Burin (Yitzhar), Deir al Hatab, Madama
Survival Agriculture
We went out to learn about the fields, the processing of which is limited as if they were situated behind a fence and an agricultural gate
We arrived in the morning at the building materials shop of A. at Deir El Hatab to learn from him how the March plowing had passed at the plots belonging to the village, in which the army forbids the farmers to work every day.
These are plots which aren’t separated by a fence and an agricultural gate, but nevertheless they are subject to the same regulations. Maybe, apart from this, no other authorisations are required to reach them. Nevertheless a farmer who would dare to arrive at a time that hadn’t been coordinated collectively in advance with the army, would risk his life. Whoever wasn’t able to arrive during these two days, would risk that his land would not be plowed. It won’t also be ploughed during the rest of the year. The next date for the collective authorization is in October, for the olive picking.
A photograph of private plots of the Deir El Hatab farmers on 21.3.18, after two days of the permit to plough, in March of this year. Photo by A.S.
The ploughed plot can be identified in the photo by its brown colour. These plots are very far from the road to Alon More which was built on the lands of three villages, among which Deir El Hatab, and they are also far from the special security area of 200 meters, by which the length of the road was השתלטותsurrounded. (see BeTzelem report: Clearing – Building – Exploitation 2016).
These plots of Deir El Hatab survived after the robbery of 58% of them in favour of the Settlement of Alon More and the Reservation of Har Kabir. Many of the plots in the reservation, were taken over by the outposts of the Alon More Settlement.
On other plots of the village which are situated in the Har Kabir reservation, A. showed us the caravans which had been built there a short time ago. Yesh Din who will deal with this taking over, after Tsvia will have established the contact.
From a similar variation which we described here in the report of 7.3.18, it is clear that there are plots in this category – lands the measure of which in the West Bank has not yet been assessed, as well as the range of the economic disintegration ensuing from this trick. And in the long run the danger that the area might be proclaimed as abandoned.
Another matter which we discussed with A. was the demands for the rehabilitation of Maqam Sheih Bilal. In this difficult matter it is as usual a stop forward, two or three backward. But together with him we insist to break an opening in the block of denial and disregard regarding the Maqams disintegrating on the mountain tops.
At Burin we tried, with the help of our farmer lady friend D. to clarify the same matter. She has plots bordering on the Givat Ronen outpost which is situated on lands belonging to her family, as well as plots nearer to Yitzhar.
The daily threat of the settlers on herself on her own land – made her and her husband buy a 5 dunam plot in the village of Burin and to process.
D. in her plot in the Village of Burin. Photo by A.S.
She rented part of the plot out to a couple of friends, to build a hothouse where they sprout seeds.
Photo of the hothouse
The hothouse on D.’s plot. Photo by N.P. Drip irrigation
.D. and the farmer lady she rented to plot to, sow The fakus sprouts which germinated in the hothouse. The water I also a problem to be contended with. At the moment there is still no budget for a drip irrigation system. A big water tank has been buried in the earth, and the watering is done by means of watering cans.
D.’s creative solution cause admiration. It is advisable to buy seedlings at the hothouse and lettuce at D.’s plot in Burin, on the way to Madama.
Burin (Yitzhar)
See all reports for this place-
Burin (Yitzhar)
This is a Palestinian village in the Nablus governorate, a little south of Nablus, on the main road passing through the West Bank. The settlements: Yitzhar and Har Bracha, settled in locations that surrounded the village, placed fences so it is cut off the main road.
There are around 4000 inhabitants. Most of them are engaged in agriculture and pasture, although many graduates of the two secondary schools continue to study at the university. Academic positions are hardly available, they find work as builderd, or leave for the Gulf countries.
The village lands were appropriated several times for the establishment of Israeli settlements and military bases, and as a result, Burin's land and water resources dwindled. lSince 1982, more than 2,000 dunams of village land have been declared "state land" and then transferred to Har Bracha settlement.
Over the past few years and more so since 2017, the villagers have been terrorized by the residents of Yitzhar and Har Bracha, the Givat Ronen outpost and others. Despite the close proximity of soldiers to an IDF base close to one of the village's schools, residents are suffering from numerous stone-throwing events, vehicle and fire arson, also reported in the press.
In 2023, the prevention of the olive harvest in the village plot was more violent than ever. Soldiers and settlers walked with drawn weapons between the houses of the village and demanded that people stop harvesting in the village itself and in the private plots outside the village. The settlers from Yitzhar and Giv'at Roned raided the olive groves and stole crops. 300 olive trees belonging to the residents of Burin, near Yitzhar, were uprooted. The loss of livelihood from the olives causes long-term economic damage to the farmers' families, bringing them to the point of starvation.
(updated for November 2023)
-
Madama
See all reports for this place-
Madama
This village is situated in the Nablus district, about 5 kilometers south of the city of Nablus, at an altitude of 517 meters above sea level. Madama was founded 400 years ago and its villagers originate from the Arabian Peninsula. It numbered 1,728 inhabitants in 2007. 62% of the village area is categorized as Area B, and 38% as Area C.
Over the years, hundreds of dunams have been robbed of the village for the purpose of building settler-colonies, army bases, and paving roads:139 dunams were sequestered to found settler-colony Yitzhar south of the village, and the land was also confiscated for paving road 60. The road and its buffer zone (75 meters on each side) lined by barbed wire fences separate the village’s farmlands to the north and the village farmers are denied access to tend them. The road also separates Madama and Burin, two villages with close neighborly ties, and now not able to access the road directly.
The settler-colony Yitzhar has become a daily threat to the village. The settler-colonists planted trees in fenced-in groves, steal crops, burn, uproot and vandalize Palestinians’ trees, and harm both holy sites and property. They also attack the Palestinian landowners in order to terrorize them and prevent them from accessing their lands.
For further information: http://vprofile.arij.org/nablus/pdfs/vprofile/Madama_vp_en.pdf
-