Violation: Banning farmers from harvesting
Location: Lafjam, Aqraba/ Nablus
Date: 24/05/2014
Perpetrators: The Israeli occupation army
Victims: People of Aqraba
Details:
In an attempt to empty the Jordan Valley of its indigenous people to make a room for colonial projects that aim at creating new geographic facts on the ground that serve the Israeli interests and are impossible to change when reaching any agreement with the Palestinian party, the Israeli occupation carries on with targeting Bedouin communities in the area, namely Khirbet at Taweel and Lafjam. They do so by turning vast areas of agricultural land, supposed to provide sources of income to hundreds of families, into mine lands and closed military zones denying farmers and owners access without any reason or justification.
On Saturday, May 24, a number of farmers heading to their lands in order to harvest wheat were blocked by the Israeli soldiers who stopped them from advancing and claimed that the area is a closed military zone. Banning farmers from harvesting the crop means missing the season and inflicting damage on 70 agricultural families from Aqraba.
The area of Lafjam is inhabited by 500 farmers hailing from Aqraba. The warmth of the area and abundance of agricultural lands have prompted farmers and shepherds to live in Lafjam. The latter is now threatened of being confiscated at any time.
Prepared by:
The Land Research Center
