Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign: Apartheid roads through Palestinian lands dissect communities and threaten livelihoods

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Apartheid roads through Palestinian lands dissect communities and threaten livelihoods
Latest News, The Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, May 21st, 2006

Last week, the Occupation confiscated more Palestinian land to add to the Apartheid road system in the West Bank. The theft of the land in the district of Nablus comes as preparation for strengthening the Jewish-only road in the area to cement racist domination over Palestinians in the northern ghettos.

On Sunday, 21st of May, Occupation Forces announced the confiscation of 100 dunums of land from the village of Aseera al Shamaliya in north Nablus. The lands are stolen to build a tunnel to funnel Palestinians under the Jewish-only road which leads to the military camp on Mount Ebal.

The lands confiscated are located south of the village, along road 557 which was built on stolen Palestinian land in 1996. Since the beginning of the Intifada, the entrance to the village is controlled by a checkpoint and crossing of the settler-road is prohibited to Palestinians. As a result 1000 dunums of land became isolated from the villagers, severely damaging the agricultural livelihoods of Palestinians who used the land to grow olives, vegetables and wheat. Today these lands are lying bare.

The construction of the tunnel under the road ensures road 557 for the Zionist colonizers to the military base located to the east of the village. Overlooking the entire area, the camp has stolen about 300 dunums of land comprised of Palestinian olive groves and fields used for food cultivation.

Meanwhile, coming three days later on Wedneday, 24th of May, Occupation bulldozers attacked Beit Ummar in the north of Hebron. Declaring the area too close to road 60 and in a “closed military zone”, the bulldozers set to work at 11.30 am.

Habes Shehde Abdel Aziz Abu Sara lost his shop, a flower nursery, where he sold local pottery as well as flowers. The nursery extended over half a dunum and the business provided the livelihoods for 6 family members.

Occupation bulldozers also demolished a repair garage belonging to Muhammad Mfaddi Allama. The Zionist commanders arrived and gave the owner no longer than two hours to remove everything from the 150 square meters garage. They then destroyed it including equipment and merchandise still inside the building which Allama had been unable to salvage. Muhammad Allama and 10 family members were unable to save their property as the Occupation Soldiers reduced their business to rubble.

The businesses were both built two years ago, each worth over 100,000 NIS. The implementation of a road system based upon Apartheid and racist domination secures the dissection of the Palestinian Bantustans in the West Bank. As well as stealing Palestinian land, in leaves livelihoods in ruins. As the construction of the Wall reaches the final stages it will add to this system of control guaranteed by the settler-only roads and Palestinian tunnels in the West Bank.