On May 16, Palestinians from South Hebron Hills and from different popular Struggle Committee of all West Bank, Israeli an international activists, gathered in Susiya village (that is suffering for the imminent eviction’s threat) in order to demonstrate their solidarity with the villagers.

The demonstration was also to remember the Nakba of 1948, when an estimated 700,000 Palestinians were expelled  from their own land and hundreds of Palestinians town and villages were destroyed.

(italian follows)

Il 16 maggio i palestinesi delle Colline a Sud di Hebron e di vari Comitati di Resistenza Popolare da tutta la Cisgiordania, assieme ad attivisti israeliani e internazionali, si sono radunati a Susiya (che è sotto minaccia di demolizione) per manifestare la loro solidarietà verso gli abitanti di questo villaggio.

La manifestazione è stata fatta anche in ricorrenza del memoriale della Nakba del 1948, quando circa 700,000 Palestinesi furono espulsi dalla propria terra e molte delle loro città e villaggi distrutti.

On May 10, at 10:40 am, DCO, accompanied by Israeli Army, delivered the demolition orders for two animal shelters in the Palestinian village of Susiya. The officer also pictured structures belonging to the village as houses,  the school and the recreation ground.

In 1986 the village of Susiya was declared archeological site, its land expropriated and inhabitants were evicted and forced to move in their nearby agricultural land where on 2012, Israel’s Civil Administration distributed demolition orders to over 50 temporary structures.

In 2014 the residents of Susiya, represented by Rabbi for Human Rights, sued for a request to freeze the demolition order’s implementation. In 2015, on May 5,  the Israeli High Court rejected that request, allowing the demolition of the village.

Now the threat to be evicted and deported again, becomes more imminent for the inhabitants  of Susiya.

(italian follows)

Il 10 maggio, alle 10:40 del mattino, la DCO (District Coordination Office), accompagnata dall’esercito israeliano, ha consegnato l’ordine di demolizione a due ricoveri per animali, nel villaggio palestinese di Susiya. L’ufficiale della DCO ha inoltre fotografato doverse strutture del villaggio, come la scuola, il parco giochi e le case.

Nel 1986 il villaggio di Susiya fu dichiarato sito di interesse archeologico. Gli abitanti di conseguenza furono evacuati, le loro terre espropriate, e furono obbligati a ricollocarsi nei propri terreni agricoli limitrofi, dove, nel 2012, l’amministrazione civile israeliana consegnò 50 nuovi ordini di demolizione alle strutture abitative temporanee.

Nel 2014, i palestinesi residenti di Susiya, rappresentati in sede legale dai Rabbini per i Diritti Umani, hanno consegnato una petizione per congelare l’implementazione degli ordini di demolizione. Il 5 maggio 2015, l’alta corte israeliana ha rifiutato questa richiesta, permettendo così la distruzione del villaggio palestinese.

Attualmente, per gli abitanti di Susiya,  la minaccia di essere sgomberati e deportati nuovamente sta diventando ogni giorno più incombente.

PRESS RELEASE | MAY 5 2015

Israeli state pushes court to take unusual step threatening immediate demolition of entire Palestinian village 

The entire Palestinian village of Susya is in danger of demolition and expulsion. By refusing to issue an interim order preventing preemptive demolitions before their case is heard, the Israeli High Court is allowing for the demolition of the entire Palestinian village of Susya and subsequent expulsion of its 340 residents. The refusal of the State to commit to not demolishing before the conclusion of proceedings suggests it has plans to destroy the village in the near future.  

On one hand, the High Court of Justice is willing to hear the village’s petition to legitimize its status, but on the other hand, the court allows the village to be destroyed before even deciding on the case. 

On May 5 2015, High Court Judge Noam Solberg rejected the request for an interim order by the Palestinian village of Susya, represented by Rabbis for Human Rights, in a petition against the Civil Administration’s decision to reject the master plan prepared by the village and subsequent demolition of the entire village. 

The village argued that their plan was rejected for non-professional reasons and that the village should be legalized due to its unique history.  The residents sought an interim order to freeze the implementation of the demolitions until the petition is heard, as is standard practice in these sort of cases.It was against this request for an interim order that Justice Solberg, without even conducting a hearing on the request, made the unusual move of granting the state’s request not to freeze the orders. This decision means that the Civil Administration can now destroy Susya at any time. The demolition of the village will lead to hundreds of residents living in the desert with no roof over their heads and may result in their displacement. The state’s refusal to commit to waiting for a conclusion to the court proceedings raises great alarm that it intends to implement the demolition order in the near future; tragically, it seems the villagers are in real danger.

