water has been hindering any development efforts in the village.
The Israelis had, first, dried out Al ‘Auja River which used to provide 1800 m3 / hour leaving the villagers dependant only on tiny springs with salty water. This had catastrophic effects on the residents and on the agricultural sector in the area.
