CPTnet
21 June 2007
SOUTH HEBRON HILLS: Palestinians from Susiya face threat of eviction for
fifth time
by Diane Janzen and Sean O'Neill
On 6 June, the Israeli high court lifted the temporary injunction that that
had prevented the Israeli military from performing evacuations and home
demolitions in the Palestinian village of Susiya since 2001.
The high court gave the village leaders thirty days to present a map of the
area--showing the existing structures and areas where villagers want to
build houses--to the Israeli Civil Administration (or District Coordination
Office--DCO.) According to the court, after the thirty days those who have
submitted plans will have an additional forty-five day grace period in which
demolitions will not be carried out, after which time the decision to evict
or not evict will be left up to the DCO.
The judges said that the court had requested the map of the area six months
ago and had not received it. However, a villager told CPTers that the
village leadership had already submitted maps on two different occasions and
the DCO had rejected them due to small technicalities.
The Israeli military has evicted the Palestinian villagers from Susiya and
demolished their homes several times already in the last twenty years.
Israeli military evicted the villagers from their original homes in the
mid-1980's declaring the archeological site adjacent to the village was a
national park. The villagers relocated to other portions of their land, but
settlers from the nearby settlement of Susya (established in 1983)
complained that the Palestinians were too close to the settlement and so the
Israeli military evacuated the population. Some of the villagers later
returned to their lands, living near the Susya settlement.
In July 2001, after a settler from Susya was murdered, the Israeli military
beat and arrested many Palestinians from the village, demolished most of the
cave homes and other structures, filled in wells and cisterns with dirt and
rocks, and destroyed fields. Although soldiers told the villagers to leave
the area, they remained, living in Red Cross tents, which the military also
demolished after one week. In the middle of September 2001, the military
forcefully transferred the villagers to Palestinian-controlled area A.
On 25 September 2001, the villagers submitted a petition to the Israeli high
court, asking the court to prevent further demolitions and evacuations and
allow them to remain and live on their land. The court placed a temporary
injunction on further demolitions or evacuations until it came to a final
decision.
The Susiya villagers are working with engineers from Hebron to draft yet
another map to present to the Israeli Civil Administration, in hopes of
preventing the military from again forcing them off their land.
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