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Israeli land grab threatens Palestinian village of Wadi FoqeenBy a Special Correspondent30 May 2005 Palestinian villages throughout the West Bank are literally facing extinction due to land grabs on which Israel intends to build the separation wall - land grabs which in July 2004 the International Court of Justice declared illegal. One of the latest victims is the Palestinian village of Wadi Foqeen, whose existence is now in question following an Israeli notice of intent to seize a substantial portion of its farmlands. The people of Wadi Foqeen and another three villages to the southwest of Bethlehem have recently received an order from the headquarters of the Israeli army stating that it is to "lay hands on" lands stretching for 10,560 metres and with a width of 130m. The total area at issue covers 756.5 dunams. The Israeli army tries to justify this action as necessary due to military needs, to prevent terrorist attacks and to build the separation wall. But the order has left the small village of Wadi Foqeen in crisis. The order threatens its very existence. Without the land, its future is seriously at risk. Wadi Foqeen is home to 1,200 people. Its fertile agricultural lands are the main source of living for many Palestinian families. Losing a large portion of those lands will cause severe hardship for many of the village's residents. The area marked for seizure by the Israeli government has been cultivated by its Arab owners from time immemorial. Logically speaking, therefore, it is their land land that they inherited from the forefathers. The land at issue is located within the village limits that were established in 1948. It is planted with olive trees, grapes and other sources of food. But the land is much more than just a source of food. This land is part of the villagers' past. It was inherited from their ancestors, and it is marked with sweet memories. These are not just individual memories; they are also collective community memories that stretch far back into the past. The land is a pivotal part of their present life too. It is the source of food for their children. It is work. It is pride taken in that work. It is joy derived from nature. It is their landscape. It is their sense of community. It is their sense of self. It is also the basis of any future hopes they may still carry. How will they survive without it? The hard fact is that it is also the only space the village has left to grow and expand. For example, where do young people who want to get married and start a family put their homes? There will now be absolutely no available space. Wadi Fuqeen lost 80 per cent of its original lands following the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. At that time, the village lost huge tracts of land from its western limits due to the creation of Israel's new borders. Later on, the creation of the Israeli settlement of Bitar Illit consumed more lands on the eastern side of the village. The section of land that the army now wants to "lay hands on" is the only land that remained within the village borders after 1948. The main justification presented in the order received from the army appears under the category "Land with no registration" (no "Tabo"; land registration). The Israelis are quite arbitrarily trying to classify this land as land without "Tabo". This means that they do not regard the land as belonging to anyone. Quite blatantly and arrogantly, they now want to claim it as "state land". But what exactly does the term "state land" mean according to the Israeli government terminology? It is identified, as "no man's land", or land with no proper land registration. "Tabo", consequently, will in the future be state property, or Jewish land! Yet, you may ask, how has this possibly come about if the villagers' ancestors have cultivated this land for generation upon generation? How can they possibly be trying to claim it as state land? It is also worth pointing out here that the land at issue is not inside the borders of Israel as recognized by the UN, or indeed, the rest of the world. It is clearly land within the occupied West Bank. So, what is happening? To understand this, you have to understand that these lands lands that people now call the occupied West Bank, Palestine, or the occupied territories - were for hundreds of years under the control of foreign powers. The dominating powers who have occupied the country at different times - the Turks, the British and the Jordanians - all subjected it to their administration. When they left, they left behind them their own forms of legislation. But it is not a homogeneous body of legislation. Indeed, some of it was emergency legislation, left in place when the British left. When the control of these dominating powers came to an end decades ago, their presence was swiftly replaced by an occupying Israeli presence. What the Israeli government is now doing is practising a very unique and selective policy, whereby it "cherrypicks" from this legal legacy. It simply chooses to use whatever fragments of law that best suit its interests. It draws upon whatever laws were implemented in Palestine by previous dominating countries that are useful to it. It disregards others. It is obvious to people living here that the government of Israel is still recognizing some laws that were practised in past eras. Indeed, it keeps some portions of old, out-dated laws alive because they are in harmony with Israeli government interests. Israel is now the occupying force. In a nutshell, it chooses what rules to play by in order to ensure that it wins. The slogan with which the Zionist movement so often justified its claim to allow people from the Jewish community to settle in Palestine was "A land without people for a people without land". But people were already here. The land was not empty. It is not empty now although it is true that a modern Palestinian nation state has never been allowed to exist