In Hebron district, the expansion of Zionist colonies and their apartheid roads has been reinforced by the confiscation of a further 95 dunums of Beit Awaâs lands. The purpose of this fresh land grab is to enable construction of a new âfenceâ to run parallel to the settler road that connects the Jewish-only Nevi Nejohot settlement east of Beit Awa to Matabeh Lekhetsh settlement, south west of the village.
According to Beit Awaâs town council, the âfenceâ is to run parallel to the road and will end next to the checkpoint built in 2000 to the southwest and situated close to the Green Line. This will effectively cut the village off from all communities to the south and will ensure livelihoods for villagers in Beit Awa and surrounding communities become unsustainable.
Beit Awa serves as the main social and economic centre for a group of several villages located to the south. From the provision of basic services to longstanding cultural and social functions, the village plays an important role in this part of the Hebron district. With the new walled-in apartheid road relations will be severed, while villagers will no longer be able to access their lands to the south of the road.
The settlement road will complete the isolation of Beit Awa, a village that has come under increasing pressure in the last few years. Facing walls and closures from three sides: the Apartheid Wall runs through the lands of the village in the West; the checkpoint blocks movement in the Southwest; the settlersâ road bars villagers from moving to the south and Nevi Nejohot settlement encircles Beit Awa from the East. That leaves villagers with just one possible entrance and exit to the village in the north, whilst ensuring life becomes unbearable for villagers trapped between apartheid roads, fences and walls.
Beit Awaâs history is rich in struggle against continuous confiscation orders and land theft. In 1948 the Occupation confiscated 16,000 dunums from the village and after the 1967 war, more lands were taken for the construction of settlements, settler roads and now the Apartheid Wall. All that remains to the village today is a mere 7000 dunums of land from the 33,000 dunums belonging to Palestinians in 1948.
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