In the petition, Susya’s residents claimed that the army is obliged to legalize their village as it was the one to confiscate their land and their caves in 1986, leaving them without a housing solution and forcing them to move to their adjacent agricultural lands. As evidence to the life in the village prior to the expropriation, various testimonials and photographs of life in caves were presented to the judge. Among other things, there were documented photos of a visit by the US Consulate to the village at the beginning of 1986. The photos and testimony clearly shows that the Palestinian village of Susya is an old village formed prior to the Israeli occupation and the declaration of the area as an archaeological site.

Among the evidence was the opinion of the late governmental legal adviser Plia Albeck (considered to be very pro-settlement and who wrote in her memoirs that she tried to find legal ways to declare Palestinian land as State land), indicating the existence of a Palestinian village in 1982 where today the archaeological site stands.

Despite the evidence presented before him, revealing the many injustices done to the villagers – from the expropriation and dispossession of their lands, to the refusal by the state to recognize the status of the village in its new location –  Judge Sohlberg did not  agree to  hear the case before allowing the demolishment the village and setting the fate of its inhabitants.

Attached to the petition, inter alia, was an expert opinion by Prof. Eyal Benvenisti, a renowned expert in international law, stipulating that the demolition of the village of Susya constitutes a war crime.

This week, a report by radical right-wing NGO “Regavim” (which has close ties to the settlement enterprise) was exposed indicating that in the nearby Jewish settlement, also called Susia, there are 23 illegal homes built on private Palestinian land. We have no indication of any attempt by the state to demolish these illegal structures in the settlement Sussia or in its nearby outposts. We see in this current situation that this Jewish settlement, whose very existence is prohibited by international law, and where some of its homes are sitting on private Palestinian land, is prosperous, while the Palestinian village of Susya, whose inhabitants are on their own private land, is at risk of displacement and  loss of their entire village.

Background:

In 1986 the village of Susya was declared an archaeological site, its land expropriated, and its inhabitants, who lived in caves, were deported. While the Palestinians were told that they could not reside in an archeological site, Israeli settlers live in an illegal outpost located inside the archeological site.

After the expulsion, villagers were forced to move to their neighboring agricultural plots. Because there was no willingness to grant a zoning plan, they involuntarily became illegal builders. Dozens of villagers followed procedures in attempts to obtain building permits, but those attempts were rejected. In 2012 the villagers raised funds and submitted a proposed master plan, drawn up by Professor Rassem Khamaiseh, for the Civil Administration for review.  The plan would authorize construction in the village according to accepted standards of professional planning.

The plan was rejected in 2013 on very questionable grounds, indicating a double standard in planning, and blatant discrimination against the Palestinian population. For example, it was argued that the number of residents in the village, which is a few hundred people, is not substantial enough to grant it independent planning as its own entity.  On the other hand, dozens of unauthorized outposts which are built housing only a handful of residents are approved by the Civil Administration’s planning body. In addition, it was argued that the plan will prevent the population from properly developing and moving out of poverty, and therefore, they should be moved to an adjacent city. It should be noted that the city is, of course, in Area A, and what actually prevents the progress of Susya is the lack of infrastructure which they are prevented from building. Also important to note is that Israelis are permitted to choose their preferred way of life – be it urban or rural, and are not forced by the state into one or the other.

In 2014, Rabbis for Human Rights petitioned the High Court on behalf of the Susya village council and its residents against the decision to reject the village master plan (HCJ 1420/14). As mentioned, on May 5th the court rejected the request for an interim injunction, leaving the whole village vulnerable to imminent demolition.

The big picture:

The danger of demolishing and expropriating the village of Susya reflects the systemic problem of planning for Palestinian villages located in Area C; in these villages, planning is done by military planning committees, without representation of Palestinians, with the intent of preventing residents from building on their own land based on reasonable and professional planning standards. A recent High Court petition, submitted by the village council Dirat, Rabbis for Human Rights, Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Society, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, and St. Yves – Catholic Human Rights Center, demands  planning authority be returned to Palestinian villages for their own communities in order to prevent the tragic demolitions of hundreds of homes every year due to the impossibility of obtaining building permits.

Link to the article : Rabbis for Human Rights

This picture shows Yeoshaphat Torr, the spokesman of the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on, while is giving directions to Israeli soldiers.

Five minutes later, soldiers try to chase away Palestinians from their own land in Meshaha Valley (At-Tuwani). When International volunteers explained to the soldiers that they can’t take order from civilians, Israeli army left the area.

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Nella prima foto si può vedere Yeoshaphat Torr, un colono dell’avamposto illegale di Havat Ma’on, mentre da indicazioni ai soldati israeliani.

