Ras Attiya, Dabaa, Ras Tira, the Palestinian side of Hable,  Adik, 30/07/2015

A story of robbery sanctioned by the civil administration and the army

Today, for the first time, we were told the following story in Ras Attiya and Ras Tira.

A month ago, a large bagger, 2 trucks and 3-4 Jeeps manned by IDF soldiers barged into the fruit plantations belonging to a man from Ras Attiya. Haim from the civil administration was leading the convoy. He explained to the Palestinians that the land had been bought by the Jews and, therefore, he was taking the trees away.

The strange convoy had driven onto the land of the village early in the morning while the residents were still asleep. For hours, the bagger had been uprooting the big trees – mango, guava and avocado – with their fruit and loaded them onto the two trucks. The soldiers had kept watching from the side until the work was completed and the trucks drove away.

Could this be legal???

The owner of the plantation has made a complaint to the Red Cross – no action has been taken. It appears that this was not the first time. We are told that Haim arrives at the plantations every year telling the same story about the land having been bought.

10:30 We left Rosh Haayin driving to Ras Attiya passing Azun, Tholat and Izbet Salman. At Majles, which also serves Ras Tira, we met the head of the local council together with a group of people. We were updated on what has been going on since we last visited two months ago. They told us about the robbery in bright day light, about some Jeeps that had driven into the village today and then left.

M. repeated his story from our last visit; he still cannot cross at the Jalud checkpoint to work his land close to the neighboring village. He has a permit to cross at Hable, but from there he cannot reach his land. " So what can you do?" we asked. He just looked at the sky saying that it is in God's hands and that there will be a rich harvest. He agreed to accompany us and show us the new settlement Hai-Tal, which has grown tall close to Alfei-Menashe. He also showed us the checkpoints that had been dismantled some years ago and the land where the fruit trees had been uprooted a month ago. The earth is dry and empty. There is nothing to photograph

We drove through Dabaa, a small village near Baldiya and Habla. We made a short visit at Abed's house. He owns a sheep herd and was interviewed in one of Daliya's movies. He has a large family. They are all kind and friendly. They look very poor. We left some clothes and toys.

13:00 The Palestinian side of Habla. The checkpoint opened at 13:15. Two female soldiers were in charge and everything worked smoothly. They wouldn't let us drive the car through the gate to return to road 55.

14:30 In Adik we drove through Sinriya and Bidya to fulfill a mission for a sick friend.

15:30 Rosh Haayin.