On March 20^th, 2008, the commander of the Israeli army's central command, general Jadi Shimni, issued an alternation for the military order number T/183/05 –alteration  of borders number 3 – stipulating the absolute take over of 766 dunums ( one dunum equals 1000 M²) for the purpose of creating a fundamental change in the green line borders which were laid down according to Rodos agreement of 1950 which gave Israel 78% of the total land of historic Palestine in clear violation of the UN partition plan of 1947.

The latest land confiscation and alteration came at the expense of the post 1967 occupied Palestinian territories  in defiance of all UN decisions and charters as well as in total breach of the Hague conventions  and the fourth Geneva convention prohibiting the occupying power from transferring its civilians to the occupied land and/or confiscating or changing the nature of the occupied land.

This arbitrary Israeli decision is aimed at the annexation of the Ashkelot colony which was set up over Palestinian land that was confiscated from the towns of Ad Dhahiriya and Dura and the village of ar Ramadin and to link this colony with the Israeli proper and open more space for its horizontal future expansion.

In the meantime, this decision, also,  aims at confiscating Palestinian land, including the land over which the Ashkelot colony is built, for the purpose of erecting the Segregation Wall. This act reconfirms again that the real reason behind the construction of the Wall was not maintaining security but, rather, confiscating more Palestinian land and annexing it to Israel.

It is worth mentioning that the Ashkelot colony is a remote and small colony whose total boundaries do not exceed 137 dunums settled by not more than 200 settlers. More importantly, this colony has neither strategic nor economic importance whatsoever.

( Photo 1: an overview of Ashkelot colony )

For almost one and a half year the Wall section was left un-built to the west of the colony at the length of 4073 meter in anticipation of an Israeli decision to dismantle this colony and build the Wall on the green line.

( Map 1: The Wall section left un-built until further negotiations about the future of Ashkelot colony )

( Map 2: The Wall path that was decided by the newly issued military order expanding and annexing the colony of Ashkelot)

Surprisingly enough, this Israeli expansionist decision came after the Annapolis conference in which the Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert claimed that he would cease all the settlement activities in the Palestinian occupied territories and dismantle all the " illegal colonial spots "  whose number total more than a hundred.  This action on the part of the Israeli government is a very blatant example of the contradictions between the words and deeds  of the Israeli officials.

( Photo 2: a sketch of the Wall path)

( Photo 3: The Wall path separating behind the land of as Sawa'da  family from ar Ramamdin)

The Decision's contents:

1-     Confiscating and owning the area of 766 dunums for the purpose of establishing the Wall. The land is currently owned by the towns of Dura, Ad Dhahiriya and the village of ar Ramadin.

2-     Annexing the colony of Ashkelot by the Wall and its 137 dunum surface area previously confiscated from the three abovementioned towns.

3-     Separating and annexing about 2400 dunums of land behind the Wall whose total length in that particular area ( completed and uncompleted) reaches about 8467 meter.

4-     Accordingly, the Israeli decision will lead to the total confiscation, separation and annexation of about 3300 dunums of ar Ramadin, Ad Dhahiriya and Dura land in the most south western corner of the West Bank.

Land under target

Location and ownership

1-       Ar Ramadin village's land: owned by the families of  as Saw'da, Az Zagharne, Al Jama'in and As Shu'ur. The total land area targeted is about 750 dunums.

2-       Ad Dhahiriay town's land: basin No. 5 of Enav Al Kabir, Wadi Qattas which are owned by the families of At Til, Abu Ali, As Samad, Abu Dabur, Al Qaisiya and Abu Harb. The total land area targeted is about 800 dunums.

3-       Dura town's land: basin No. 52 of as Sabta area owned by the families of Heja, Zamel, Amro and Abu Sheikha. The total land area targeted is about 1750 dunums.

( Photo 4: a section from the Wall path to the west of ar Ramadin )

Table 1

Land grabbing by locality name, family name, owner name and area

Owners' points of views

The land owners disapproved the Israeli confiscation of their private land stressing the fact that the Israeli occupation authorities are accustomed to land stealing ever since the beginning of the military occupation in 1948 using unethical means.  Land owners from ar Ramamdin confirmed that as part of the Israeli land grabbing policy they were dismissed out of their land in Bir Sheva' area during the war of 1948 and took refuge to the southern suburbs of ad Dhahiriya town. During this bitter experience, some of them lost his son, his properties, his cattle and, even, one of them was " stripped of his horse by the Jewish military gangs and forced to leave his land on foot ".  

All the land owners promised to spare no effort to defend their land  by all possible peaceful means. However, they feel that the occupation authorities will not respond to their pleas, calling on all humanitarian, legal and judicial organizations  to stand with them in their struggle and pressurize the occupation authorities to annul their illegal decision. They , also, called on agricultural and aid institutions to provide all possible in kind support for them in the form of seedlings, seeds, fertilizers …etc  to get the targeted land cultivated as soon as possible in an attempt to save it from the Israeli greed.

