Violation: Closing off an agricultural road
Location: Al Mughayyir village
Date: 03/09/2013
Perpetrators: The Israeli occupation army
Victims: More than 100 families in the village
Details:
On 03/09/2013, the Israeli occupation closed off an agricultural road by earth mounds after ravaging parts of it in Al Mughayyir. It is worth mentioning that the road project was funded by Netherlands Representative Office (NRO) and administrated by Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC) as part of Improving Livelihood in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (West Bank) Program.
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Picture 1: The closed road
Mr. Faraj Al-Na’san, the head of Al Mughayyir village council, told an LRC observer that: " On Tuesday night, the Israeli occupation forces set siege around the roads leading to Al Mughayyir and ravaged parts of the agricultural road where they placed earth mounds along 400 meters of the way. The Israeli occupation authorities did not inform the farmers of this sudden closure." Al-Na’san also added, " This agricultural road leads to more than 1500 dunum lands, 400 dunums of which are planted with olive trees that serve 150 families. The road is near the bypass Elon and Adi Ad colony."
The colonists already carried out attacks on agricultural lands in Al Mughayyir in the past years. They uprooted olive trees and set crops to fire in addition to other attacks deemed futile by Al Mughayyir farmers.
Al Mughayyir in lines:
Located in the north eastern part of Ramallah, Al Mughayyir has a population of 2900 people, according to a 2010 census prepared by Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Most Al Mughayyir agricultural lands are located in the eastern part of the village and reach up to the verge of the Jordan Valley. Its total area before the Israeli occupation of 1967 is 33,000 dunums. After the Israeli occupation in 1967, the Israeli occupation declared the Jordan Valley a closed military zone and so did with 27,556 dunums of Al Mughayyir lands. The occupation planted land mine; deployed military forces in the region and prohibited farmers and shepherds from entering the area under the pretext of its being a shooting zone.
Al Mughayyir is surrounded with Israeli colonies which has made the village a target in itself. In the east, there are "Tomer", "Pezael", "Gilgal" and "Netiv Hagedud" colonies. In the west, there are "Shvut Rahel" and outposts of "Shilo". In the north, there are "Niran", "Yitav" and "Kokhav hashahar" colonies. While in the north there are "Migdalim" and "Maale Efrayim".
