Palestinians woke up to a new year of siege and expulsion as Occupation Forces continued to confiscate their lands, demolish their houses and destroy the sources of livelihoods. This experience is reinforcing on a dail basis how dignity, life and future are intimately linked to the end of the Occupation of Palestine.
In many areas, people have continued to resist their ghettoization to Occupation violence and brutality.
Land confiscation and destruction
⢠Occupation Forces confiscated over 16 dunums from the village of Aqraba, east of Nablus. The land is located in the heart of the Jordan Valley and will be used to build a military sniper tower cutting the villagers off from over 2000 dunums of land in the Valley which they use for grazing and cultivation.
(For more click here. )
⢠The settlers from Maâon attacked the land of Ahmed Muhamed al Azra in al Tuwani village, east of Yata (South Hebron). The settlers came with manual chain saws and cut 250 olive trees on 4 dunums of his land. People in the area are continuously targeted by a group of 5 settlers protected by the Occupation that put a caravan on the land of the villagers and attack al Tuwani and beat the school children of the village every day.
House demolitions
⢠The Occupation has demolished the house of Haleema Abu Rizq in the Ein al Jawza area of al-Walaja (west Bethlehem). A huge number of bulldozers attacked the area, declared it a military zone and began demolishing. The house is some 150 square meters large and home to Haleema, the family of her son Elias and his 6 children. This is the third house of Haleemaâs children that has been destroyed and one of many to be demolished in al-Walaja since the village was illegally annexed into the Zionist Greater Jerusalem municipality.
(For more click here).
Ghettoization and destruction of livelihoods
⢠Occupation Forces have put Tulkarem district under heavy siege since the beginning of this year, causing serious economic damage to the farmers in the area. The Occupation closed all agricultural gates along the Wall to bar the farmers from reaching their lands isolated behind it. Farmers are unable to harvest their crops which are now rotting. All entrances from the villages are closed with roadblocks made of rocks. Farmers are thus not able to reach even the markets in Tulkarem city.
⢠The Occupation is continuing to keep Bardala checkpoint closed. The crops of the Palestinian farmers from the Jordan Valley are being ruined as the farmers are unable to sell them to the markets behind the checkpoint. Farmers are about to lose an entire season of harvest. The Occupation has also closed the Tayaseer checkpoint, the only passage for Palestinians to the northern part of the Jordan Valley. Military forces prevented the passage of hundreds of Palestinians and journalists from joining a popular demonstration against the closure of Bardala. The protest was organized by Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign and the Agriculture Committees in Tubas to resist the isolation of the northern part of the Jordan valley.
(For more on Bardala click here).
Palestinian popular resistance***image2***
⢠On the 1st of January, dozens of people gathered and demonstrated against the uprooting of trees and destruction of their lands to the west of Beit Jala. The Occupation is building a section of the Wall to isolate around 3000 dunums of Beit Jalaâs lands, annexing the area to the settlement of Har-Gilo.
⢠On the 2nd of January, students from Anata secondary school resisted the soldiers in front of their classrooms. Clashes started when a huge number of soldiers attacked the school and started to beat the students and teachers, attempting to arrest one of the staff. After the classes, the students were bombarded by tear gas canisters and sound bombs while one student had his leg broken by Occupation Soldiers. (For more click here).
⢠On Friday, 6th of January, hundreds of people from Aboud and Biliân continued demonstrating and resisting the occupation bulldozers that destroy their lands and uproot their trees to construct the Apartheid Wall around the villages. (For more on Aboud click here).
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