WEST BANK: Council members meet in makeshift "office" under tree in Palestinian village almost entirely slated for demolition

Record ID: 561793

  • Title: WEST BANK: Council members meet in makeshift "office" under tree in Palestinian village almost entirely slated for demolition
  • Date: 10th February 2010
  • Summary: AQABA VILLAGE, WEST BANK (RECENT - FEBRUARY 2, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AQABA VILLAGE SIGN READING IN ARABIC "AQABA VILLAGE WELCOMES VISITORS" VARIOUS OF VILLAGE HOUSES IN AREA C WHICH IS UNDER ISRAELI SECURITY CONTROL AND WHERE PALESTINIANS NEED PERMITS FROM ISRAEL TO BUILD WIDE OF MOSQUE WITH TREE TO THE SIDE WHERE VILLAGE COUNCIL MEETS VARIOUS OF VILLAGE COUNCIL MEMBERS HOLDING MEETING UNDER TREE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF AQABA VILLAGE COUNCIL, SAMI SADEQ, SAYING: "All our dealings and agreements for Aqaba village and villagers happen under the carob tree because there is no other place. We are waiting for the permit to build the village council office on our land. Though we have funding for this building, Israel keeps handing out demolition orders in this area. Around 95 percent of the buildings have pending demolition orders." MORE OF COUNCIL MEMBERS MEETING UNDER TREE SIGN READING IN ARABIC AND ENGLISH "PALESTINIAN NATIONAL AUTHORITY MINISTRY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AQABA VILLAGE COUNCIL, WELCOME TO AQABA" (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF AQABA VILLAGE COUNCIL, SAMI SADEQ, SAYING: "We are working in order to facilitate the return of 700 residents who were forced out of the village (in 1967), and we will continue to have our council meetings under the carob tree until the final moment. And we will work on stopping this village from being continually designated a closed military area. We have gone to the Israeli High Court to stop the demolition orders for the houses in the village and to get a water supply because the village is without any water. We have to buy water from the Faraa well, and each cubic metre costs us 15 (New Israeli) shekels (about 4.05 U.S. Dollars)." RESIDENT ARRIVING TO MEET WITH THE COUNCIL VARIOUS OF RESIDENT SPEAKING TO SADEQ SADEQ STAMPING PAPER CLOSE OF THE VILLAGE COUNCIL STAMP
  • Embargoed: 25th February 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Domestic Politics,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAB30EQCM4PZ373953R1VK5MVRV
  • Story Text: Aqaba village is one of several Palestinian West Bank communities at risk of being almost completely wiped off the map if Israeli demolition orders are carried out.
    The village near Jenin in the northern West Bank is located in 'Area C,' an area covering some 60 percent of the West Bank over which Israel exercises full military and civil control. As well as hundreds of Palestinian villages and pieces of agricultural land, the zone envelops Jewish settlements built since Israel occupied the West Bank in a 1967 war.
    Most of the homes and other buildings in Aqaba village are slated for demolition by Israel, which says the buildings were built without its permission.
    Israeli authorities have already demolished the Aqaba village council building. The new council meeting area consists of a bench set under the shade of a carob tree.
    Every day the head of Aqaba village council meets with council members and village residents for two hours under the carob tree. Near the tree, a large sign reads: "Palestinian National Authority Ministry of Local Government, Aqaba Village Council, Welcome to Aqaba". Meeting under the tree is a statement that the village will remain, head of the village council Sami Sadeq says.
    "All our dealings and agreements for Aqaba village and villagers happen under the carob tree because there is no other place. We are waiting for the permit to build the village council office on our land. Though we have funding for this building, Israel keeps handing out demolition orders in this area. Around 95 percent of the buildings have pending demolition orders," Sadeq added.
    As Israel enforces a partial, temporary freeze on building in its West Bank settlements, Palestinians and their government are struggling to develop their communities in the large areas of the West Bank that fall under full Israeli control.
    Palestinians in Area C say it is almost impossible to get Israeli building permission needed to accommodate the natural growth of their communities. Israel periodically demolishes Palestinians homes and other buildings in Area C, saying they were built illegally.
    Around 35 of the 45 buildings in the village have pending demolition orders, including a kindergarten, the school clinic and the mosque, affecting all members of the village's population of 300.
    Aqaba is particularly fearful that Israeli demolition orders against its buildings will be executed because it lies near a number of Jewish settlements, and has been designated a closed Israeli military area.
    Aqaba has taken its case against the Israeli military and civil administration to the Israeli High Court. In addition to saving their village from near total demolition, there are other matters Aqaba has taken up with Israeli authorities, including the return of villagers who fled or were forced out of the village during the 1967 war.
    "We are working in order to facilitate the return of 700 residents who were forced out of the village (in 1967), and we will continue to have our council meetings under the carob tree until the final moment. And we will work on stopping this village from being continually designated a closed military area. We have gone to the Israeli High Court to stop the demolition orders for the houses in the village and to get a water supply because the village is without any water. We have to buy water from Faraa well, and each cubic metre costs us 15 (New Israeli) shekels (about 4.05 U.S. Dollars)," Sadeq said.
    People also visit the council head under the tree to organise local authority services.
    Aqaba resident Bashir Subouh came to get a licence to open a gas shop in the village. He said the carob tree council is a symbol of survival.
    He added, "I came to get a stamp to licence a shop to sell gas bottles, our council is located under the carob tree. The occupation prevents us from building a council, so we have to do all our paperwork under the carob."
    The villagers insist on getting a permit to rebuild the council offices in the same area as the tree.
    More than 94 percent of applications for building permits in Area C submitted by Palestinians between January 2000 and September 2007 were denied, according to official Palestinian data.
    According to the interim peace agreements, Israeli control of Area C should have ended 18 months after the Palestinian Authority was established in 1995. Israel says that is the fault of Palestinians that it continues to control the zone, because they have not ended violence and threats against the Jewish state.
    Palestinian officials say Israel uses its control of the zone to restrict Palestinian natural growth and regional expansion and building, while allowing Jewish settlers to expand their settlements to accommodate natural growth.
    In 2009 alone, 180 Palestinian-owned structures were demolished in Area C due to lack of building permits, said the U.N. Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Last year's demolitions displaced 319 Palestinians, including 167 children.
    The Area C zone remains "to a large extent, off-limits for Palestinian use and development", the U.N. body said in a report late last year.
    The U.N. report said that Israel's restrictive planning regime in Area C meant tens of thousands of Palestinians were left with no choice other than to build without authorisation, risking the demolition of their homes.
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