Violation: burning down the harvest of 20 dunums ($10,000 loses)
Location: Al-Tayba village- Ramallah
Date: June 24, 2015
Perpetrators: Kokhav Yeshihar colonists
Victims: Khaldoun Hannah
Details:
Agriculture sector is crucial for Palestinian farmers and economy for the importance it carries and the revenue it offers to develop the economical status of Palestinians.
The Palestinian suburbs are known for the wheat harvesting season, which is seen as the strong bond between farmers and land.
A group of Kokhav Yeshihar on June 24, 2015 sneaked into wheat fields in the area of Al-Musakkara, east Al-Tayba village and set fire to the wheat piles. Noteworthy, fire destroyed the whole harvest before the Palestinian fire brigades could interfere.
Photos 1-3: the burned down wheat piles:
The affected citizen, on the implications of the attack, told a researcher for Land Research Center the following: “I own a plot classified as Tabo; agriculture is the only source of income to support my 6 member family”
He also added: “I received a phone call on June 24, 2015 by one of the Bedouins, who set their tents nearby my plot (1km away from Rimmonim colony) and informed me that the harvest I worked for three days to pile is on fire. I immediately called the fire brigades but unfortunately fire reached out all the crops. The harvest of 20 dunums was burned down as a result”
According to the estimates of Ramallah Ministry of Agriculture, the losses totaled 30,000INS (price of 15 tons of wheat) and 10,000 INS (price of 10 tons of hay).
Such an attack became familiar in the Palestinian suburbs; attacks on lands and farmers are reported to take place seasonally.
It should be marked that farmer Khaldoun Hannah (56) filed a complaint to the Israeli police station about the attack but no results have been rendered in that regard.
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
