From the Palestinian village of BEIT UMMAR:
Call for URGENT ACTION – ALLOW PALESTINIAN FARMERS TO GET TO THEIR LAND! (CPT)
In June 2002 Israeli settlers from the nearby settlement of KarmeTzur unilaterally expanded their borders and built a road, destroyingdozens of fruit trees, and preventing the Beit Ummar farmers who ownthe land from reaching it. On July 9, members of Christian PeacemakerTeams accompanied Palestinian farmers hoping to harvest their plums;they were blocked by armed Israeli settlers and soldiers.
This month the grapes in this same area will be ready for harvest.At stake are about 1500 tons of grapes during the next two months.Also at stake are Palestinian rights to go to their land — in thisone case, about 125 acres. At a time when curfew and closure arealready choking the economy, preventing the harvest and marketing ofproduce puts more families closer to starvation.
The situation in the village of Beit Ummar is replicated throughoutthe West Bank and Gaza.
ACTION
Please fax or send postcards to your Ministry of Foreign Affairs/StateDepartment, to the PM/President and/or your MP/Representatives andSenators. Ask them to inquire of the Israeli government whatprovisions they are making to protect Palestinians from Israelisettlers during the coming grape harvest. Ask for a reply regardingthe vinyard of Abu Jabr — see his story below. For groups, pre-printed postcards are available from Christian Peacemaker Teams.
SAMPLE TEXT FOR POSTCARD AND FAX
I am concerned that Palestinian farmers who own land adjoiningIsraeli settlements in the West Bank are being harassed and assaultedby settlers when they go to their fields. Christian Peacemaker Teamshas told us about the problems of the Abu Jabr family and other farmfamilies from Beit Ummar who own land on the north side of the KarmeTzur settlement. The grape harvest is approaching and these familieswill be impoverished if they are not allowed to harvest their grapes.Please ask our embassy staff to investigate and to report to you whatsteps the Israeli military administration will be taking to protectthese farmers in the coming grape harvest. I will be looking forwardto hearing from you what information you are able to obtain.
Thank you,
(sign with your name and address)
ADDRESSES
Canada:
Prime Minister Jean Chretien, House of Commons, Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Fax 613-941-6900
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bill Graham, House of Commons, Ottawa ON
K1A 0A6
Fax 613-996-3443
You can mail your MP at the House of Commons address, or find theirfax number by looking them up at
http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/senmemb/house/members/MemberList.asp?
USA:
President George W. Bush, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC
20500
Fax 202-456-2461
Secretary of State Colin Powell, 2201 C Street, NW, Washington, DC
20520
Fax: (202) 261-8577
Senator _____, US Senate, Washington, DC 20510
Representative ______, US House of Representatives, Washington DC
20515
For fax numbers, go to http://congress.org/ and enter your zip code
CASE: Muhammed Abdel Hamed Jabr Asslebi (Abu Jabr), Beit UmmarAbu Jabr has documents confirming his ownership of an 11 dunam (3acre) parcel of land between the Palestinian villages of Halhoul andBeit Ummar west of the Hebron-Jerusalem road. In 1984, Israelisestablished an illegal settlement, Karme Tzur, on land adjacent tohis property. Between 1996 and 1998 the Israeli government builtbypass road #60, some of it following the Hebron-Jerusalem road, andother parts on land confiscated from Palestinian farmers. Additionalroads were built to serve as access roads to Israeli settlements,including Karme Tzur. Palestinian access roads to theHebron-Jerusalem road were blocked.
In early 1999 settlers moved the fence between Karme Tzur and AbuJabr’s land, in effect confiscating three dunams of his eleven. Alawyer with the Hebron Land Defence Committee took Abu Jabr’s caseand the case of other affected farmers to the Israeli courts. Sixmonths later the court ruled in his favor. The fences were moved backto the pre 1999 location, with Israeli military personnel witnessingand enforcing.
During the six months while he was awaiting the court decision AbuJabr experienced many incidents of settler harassment when he triedto work his land. On one occasion a settler named Schlomo, assistedby his dog, physically attacked Abu Jabr. Abu Jabr made a complaintat the Kiryat Arba Israeli police headquarters and was able toidentify Schlomo. Upon returning to his land that day, he saw that 25plum trees, 70 grape vines, and a stone field boundary wall had allbeen destroyed.
During 2000 and 2001, following his success in the court, Abu Jabrworked on the land and harvested his fruit with few problems. But inJune 2002 the Karme Tzur settlement, with Israeli militarycooperation, built a road on property belonging to Halhoul and BeitUmmar farmers. They uprooted trees and vines and established a borderapproximately 300 meters outside of the existing border. Both armedsettlers and soldiers guarded the land and prevented farmers accessto their land. In recent weeks the Israeli settlers have added lightsalong the road. This illegal confiscation more than doubles theacreage of Karme Tzur.
All of Abu Jabr’s 11 dunams are within this new confiscation. All ofhis plum harvest, which would have been about a ton, fell from thetrees and rotted on the ground. In late July he told members of CPTthat he snuck back to his property like a thief to carry one cartonof plums to his family.
The grapes will be ready to harvest in August and September. Half ofAbu Jabr’s land is planted with grapes. He usually sprays the grapesin June and July. He expects the quality of the grapes will begreatly reduced because he has been unable to spray. Still, he hopesto be able to harvest and market what he can. He is afraid thatfailure to access his land now will mean that it will be annexed tothe settlement of Karme Tzur permanently. Loss of his land is theloss of everything for him.