Ramallah, occupied West Bank – After years of brutal attacks and restrictions, the roughly 200 villagers of Ein Samiya were forcibly evicted by the Israeli army and settlers in what rights groups called a “war crime”. Among the villagers were 78 children whose school was selected for demolition by the Israeli authorities.
The last families left in a village that has shrunk by 30 percent under constant harassment loaded their belongings into trucks on Wednesday, 44 years after they first settled there.
“How is it easy for us? We were born and raised here, but they made our lives unbearable,” 33-year-old Sumoud Ibrahim, who was displaced with her husband and four children, told Al Jazeera.
Ein Samiya was built on private land owned by Palestinian residents of the nearby village of Kafr Malek which allowed migratory herders to settle there. The families lived in the al-Auja area of the Jordan Valley before that, moving frequently.
In the 1990s, under the Oslo Accords, their village was classified as being in Area C – the 60 percent of the occupied West Bank controlled by the Israeli military, severely restricting Palestinian construction and development in the area through demolition, fines and other penalties. .
They still rely on livestock and herds as their main source of income and live in simple houses made of aluminum and tin because of these restrictions, most of which were built with funding from the European Union.
Now they left their homes and moved to open lands in the relatively nearby village of al-Mughayyir – which is often attacked by settlers – and the al-Nuwaimah area in the Jordan Valley.
Residents worry that the areas are less safe but feel that, nevertheless, it is better for them.
Area C is also where hundreds of Israeli settlements and outposts, considered illegal under international law, exist. Over the past five years, attacks on settlers in Ein Samiya have included beatings, stone throwing and attacks on livestock and crops, among others.
Two of Ibrahim’s relatives have been attacked and beaten by settlers in recent years.
“They didn’t care if it was a child or a woman – the villagers beat us all. Last year, they broke the skull of my uncle’s wife, Haija,” said Ibrahim.
“They also beat my cousin – he had to get stitched up. The police also arrested his children, for no reason,” he continued. “The police protected the residents, they didn’t protect us.”
‘The crime of war’
In a statement published on Tuesday, the rights group B’Tselem said, “Israel’s policy, whose purpose is to allow the state to acquire more Palestinian land for Jewish use, is applied to entire West Bank against many Palestinian communities. . This policy is illegal. Forced displacement is a war crime.”
“For years, the residents of the community have suffered from violence perpetrated by Israeli forces, from settler violence perpetrated with the full support of the state, and from severe restrictions in the construction of houses and infrastructure, as well as demolitions,” the statement continued. , and added that the village school will also be demolished soon.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Palestinian Authority presidential spokesman Ibrahim Melhem said: “This is called ethnic cleansing, forcing the residents of Ein Samiya to leave, under the threat of settlers and other restrictions. “
“It is terrorism and racism that require international intervention and especially from the EU, which has helped support these communities. This forced displacement has succeeded, which means it is a threat to other communities,” he said. .
There are at least 46 villages and communities, home to more than 8,000 Palestinians, that the United Nations considers to be at “high risk of forced displacement due to a ‘relocation’ plan advanced by the authorities of Israel” in Area C of the West Bank.
While at least 46 percent of Area C is private Palestinian land, Israel has made less than 1 percent of that available for Palestinian construction, and most of it is already built.
When asked about the role of the PA, Melhem said: “The PA has no ability to prevent such crimes. It is a victim of these crimes, because the international community does not implement the agreed decisions in dealing with Israel.”
“There are thousands of decisions condemning the construction of settlements, and condemning such crimes and the constant killings, but there are double standards that make the international community and their decisions more lenient in dealing with Israel,” Melhem continued.
He added that the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission of the PA “offers the community of Ein Samiya … everything to strengthen their presence wherever they go, but our main goal is to put pressure on they return to their lands, without stopping. and go to another place”.
Mohammad Kaabneh, 70, had no choice but to pack up and leave with his 11 family members, including his children and grandchildren. He is “weary”, he told Al Jazeera, citing the constant pressure they live under.
“The settlers come every night. At midnight and 1 in the morning, they come and throw stones at our places. We go out to defend and push them back, so they run and come back after half an hour. They start to coming at us from all sides,” he continued.
“We’ll be living in the heat for at least a month before we can rebuild our homes,” he added, gesturing around him.
“I need to find people who stand with me, to feel that someone supports us. This land is very dear to me, but I am forced to do it.
“We want to live, and raise our children safely,” he told Al Jazeera.
