Zeita is a village located north of Toulkarem and with a population of approximately 3500persons. Zeita is one of the agricultural villages prominent for cultivating olive trees and oneof the villages close to the Green Line that separates the occupied territories in 1948 fromoccupied territories in 1967. Zeita inhabitants were living peacefully: a part of them work inagriculture and the other part work inside the Green Line.
With the outbreak of the intifada on 28 September 2000, the situation in the village started toworsen and it reached the worst with the construction of the Separation Wall, which wasconstructed to separate the West Bank from the 1948 occupied territories. Being adjacent tothe Green Line, the part of Zeita village from which land was confiscated for the benefit ofthe Wall was considerable. On 8 August 2002, the Israeli authorities issued military ordersattached to aerial maps showing the lands to be confiscated for the Wall. These confiscatedlands included lands located in the north, south and west of Zeita village. Then the Israelibulldozers embarked on bulldozing process to prepare the lands for the construction of theSeparation Wall. During this process, thousands of fruitful olive trees have been uprootedand tens of greenhouses demolished. The Israeli bulldozers leveled the land in the threeabove-mentioned areas with a width ranging between 70-120 metres.
After the leveling processes, work on the construction of a metallic fence stretching along theabove-mentioned sides started as follows. On the western side, a fence has been installedalong 500 metres, from the north about one kilometer and from the south a little more thanone kilometer. So, Zeita has been besieged from the three sides and only the southremained opened for the village. As a result of the bulldozing works and land confiscation,the citizens of Zeita lost approximately 922 dunums of their land. This includes the land onwhich the metallic fence has been built as well as the other part remained behind the fence.It is worth noting that the total area of Zeita village land is about 2000 dunums: 230 dunumsremained behind the Separation Wall and the Wall has been built on about 170 dunums (Imean here the metallic fence) stretching along and beside the Green Line from Baqa al-Sharqiyya to Nazlet 'Isa. This fence has exceeded the Green Line in different depths fromone place to another.
After completing the construction of the metallic fence, the Israeli occupation constructedanother metallic fence on the northern side of Zeita village, which reaches to Baqa al-Sharqiyya and Nazlet 'Isa. This fence, which was built in 2003, has isolated these twovillages to the north of Zeita, although this fence is located inside the Palestinian territoriesoccupied in 1967. This metallic fence stretches along eight kilometers. Its construction hascaused the isolation of approximately 62 dunums of land from Zeita village, while thebulldozing works intended for opening an asphalt road along this fence have destroyed theirrigation networks in these lands as well as destroying tens of dunums for the constructionof the asphalt road. This metallic fence was removed in February 2004, one day beforeholding the hearing before the Hague Court on the Separation Wall case, while the asphaltroad remained. Here, I would like to point out that this road stretches along eight kilometresand passes through the lands of Zeita, Baqa al-Sharqiyya, Nazlet 'Isa and Qifin.
After removing this fence, these lands have been set free, which resulted in a big problem:the land was confiscated by an Israeli military order, but no military order entitling the ownersof these lands to reuse their lands has been issued yet. Owners of these lands startedreclaiming and cultivating their lands under very difficult and dangerous circumstances.Sometimes, in the freed lands nearby the metallic fence constructed on the Green Lineaccording to the Israeli allegations, Palestinian citizens are subjected to harassment by theIsraeli occupation soldiers. The asphalt road has not been removed and is sometimes usedby the Israeli army, especially by military patrols and it is sometimes used by Zeita citizens,on their own responsibility and under danger, although the Israeli army prevents Palestiniancitizens from using it.
As I mentioned above, the construction of this road has damaged the water and electricitynetworks of the north lands, which rely on irrigation, and also the municipality water network,which has been connected to a house built on these lands. I am the owner of agriculturalland which has been isolated for two years. My land consists of eight dunums planted withcitrus trees in that area, seven dunums of smooth and uncovered agricultural land, threedunums with greenhouses, and five dunums planted with olive trees. As a result of theconstruction of the metallic fence and the asphalt road, three dunums of my land wereconfiscated and damaged for the fence and three dunums for the road. After these landswere freed, I am unable to cultivate these lands due to the dangers I am exposed to on onehand and because the land itself has been damaged by the construction of the wall and theroad. Moreover, restoration of this land needs huge amounts of money and I, like otherfarmers, lack the financial capacity to reconstruct these lands.
I, personally, believe that the removal of the metallic fence came as a result of the pressureput on the Israeli government before convening the Hague Court concerning the SeparationWall in order to beautify the wall, which cut off the lands of Zeita. It is worth noting that thatfence was separating the villages of Baqa al-Sharqiyya to Nazlet 'Isa from the West Bank.The harm was more on the citizens of Zeita because their lands were isolated from them andthey were deprived of their livelihood. The situation of Zeita village farmers was worse thanthe situation of Baqa al-Sharqiyya to Nazlet 'Isa citizens who were isolated with their landsfrom the West Bank but Zeita farmers were isolated from their lands.
Finally, I would like to point out that as the olive harvest season is approaching, Zeitacitizens cannot reach their lands located beyond the metallic fence separating the villagelands from the north, south and west because the Israeli Civil Administration refused to giveZeita's farmers and residents permits to reach these lands, and imposed strict and difficultconditions for obtaining these permits such as submitting a land ownership limitation ofsuccession and registration document from the Civil Administration of Qadomim settlement.Such requirements are long and complicated, which discouraged most of Zeita's citizens andmade them decide not to obtain the permits, except for very few of them. This means loss ofthe current olive season, knowing that last year the Israeli Civil Administration refused togive Zeita farmers entry permits for their lands isolated from the south and west sides of thevillage while it granted permits for villagers whose lands are isolated from the north sidewithout giving any reasons.
This is my declaration and hereby I sign, on 30 September 2004.
Signature: 'Ahed Rushdi Muhammad 'Id