Violation: colonists impeded a family with rocks while working in their lands.
Location: Qiddis area, Husan, Bethlehem.
Date: July 3, 2012.
Perpetrators: colonists of Bitar Elit.
Victims: Fa’iq Hamamra and his family.
Details:
On July 3, 2012, Israeli colonists impeded Fa’iq Hamamra (49), and his family with rocks while passing through the colony of Bitar Elit to their field. The family were unable to protect themselves because the 7-dunum-field is located in between to hills; the father called the Israeli Police which never showed up. The next day, the family headed to their field to find that 3 olive trees were cut down. It must be noted that the family has to pass through an Israeli checkpoint and walk through th colony of Bitar Elit to get to their destination; a trip full of humiliation and struggle.
Husan:
Husan is one of the villages to the West of Bethlehem; it is 7 km away and is edged with the Armistice line and Al Qabu (west) (Al Qabu is one of the Palestinian villages that was evicted in 1948), Nahhalin and Al Khadr (south), Al Khadr (east), and Battir (north).
According to Husan Cultural Center, the village lost 5000 dunums to the Israeli colonization activities; leaving the residents with only 3000 dunums.
The village is rich with spring water, having more than 5 springs including Al Hawiyya, Al Sakhouna, Sabour, etc. Husan contains 3 mosques and a huge football field. According to the 2009 statistics, the village population has exceeded 8000 people.
Previous Aggressions:
Husan, like many other Palestinian villages, has been a target for several Israeli aggressions; in 2009, the Israeli Army threw a military order announcing the confiscation of 13.5 dunums for security reasons. According to the order, ‘to build the prevention wall needed to prevent hostiles from passing through’.
In 2010, the colonists deliberately soaked Al Harayeq area with sewage water. A group of Israeli colonists pumped huge amounts of sewage water into the 20-dunum-land planted with figs, grapes, prunes, and olives.
