“Ethnic Cleansing Manifested in the Jordan Valley” he Eradication of Khirbet Makhoul Bedouin Community

Less than two months since the resumption of the peace talks on July 31, 2013, and the Israeli occupation authorities escalated its violations against the Palestinian residents and their properties in all parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt).

Colossal systematic violations took place in the oPt in parallel with the peace negotiations launching where on the ground the Israeli government moved forward with new colonial plans to expand the illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem with tenders and plans to build 4883 housing units in 15 settlements in the W.B and East Jerusalem beside hundreds of aggressive assaults committed by the Israeli settlers against the Palestinian residents and their properties.

The Eradication of Khirbet Makhoul Palestinian Bedouin Community

On the early morning of September 16, 2013, the Israeli Army Bulldozers accompanied by Israeli Army Forces along with officers from what is so-called “Israeli Civil Administration” stormed Khirbet Makhoul southeast of Tubas Governorate in the northern parts of the Jordan Valley and started without prior notification to demolish the entire Palestinian community.

In an interview with ARIF field workers the local resident Burhan Hussein Bsharat indicated that the Israeli bulldozers flattened their entire community with its 58 structures including a kindergarten without any prior notification under the pretext of lacking building permits. See table 1 below:

Table 1 : Details of the demolished structures in Khirbet Makhoul
No	Name	Family Members	No. of targeted Structures	Type of structures	Total Area- m²
1	Burhan Hussein Asmar Bsharat	10	6	Residential barrackses, animal sheds kitchens. toilets	600
2	Ahmad Khalaf Salem Bani ‘Odeh	3	7	Residential barrackses, animal sheds kitchens. toilets	296
3	Younis Mohammad Mahmoud Daraghmeh	4	5	Residential barrackses, animal sheds kitchens. toilets	382
4	Yousef Mohammad Mahmoud Abu Hilwa	5	5	Residential barrackses, animal sheds kitchens. toilets	384
5	Mohammad ‘Ali Mohammad Bsharat	5	6	Residential barrackses, animal sheds kitchens. toilets	400
6	Mahmoud ‘Ali Mohammad Bsharat	4	6	Residential barrackses, animal sheds kitchens. toilets	310
7	Ahmad Abdullah Ahmad Bani ‘Odeh	5	7	Residential barrackses, animal sheds kitchens. toilets	395
8	Hussein Asmar Ahmad Bsharat	2	4	Residential barrackses, animal sheds kitchens. toilets	542
9	Ashraf Hussein Asmar Bsharat	3	3	Residential barrackses, animal sheds kitchens. toilets	216
10	Yousef Hussein Asmar Bsharat	7	8	Residential barrackses, animal sheds kitchens. toilets	620
11	Kinder Garden	**	1	Kid tools	100
Total		48	58		4245
Source: ARIJ Field Workers September 2013

Mr. Bsharat also added that the Bedouin families of Khirbet Makhoul living here before the Israeli Military Occupation in the year 1967 where they owned registration documents for the lands (ownership documents) issued by the land registration department at Israeli Civil Administration while the Israeli claiming that the Israeli government owned the land and it is classified according to the Israeli laws as “State land”.

On the other hand Mr. ‘Aref Daraghmeh the heard of Al-Malih village council (includes the Palestinian Bedouin communities in the northern Jordan Valley) provided that this was the first time the Israeli demolished Khirbet Makhoul while before years the Israeli authorities notified the residents of the community not to add any new structure in the site and the residents committed to the Israeli notification before they demolished the entire community without prior notification on September 16, 2013. Below are photosfor the mass destruction in Khirbet Makhoul:

Photos 1 – 16: Mass Destruction in Kherbit Makhoul – Jordan Valley

As a matter of fact, Israel overwhelming desire to eradicate Khirbet Makhoul achieved when the Israeli bulldozers demolished the community three times in 48 hours where the second demolished took place on September 18, 2013 while the third demolition was on September 20, 2013. More than that, on September 18,2013 and during the second demolition the Israeli Occupation Forces declared the site as closed military area and confiscated a truck on Tayseer checkpoint for the “International Committee of the Red Cross” holds humanitarian aids (tents, food……etc).

On September 20, 2013, again the Israeli Occupation Army stormed Khirbet Makhoul and prevented the residents from rebuilding their structures , attacked the local residents, the International supporters and a diplomats from (Britain,Spain,Ireland, Australia) in addition to French diplomat “Maryon Casting” working with the EU Convoy in the Palestinian Territory where they pulled her out of a truck and dragged her on the ground despite the fact the she has a diplomatic immunity and then they confiscated the truck with the aids.

