The West Bank Barrier

Profile: Alfei Menashe & Hable

UPDATE AUGUST 2005

Because of their proximity and interdependence, the two enclaves – Alfei Menashe and Habla are considered together. The Alfei Menashe enclave has been declared a closed military area by the Israeli authorities - the ‘seam zone’ - where special conditions apply. In addition, land confiscation and road upgrading is taking place in both these enclaves to provide a road network for settlements in this area (Alfei Menashe, new settlement of Givat Tal, and new settlement of Nof Hasharon) for easier access to Israel.

Within the Alfei Menashe enclave, five small Palestinian villages are isolated from the West Bank, in particular from Habla and Qalqilya on which they depend for services. The total population of these communities ( Ad Dab’a, Ras at Tira, Wadi ar Rasha, ‘Arab Abu Farda and Arab ar Ramadin al-Janub) is approximately 1100 persons, of whom 340 (30 percent) are registered refugees. There are no educational or health services in these communities except for a Palestinian Authority (PA) elementary school in Ad Dab’a’ Permits are required for Palestinians to live or work in this enclave.

Social life for the village has been severely affected, as people from the neighboring villages cannot enter this enclave without permits which are generally difficult to secure unless you are a resident or a close family member of a resident. Residents complain that men are having difficulty finding wives as families do not want their daughters to move to this enclave because of the difficult living conditions and the difficulty in family members obtaining visitors’ permits. Children under 12 years who leave the enclave routinely face problems returning home, as the Israeli soldiers insist that they are accompanied by a parent. Israelis and internationals are allowed to cross into this enclave without permits.

The community of Ad Dab’a has been particularly affected, as 40 percent its land falls on the West Bank side of the barrier. Although these lands are just several kilometers away the absence of any suitable gate means that farmers must now travel up to two hours to reach their property. A new settlement, Givat Tal, is currently being built on land belonging to ‘Isla and ‘Azzun villages on a hill opposite Alfei Menashe. Four thousand six hundred units are planned on 3,000 dunums of West Bank land.

In August 2004, the Association for Civil Rights (ACRI) submitted a petition to the Israeli High Court to dismantle this section of the barrier. The petition states that the barrier has ‘imposed an economic and social disaster’ on Palestinian residents of the enclave. The range of severe infringements outlined in the petition relates to the loss of livelihood and enforced social isolation. The case is still ongoing. (see www.acri.org.il)

The adjoining Habla enclave is surrounded by the barrier on three sides, enclosing the three communities of Habla, Ras ‘Atiya and ‘Izbat Jal’ud. For almost a year after the wall was constructed – October 2003 to August 2004 - access by these residents to the regional centre of Qalqilya involved a one hour journey, and emergency health care was severely compromised. However, in response to severe access constraints in this enclave, the Israeli authorities constructed a tunnel between Habla and Qalqilya that became operational in August 2004. The tunnel has eased access to the Qalqilya for services but access to land remains as problematic as before. The tunnel is equipped with gates that the IDF has used on occasion to close access.

The town of Habla lost 3180 dunums (30 percent of its land) to the construction of the fence, and another 2920 (26 percent) is isolated on the 'Israeli’ side of the wall. Four agricultural wells are located between the Green Line and the barrier and access is restricted to those with permits. The municipality repaired pipes damaged during the construction of the barrier or reimbursed farmers who undertook repairs themselves.

The other communities in the Habla enclave are Ras ‘Atiya and ‘Izbat Jal’ud which have 1300 dunums (65 percent) and 700 (16 percent) dunums of land isolated beyond the wall/fence. The total population of these three communities is 7,345 of whom 692 persons (9 percent) are registered refugees.

While not located in either enclave, about six communities south, east and north of these two enclaves have also been isolated from 19,500 dunums of their lands due to the routing of the barrier around the Alfei Menashe and Hable enclaves. These are the communities of ‘Izbat Salman, Kafr Thulth, ‘Isla, ‘Izbat Tabib and ‘Azzun. ‘Isla has lost 80 percent of their lands (a portion in the Alfei Menashe enclave, and a portion north near Zufin settlement north of Qalqilya). ‘Izbat Salman has been isolated from 75 percent of it lands; Kafr Thulth from 40 percent, and ‘Azzun from 30 percent. If the proposed, but yet to be approved, section around Ariel settlement is implement, than the communities of Kafr Thulth and ‘Azzun will face even more significant amounts of land isolated or lost. Almost 15,000 people live in these six communities, of whom 2,564 (17 percent) are registered refugees.

