Jordan Valley - Authorities continue to harass al-Hadidiyah community

[Jefferson23]

Published:
1 Dec 2015

On 30 November 2015, Civil Administration personnel and soldiers came to the al-Hadidiyah community in the northern Jordan Valley equipped with a crane and a truck and confiscated ten tents. The tents had been given to the community by aid organizations, after a 26 November demolition in which tents housing two families with a total of 15 members, including four minors, and seven structures used for livestock and storage were destroyed. Residents were already living in four of the tents confiscated yesterday, but did not have time to erect the other six. Last Saturday, 28 November, before the confiscation, military and Civil Administration personnel came to the community and destroyed two tents erected by one of the families left homeless by the demolition two days earlier. These families had already lost their homes in a 2011 demolition, and were provided with new ones by humanitarian organizations.



In addition, on Wednesday, 25 November, military personnel came with a bulldozer and began to dig up the dirt road leading to the community. At some point, Civil Administration personnel arrived and ordered to stop the work. However, by then a section about one kilometer long had already been destroyed. The dirt road was originally in very poor condition and the residents had begun to fix it with international help, in order to improve access to the community and enable the residents, who number approximately 90, to come and go freely. On 16 November, Civil Administration personnel served the residents with a stop-work order noting that on 23 November, the supervisory subcommittee of the Civil Administration would discuss the destruction of the dirt road. After the community’s lawyer requested time to obtain the necessary documents for legalizing the construction, the subcommittee announced a freeze on the demolition order and scheduled another discussion for 31 December 2015. Nonetheless, on 25 November a section of the road was destroyed as noted above, severely impairing access to the community. As a result, many of the children, who attend school at the village of Tammun, have to stay with relatives in the village during the week. The destroyed road also makes access to medical care and transfer of supplies very difficult.

Khadijeh Bsharat, a 59-year-old resident of the community, told B’Tselem field researcher ‘Aref Daraghmeh about life in al-Hadidiyah and the residents’ hopes for the now-impaired dirt road:

http://www.btselem.org/jordan_valley/20151201_demolition_and_confiscation_in_al_hadidiya

[Israeli]

1. Reaction to further steps in the forced population transfer in the Jordan Valley - al Hadidiya

Jamal Jumaf and Abu Saqer - Stop the Wall - Al Hadidiya is one of the communities targeted by Israel`s relocation plan of communities in Area C, especially the Bedouin communities in the Jordan Valley, E1 and the South Hebron Hills. The Israeli policies towards these communities have been defined by the United Nations and the European Union as amounting to forced population transfer, which constitutes a war crime under the IV Geneva Convention and a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute..............

See :
http://stopthewall.org/sites/default/files/Hadidiya%20alert%20EU.pdf

[Jefferson23]

2. Civil Administration confiscates tents in al-Hadidiyah again today, the forth such act in a week

December 3, 2015

Today, Dec. 3, Civil Administration personnel and soldiers came to the al-Hadidiyah community in the northern Jordan Valley and confiscated seven tents donated to the community by the French aid organization ACTED. Residents were already living in four of the tents confiscated, which were erected after the authorities demolished and confiscated tents on three separate occasions between Oct. 26-30th. Two of the families whose tents were confiscated, with a total of 15 members, including four minors, were left with no shelter against the rain and cold. The Israeli authorities’ continued harassment of the al-Hadidiyah community is part of ongoing efforts by the Civil Administration and by the military to expel Palestinian communities from Area C. This government, systematically pursued for years in contravention of international humanitarian law, constitutes the forcible transfer of protected persons inside the occupied territory, whether directly through home demolitions, or indirectly, by creating unlivable conditions.

http://www.btselem.org/facing_expulsion_blog