The occupation authorities issue an order preventing a Jerusalemite from using his land in Silwan
The Israeli Magistrate court issued on Thursday an order preventing the Dr. Samir Shqeir from using his land in the neighborhood of Wad Al-Rababeh in Silwan for three years.
Dr. Shqeir who is also a member of the committee for protecting land in Wad Al-Rababeh said to Wadi Hilweh Information Center: “The Magistrate court issued an order on Thursday preventing me from using my land for three years, whether by planting or building walls or renovating them. In the event of a violation of the decision of the court, a fine of NIS 10,000 and an actual prison for two weeks will be applied.”
Dr. Shqeir explained that the Nature and Parks authority has been trying since 2013 to prevent the owners of lands in Wadi Al-Rababeh from using their land (planting, renovating, building walls from bricks or even building supporting walls). Along with the occupation municipality, they actually carried out a wide operation of sweeping and damaging large area of land in Wad Al-Rababeh, and had harassed the owners with fines, arrests and orders to remove the contents of the lands. Dr. Shqeir confirmed that all of the owners have the official documents which prove their ownership but the Nature and Parks authority are attempting to seize the land to turn it into national parks.
Dr. Shqeir appealed to the Palestinian Authority and local and international human rights organizations to intervene immediately and seriously to preserve the lands of Wad Al-Rababeh, which has an area of more than 20 Dunoms (20,000 square meters) and are owned by many families, as they face the risk of being confiscated in favor of settlement projects.