Cinque minuti più tardi i soldati hanno provato a scacciare i palestinesi dalla propria terra in Meshaha Valley (At-Tuwani). Quando i volontari internazionali hanno fatto notare ai soldati che, in quanto militari, non possono prendere ordini da civili, se ne sono andati.

On April 14, a group of Israeli people arrived in the South Hebron Hills area in order to make a naturalist research. They spent the day looking for flowers, butterflies, insects, behaving like they were in a normal area and not in a military occupied zone.

Actually, they were escorted all the time by a dozen of Israeli soldiers, patrolling the area from the early morning until late afternoon.

The excursion had negative impacts on the Palestinians daily life, as several shepherds had to move away from the area where they were grazing their flocks and some Palestinian properties has been damaged.

Gita nelle colline a sud di Hebron

Il 14 aprile, un gruppo di israeliani si è recato nell’area delle colline a sud di Hebron per effettuare una ricerca naturalistica, trascorrendo l’intera giornata alla ricerca di fiori, farfalle e insetti e comportandosi come se si trovassero in un luogo qualunque e non in territori occupati militarmente.

Di fatto, però, i ricercatori israeliani sono stati scortati per tutto il tempo da una dozzina di soldati, che hanno pattugliato l’aerea dalla prima mattina fino al tardo pomeriggio.

Questa escursione ha avuto impatti negativi sulle attività giornaliere dei palestinesi, poiché molti pastori si sono dovuti spostare in altre aree per pascolare i loro greggi e alcuni proprietà palestinesi sono state danneggiate.

Harvesting is popular nonviolent resistance

During this week Palestinians from South Hebron Hills started the harvest. Harvesting crops close an illegal Israeli outpost is popular nonviolent resistance.

Durante questa settimana i Palestinesi delle colline a sud di Hebron hanno iniziato il raccolto. Lavorare la propria terra davanti ad un avamposto illegale israeliano è resistenza popolare nonviolenta.

Hundreds of Israeli settlers enter in the Palestinian village of Al Birkeh

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In the early afternoon of April 7, several hundreds of settlers,  escorted by Israeli army and police, gathered at the entrance of At Tuwani village and entered the Palestinian village of Al Birkeh.

Israeli settlers blocked the road that connects the village to the city of Yatta all the day long, restricting the freedom of movement of the Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills area.

In these days of Passover, a large number of settlers walked in Palestinian lands, harassing and scaring Palestinian people in their daily life activities.

Centinaia di coloni israeliani entrano nel villaggio palestinese di Al Birkeh

Nel primo pomeriggio del 7 aprile alcune centinaia di coloni si sono riuniti all’entrata del villaggio di At Tuwani, entrando poi, scortati dall’esercito e polizia israeliani, nel villaggio palestinese di Al Birkeh.

I coloni hanno bloccato la strada che collega il villaggio alla città di Yatta per tutta la giornata, limitando, in questo modo, la libertà di movimento dei palestinesi nell’area delle colline a sud di Hebron.

In questi giorni in cui si festeggia la Pasqua ebraica, un gran numero di coloni israeliani si è spinto all’interno delle terre palestinesi, spaventando gli abitanti dei villaggi e impedendo loro il normale svolgimento delle attività quotidiane.

Palestinian shepherds claim the right to access their own land in the South Hebron Hills

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On April 1, in the morning, a group of Palestinian shepherds from the villages of At Tuwani, Al Mufaqarah and Tuba gathered in Meshaha Hill, a Palestinian land, which the illegal Israeli outpost of Havat Ma’on is trying to annex. The settlers and the Israeli army harassed the shepherds, but they succeeded in grazing their flocks and collecting herbs in that area all the morning long, claiming, in a nonviolent way, the right to access their own land. In the same area, several Palestinians have been arrested by the Israeli forces and attacked by settlers in the last few weeks.

Pastori palestinesi rivendicano il diritto di accesso alle proprie terre nelle colline a sud di Hebron

La mattina del 1 aprile un gruppo di pastori palestinesi provenienti dai villaggi di At Tuwani, Al Mufaqarah e Tuba si è riunito sulla collina di Meshaha, terra palestinese oggetto di tentativi di annessione da parte dell’avamposto illegale di Havat Ma’on. I coloni e l’esercito israeliano hanno cercato di fermare i pastori che, però, sono riusciti a pascolare le greggi e raccogliere erbe nell’area per tutta la mattinata, rivendicando così, in maniera non violenta, il diritto di accedere alle proprie terre. Nelle scorse settimane, in questi luoghi, numerosi palestinesi sono stati arrestati dalle forze israeliane e attaccati dai coloni.