Violation: uprooting and stealing 98 olive seedling.
Date: January 7, 2011.
Perpetrators: Keda colonists.
Victims: Abdul Razeq Odeh from Qusra village.
Location: Qusra.
Preface:
Abdul Razeq Odeh (63) inherited his land and its love from his ancestors and since his childhood. He has been taking care of his lands located in the southern parts of Qusra since his early childhood; however, this love and bond with the land did not spare him from the colonists aggressions and attacks. Nevertheless, this old man believes that the colonists will never be able to break such bond.
Details:
On January 7, 2011, while heading to his field alongside his wife; Abdul Razeq was shocked to see that 98 olive seedlings, out of hundred, that he had recently planted were uprooted and stolen by a group of colonists. The scene was so dramatic that he surrendered to crying.
Abdul Razeq stated to an LRC observer:” I own a 5-dunum-field in Baslata area located between Qusra and Jalud villages. It is my only source of income which I depend on in my living. I used to plant it with wheat despite the day-to-day aggressions I face by Shilo colonists. This year, I decided to plant it with olives regardless of the colonists threats. 20 days earlier, my children and I planted 100 olive seedlings; I used to check on the olives everyday. On Friday, I was shocked to see that 98 seedling were uprooted and stolen by the colonists. Nonetheless, I intend to plant it again; I will never give up the land of my ancestors”.
Since its establishment in 1977, Shilo has been a source of continuous danger to the Palestinian surroundings. Nowadays, it, alongside the adjacent colonial nucleuses, lies over four mountain summits covering an area of hundreds of dunums.
The colonists aggressions are disastrous to the Palestinians who suffer from attacks against their fields and some times attacks against the people themselves.
Qusra, an Overview:
It is located 18 km to the south east of Nablus city and is administered by Qusra village Council. Its total area is 9878 dunums that include 776 dunums of built up area. However, this area does not cover the expansion requirements of the village which forced a lot of the locals to build their houses in areas classified ‘C’ according to Oslo.
Qusra is inhabited by 4377 people according to the PBS statistics of 2007. It must be pointed that in 1982, Qusra and the nearby Jurish villages faced a large scale land grab campaign in preparation for the establishment of Majdulim colony which now covers an area of 170.6 dunums inhabited by 152 colonists.
On the other hand, Qusra is suffering from the increase in demolition orders issued against structures in the village. More than 15 structures are facing real demolition threats.