Previous Israeli aggressions

The Israeli occupation authorities haven't ceased  taking all oppressive and punishment actions against the people and land of that area. The following are some of these violations that took place during the period from 2004 to 2005 in ar Ramadin:

1-     The  demolition of ten houses with a total surface area of 1360 M²;

2-     The demolition of three barracks and animal sheds with a total surface area of 550 M²;

3-     The demolition of three cisterns and one pool for water harvesting with a total capacity of 500 M³ used for agricultural purposes;

4-     The demolition of a number of outdoor toilets;

5-     The uprooting of  200 fruitful olive trees;

6-     The demolition of a number of caves, old dwellings and the incessant  dismissal of shepherds from the area.

( Photo 5: one of the pools destroyed in ar Ramadin)

( Photo 6: Ruins of a demolished house for Al Jama'in family from ar Ramadin)

Table 2

Demolition by owner name, number of housing units, surface area and number of family members

Impacts of Wall construction on the area:

Economic impacts:

1-     The loss of vast areas of agricultural land, pasture and water resources which has been used by dozens of extended families from ar Ramadin, ad Dhahiriya and Dura. This, in effect, will reduce the agricultural product in the area, particularly,  the cereals, and increase unemployment;

2-     Livestock will be affected, especially in ar Ramadin as there are currently more than 250 cattle breeders and 11 000 head of sheep;

3-     Dozens of workers from the three towns will cease to go to their workplaces inside Israel and in Kibbutz Davir once the crossing points are closed by the Wall.

( Photo 7: A flock of sheep grazing at one of the threatened fields in ar Ramadin)

Social impacts:

1-     More social problems are expected to happen at the family level as a result of increasing poverty;

2-     The development pace in ar Ramadin will be very much affected as a result of loosing open spaces for urban planning  as the Wall is expected to pass very close to the current village boundaries;

3-     Ar Ramdin and Ad Dhahiriya will no more serve as main crossing points for Palestinian labor force heading towards Bir Sheva and Negev once the Wall path has been completed;

( Photos 8+9: Al Jama'in family houses located close to the fence of Ashkelot colony )

Background to ar Ramadin:

It is a Bedouin society located in the most south western corner of the West Bank at the distance of 12 km to the south of Ad Dhahiriay town. Its people are mostly dependent on Ad Dhahiriay for their daily life needs.

Population:

Ar Ramadin population toll reaches about 5000 ( source- village council) and all are registered refugees since the war of 1948.

Area:

Ar Ramadin's total surface land area is estimated at 11000 dunums all bought form the nearby towns of Dura and ad Dhahiriya following the exodus of 1948.

Village boundaries:

Ar Ramadin is surrounded from the east by he colony of Teneh, kibbutz Mitar and Karamim, from the west by Ashkelot colony and the Segregation Wall, from the north by the bypass road leading to Ashkelot and from the south by Sinsana colony built over the village's lands.

Ar Ramdin tribes: 

There are 12 tribes in the village as followed:

1- Az Zagharne                      2- As Saw'da                         3- Ash Shu'ur

4- Imlehat                               5- Ad Daghaghme                6- Al Frijat

7- Ar aghmat                          8- Al Jama'in                          9- Abu Qau'od

10- Al Masame                      11- Abu Ajaj                           12- Agh Thaghaire

Public services:

1-     Roads: a sole semi destroyed road from the Jordanian era ( per-1967) connects the village with ad Dhahiriya town. Local roads inside the village are, also, bad and in need of rehabilitation.

( photo 10: The only destroyed road leading to ar Ramadin)

2-     Water: There is no water network in the village and citizens get water by mobile tanks at high price from the nearby colony of Ashkelot.

3-     Electricity: the village has been connected with the regional electricity network in the year 2006.

4-     Telephone: Since the year 2007, the village has been connected to PALTEL (Palestine Telecommunication company).

5-     Public transport: Only one service car is available in the village, therefore, private cars are widely used.

6-     Schools: There are five schools in the village, four of them are governmental and the fifth are run by UNRWA in which about 700 pupils study;

7-     Health clinics: two clinics are existed in the village, one run by UNRWA and the other by the government;

8-     Kindergartens: There are two of them in the village;

9-     Clubs: There is one club under the name of ar Ramadin Youth Club and one cultural center.

The village governance:

Ar Ramadin was run by an appointed village council during the period from 1997 until the latest local elections in 2006 when a new elected council assumed power. The village council is poor of office automation, equipment and other necessary machinery.

( photo 11: The headquarters of ar Ramadin village council )

Public stores: There are only five small  groceries in the village.

Projects: There are no productive projects in the village such as factories, workshops or business centers.

Education: About 60% of the population are literate. The number of university students mounts to  200. Five people hold master degrees, one PhD, one physician and 50 BA holders.

(copies of military decree in Arabic and English )

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