here. Perhaps we should now reconsider this claim but looking at it from another perspective. Perhaps the new Zionist slogan in the future will be "state land for state people ... disowned land for disowned people!". Well then, will all the land of Palestine now be incrementally identified as "disowned" land, or "state land", despite the fact that it is already being looked after by its rightful owners? Indeed, will the existing Arab owners ever be able to support their legal and logical ownership? They will face incredible odds because the laws that the occupying Israelis choose to use here are invariably the ones that they believe serve Israeli interests and, thereby, Israel's policy of having sovereign authority over the occupied territories. And what about these "disowned" people? Palestinians who lose their homes and lands will become dispossessed people - refugees with no permanent address. There will be another Palestinian diasposa. Yet, since these Palestinians cannot currently be properly referred to as "state people", how can they be dispossessed? They are not actually listed as residents of any state, including their own "home land". There is currently no Palestinian state. There is only a people who define themselves as Palestinian and who have an ancient and unbreakable emotional bond with the land, a people just like any other - with aspirations to live in peace and prosperity. The injustice of this situation wounds every Palestinian deeply. And the fact that the Palestinians do not yet have a state becomes a terrible, oppressive reality when faced with the implementation of Israeli criteria in relation to land classification as "state land". How can a legal system deprive these people of their land and yet claim to still recognize them as human beings? Surely, if one truly cares for the land, one also has to care for people on it with at least the same concern - if not more. Or does this concept of "state land for the state people" mean the land is exclusively for the Jews of Israel? It seems to me that this expression, "state land", is being used to pass land from its unrecognized owners into the hands of those who have created this very situation. What exactly is the definition of "state people"? Which of these two groups of people does the term refer to? Those deprived people losing the land, or just the occupying forces who intend to take over the "state land"? What rights will the dispossessed have? The inequity of this situation is worth contemplating. If the Israelis feel the need to build walls and fences to ensure the security of their people, surely these should be erected on Israeli land. Israeli land can then serve the interests of the Israeli people. Why should Palestinian land be taken to serve Israeli needs? And what about the security of the Palestinian people, from whom land is being taken? What about their right to exist? I think the majority of Palestinians do not object to the building of a wall so long as it is located on the Israeli side of the green line. If a shepherd wants to keep his herd safe from the prowling wolf, he builds barriers and fences around their pen. He doesn't enclose the whole jungle or wider pastures with barriers. The open pastures are not his property, they are shared with others. What is being practised in Palestine is not only against international law, but against natural law and it violates all humanitarian concepts. Israel is not just constructing a series of walls, barriers and fences to separate the two nations; it is imprisoning the Palestinian people in a countless number of unconnected ghettos. This turns the Palestinian territories into a series of open-air prisons, while the Israelis, in contrast, live in complete freedom. I have many Israeli Jewish friends. They love their country and they want their country to be loved by others, most especially by its near neighbours. So, they are raising their voices to criticize the course of the wall. They insist this segregation barrier should be built on Israel's land in order to minimize its destructive effects as much as possible. These peace-loving people who care for justice are working side-by-side with the Palestinian people to lay the foundations for future coexistence and cooperation. They want to live in a form of peace and security that guarantees the same level of respect for their neighbours. They are wise enough to realize that a good and peaceful life will never be achieved by taking security, dignity and peace away from others. They cannot enjoy life if this means ruining the lives of their neighbours and destroying the security of others. These people with good, honest hearts want to achieve a form of life and security for their nation that results from granting the same form of life and security to other nations. We, as Palestinians, really admire and appreciate the support of this group of Jews who respect humanity and other people's rights. They deserve our respect. Most of us are working hard to teach our children to love their neighbours. However, they quite naturally expect not to be hated by the neighbours in return. We need the support of all those who believe in peace to make this principle a living fact which dominates the thoughts and deeds of all individuals in this part of the world. We must stop the wall. It is a monster, rapidly swallowing more and more of Palestine's body, endangering its very existence. We have to act immediately before this torn and damaged body becomes a lifeless corpse. If we assume that the barrier will bring security to the Israelis, do we also assume that seeing their neighbours tortured in their captivity will also provide their hearts with inner peace? Of course it won't. I believe an equal level of peace and well-being can be achieved for both our nations although it will not be achieved for either of them if both continue to be led by a hand-full of short-sighted radicals.
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