Mrs. Casting stating on the Israeli attack: (they picked me up forcibly from the truck, dragged me on the ground, utterly ignoring the diplomatic immunity………….this is how the International Law respected here!!!!). It is worth mentioning that until the date of writing this report the residents of Khirbet Makhoul are homeless, living in the ruins of their houses and structures, while Israel insists on depriving them from their legitimate right to build and live on their own lands. See map of Khirbet Makhoul community

Map 1: the eradicated Palestinian Bedouin community of Khirbet Makhoul

Khirbet Makhoul is a Palestinian Bedouin community located southeast of Tubas Governorate in the northern parts of the Jordan Valley. The community is populated by about 50 Palestinian Bedouins (32 adults and 16 children) living on their own lands before the year 1967.Khirbet Makhoul is bordered by Al-Malih Valley and Masskeyyott settlement from the north, Ro’i settlement from the south , Khirbet Humsa and Ras Al-Ahmar Bedouin communities from the west, the settlement of Hemdat from the southeast.

Significant Contradictions

The residents of Khirbit Makhoul as well as the rest of the residents of the Jordan valley are bemoaning their inhuman living conditions comparing with their “neighboring occupiers” and their settlers whom living in vast Palestinian confiscated lands.

An analysis conducted by the Geo-informatics Department at the Applied Research Institute Jerusalem- ARIJ, for the two settlements of Ro’i (est.1976) and Hemdat (1980) adjacent to Khirbet Makhoul Palestinian community, showed that Ro’i settlement inhabited by 167 settlers only distributed on an area 3,556 dunums (21.2 dunums for each settler), while Hemdat settlement inhabited by 196 settlers distributed on an area 918 dunums (4.6 dunums for each settler) in comparison with Khirbet Makhoul residents inhabited by 50 residents on an area 4 dunums only (80 m²/person).

The Jordan Valley ……….. Enforcing Law or Ethnic Cleansing???

As long as Israel tried to inaugurate itself as the power enforcing law on the Occupied Palestinian Territory neglecting the fact that it illegally occupying the Palestinian Territory and must comply to International Law rules and withdrawing from all the territory occupied on June 5, 1967 including Gaza strip and the West Bank including east Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley.

Accordingly all measures, procedures, restrictions imposed by the Israeli Occupation over the Palestinian residents in all parts of the oPt are illegal null and void.

The Jordan valley is located in the eastern part of the West Bank. It extends from Jericho Governorate in the south, to Tubas Governorate in the north at a length of 68.5 km, and from the Dead Sea shores in the east to the western slopes of both Tubas and Jericho Governorates in the west, at a width of 24 km. The Jordan valley occupies a total land area of 840,906 dunums (840.9 km square meters), which constitutes 14.9% of the West Bank’s total area.

The Jordan Valley is considered the primary supplier of agricultural products in the West Bank because it is rich of underground and surface water resources. It also provides profitable agriculture chances to both the Palestinian local and external market, in addition to the animal wealth that forms also a major source of income to most Palestinian families in this area.

Despite the large area of the Jordan valley, it is considered the least populated area in the West Bank; its population estimated +55000 people living in 26 Palestinian communities in Jericho and Tubas Governorates. Table 2 shows the administrative division of the Jordan valley area:

Table (2): the classification of land in the Jordan valley according to Oslo II Interim Agreement of 1995
Land Classification	Area (Km²)	Area (dunum)	Percentage % (from the total Jordan Valley area)
Area A	66.9	66,858	7.95
Area B	3.8	3,840	0.46
Area C	770.2	770,208	91.59
Total	840.9	840,906	100
Source: ARIJ Database – 2013

To Conclude

Without doubt, Israel is abusing the peace talks with the Palestinians by escalating its colonial and expansionist plans while instead seizing the opportunity for reaching peace it seizing the opportunity to eliminate any chance to reach just and durable peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Israel is seeking to ethnically cleanse the Jordan Valley area where most of the Palestinian villages and communities are a legitimate target order to serve the Israeli colonial and expansionist agenda.

The Israeli colonial and expansionist activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory constitute a grave breach to the International law rules and conventions with some of which are listed below:

According to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, Israel, as an occupying power is prohibited to demolish Palestinian houses as stated in Article 53 of the Convention which states that: ‘Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.
Moreover and according to article XXXI of the 1995 Oslo agreement, Israel,is forbidden from building or planning to any project or settlements or any colonial expansion or any plan that lead to change the status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The article provides ‘Neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations’.
Also the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965), Article 5 provides that: ‘States’ Parties undertake to prohibit and eliminate racial discrimination in all of its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, color, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the following rights: … (e) in particular … (iii) the right to housing’.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of, December 10, 1948, Article 17 reads: ‘No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.’ Which means it bans Israel from destroying or confiscating the property of the Palestinians at any case.
Moreover Art. 23 of the Hague Convention of 1907 also provides: In addition to the prohibitions provided by special Conventions, it is especially forbidden to destroy or seize the enemy’s property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.
‘Article 12’ of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence.
In the year 2004 the United Nations Security Council called on Israel to stop demolition of Palestinian homes under Resolution No. 1544-(2004), the resolution states: ‘The Security Council called on Israel to respect its obligations under international humanitarian law, particularly the obligation not to undertake home demolitions contrary to that law’.