Palestinian farmers ordered to leave lands

[shaayecanaan]

Israeli authorities have given Palestinian farmers living in Jericho, in the occupied West Bank, to uproot palm trees they have grown and leave agricultural lands within 45 days.

The orders came in the form of letters sent to the farmers in an area known as “Area C” and gave the farmers a October 7 deadline to vacate their lands.

Shawkat Housheyeh, a farmer who received an official warning letter to uproot his palm trees told the Reuters news agency that the measure threatened the livelihood of thousands of farm workers in the Jericho area.

He called on the Palestinian Authority to fight the Israeli threat to Palestinians working on farms in the 3,000 dunams (about 741 acres) of Dier Hijlah and al-Zour .

"I hope that the [Palestinian] Authority will announce an emergency situation because this [the orders] threatens the 2,000 to 3,000 workers who work in this area," Housheyeh said.

In a written statement to Reuters, COGAT - a unit within the Israeli defence ministry which administers the West Bank - said palm trees in the Jericho area had been planted illegally because they were grown on land the ownership of which was still to be established.

COGAT stated that farmers on these lands were illegally drilling wells and syphoning off water from Israeli hoses.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/08/2012829184442780471.html

[ZombieHorde]

1. What a fucked up way to treat other people. nt

[azurnoir]

2. Heavens illegal trees what next?

sounds like more clearing of area c

[shaayecanaan]

4. I liked this bit:-

In a written statement to Reuters, COGAT - a unit within the Israeli defence ministry which administers the West Bank - said palm trees in the Jericho area had been planted illegally because they were grown on land the ownership of which was still to be established.

There you go, its illegal to plant trees on land the ownership of which was still to be established.

One would have thought that its therefore illegal to build settlements on land the ownership of which is still to be established.

Besides, who do they think owns the land near Jericho? Perhaps the island of Madagascar?

[Igel]

5. Good question.

You'd think the reporter would have enlightened us.

Perhaps it's state land. Perhaps it's waqf land. Perhaps it's owned by somebody in absentia--perhaps Palestinian, perhaps Jewish, perhaps something else.

My guess it's the former, and they relied on an old interpretation of a law that said any state land (of a certain type) that you plant becomes yours. That particular interpretative dispute's been in the news a few times in the last year.

[azurnoir]

6. sounds as if COGAT is in the process of 'establishing' n/t

[oberliner]

3. That first paragraph makes no sense

Is there a missing word or something?