Violation: Expanding an Israeli colony at the expense of Palestinian lands
Date: 20/04/2014
Location: Wad al Malih- Tubas governorate
Perpetrators: Colonists of Maskiyyot
Victims: People of Wad al Malih
Details:
The colony of Maskiyyot that is built along Wad al Malih area in the northern Jordan Valley is going under expansion as more prefab houses are being added. This is alarming as it means that more land will be confiscated to accommodate the increased number of houses. The expansion is expected to be at the expense of the Bedouin communities in Ein al Hilweh and Khirbet Umm al Jamal where many Bedouins dwell in search for water and pastures. The sources of the two have been decreasing because of the Israeli occupation practices.
According to field research carried out by LRC, there have been 9 houses newly added to the colony recently.
Pictures 1-2: The expansion work in Maskiyyot
It should be marked that in synchronization with the expansion process, colonists embarked on building a number of farms and sheds for animal husbandry in a bid to enhance the colony agriculturally, attract more investors, and put pressure on the Israeli government to extend more support to the colony as well as create facts on the ground.
Maskiyyot was built in 2002 in a place used by the Israeli occupation forces in the seventies in the last century to oversee the Jordanian borders as Wad al Malih overlooks the Jordanian mountains.
In 2002, the military camp was evacuated and religious students came to inhabit the place. And in 2005, after Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, tenths of colonists from Shirat Hiyam and Gush Katif blocs were transferred to Maskiyyot.
In 2008, the colony underwent a radical expansion as most of the caravans were replaced by prefab houses. Back then, the colony's area was 609 dunums. The colony kept growing as more prefab houses and caravans were added until its area was doubled at the end of 2013.
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
