- Violation: establishing new colonial neighborhood
- Location: Kfar Sur village- Tulkarm city
- Date: February 2017
- Perpetrators: Sal'it colony
- Victims: farmers of the village
Details:
It should be noted that Higher Council of Planning- Israel Civil Administration leveled 135 dunums from the southern side of the colony and ravaged 18 other dunums from the west to establish new colonial units in the area. Noteworthy, the expansion works started in 2013 and are still ongoing.
According to the data of Land Research Center, 35 colonial units were added to the area and the work is still ongoing. The targeted lands are located to the east of Sal'it colony and were confiscated from Palestinian farmers in 2003 by a military order.
About Salit :
Salit, rock in Arabic, was named after the Palestinian village Kfar Sour on which it is located.
The colony is situated in the southeastern part of Tulkarm. It was established in 1979 and is of 1475 dunums in area. The reason behind its establishment is geo-political, since it is located between the green line and kfar Sour which has enabled the colony to expand more and more with time.
The lands on which the colony is established are governmental and registered in the Jordanian land treasury of the Hashemite Kingdom totaling 1350 dunums. The other part of the lands is owned by the farmers of Kfar Jamal village and is of 125 dunum in area used by colonists for planting cactus. The total area of the colony now is 1475 dunums but the built-up and industrial area totals around 700 dunums in area.
Photos 1-2: the current expansion works on the colony
Photo 3: the expansion works on Mars 2016
Photo 4: the expansion works on February 2015
Photo 5: the expansion works on August 2014
Photo 6: the expansion work sin 2013
An aerial photo of Sal'it colony expansion 2001-2014
About Kfar Sur:
It is 5km to the south of Tulkarm village; Kfar Sur is bounded by Al-Ras town from the north, Salit colony from the west, Saffarin town from the east, and Kfar Zibad and Kfar Jamal villages from the south. Kfar Sur has a total area of 46,914 dunums, of which 261 dunums are the village’s built-up area. The village is inhabited by 1440 people (2014).
The Israeli occupation confiscated 3716 dunums from Kfar Sur as follows:
- 1067 dunums were confiscated for the favor of Israeli colonies; 921 dunums were taken for the favor of Salit colony which was founded in 1997 with a population of 441 colonists. Another 146 dunums were expropriated for the favor of Ya’arit colony that was established in 1997 as well.
- 1094 dunums were confiscated for the favor of the bypass road no. 574.
- 1555 dunums were devoured as per the apartheid wall’s route; the wall also isolated 12,157 dunums behind its construction as a result.
According to Oslo Accords, the lands of Kfar Sur are classified as follows:
- 29757 dunums are classified as area B
- 17103 dunums are classified as area C
Land Research Center sees Israel continuous expansion on colonies in the West Bank and Jerusalem at the expense of Palestinian and lands a flagrant violation of Human Rights and all international laws and conventions, which prohibit disposition of public properties in occupied countries.
UN Resolutions
UN Security Council Resolution 242 of 1967: calls for
- the Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict;
- Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." [4]
UN Security Council Resolution 449 of 1979: the Security Council determined:
- "that the policy and practices of Israel in establishing settlements in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 have no legal validity and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East"
UN Security Council Resolution 452 of 1979: states that
- "the policy of Israel in establishing settlements in the occupied Arab territories has no legal validity and constitutes a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949" and "calls upon the Government and people of Israel to cease, on an urgent basis, the establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem."
UN Security Council Resolution 465 of 1980:
- It expressed concern at Israeli settlement policy in the Arab territories and recalled resolutions 237 (1967), 252 (1968), 267 (1969), 271(1969) and 298 (1971). It further called upon the State and people of Israel to dismantle such settlements. The resolution calls on all states ‘not to provide Israel with any assistance to be used specifically in connection with settlements in the occupied territories’.
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
