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| Since the fence was built, Salame Ahmad Oudis’ ancestral soil has been on the other side of it. Now he has received a letter saying that his land has been taken over by the Israeli state. |
Every day, the 78-year old Salame Ahmad Oudi goes to the outskirts of his village, Habla, which is close to the border with Israel.
From his seat he can see a several metres tall electrical fence with a big yellow iron gate. On the other side of the gate is his 0.8 hectares of land.
He is waiting for the Israeli soldiers to open the gate so that he can reach his land. He is not quite sure when this will be. It usually happens in the middle of the day but some times it doesn’t happen at all and he just has to return home.
Salame Ahmad Oudi used to grow enough fruit and vegetables to feed himself, his wife and his six children, but one day back in 2002 Israeli vans arrived and put up the electric fence. From that day, Salame Ahmed Oudi had to seek permission from the Israeli authorities to visit his land.
Ever since, he has gone to the fence every day to wait for the iron gate to be opened. Some times it wasn’t opened for several weeks in a row which meant his crops were destroyed. The land now lies fallow.
A few weeks ago he received a letter from an Israeli court saying that his land has been taken over by the Israeli state. It said nothing about compensation or a complaint procedure. The letter stated the facts: the land is now Israeli.
Illegal settlements
Salame Ahmad Oudi is one of the thousands of Palestinians who had to give up their own land and water to make room for Israeli settlements. 135 settlements with security zones and roads have been built on the West Bank and in east Jerusalem. They have forced away the Palestinians from 42% of the West Bank and have also taken away access to 75% of the water resources.
The 4th Geneva Convention bans an occupying power from transferring its own population to an occupied territory and creating permanent changes in the landscape. The UN and other international organisations have repeatedly deemed the settlements to be illegal, but all Israeli governments since 1967 have worked towards creating settlements in the occupied territories.
The article is written by Jutta Weinkouff, DCA Iformation Officer, and was published in the Danish magazine NOED (June 2007). Translated and edited by Heidi Rasmussen.