In addition to the increased travel time, farmers are facing increasingly stringent conditions for permits. Initially when the barrier became operational in October 2003, the Israeli authorities accepted applications from landowners, their extended family members, and agricultural labourers. However, over the course of 2004 and into 2005, the band of those eligible to apply has narrowed significantly to the point that generally only landowners and their immediate relatives (wife, brother, sister, son or daughter) are eligible for permits. In the Qalqilya area, although the Israeli Civil Administration notified the Palestinian authorities and some villages that grandchildren of the owner would no longer be eligible, grandchildren are still being issued permits. This is in contrast to the Tulkarm Governorate, where the Israeli authorities have stopped issuing permits to grandchildren. However, when the owner passes away, the grandchildren are eligible for permits if they produce a certificate of inheritance to the Israeli authorities.

Access/ Permits/Gate issues

Gates

The vehicular gates open at specific hours, although not on Fridays or when there is a security alert. The agricultural gates are more erratic in their opening hours. Since school buses were introduced in March 2004 to transfer students from the Alfei Menashe enclave to the Hable and Ras Atiya schools, the pedestrian gates of ‘Arab Ramadin al-Janub and Wadi ar Rasha do not open any more. The buses are paid for by the Civil Administration and form part of new measures introduced to ease restrictions for affected Palestinians.

Access to Qalqilya and Habla was severally hampered when the barrier became operational in October 2003. To address this severe impact, the Israeli authorities constructed a tunnel which became operational in August 2004 to allow for residents in the Habla enclave to reach Qalqilya which is the service centre for the region.

For the five West Bank communities in the Alfei Menashe enclave, on the ‘Israeli’ side of the fence, Palestinian-plated cars are not allowed to use the stretch of road between the enclave and Qalqilya. Israeli-plated cars, or Palestinian-plated ones with permits, have to be rented to bring essential supplies in from Qalqilya.

Alfei Menashe enclave: There used to be two open gates on the western side of this enclave – Wadi Rasha and Ras Atiya). In March 2004, the Wadi Rasha gate was closed and the IDF rented buses to transport children from this enclave to schools in Habla and An Nabi Elyas. The Ras Atiya gate was open three times daily but in May 2005, the operating hours were extended to 12 hours, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. With Ras Atiya the only gate open along the western side of the enclave, farmers in Wadi Rasha and Dab’a have to travel longer distances to their land. For Ad Dab’a residents the travel time can take up to two hours each way.

Hable enclave: The Habla gate, just south of route 55, opens three times a day: 0700-0800, 1200-1300 and 1600-1700. This gate is only for permit-holders and generally only for farmers who have land on the ‘Israeli’ side and teachers working in schools on both sides. The permits specify the number of the particular gate for which they are granted.

• All movement out of Habla is strictly monitored by the IDF as the former Green Line checkpoint has been moved two kilometres east into the West Bank beyond Habla; soldiers routinely refer to everything west of the checkpoint as ‘Israel’, so once through the Habla gate, there are no checkpoints west of Route 55 and direct access to Israel is possible.

• Only Israeli-plated cars and commercial Palestinian vehicles with permits are allowed to pass through the Habla gate. Israeli Arabs (mostly from Jaljulya) who are on a list held by the IDF have permission to enter and leave through this gate and to transport products to be sold in Israel.

• There are two more agricultural gates to the south of Habla, one by Izbat Jal’ud (gate 43) and one by ‘Izbat Salman (gate 45) which are open three times daily for farmers to cross west of the enclave to their lands.

Permits

• Permits are of two kinds: residency, for ‘long term residents’ and access, to pass specific gates for work purposes in the area between the Green Line and the barrier. As the Alfei Menashe enclave is now part of the ‘seam zone’ and a closed military area, all residents over the age of 12 need residency permits. Most residents of the enclave received their initial permits for six months, now as of 2005, ‘residency permits’ are to be extended for two years. According to one of the conditions on the back of the permits, these do not grant property rights to the bearer. Permits specifically state that they are not valid for entering Israel. Outsiders wishing to visit the enclave have to apply for permits. These are generally not granted for social visits, but must be work-related.

• The second type of permit includes farmers with land on the ‘Israeli’ side and others with work obligations there (for example, the Habla Municipality engineer visits a project in Ad Dab’a using such a permit). Permits have been granted to many but not all farmers for three or six month periods. In June 2005, the Israeli authorities started extending the length of permit to two years.

• Students, teachers and medical personnel usually do not need permits.

