Displacement in Janba

Mahmoud Ribi was racing time to move to his newly-built residence in Janba; however, his dreams were shattered by an Israeli stop-work order. He said: ‘I finished the construction of the house which was placed near my barn, my only source of income which have already received a demolition order but I received a stop-work order for my house as well‘.

The Israeli Occupation Authorities issued 5 stop-work order for structures in Janba on February 23, 2012. The orders were signed by the so-called Higher Organization Council.

Eyewitnesses said that troops accompanied by officer of the Israeli Occupation Civil Administration broke into the village and handed them the orders. They heard one of the officer saying that ‘[they] will be back with similar orders for all the structures in the village’. The orders demanded immediate stoppage of construction in the buildings as well as presence in Beit El Military Court on March 19, 2012 for a hearing session regarding the structures.

Table 1: victims:

No.	Victim	Area (m²)	Family members	Children	Structure	Built	Order	picture
1	Mahmoud Ribi	50	16	11	Brick house roofed with metal slabs (inhabited)	2011	A	1
1	Mahmoud Ribi	300	16	11	A simple barn	2011	B	2
2	Fadel Ribi	55	6	4	Brick house roofed with metal slabs (inhabited)	2008	C	3
3		50	15	11	Brick house roofed with metal slabs (inhabited)	2012	D	4

Source: Field Observations – Monitoring Israeli Human Rights Violations Team – LRC

The orders also hit the only school in Janba which serves 30 students classes 1 to 4 and 10 kindergarten children; a 120-m2-building built of bricks and roofed with metal slabs.

Second: orders entitled: ‘a second opportunity to object to demolition orders’:

Demolition orders were issued in May 14, 2007 for a number of structures in Janba; at that time, the owners assigned ‘Shlomo Leker’, an attorney of law to defend their case in Israeli Courts. The lawyer and the owners managed to persuade the Court to stop the orders on July 6, 2007. However, the Israeli Occupation Civil Administration handed the owners orders entitled ‘ a second opportunity to object to demolition orders ‘ that were dated February 23, 2012. The order gave the owners 3 days to object.

Picture F: the Court’s ruling

The owners insisted that have provided all the needed documents to prove their ownership and their right in the structures; the same documents that persuaded the Court to rule in their favor. They called their lawyer who said that he will follow the case up. Table 2: orders issued in 2007 and renewed in February 23, 2012:

No.	Victim	Area (m²)	Family members	Children	Structure	Built	Order	picture
1	Ibrahin Ribi	4	15	11	Brick toilet	2007	G	6
2	Mousa Ribi	20	5	1	Brick house roofed with metal slabs	2010	H	7
2	Mousa Ribi	100	5	1	Barn	2006	H	7
3	Issa Ribi	30	10	1	Brick house roofed with sackcloth	2000	I	8
3	Issa Ribi	5	10	1	Toilet	2000	J	N.A
4	Isam Ahmad	50	15	6	Grain store	1990	N.A	9
4	Isam Ahmad	6	15	6	Toilet	2000	K	N.A
5	Khaled Jibreel	25	11	8	Brick room	2002	L	10
5	Khaled Jibreel	20	11	8	room built of metal slabs and roofed with sackcloth	2007	L	11
6	Nabeel Jibreel	80	10	8	Barn built of metal slabs and roofed with sackcloth	2006	M	12
6	Nabeel Jibreel	15	10	8	Container	2006	N	12
7	Mohammad abu Aram	15	10	8	Container	2005	O	13
8	No’man Jibreel	4	17	12	toilet	2005	P	N.A

Source: Field Observations – Monitoring Israeli Human Rights Violations Team – LRC

A similar order was served to Janba’s Mosque which is built or bricks and covered with sackcloth. The mosque was a house which was turned into a mosque with the help of the locals. Its total area is 30 m².

Picture Q +14

Janba:

Janba is a small village located in an area known as Msafer Yatta, 20 km to the south east of Yatta town. It is inhabited by around 300 people. Most of the village structures are built of bricks, metal slabs, and sackcloth; the structures are very simple in their nature. The village holds a school, a kindergarten, and mosque within but they are all threatened with demolitions. A small generator provides the village with power while they get their fresh water from cisterns.

An unpaved road connects the village with the surrounding communities; the locals rehabilitated one km of the road in the past year but the Israeli responded by issuing stop-work orders for that road.