Land Day: overview of struggles and violations imposed upon Palestinian farmers, fisherpersons, and herders.
Prior to the war of 1948,
Palestinians owned approximately 78% of total area of historical Palestine, the
remaining were state land “as classified by British mandate at that time[1]. Today,
in 2021, Israelis constitute 52% of total population in historical Palestine
but utilizes over 85% of the total land, while Palestinians comprised 48% of
population and utilize 15% of the land (PCBS, press release, 2019) [2] this
drastic change of percentages indicates actions of land theft in Palestinian
lands by the “Israeli” occupation.
Between the years 1967 and 2017, 200
settlements have been established, 131 of which are officially announced as
towns, along with 11 neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, and 16 other settlements
in Gaza. Settlements in the West Bank have over 620,000 residents, 413,400 of
which happen to be in the illegal settlements of the West Bank. These
settlements stretch on over 538,127 dunums and make up to 10% of the West Bank.
Another 1,650,376 dunums of the West Bank are under “Israeli” leverage,
thus the settlements are controlling 40% of the West Bank. [3], the
total of theft of land -classified as high or medium agricultural value- in the
West Bank is 2,072 thousand dunums, constituting about 37% of the West Bank.
The Palestinians use only 931.5 thousand dunums which constitute about 17% of
the West Bank area. (PCBS, press release, 2019)
“Israel” has been pursuing an annexation plan -which started in 1967. Annexed areas that include 106,000 Palestinians who fall under the rule of the “Israeli” occupation in area C and Jordan Valley which is one of “Israel’s” main target in its annexation plan, it makes up to 50% of the agricultural areas in and “Israel” has already seized 88% of the valley, preventing Palestinians from any benefits or use of these lands.[4
Until now, Palestinians are
struggling daily, with the continuous injustice of land expropriation,
confiscation and annexation, along with the existence of illegal settlements on
the account of displacing Palestinians. Today, an estimated 476,033 Israeli
settlers live in the occupied Palestinian territories[6] in
flagrant violation of international law. Despite repeated condemnation from the
international community, all under the financial and political support of the
“Israeli” government.[7]
These actions directly violate Article 49(6) of the fourth Geneva Convention
which states “Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of
protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying
Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited,
regardless of their motive.”[8]
(185)
About
the land day:
In 1967 and after the sorrowful war of
June, “Israel” was able to seize the remaining Palestinian territories, East
Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, and the Syrian Golan Heights. Today this event is known
as the Naksa which translates from Arabic into defeat. Over
750,000 Palestinians were left homeless with nowhere to go, most of them still
live abroad with their old house keys in hopes of getting their right to return
to their lands.
As a response to “Israel’s”
expropriation of Galilee which was published on March 11th, 1976,
Palestinians started a general strike and marches to save the affected 20,000
dunums threatened to be seized by the occupation according to the annexation
plan -6,000 of which owned by Arabs. These protests took place in Gaza, West
Bank, Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and the Palestinian towns and cities
in “Israel”. The occupation military forces responded by suppressing the
protests, injuring over 100 Palestinians and murdering 6 of them. Since then,
March the 30th is marked as the Palestinian Land Day and during
which Palestinian commemorate those who have sacrificed their lives to protect
their beloved land.[9]
Violations
to Palestinians farmer’s rights:
Violations and crimes against farmers
were varied; the most important of which was the violation of the right
to peaceful assembly, physical integrity, and attacks on the peaceful
activities of farmers preventing them from accessing water, land and posing
physical threats on those who work in fields. During the second half of 2020, UAWC
monitored 68 military orders between demolition and confiscation orders and
documented over 700 attacks on farmers along with uprooting 6,000 trees and
bulldozing 3,500 dunums of land for the sake of settlement expansion. The
attacks in the second half were not limited to farmers and lands in the West
Bank, attacks also affected fishermen, their boats, and agricultural lands in
the Gaza Strip, carrying out 200 attacks on fishermen in Gaza Strip, injuring 4
fishermen and confiscating 2 boats.[10]
These attacks of the occupation forces
are a clear violation of the International Law, human rights and the treaties
that are signed worldwide, including the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, the Fourth Geneva Convention on the Right of Civilians in the
time of War, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peasants and People Working
in Rural Areas, in addition to articles from the Palestinian Basic Law, and
the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Furthermore, Burning and uprooting trees violates Global Environmental Law,
which is a branch of Public International Law. Destroying crops and pumping
sewage water is a violation of Article 29 of the Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
This year marks the 45th
anniversary of our Palestinian Land Day, with endless violations and confiscations,
with many people forced to immigrate now live in foreign countries away from
their homes and others living under threat of losing their lands, therefore, in
light of the current conditions that prevent and limit any activity on the
ground to protect the Palestinian land, we at The Union of Agricultural Work
Committees call on the international community and international human rights
institutions to take steps forward that will protect farmers’ rights under the
threat of the so-called “Deal of the Century” in which this deal will annex
more than 30% of the lands classified (C), including the Palestinian valleys,
which are considered the historical food basket for the Palestinian people, as
they are the most fertile land, rich of natural resources and are the food
sovereignty key for Palestinians in the future.
We on Land Day, call upon the UN and third States to:
Take effective measures to uphold international justice and
accountability for widespread and systematic human rights violations committed
against the Palestinian farmers, fisherpersons and herders.
-
Bring an end to the Gaza closure.
-
Supporting the full implementation and respect of UNDROP articles and
develop monitoring and accountability mechanisms to hold violators accountable.
-
To continue supporting farmers’, herders’ and fisherpersons’
right to live in dignity, to protect their culture and indigenous knowledge
, to priorities and promote small scale farmers’ sustainable agro
ecological solutions, to support Palestinians to gain their right to food
sovereignty and access to natural resources
[1] https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/a_su/A%20SURVEY%20OF%20PALESTINE%20DEC%201945-JAN%201946%20VOL%20I.pdf)
[2] Palestinian
Central Bureau of Statistics, H.E. Ms. Awad highlights the 43rd Annual
Commemoration of Land Day in Statistical Figures, March 28th
2019, https://tinyurl.com/a59yfcy, March 23rd
2021.
[3]
The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, Settlements,
November 11th 2017, Btselem, March 22nd 2021.
[4]
Al-Arabiya, Israel’s Annexation Plan: What Does It Mean? July 2nd
2020, Al-Arabiya, https://tinyurl.com/xumzs9zm,
March 23rd 2021.
[6]
Al-Arabi, Statistics: 476 1,000 settlers living in 150 settlements in the
occupied West Bank, January 20th 2021, Nidal Watad, March 23rd
2021.
[7]
Al-Haq, Organization Palestinian Land Day Observes Decades of Israeli Land
Expropriation, March 30th 2005, Al-Haq, https://tinyurl.com/vrjxrnr4, March 21st
2021.
[8]
United Nations, IV GENEVA CONVENTION RELATIVE TO THE PROTECTION OF CIVILIAN
PERSONS IN TIME OF WAR OF 12 AUGUST 1949, August 12th 1949,
U.N., https://tinyurl.com/8b3bwjc6,
March 21st 2021.
[9]
Al-Jazeera, The Naksa: How Israel occupied the whole of Palestine in 1967, June
4th 2018, Zena Tahhan, March 23rd 2021.
[10]
Union of Agricultural Work Committees, UAWC Monitored the Uprooting and
Destruction of 6,000 Seedlings and Razing of Thousands of Dunums during the
Second Half of the Year 2020, February 16th 2021, UAWC, https://tinyurl.com/nnu36dum, March 23rd
2021.