Violation: serving eviction order on lands
Date: 17/03/2015
Location: Wad Qana/ Salfit governorate
Perpetrators: Israel National Parks and Reserves authority
Victims: three agricultural families form Deir Istiya
Details:
The area of Wad Qana, northeast Salfit governorate is witnessing a new wave of systematic Judaizing plans undertaken by the Israeli occupation to achieve a full takeover on it through controlling all the natural resources and building new colonies.
A massive force from the Israeli occupation army accompanied with the so-called Israel National Parks and Reserves Authority on March 17, 2015 raided the area of Ein al-Tanour from the eastern side of Wad Qana and delivered an eviction order on lands (23 dunums) owned by farmers from the area. The order compelled eviction within a period of 72 hours and to restore the original status of the lands; this notice came under the pretext of the area being a natural reserve. It should be marked that the notified lands are located nearby Karne Shomron.
Photos 1-3: the agricultural lands in Wad Qana
Photos 6-8: the eviction orders on the lands of Mansour and Zaydan families
The mayor of Deir Istiya Amal Koukash told an observer from Land Research Center the following: " the targeted area and lands are owned by a number of farmers from the village; they cultivate them ,plow them seasonally and have ownership documents for them. As usual, the occupation never acknowledge such documents and claim lands as "natural reserves" to take them over and use them later on to expand colonies on. This is exactly what happens today on the lands of Wad Qana and the clue is seen in the expansion on Karne Shomron and Emmanuel colonies". The following table lists information about the affected families:
|
Affected citizen |
Family |
Notified plotdunum |
Nature of plot |
|
Hasan Mansour |
9 |
4 |
Planted with citrus and olive trees |
|
Mohammad Zaydan |
7 |
8 |
Planted with olive trees |
|
Ahmad Mansour |
7 |
11 |
Planted with citrus and olive trees |
|
TOTAL |
23 |
23 |
|
Acoording to the field observation conducted by Land Research Center , the area of Wad Qana has lately witnessed systematic targeting that was described as taking place on weekly basis. Attacks reached out lands, trees and even humans; assaults on farmers are undertaken for the sake of stopping them from planting their lands.
It should be marked that the area of Wad Qana (10,000 dunums) accommodates seven Israeli colonies and two outpost, which are all considered an imminent threat on nature and environment and a destructing factor on the agriculture sector.
About Wad Qana:
It is located in the northwest part of Deir Istiya and surrounded by: Jinsafut, Kfar Laqif and Azzun from the east, Sinrya and Kfar Thulth form the west, Qarawat Bani Hassan from the south, and Amatin and Deir Istya from the east. Most of Wadi Qana lands are owned by farmers from Deir Istiya. The valley overlooks "Yaker" colony from the southern side and near to is "Nofem" colony. From the north side, there are three colonies surrounding the valley and they are: "Karni Shamron", "Jannat Shamron", and "Maa'ni Shamron".
Wadi Qana is relative to the village of Deir Istiya ( 34,129 dunums) and has a total land area of 10,000 dunums, of which 13 dunums are the built-up area and 11 water springs. Worth mentioning, the place is planted with citrus, olives, and field crops.
The area is a natural slope that is located between two mountains and is famous for water abundance and soil fertility. The lands of Deir Istiya are classified, according to Oslo accords as follows:
- Area B: it totals around 6132 dunums (18% of the village's total area)
- Area C : it totals around 27997 dunums (82% of the village's total area)
- Noteworthy, Wad Qana lands are all classified as area C.
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
