At the beginning of last May, the Israeli occupation army distributed a military decree stating the confiscation of 1520 square meters (9 dunums and 520 M2) of the southern agricultural lands of the village of Kafr Qaddum in Qalqiliay governorate for the purpose of building a colonial military road to link between the headquarters of the so-called ' Israeli civil administration' near the colony of Qaddumim and the main Qalqiliay – Nablus highway. The road plan has the length of 1.904 km and width of 5 meters. The target land is located in basins number 2 & 10 of Kafr Qaddum land.
(Photos 1 & 2: a copy of the military order and attached map)
Location, population and area
The village of kafr Qaddum is located 25 km to the east of the city of Qalqiliya and 12 km to the west of Nalus. According to PCBS, the village population is almost 4000 now, the majority of whom works in agriculture. The total land surface area is about 17161 dunum of which only 398 dunums are built area, 2500 dununs grazing zones, 5000 dunums confiscated for Israeli colonies and is agricultural land with 85 % of it cultivated with olive trees ( source: GIS and field work unit at LRC).
(Photo 3: a general view of the village of Kafr Qaddum)
There are about 280 family out of the total of 640 family who are currently dependent on foreign aid, while the percentage of immigration from the village during the past two years reached 10-15% of the total population. See Photo 4
Impacts of the road construction on the village
According to the head of Kafr Qaddum village council the following are some of the expected impacts of the road construction on the people and land of the village:
1. The uprooting of 900 fruitful olive tree under the road path and the besieging of 1600 dunum between the proposed road path and the colony of kaddomim (see the previous photo). The threatened 1600 dunums are the best and most fertile agricultural lands in the village where more than 50 families from the village are totally dependent on these lands as main income. Such a step will increase the current percentage of poverty in the village from 64 to more than 70.
2. A number of homes which are currently under construction are located at the distance of only 170 meters away from the proposed road path which put them under the threat of demolition.
Closing main road
Shortly after the outbreak of the current Intifada in the year 2000, the Israeli occupation forces closed the main Qalqiliya – Nablus road under security claims forcing the citizens of kafr Qaddum and other Palestinian villages to look for alternative roads. One of these agricultural un- paved alternative roads takes a circular route through the villages of Hajja, Al Funduq, Immatin and Jit before reaching Nablus city. To take this road, passengers from Kafr kaddum, for example, have to travel 22 km instead of the ordinary 10 km journey and they have to pay double fare.
Lack of basic infrastructure
Over the period of the Israeli military occupation the village was deprived of basic infrastructure projects such as water, electricity, roads, schools, clinics …etc. Moreover, the village built up area remained the same as it was before the occupation of 1967, hence, creating serious problem for natural expansion and population growth, especially towards east and south where the Israeli colonies are located.
Kaddomim colony
The colony of Kaddomim was established in 1975 and then extended north and south to become one of the biggest colonies in the occupied West Bank. During this on going expansion process, the colony of Kaddomim Illit (Kaddomim North) as well as the colony of Jabel Mohammed (Kaddomim South) were also founded at the expense of the lands of the Palestinian village of Kafr Qaddum. At the end of 2005, the total number of settlers living in these three colonies reached 3087, while their built up are was 1003 dunums and municipal boundaries was 2039 dunums (Source: Foundation for Middle East Peace.
(Photo 5: a new expansion by the colony of kaddomim at the
top of Jabel Mohammed (Kaddomim South) )
Latest Colonists' aggression
On may 6, 2007, a group of colonists from kadommim destroyed with bulldozers a 5 dunum piece of land that was cultivated with ground seasonal crops and located near the colony of kaddomim on road number 55 in an attempt to put hand on it. The target piece of land is owned by Mr. Hisham Mohammed Ali, 42 years old, from Kafr Qaddum and an employee at the ministry of education. The owner levied a complaint to the so-called Israel civil administration in the colony of Kaddomim, but to no avail yet.
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
