WEST BANK: Israeli court decision to reject plea for rerouting of security barrier means villagers of Walajeh are to be cut off from their farmlands

Record ID: 561437

  • Title: WEST BANK: Israeli court decision to reject plea for rerouting of security barrier means villagers of Walajeh are to be cut off from their farmlands
  • Date: 7th September 2011
  • Summary: WALAJEH VILLAGE, WEST BANK (RECENT) (REUTERS) ISRAELI ARMY NEAR LANDS THAT WILL BE CUT OFF FROM VILLAGE THROUGH BUILDING OF ISRAEL'S SECURITY BARRIER VARIOUS OF BULLDOZERS DIGGING WALAJEH VILLAGE, WEST BANK (SEPTEMBER 5, 2011) (REUTERS) HEAD OF WALAJEH VILLAGE COUNCIL SALEH KHALIFA STANDING NEAR LANDS THAT WILL BE CUT OFF FROM VILLAGE THROUGH BUILDING OF ISRAEL'S SECURITY BARRIER LANDS WHICH WILL BE CUT OFF FROM VILLAGE THROUGH THE BUILDING OF THE SECURITY BARRIER VARIOUS OF ISRAELI ARMY JEEP WITH SOLDIER NEARBY ON LANDS WHICH ARE TO BE SECTIONED OFF FROM VILLAGE THROUGH BY THE ISRAELI SECURITY BARRIER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF WALAJEH VILLAGE COUNCIL SALEH KHALIFA SAYING: "Now this will have the following effect. What will be left of the village's 1967 borders, which amounted to 4,500 dunams (4,500,000 square metres) from an original 17,800 dunams (17,800,000 square metres, before 1967) -- with this decision they (Israeli authorities) will be taking 2,300 dunams (2,300,000 square metres). What will be left for the village will be 2,200 dunams (2,200,000 square metres.) This area amounts to only 10 to 12 percent of the village's original space. This means that all the lands, all the springs, all the fruit trees, all the agricultural projects which could take place in this area, are now gone." WALAJEH VILLAGE, WEST BANK (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ACTIVISTS MARCHING AGAINST BUILDING THE ISRAELI SECURITY BARRIER IN WALAJEH (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ACTIVIST FROM WALAJEH, SHIREEN AL-ARAJ, SAYING: "This is a way to forcibly acquire land. The decision also said we did not adequately explain the security risks posed by the current route of the wall (barrier) and the benefits of moving it to where we suggested. The decision also says the wall does not affect the lives of people, which is not the case at all, because it does affect people's lives as this is part of a systematic drive to expel us." WALAJEH VILLAGE, WEST BANK (SEPTEMBER 5, 2011) (REUTERS) LANDS THAT WILL BE CUT OFF FROM VILLAGE THROUGH BUILDING OF ISRAEL'S SECURITY BARRIER VARIOUS OF WALAJEH VILLAGE
  • Embargoed: 22nd September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank, West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Legal System,International Relations,Politics,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA36LOJNTSC5PQRLPPQ91TK3FXT
  • Story Text: An Israeli Supreme Court decision rejecting a Palestinian village's appeal to reroute a section of Israel's West Bank separation barrier has caused consternation amongst the village's residents.
    The people of Walajeh in the West Bank say the path of the barrier's section under construction will cut them off from their farmlands, cemetery and water source when built.
    The planned barrier will completely encircle Walajeh by a fence, cutting it off from most of its open land, according to an Israeli Defense Ministry map.
    Walajeh, a community of 2,000 Palestinians on Jerusalem's southwest edge, is almost entirely surrounded by Jewish settlements.
    Head of Walajeh village council Saleh Khalifa said on Monday (September 5) that over the years the village has shrunk to about 10 percent of its original size because of expropriation of land by Israel.
    He said that before Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, the village had a land area of 17,800,000 square metres, but after the new Israeli court decision comes into effect, it will be left with 2,200,000 square metres only.
    "Now this will have the following effect. What will be left of the village's 1967 borders, which amounted to 4,500 dunams (4,500,000 square metres) from an original 17,800 dunams (17,800,000 square metres, before 1967) -- with this decision they (Israeli authorities) will be taking 2,300 dunams (2,300,000 square metres). What will be left for the village will be 2,200 dunams (2,200,000 square metres.) This area amounts to only 10 to 12 percent of the village's original space. This means that all the lands, all the springs, all the fruit trees, all the agricultural projects which could take place in this area, are now gone," he told Reuters Television.
    Locals have demonstrated against the barrier's construction for five years, in at least one instance lying down in front of bulldozers.
    "This is a way to forcibly acquire land. The decision also said we did not adequately explain the security risks posed by the current route of the wall (barrier) and the benefits of moving it to where we suggested. The decision also says the wall does not affect the lives of people, which is not the case at all, because it does affect people's lives as this is part of a systematic drive to expel us," activist from Walajeh, Shireen al-Araj, said at a recent demonstration.
    The August 23 Israeli supreme court ruling rejected the petitioners' plea on grounds that they did not prove the barrier would smother the village.
    Although the court dismissed the request to completely reroute the barrier section, Israel agreed to adjust its path to keep the natural spring on the village's side of the barrier.
    The village cemetery and farmlands will remain on the other side of the planned barrier.
    But Israel promised to construct an underground passageway so villagers could reach the cemetery without advance military coordination, according to the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz.
    It also promised to erect access points in the barrier for Walajeh's farmers to work their lands under the army's supervision, Haaretz reported.
    Protesters say only landowners, and not farmhands, would be allowed through the access points.
    Israel began constructing the barrier in 2002 at the height of Palestinian suicide bombings in Israeli cities.
    It says the barrier, which at multiple points dips inside the West Bank, is crucial to keep out Palestinian attackers.
    Palestinians call the barrier -- whose course encompasses Israeli settlements in the West Bank -- a disguised move to annex or fragment territory Palestinians seek for a viable state.
    The International Court of Justice has declared the planned 600-km (370-mile) barrier, more than half of which is completed, illegal, but Israel has ignored the non-binding ruling.
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