The Effects of Israeli Closure and Barbaric Actions on the Farmers of the Villages of Bardalah, Kardalah and Ein Al Biedah - Tubas District
The governorate of Tubas is a big district whose lands reach as far as the Jordanian borders. Tens of thousands of dunums of its lands have been confiscated and expropriated for the benefit of the nearby Israeli colonies. These lands are unique in that they are located atop a huge water reservoir causing an exceptionally fertile soil. The lands of the villages of Bardalah, Kardalah and Ein Al Biedah are the only lands that are still been used by Palestinian farmers. All the efforts by the Israeli army to force these farmers to leave their villages have failed in the past. Yet, these villages are currently facing a wave of barbaric actions aimed at expelling them out of their lands.
Location: The three villages are located 22 kilometers northeastern of the town of Tubas.
Population: The population of Bardalah is 1450, Kardalah 300 and of Ein Al Biedah 1000.
Area: The three villages are considered to be one area unit and its lands are worked by Palestinians from the families of Al Sawaftah, Al Fuqaha and Al Daraghma. The total area of the villages before the 1967 Six-Day War was estimated to be 60,000 dunums about 25,000 dunums of which were suitable for agricultural purposes. More than 20,000 dunums of these lands were expropriated for the benefit of the nearby colonies while 5,000 dunums were confiscated for military purposes. A bit more than 9,000 dunums of the remaining 15,000 dunums are fertile and are used for agricultural goals by the Palestinian villagers.
Master Plan: The area of Bardalah is 800 dunums while Kardalah and Ein Al Biedah are 678 dunums. The villages of Bardalah and Ein Al Biedah both have a village council while services in the village of Ein Al Biedah are provided by a Projects Committee. Nearly 90% of the population of both Ein Al Biedah and Kardalah are from the family Al Fuqaha and the remaining 10% are from the Daraghma family. As for the village of Bardalah, its population is 100% from the family of Al Sawaftah.
Israeli policy makers have taken a number of steps to suffocate life out of these villages. Such steps include the prevention of farmers' products from reaching markets in Nablus, Bieta, Jenin and Qabatia. Moreover, Israelis have consistently denied Palestinians from accessing their farms and cultivated lands. They also reduced the amount of water allocated for Palestinians from the Israeli Water Authority (Makharot) as well as preventing them from using or digging wells. In addition, there are a number of Israeli colonies illegally built on lands expropriated from these villages. These colonies include:
Problems Faced by Local Palestinians
Palestinian villagers living in the three villages face occupation-related problems on daily basis on a number of arenas that include:
A) Water Sector:
The area upon which the three villages are located is situated atop the Jilbon – Jafa water reservoir. The annual output of this reservoir is estimated to be 680 million cubic meters. Before the 1967 Six-Day War, Palestinian farmers used to use more than 21 million cubic meters pumped usually from springs and wells scattered throughout their land. Yet, after the 1967 war colonists began to dig up wells in parallel to Palestinian wells which led to a sharp decrease in their output. Finally, the Israeli Water Authority (Makharot) offered to give the Palestinian farmers 3 million cubes only on annual basis. To exacerbate the situation even further, Israeli authorities prevented the Palestinians from rehabilitating their wells or digging new ones. As a result, water crisis has become to be the norm in the lives of Palestinians living in these three villages as Makharot made a habit out of not delivering water on time and on regular basis.
B) Livestock:
Palestinian farmers in these villages live on raising livestock as much their dependency on planting and harvesting vegetables. They are considered to be the main source of animal farms for the districts of Nabuls, Jenin and Tubas. Nowadays these farmers are forced to raise their livestock only in a limited and exclusive area as farmers were only allowed to enter such area after they receive a special permission, something that cannot be easily obtained. Moreover, the only entrance and exit from and into this area is through the Tayaseer checkpoint where farmers can be held for long hours which causes the milk and yogurt to spoil as well as the death of some livestock. It is worth mentioning that no Palestinians are allowed through this checkpoint on Fridays and Saturdays.
C) Vegetable Marketing:
Village farmers usually face a great deal of hardship in getting their crops out of their villages through the checkpoint as they need to go through a number of steps: first; they have to get a special permits for their cars. Then they have to download their products at the checkpoint for Israeli soldiers to search it piece by piece after which Palestinians are allowed to re-load their produce back into the truck. Moreover, if the truck was allowed to leave the villages, then it would be too late to reach the markets of the city of Nablus. This forces the villagers to head to the markets of Jenin which are usually closed down due to the prevailing security situation. Finally, the villagers find themselves obligated to head to the markets of the town of Qabatia where they sell their vegetables in cheap prices due to the damages caused by the frequent load and reloading of the vegetables as well as for the long delays on Israeli checkpoints. All told, Israeli practices against these farmers lead to great losses due to Palestinian inability to market their products in a profitable manner.
D) Social, Educational and Health Problems:
Such problems include the following:
· The prevention of family communication between the extended families located in Tubas and their kin in the villages of Bardalah, Kardalah and Ein Al Biedah.
· The existence of intense psychological and social pressures due to the presence of the villages between Israeli camps and colonies.
· The prevailing of dangerous situations farmers face while working in their fields as Israeli soldiers body search them after taking their ID cards. Moreover, it has been documented that Israeli soldiers beat Palestinians of these villages on routinely basis.
· The installation of mines in the areas in which villagers raise their livestock in addition to the confiscation of sheep in the case they come close to Israeli camps or colonies.
· The prevention or delaying of school and college students from heading to their schools while going through the Tayaseer checkpoint.
· The harassment of school teachers while trying to enter these villages.
On November 14th, 2003 the villagers received a general Military Order indicating that 424 dunums will be expropriated for the sake of constructing the "Separation Wall." Until the date of this report no steps has been taken to execute this Order. A copy of this Order is provided with this report.
The following is a translation of this order:
According to the authorities invested in me as a military commander in the Yahuda and Samaria regions, and since I believe that this Order is needed for military purposes and due to the prevailing security situation in the region and the need to defend Israeli colonies against terrorist attacks, I here by order that:
In this Military Order:
The Map – a 1:50,000 map is attached here, signed by me and is to be considered as an integral part of this Order.
The lands – A 424-dunum piece of land that is marked in red on the attached map.
The villages – Al Maieer: Parcel 11 Section 45
Parecl 12 Section 13
Bardalah: Parcel 137 Section 1
Parcel 138 Section 1
Parcel 139 Section 2
Rabbah: Parcel 1 Section 4
Parcel 2 Section 6
Parcel 4 Section 3,8,9,22,23
Tubas: Parcel 78 Section 4
Parcel 79 Sections 1 through 6
Parcel 81 Section 3,4,7
Parcel 118 Section 1
Parcel 114 Section 1 through 3
I, hereby, declare the confiscation of these lands for military purposes. The Israeli forces will put its hands on these lands as it would be under the sole and full control of the Land Officer in the Middle Area Command.
The owners of the lands have the right to head for the Liaison Office in Ramallah for more information and compensation.
This Military Order has been submitted by the Liaison Office to the owners of the lands.
A copy of this Order and the attached map will be placed in the Liaison Office in Ramallah as well as in the Legal Advisor of Yahuda and Samaria regions, the Office of the Commander of the Defense Ministry in the Civil Administration and the Office of Absentee and Governmental Holdings in the Civil Administration.
This Order is effective as of its signed date until 31/5/2004
This Order is to be titled as "Land Confiscation Order Number 03/81/T (Yahuda and Samaria)
Signed: Moshe Kaflinski Alof
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