Living under threat of expulsion from Izbit Tabib village

Izbet Tabib is a small village which lies in the northern West Bank a few miles from Azzun in the direction of Qalqiliya. It was established in 1920 and the ruins of the first houses are still there. In 1948 many residents of the Tabib family in Tubsur village in what is now Israel took refuge here and it was called after the family.

The villagers face a threat because the Israeli Civil Administration say it is within Area C under the Oslo Accords which means the Israeli authority treats it as being under full occupation. The villagers claim they are refugees but receive no help from the UN refugee agency, UNRWA. They face the threat of being expelled to live in Azzun. In January 2007 the head of the village council received notice from the Judicial Adviser to the Israeli government stating that a new by-pass road connecting the Alfe Menashe settlement with Israel will be established on the village lands. For the construction of the road, 20 houses will be demolished leaving more than 100 residents homeless. The letter suggested that those residents can move into the nearby village of Azzun, which would mean they would become refugees for the second time.

A military order for demolition has been received for 21 houses and one has been demolished. The demolition order can be carried out by the Planning and Building Authority of the Civil Administration at any time for 30 years. The villagers were advised by their lawyer not to appeal because if the Israeli High court found it was in Area C, the demolitions would be carried out immediately. The village of 226 residents which consists of 40 houses, a mosque, a few other buildings and animal shelters is already overcrowded  It needs more houses or extensions, and upgrades and improvements are also needed, but no permissions are granted because the Civil Administration does not recognise the village as existing before 1967. There were at least 10 houses in 1967, referred as tin houses but the Israelis do not recognise these as houses.

The village has also been affected by the separation barrier. The village extends to 635 dunums (159 acres) of which about 415 dunums (104 acres) are agricultural. 273 dunums were confiscated for the barrier, 93 as part of the barrier and 180 lying on the far side from the village (in what is now called the seam zone, lying between the barrier and the Green Line, that is, the 1948 Armistice line that separates Israel from the West Bank). The only artesian well that supplied the village is now behind the barrier.

I was informed of all this by Mousa Tabib, who lives in the village but whose house is not affected by the demolition order. As we walked to his house he showed us the fine new building erected to provide a school, a kindergarten and a clinic, none of which were provided before, and which was self funded till they got funds for furnishings from the Palestinian Authority.  No sooner was it built than it received a demolition order.

The area has a very attractive pine wood and play area. We sat in the pleasant secluded plot of Mousa surrounded by high protective boundary walls which he erected, which also have a demolition order. Mousa has a very small house, a chicken run and a decent sized garden area. He has started building a new house, inevitably without any permission (since Israel does not acknowledge the existence of the village) and knows that as soon as it appears above the walls, there will be the inevitable visit with notice of a demolition order.

Of the agricultural land, he lost 21 dunums, six to the barrier and 15 he cannot access because of the barrier. It was when he tried to get a permit that he discovered the Israeli records do not recognise the village as existing yet his identity card has a code number for the village. After many attempts and the expense of a lawyer he got a permit but not to enter by gate no.1008 beside his land but through gate no.1351 near Habla to the south west, much further away and it does not give access to his land.

You have to wonder about the mindset of a bureaucracy that does such a thing, but unfortunately such stories are common. Palestinians just shrug their shoulders. I asked him how he now supported himself and his family and he said life has been very hard since 2003 and they have to live very modestly.

Last year a Palestinian member of the Knesset wrote to the Ministry of Defence saying the government had to provide services but the response was that since it is in area C, it is illegal, so they cannot be given any services. He told me the villagers pay taxes. An occupying power has obligations under the Geneva Convention to ensure hygiene, public health food and medical care to the population under occupation, and certainly should not take away land from which they derive their means of support. 

Since the Israeli authority denies the existence of the village, a lawyer for the village suggested they came and saw for themselves. A committee of five from the Civil Administration village arrived without notice and made a careful record of everything internal and external. The villagers do not know what will happen next. 

Reflection

The threat of demolition and eviction hangs over this small village indefinitely. This is not unique and this has affected other villages, for example the Bedouin people in the Negev. There are also other villages in the area with major problems caused by the separation barrier cutting off their farmland, or enclosing them so that they are cut off from the rest of the West Bank. There will probably also be other people who were refugees or internally displaced in 1948 who have settled and been moved again. But Izbat Tabib faces all three problems. The Palestinian spirit is indomitable. Mr. Mousa did not give the impression of being beaten or depressed. He still plans to build his house and says, "We will not go to Azzun. We will stay in tents."

Note on house demolitions

We have learned that the person whose house has been demolished then receives notice of a fine from the demolishing authority. These can be large. And if they put up a tent, there is another demolition order and fine. This has happened to a family in Jerusalem, and appears to be a regular occurrence.

Why are there house demolitions?

1. Least in number are demolitions of houses where the  Israeli authority say it was the house of a terrorist , who is, if it was his house, not usually there and either dead, in prison or in hiding. So it is a collective punishment, affecting the wider family and even neighbours, contrary to the Geneva Conventions. People have been killed or injured.
2. Administrative Demolitions. Carried out by the Civil Administration of the military. 14000 houses have been demolished between 1967 and 2007 during which time Israel has settled 460000 of its people in the West Bank (source: ICAHD). Ostensibly these demolitions are carried out because there is no permission but:
• The Planning and Building authority discriminate against Palestinians. They have no say in the approval process and 94% of their applications in Area C are refused. Many Israeli houses and buildings are built without permission but rarely are demolished. Generally they are given retrospective permission. This discrimination is a breach of human rights law.
• Human rights observers believe the real reason behind many of these demolitions is (i) to facilitate the expansion of settlements. (The policy of encouraging migration of Israeli population into the occupied territories is also a breach of the Geneva Convention.) or (ii) to confiscate Palestinian land Israel wants in any final settlement.
• And according to the Badil Resource Centre for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, 10000-15000 houses face demolition in Area C and in Israel itself, in the Palestinian community of Jaffa some 600 families. 
3. The right to housing is a fundamental human right and includes the right to  live in peace protected from forced eviction, harassment and threats. The obligation of the state under human rights law is to refrain from forced eviction and the UN has expressed serious concerns to Israel.