Violation: eviction order on agricultural lands
Date: 16/12/2014
Location: Um al-Kbaish / Tammun town
Perpetrators: the so-called "State Property" officer
Victims: two families from the Tammun
Details:
With Israeli election on doors, Israel right-wing party is seeking to satisfy Jewish colonists in the West Bank at the expense of Palestinian land. Israel Civil Administration, Department of State Property on December 16, 2014 raided the area of Um al-Kbaish, which is located within the natural block no. 29 from Tammun lands.
It is indicated that the "State Property" officer left the eviction order on the fence surrounding a natural reserve, which the Ministry of Agriculture cultivated two years ago.
In addition, the occupation served two families from Tammun eviction orders on their olive groves in the area of Um al-Kbaish. Also, two water cistern with a volume of 70m3 for each were served demolition orders under the pretext of construction within "state property". Noteworthy, the cisterns were funded by FAO and implemented by Palestine Ministry of Agriculture.
The military order gave the lands' owners and the Ministry of Agriculture, as the responsible for the natural reserve, a 45 day deadline to restore the previous status of the notified lands.
Photos 1+2: the military orders on Um al-Kbaish lands
The following table shows information about the damage inflected on the lands and their owners :
|
The affected |
Confiscated lands |
Funding and implementing body |
Notes |
Photo |
|
Ministry of Agriculture MoA |
Natural reserve(60 dunums) planted with forest trees |
Implemented by MoA and funded by The Arab Group for the Protection of Nature in 2012 |
Forest trees aging 5 years |
|
|
Yousef Bani Aoudeh |
12 dunums(olive groves)+ 70m3 cistern( for rainwater catchment) |
Implemented by MoA and funded by The Arab Group for the Protection of Nature in 2012+ the cistern is implemented by MoA in 2014 and funded by FAO |
3 years olive saplings+ the land was previously notified with eviction |
|
|
Rashid Bani Aoudeh |
12 dunums(olive groves)+ 70m3 cistern( for rainwater catchment) |
Implemented by MoA and funded by The Arab Group for the Protection of Nature in 2012+ the cistern is implemented by MoA in 2014 and funded by FAO |
3 year olive saplings+ the land was previously notified with eviction |
|
|
Total |
84dunums+two cistern +400 olive seedlings |
|
|
|
Source: Field Observations – Monitoring Israeli Human Rights Violations- Land Research Center 2014
Yousef Bani Aoudeh(64) told a researcher from Land Research Center the following:
" two years ago, my brother and I received eviction orders on our 24 dunums plot by Israel Civil Administration claiming it "state property". Shortly after, we objected the order with help of attorney Tawfiq Jabarin in Israel Supreme Court. The court decision was on our side; it canceled the eviction order temporarily. Despite all of that, the occupation came today and served us the orders again".
It should be marked that the area of Um al-Kbaish is under the targeting spot of the Israeli occupation due to the land being agriculture and being located in the area of Sahel al-Baki'a; an area considered rich of natural resources.
Land Research Center LRC sees that land grab contradicts with all of the International conventions and Humanitarian laws including:
- Article 17 of the (1948) Universal Declaration of Human Rights stating: “Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.”
- Article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights :
" All peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic co-operation, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence"
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
