Aqabah

:"For the city in southern Jordan, see Aqaba and for the nearby Palestinian town see 'Aqqaba."Infobox Palestinian Authority muni
name=Al Aqabah


imgsize=250
caption=Aqabah in Area C of West Bank, under Israeli control.
arname=العقبة
meaning=
founded=
type=ldcb
typefrom=
altOffSp=
altUnoSp=
governorate=tb
latd=32|latm=20|lats=15.90|latNS=N
longd=35|longm=25|longs=00.40|longEW=E
population=300
popyear=2008
area=3,500
areakm=
mayor=Haj Sami Sadeq

Aqabah (also called Al Aqabah, Aqaba, and Al Aqaba ( _ar. العقبة, _he. אלעקאבה)) is a Palestinian village in the northeastern West Bank, with an estimated population of 300 people, which is being targeted for demolition by the Israeli Civil Administration (ICA). Located in Area C of the West Bank on the edge of the Jordan Valley, the village is under complete Israeli military control and civil jurisdiction. The ICA has issued Demolition Orders against the medical center, the mosque, an internationally-funded kindergarten serving 130 kids in the area, the roads, and most of the homes of the village.cite press release
title = Aqaba at the Supreme Court - a village's fate in the balance
publisher = Gush Shalom
date = 2008-04-21
url = http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/press_releases/1208773780
accessdate = 2008-04-26] The village petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court asking the court to cancel or stay the demolition orders on the basis of an existing land-use plan, but the petition was rejected on April 17, 2008. cite web
last = Israeli Supreme Court
first =
title = HCJ 143/04 Ahmad Hamdan Hasin Jaber et al. v. The State of Israel et al.
url=http://elyon1.court.gov.il/files/04/430/001/o14/04001430.o14.htm
accessdate = 2008-04-25] The mayor of the village, Haj Sami Sadeq, the residents, and several Israeli and American human rights organizations are determined to save the village by conducting an international campaign asking foreign governments, the State Department and the US Congress to encourage the Israeli authorities to reconsider the demolition of the village. cite web
last = Rebuilding Alliance
first =
title = Al Aqabah Kindergarten and their village
url=http://www.rebuildinghomes.org/campaignJordanRiverValley.php
accessdate = 2008-05-03]

History

For 36 years, Aqabah was the site of an Israeli military camp. The IDF conducted live training exercises inside the village, causing the death of 8 villagers and wounding more than 50 residents.cite web
publisher = Rebuilding Alliance
date = n.d.
title = Al Aqabah Kindergarten and their village
url=http://www.rebuildinghomes.org/campaignJordanRiverValley.php
accessdate = 2008-05-03] Haj Sami Sadeq, Mayor of Aqabah, is one of the victims of those live training exercises, paralyzed and wheelchair-bound for life because of the Israeli army's stray bullets. In addition, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Israeli military also expropriated large areas of privately registered land.cite news
title = The Humanitarian Monitor
publisher = UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
date = March 2008
url = http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/HM_Mar_2008.pdf
format=pdf
accessdate = 2008-04-30] On June 27, 2001, Aqabah won a legal battle in the Israeli High Court of Justice (HCJ) when the HCJ recommended the army remove its military camp from the village's lands and find an alternate site.cite web
last = Israeli Supreme Court
first =
title = HCJ 3950/99 Sami Sadeq et al. v. Israeli Minister of Defense et al.
url= http://elyon1.court.gov.il/files/99/500/039/I22/99039500.i22.htm
date = 2001-06-27
accessdate = 2008-05-04] Two years later, the Israeli military complied with the court's order, and in June 2003 the military camp was finally removed from the village.

Foreign investment and help

Villagers rely primarily on agriculture and grazing for their livelihoods, with a combined livestock herd of around 800 animals. Recognizing that the residents of Aqabah own clear title to approximately 3,500 dunams of registered ("Tabo") land, Israel’s allies, the United Nations, and several international organizations have invested heavily in the village: USAID helped build the road, the British government built the medical clinic, and the Japanese Embassy provided funds for a water tank.

In 2004, the American nonprofit organization, The Rebuilding Alliance, initiated the building of a large, modern kindergarten and lower-grade school. Aqabah was chosen as the site for the kindergarten because the town's High Court victory against the IDF seemed to guarantee that the town was legally recognized by the Israeli government and would not be demolished. [Rebuilding Alliance statement] In a joint project, the Japanese Embassy, the Belgian Embassy and the Norwegian Embassy helped add a second story to the kindergarten. Being the only kindergarten in the whole area, the Aqabah kindergarten today serves more than 130 kindergarteners and 70 elementary school children in the region. The UN Development Programme, CARE International, the Danish Embassy, and the Dutch have also invested resources in building and maintaining structures in the village.cite news | title = Al Aqabah Kindergarten and their Village| url = http://www.rebuildinghomes.org/campaignJordanRiverValley.php| work = The Rebuilding Alliance| accessdate = 2008-04-25 ]

Israeli plans to demolish village

Located in Area C of the West Bank, Aqabah is subject to the Israeli Civil Administration's zoning authority and regulations. In 1998, the Village Council applied to the Israeli Civil Administration for a master plan which would enable the village to obtain permits for construction, but the Civil Administration has never replied to their request. As a result, Aqabah was left with no zoning plan except for the one made by the British in 1945, more than sixty years ago. Despite the population increase and changing needs of the village inhabitants, the Civil Administration ignored their needs and turned them into "lawbreakers" against their will. According to Mayor Sadeq, 600 residents were forced to leave the village due to the Israeli expansion and annexation policies, and only 300 residents remain.cite news
last =
first =
title = Army to annex 80% of Al Aqaba village
pages =
publisher = IMEMC
date = 2007-05-12
url=http://www.imemc.org/article/48304
accessdate = 2006-05-02]

