Violation: The demolition of 13 shelters and agricultural structures in addition to the confiscation of an agricultural tractor and a cement mixer.
Location: The areas of Al Siwwana and Khirbet Tana located east of the town of Beit Furik in Nablus Governorate.
Date: February 20, 2011.
Details:
It only took one hour to do it. Israeli occupation bulldozers destroyed Khirbet Tana for the second time in less than a month. The residents are still insisting on staying steadfast on their land despite the repeated destructions and demolitions.
In the early morning hours of Sunday February 20, 2011, Khirbet Tana was faced with yet another cycle of demolition and eviction carried out by Israeli occupation forces. Israeli bulldozers started demolishing the bruxes and shelters that were donated by the International Committee for the Red Cross and the Palestinian Authority in the aftermath of the February 9th, 2011, demolition.
The previous demolition resulted in the destruction of 8 tents and 5 animal pens in addition to the confiscation of tools used to rebuild the Khirbet’s school destroyed earlier by the occupation forces.
It is worth pointing out that the residents of Khirbet Tana have been suffering from the Israeli occupation forces since the late 1960s as these forces have tried since then to evict them from their lands; The area of Khirbet Tana is about 2,000 dunums and is located about 1 kilometer away from the colony of Makhoura. More than 10,000 dunums have been confiscated from the town of Beit Furik (where the residents of Tana originated from) for the benefit of this colony which was established in 1969.
Pic.1: A general view of Khirbet Tana.
Mr. A’atef Hanani, the mayor of Beit Furik, expressed the following to the Land Research Center’s field researcher:
The latest demolition campaign is the 5th of its kind in the past five years. Occupation forces have publicly expressed its intention to wipe out the Khirbet from the face of the earth. The so-called Israeli “High Court of Justice” gave these forces the green light to do so when it announced in mid-2008 that Khirbet Tana is “illegal” and “must be removed.” The decision was approved despite the presence of land ownership deeds that date back even before the occupation of the West Bank in 1967.
The following table lists the victims of the most recent demolition and the damage they have sustained:
|
Name
|
No. of Structures
|
Damage
|
|
Wasef Abu Al Sa’oud Hanani
|
2
|
Tent (area= 60 m2) and a brux (area = 80 m2)
|
|
Fayez Yousef Mohammad Hanani
|
2
|
A tent, an animal pen and the confiscation of tent covering.
|
|
Abdel Hafiz Hasan Hanani
|
1
|
Brux used as an animal shelter.
|
|
Majed Affif A’aref Hanani
|
2
|
A tent and an animal pen.
|
|
Radi Mahmoud Suleiman Hanani
|
1
|
Tent (area = 60 m2)
|
|
Ra’ed Afif A’aref Hanani
|
2
|
A tent and an animal pen.
|
|
Ibrahim Abdel Qader hanani
|
1
|
Tent
|
|
Mansour Mohammad Salman Nasasra
|
0
|
Confiscation of an agricultural tractor.
|
|
Hamdi Jabali Azab Nasasra
|
0
|
Confiscation of a cement mixer while working on the rebuilding of the community’s school.
|
|
TOTAL
|
11
|
|
Source: Land Research Center – Field Research Unit.
As for the damages sustained by Al Siwwana location (about 3 kilometers east of Tana), they include the following:
|
Name
|
No. of Structures
|
Damaged Propperty
|
|
Hamdi Hamad Hammad Mleitat
|
1
|
Tent
|
|
Zuhdi Ahmad Muhyi Al Dein Nasasra
|
1
|
Tent
|
|
TOTAL
|
2
|
|
Source: Land Research Center – Field Research Unit.
The Land Research Center sees in the insistence of the occupation forces to destroy Tana for the fifth time as a flagrant violation of all of the international laws and the Geneva Convention’s Article 53. This Article indicated that the forces of the Occupation Power are prevented from demolishing any private property owned by the occupied. Moreover, the demolition contradicts the spirit and text of Article 13 Section 1 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Land Research Center sees that the demolition of Palestinian property is a persistent Israeli policy since the beginning of the occupation in 1967 with the goal of evicting the original owners of the land from it to be used for further colonial expansion.
For additional information about the Israeli violations in Khirbet Tana, please refer to the following cases:
1. The Israeli Occupation Target Tana Again.
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
The Land Research Center
LRC
