Land Confiscation Threatens Fragile
Calm
By Palestine Media Center
June 6, 2001
Today 6 June, a large number of Israeli occupation soldiers confiscated 200 dunams (approximately 200,000 square meters) of land belonging to the citizens of Deir Qiddis, West of Ramallah in the West Bank. The occupation forces then razed more than 1,000 olive trees in the area, in preparation for construction of bypass road.
When the village residents approached the Israeli occupation soldiers to question them regarding the confiscation, the soldiers fired in their direction, putting the civilians’ lives in danger. The residents maintain that the Israeli occupation military authorities had delivered a notice for the confiscation of only 8 dunams (approximately 8,000 square meters) from the village land a week prior to today. However, according to Wafa News Agency, residents were informed by occupation soldiers on the scene that the notice was for the confiscation of 8,000 dunams, which far exceeds the area of Deir Qiddis.
It is worth noting that the Israeli occupation forces have a military camp adjacent to the village. The newly confiscated land borders the illegal Israel settlement Beit Sefer, which is partly built on Deir Qiddis land. Residents fear that their confiscated land will be annexed to the settlement and used for its expansion.
The confiscated land belonged to a number of the village residents. Some of them had plans for lucrative housing complex projects in the area. According to Wafa News Agency, Mahmood Muhi Al-Din, a resident who owns 50 dunams from those confiscated, approximated his losses between 2 - 3 million Jordanian Dinars.
The latest confiscation is unmistakably in contravention of international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions. Furthermore, it is in clear defiance of the Mitchell Committee Report’s recommendations, even though Israel has claimed that it accepts the Report’s recommendations in full. Israel has claimed that it would not confiscate any more land from the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The illegal confiscation of Deir Qiddis lands proves otherwise.
Considering the extremely delicate situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, such actions threaten to collapse the fragile cease-fire that exists between the Palestine National Authority and the Israeli government.
Palestine Affairs Council