Violation: prevention of the construction of a new road that leads to hundreds of dunums of land.
Date: October 12-13, 2009.
Location: Khirbet Salama – Dura.
Violators: Negohot settlers alongside Israeli forces.
Victims: Palestinian families from Khirbet Salama.
Details:
Settlers from Negohot, a settlement built on land confiscated from western Dura, accompanied by Israeli soldiers stopped the renovation of an agricultural road, a project that serves hundreds of dunums in Khirbet Salama.
Picture 1: Negohot settlement
Ayman Odeh, president of the Projects Committee in Khirbet Salama stated for LRC’s researcher:’ The banned project was funded by Action Against Hunger (ACF) NGO. Its main objective was to reduce the unemployment rate temporarily by providing temporary jobs for Palestinians’.
Picture 2: The location where construction was prohibited
“Twenty seven people (supporting about 150 people) were banned from working in this project,’ he explained. ‘They were stopped after ten working days. About 1 km was built with stone barriers made on two sides of the road,’ he added.
Picture 3: The working place can be seen from Negohot.
Concerning the length of the road, Ayman said:’ if the construction works were not stopped, we could have made ready 2 km road that links the main road in Khirbet Salama to Um Hazwa Valley. It would have served twenty five families that owns almost 0.4 km2 including olive fields, shepherd fields, and others’.
Picture 4: Part of the renovated road.
During the third work-day, Israeli soldiers showed up at the site and prevented the workers from doing their job. They forced them to leave saying that they do not have permissions to work in these lands and that the workers have to get permissions from ‘Negohot settlements rabbi’, too, before continuing.
Pictures 5+6: working site – Um Hazwa Valley.
On the next day, the workers went back to the working site, because they were afraid of losing their temporary jobs. However, the settlers and the soldiers attacked them again and forced them to leave without even allowing them to take the equipment with them. The soldiers said that working here might compromise the safety of Negohot settlement despite the fact that the road is 400 meters away from the settlement fence.
Mohammad Al ‘Amayra, ACF executive, stated that the project was shut down. Al ‘Amayra said in an official announcement – which LRC had a copy of it- said:’ on Sunday and Monday, October 12 and 13 , 2009, Israeli Army and Negohot settlers prevented the workers in Khirbet Salama from working in the designed spot. While the organization is applying Cash-for-Work project for building and renovating agricultural roads in the area, the Israeli Army forbade the work saying that we do not have the needed permissions and that working on that road compromises the settlement safety’.
On the other hand, Negohot settlers confiscated a Jackhammer that belongs to Abd Al Hameed Al Rojoob who was working in a member of Al Natsha family property located in Khirbet Fuqeiqis to the west of Dura.
According to eyewitnesses, the soldiers and settlers entered the valley were Al Rojoob was working, and dragged away the jackhammer, thus halting the project implemented by Union of Agricultural Works Committees (UAWC).
