Picture by Oren Ziv/Activestills
Today, around noon, some 600 men and women gathered at the center of the small Palestinian village of Susya in the South Hebron Hills for a mass demonstration against Israel’s practices of ethnic cleansing. Earlier this week, demolition orders for approximately fifty dwelling structures were handed out, which add to numerous additional orders issued recently. In addition, the Civil Administration has announced the residents of Susya that it intends to implement six demolition orders issued in the 1990s and 2001. Since the establishment of the nearby Israeli settlement of Susya, the residents of Palestinian Susya were evicted from their lands four times. From past experience, such notices are only given when there is genuine intention to go through with demolitions. The demolition orders cover the most of Palestinian Susya, not only dwelling structures but also animal pens, water cisterns, the solar-powered electricity system.
Picture by Yotam Ronen/Activestills
Protesters from surrounding villages and towns, as well as hundreds of Israeli and international supporters, joined residents of the village and marched towards lands that were confiscated to build an “archeological site”. The march was violently blocked by military and police forces, which used tear-gas projectiles and shock grenades to disperse the crowd. One Israeli protester was hit in the head by a shock grenade and was evacuated to the hospital in Jerusalem. After some clashes, residents organized a mass Friday prayer in the fields, and made speeches. Protesters chanted and drummed for about two hours before the demonstration peacefully came to an end. No arrests were reported.
Picture by Yotam Ronen/Activestills
Background
The Palestinian village of Susya has existed for centuries, long before the modern Jewish settlement of Susya was built in 1983. In 1986 the Israeli authorities expropriated part of the village’s residential land in order to establish an “archeological site”. Several villagers from Susya were evicted from their land and homes. Immediately after the eviction, having no alternative, the villagers moved to nearby agricultural areas that they owned in an attempt to rehabilitate their lives. However, in 2001 several families from the village (the Nawaja’a, Halis, Sharitach, Abu Sabha, and other families) became the victims of a second eviction. This time it was exceptionally violent: tents, caves, and cisterns were destroyed and blocked. Agricultural fields were dug up and farm animals put to death.
At the same time, the settlers established their own outposts. In 2001 the “Dahlia Farm” was set up and in 2002 an outpost was put up in the “Susya Archeological Site” where the Palestinians had been evicted on the pretext that the land was intended for public use. On September 26, 2001 the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the structures torn down and the land returned to the villagers. Despite this, the army and settlers continued to attack the Palestinian villagers and prevent them from reclaiming the 3000 dunam (750 acres) around the Jewish Susya settlement.
Legal Background: The prevention of this reclamation was the subject of an appeal to the Supreme Court in 2010. The aim of the appeal was two-fold: to allow the villagers to reclaim their land and to stop the settlers from attacking the villagers. In October 2011 the military commander announced that large tracts of the appellants’ land were “off-limits to Israelis” hoping in this way to end the flagrant trespassing and the takeover of the land. A few months after this appeal was submitted, the settlers submitted a counter-appeal in return.
The upshot of the counter-appeal was a third eviction of the Nawaja’a family that had managed to return to its own land in 2001.
Today, at least 42 orders to halt work and 36 requests for building permits have been submitted. At least 19 cases are still in the courts. The settler’s plea was submitted against anyone who complied with the Supreme Court Decision on Susya and in revenge for the appeal. Evidence of this is that the plea was submitted automatically without examination, it was aimed at anyone who cooperated with the Palestinian appeal (land owners) even though only a few of them live in the village and/or have buildings in the village. In this appeal the appellants are trying to paint a false picture of symmetry between homes in the Palestinian village of Susya and the Jewish outposts. The transfer of a civilian population, the settlers, to the occupied territories runs counter to international law. The Palestinian villagers did not “take over” their land. This has been their private land for generations.
Settler Violence: Within the framework of the Susya appeal, 93 events were presented as cases of violence perpetrated by the settlers, some of them as masked vigilantes. Since then many more incidents have occurred. There is a basic failure by the authorities responsible for the planning in the region. This is especially obvious in Area C. The authorities are pursuing a policy whose goal is to transfer the Palestinian population to areas outside of Area C. This is apparent in the number of building permits, number of building demolition orders, and lack of planning for the protected population. At the same time, Jewish settlements and outposts are expanding, and more are on the way.
Building Permits in Area C: Since the 1970s there has been a drastic reduction in the number of building permits given to the Palestinians. In 1972, 97% of the 2134 requests submitted were approved. In 2005 only 6.9% were approved (13 out of the 189 requests submitted). The sharp reduction in permits parallels the dramatic decrease in the number of requests. In the same period 18,472 homes were built in the Jewish settlements. This trend has continues and has even intensified. In 2009 only 6 permits were granted to Palestinians; and 7 in 2010. The planning failure is also reflected in the lack of basic infrastructures for the Palestinian population, such as electricity, water, education, and health services. The settlers, on the other hand, are recipients of exemplary urban planning.
[من فلسطين] 