In 2003, the Israeli Civil Administration began issuing demolition orders against the village structures, claiming "lack of building permits" and ignoring the repeated attempts of the village at getting a land-use plan authorized. Bulldozers sent by the Civil Administration arrived at the village and destroyed two homes. After the intervention of the American Consulate, the demolitions were halted. However, the Civil Administration continued issuing Demolition Orders to further its plan of demolishing the village and converting it into a "closed military area." Mayor Sadeq and Gush Shalom argue that Israel's plan aims to annex 805 more dunams of the village's lands and reshape the village in accordance with the Civil Administration's plan. According to this plan, the army intends to demolish all of the houses that will be out of the village’s new border, and to move these families to the new boundaries of the village after it loses most of it lands. If the Civil Administration's plan is fully implemented and the army demolishes most of the houses, only six houses will remain inside the new border, and for all practical purposes, the village will be destroyed.

As of May 2008, 35 of the village structures - virtually the entire village - face demolition orders.

Court petition

The village, with the help of Rebuilding Alliance, hired an Israeli attorney to petition the Israeli Supreme Court for a lifting of the Demolition Orders and for initiating a land-use plan that will answer the population's needs. The petition was filed in January 2004, and the court issued a Temporary Restraining Order staying further demolitions pending the outcome of the case.cite web
last = Israeli Supreme Court
first =
title = HCJ 143/04 Ahmad Jaber et al. v. The State of Israel- Temporary Restraining Order
url=http://elyon1.court.gov.il/files/04/430/001/C01/04001430.c01.htm
date = 2004-01-14
accessdate = 2008-04-25] On April 17, 2008, after 4 years of negotiations, the Supreme Court - sitting as a High Court of Justice (HCJ) - finally heard the case. None of the village residents was allowed to attend the hearing in the Supreme Court in Jerusalem. In oral argument, Adv. Tusya-Cohen stated that it was the state's duty to set up a team of experts, to draw up an up-to-date Master Plan, according to which building permits could have been issued - not to stick to a completely obsolete plan, decades out of date and completely unfitting the conditions on the ground, making his clients into "law-breakers" against their will.

Court decision

On the same day of the hearing, the HCJ issued a 1-page decision denying the petitions and authorizing the demolitions of all the structures. Judges Edmond Levy, Miriam Naor and Yoram Danziger wrote:

As for the demolition orders themselves – Petitioners have no real cause for granting an order and receiving a remedy. Even if the planning authorities committed negligence by omission, and we do not say so, this does not give permission for chaotic building and setting facts on the ground that may become obstacles for any future planning. Moreover, cancelling the demolition orders – as the Petitioners request – would be tantamount to the Court authorizing the [building] offenses, and it is obvious that Petitioners cannot win such a remedy.

The judges concluded by authorizing the demolition of the entire village, claiming incorrectly that no land-use plan exists for the village. However, they ended the decision by "acknowledging" the Civil Administration's proposal that would leave several public buildings standing but demolish most of the homes in the village.

Response to court decision

The residents of Aqabah, Mayor Haj Sami Sadeq and Israeli and American human rights organizations are determined to continue to fight to save the village. “Those who sign such a barbaric order and send soldiers to terrorize children in a small, quiet village where few hundred families live, prove the nullity of the governmental peace speeches and solemn conferences," said Gush Shalom, the Israeli Peace Bloc, in a letter of protest to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Gush Shalom and The Rebuilding Alliance argue that the Supreme Court's decision is seriously flawed because it is based on grave misrepresentations and omission of facts. As documents from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs prove, in 1998 the Village Council filed a master plan. Thus, the assertion that there is no master plan is factually wrong. Had the Civil Administration authorized it or addressed it in any manner, the villagers would have been able to obtain permits for construction. In addition, in 2006 the village commissioned another comprehensive land-use plan which was drawn by Architect Jamal Juma and filed at the Israeli Civil Administration offices located in Beit El, West Bank. But, as in the first Master Plan, the Civil Administration ignored the plan and did not answer the Village Council's request to have it reviewed. The Israeli Supreme Court completely ignored the existence of this plan, falsely portraying the villagers as "law-breakers" and "chaotic builders" who have no respect for rule of law.

Moreover, as of April 2008, the Israeli-NGO BIMKOM (Israeli Planners for Planning Rights) has agreed to review the plan to insure its conformity to Israeli standards. The Rebuilding Alliance argues that because this village has never had any security issues, the most logical and humane way to proceed would be to stay the demolition orders until the land-use plan is authorized. This course of action follows a precedent that was set in the case of the Palestinian village Wallaje in southern Jerusalem. There was no up-to-date Master Plan, and as a result houses were built illegally. But voluntary organizations offered to draw up such a Master Plan for Wallaje at their own expense, and the Jerusalem Municipality, having authority in that case, agreed to declare a three-year moratorium on house demolitions in Wallaje pending the completion of that plan. The Aqabah families and their attorneys argue there is no reason why a similar arrangement cannot be made with respect to Aqabah village. On April 30, 2008, the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center agreed to represent many of the Aqabah families and fight the demolition orders.

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQOAWOkVtfQ video - The Kindergarten in Al Aqabah]
* [http://www.rebuildingalliance.org/blog/?p=440 A Historian's Perspective on Al Aqabah]
* [http://www.rebuildinghomes.org/ Rebuilding Alliance]
* [http://www.icahd.org/eng/ Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions website]
* [http://www.bimkom.org/aboutEng.asp BIMKOM - Planners for Planning Rights]
* [http://www.mosaada.org/eng/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1 Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center]

ee also

* House Demolitions in the West Bank
* Sumud
* Oslo Accords

References