Days of Palestine – Jerusalem
Israeli occupation forces suppressed a peaceful march condemning the construction of a military settlement street in the “Al-Thaqara” area, west of Hizma, northeast of occupied Jerusalem.
Local sources reported that a young man was hit with rubber-coated metal bullets in the leg, and dozens of them suffocated. Two fainted today, Friday, due to the suppression of the Israeli occupation forces.
“Israeli occupation forces fired metal bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas at the Palestinian citizens, who went out to perform Friday prayers for the third consecutive week on the lands surrounding the street, injuring a number of them,” sources said.
The participants in the march raised the Palestinian flag, slogans, and banners condemning the settlement. They chanted angry slogans against the occupation policy of seizing dozens of dunums of the town’s lands and depriving citizens and shepherds of access to their lands.
Hizma is a Palestinian village located on the northeastern outskirts of Jerusalem. The village has a population of 6,097 people (PCBS 2006) and it is surrounded by the illegal Israeli settlement of Adam (Geva Binyamin), and the Palestinian localities of Al-Ram and Dahiet Al Barid, and the Israeli Apartheid Segregation Wall from its north and northwestern, from its Southside, by ‘Anata and Shu’fat Refugee Camp and the Israeli Apartheid Segregation Wall, and by Beit Hanina as well as the Illegal Israeli settlements of Neve Yacov, Pisgat Ze’ev, Pisgat Amir, and the Israeli Apartheid Segregation Wall from its west, and by the Illegal Israeli settlement of Almon (Anatot), the planned section of the Segregation Wall from its eastern side.
Hizma’s village boundary exceeds 10,394 dunums most of which is agricultural lands, as for the village’s built-up area it stands at 870 dunums.
The town of Hizma is one of the Palestinian villages that lost many of its lands behind the Israeli Apartheid Segregation Wall and for the construction of Illegal Israeli Settlements. In Hizma, the interlacing relation between the Apartheid Segregation Wall and the Illegal Israeli settlements is evident since the Segregation Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is part of an Israeli long-term plan aiming to control as much as possible of the Palestinian empty and agricultural lands including areas where illegal Israeli settlements are located.
On the ground, the Palestinian town of Hizma had lost about (6,795 dunums) from its total area (10,394 dunums), which constitute 66% of the town’s total area, behind the Israeli Apartheid Segregation Wall and for the Illegal construction of the Israeli settlements.
The illegal Israeli Settlements & Their Expansions
There are four Illegal Israeli settlements built on Hizma’s lands. These large urban settlements are Neve Ya’acov, Pisgat Ze’ev, Pisgat Amir, and Anatot .moreover, there is also an Illegal Israeli outpost controlling additional Palestinian lands located in the eastern part of Hizma.
It is worth mentioning that the four Illegal Israeli settlements accommodate more than 60,000 Illegal Israeli settlers, and occupy an area of 6,108 dunums of lands 2351, 5 dunums come from land confiscated from Hizma. In other words, the town of Hizma had lost 23 % of its lands for the construction of illegal Israeli settlements.
The Israeli Segregation Wall
In December 2004, the Israeli bulldozers started to turn Hizma’s lands upside down preparing for the construction of the Israeli Apartheid Segregation Wall. Sometime during the following year, the Israeli Army served Hizma’s residents with two military orders holding numbers (5/34/T) & (5/36/T). The first was to confiscate approximately 9.2 dunums for the construction of the Segregation Wall and the other to confiscate 12 dunums from the nearby Palestinian localities of Al Jab’a and Al-Ram.
On the ground, the Segregation Wall stretches for 6.2 km along with the Western parts of Hizma’s lands. Once completed, the Segregation Wall will isolate 4,443 dunums (4.4 km2) = (43%) of the Hizma’s lands. Thus, these lands will be de-facto annexed to the illegal Israeli settlements of Neve Ya’acov, Pisgat Ze’ev, and Pisgat Amir, which dominate the western hills of the town.
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