• For renewal of access permits, the Israeli Civil Administration added a new requirement to prove land ownership on the ‘Israeli’ side of the barrier, the requirement to prove ownership is becoming more stringent. Generally, the owner and immediate relatives are allowed to apply.

• Permits for cars are generally given only for commercial vehicles.

• The Israeli Civil Administration is informing residents of the ‘seam zone’ that changes of address are no longer permitted to indicate residency in this zone.

Health

• The main hospital in the area is the UNRWA Hospital in Qalqilya; therefore access is of critical importance for refugees in these communities. Although UNRWA has an agreement with Qalqilya Municipality to charge reduced rates to non-refugees resident in Qalqilya town, no such agreement exists for Habla or other communities in the Qalqilya governorate.

• There are no medical facilities in the Alfei Menashe enclave. Before completion of the barrier it took ten minutes to travel both to Qalqilya and to Habla for medical services. Health facilities in Habla were more availed of but because of restrictions at Habla gate, but since the tunnel has been completed Qalqilya is now more accessible.

• Palestinian ambulances from Qalqilya have occasionally been allowed into the Alfei Menashe enclave. Otherwise an Israeli-plated or Palestinian-plated car with permit has to be used for the stretch of road on route 55 between the enclave and the ‘Green Line’ checkpoint.

• For the Habla enclave, there is a private dentist, two private doctors and two pharmacies in Habla. Complicated cases have to be referred to Qalqilya or to Nablus.

• In February 2004, a two-year old boy from Ras ‘Atiya died. According to the doctor who attended him, the boy died on the way to hospital due to the delay in reaching Qalqilya, as the barrier gate at Ras ‘Atiya was closed. This obliged the parents to make a detour via Azun village, adding more than one hour to the trip to Qalqilya. The boy had a high fever and convulsions.

Education

• Alfei Menashe enclave: There is a PA Elementary School in Ad Dab’a. Children from Ad Dab’a’, Ras at Tira and Wadi ar Rasha use this school. Older children from those villages, as well as those from ‘Arab Abu Farda and Arab Ramadin al Janub, attend schools in Habla (as these were closest before the barrier was built), while eight students go to Qalqilya. Since the buses (Palestinian, paid for by the Israeli Civil Administration) were introduced, delays have not been noticed.

• Hable enclave: There are three PA schools in Habla and one in Ras Atiya. Access is not a problem for students from Habla, Ras Atiya and Izbat Jal’ud. Teachers from Qalqilya are allowed to pass the ‘Green Line’ checkpoint and the Habla gate without permits. The PA school in Ras ‘Atiya is located twenty metres from the barrier and structural damage to the building was caused by the use of explosives during construction of the barrier.

Socio-Economic issues

• Alfei Menashe enclave: Arab Ramadin al-Janub and Arab Abu Farda are inhabited by Bedouins, originally from Beersheva and Hebron. They are all registered refugees. Most lease land to live and work from residents of Hable and Qalqilya, others have bought land. The Israeli authorities issued orders 13 years ago prohibiting the building of permanent structures. Most adult residents have permits to work in Alfei Menashe settlement as unskilled labourers. They also herd goats and sheep. They used to sell the milk in Qalqilya, but this is now impossible because their Palestinian-plated cars are not allowed out of the enclave. They buy supplies and fodder from Qalqilya using a rented van with Israeli plates (driver Israeli Arab) at the cost of NIS30 daily.

• As far as Palestinian-plated vehicles are concerned, only commercial ones with permits are allowed past the ‘Green Line’ checkpoint. In late December 2003 the Civil Administration issued demolition orders for six structures in ‘Arab Ramadin al Janub, one in ‘Arab Abu Farda and five in Wadi ar Rasha, for lack of building permits. These demolition orders have not been enforced. All the structures are homes except one that houses the electricity generator in Arab Ramadin al Janub. Practically all the concrete structures in the two Bedouin villages and approximately half the homes in Wadi Rasha on the side adjoining the settlement of Alfei Menashe are due for demolition. Legal appeals from the residents were rejected. As nobody in Ras at Tira Ad Dab’a or Wadi ar Rasha owns a pick-up truck, a shop owner in Wadi Rasha transports products, in his private car from Ras ‘Atiya/Habla. The water pipe from Ras at Tira to Ras ‘Atiya was damaged during the construction of the barrier. Some homes in Ad Dab’a’ were also damaged during construction of the barrier. Most residents of Ad Dab’a hold ID cards which give place of residence outside Ad Dab’a, leading to fears that they may be prohibited from gaining access to their land in the future.