Aqabah (, and also called Al Aqabah, Aqaba, or Al Aqaba) is a Palestinian village in the northeastern West Bank, which is being targeted for demolition by the Israeli Civil Administration (the IDF agency responsible for controlling the West Bank) as the majority of structures were alleged to have been built without permits from the Israeli military administration. Surrounded by two Israeli military bases and a ‘virtual wall’ of checkpoints, Al-Aqaba's connections to neighboring communities, markets and the Jordan Valley have been gradually severed: since 1967, al-Aqaba's population has decreased by 85%, dropping from around 2,000 to less than 200 today. While many al-Aqaba residents no longer live in the village itself, they still hope to return to their land, and still send their children to the local school.

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 Israeli Civil Administration has so far issued 39 Demolition Orders against the houses and structures of the village, including the medical center, an internationally funded kindergarten, the houses, and the village mosque.

A petition to the Israeli Supreme Court asking the court to cancel the demolition orders on the basis of an existing land-use plan was rejected on April 17, 2008.

The villagers, led by Mayor Haj Sami Sadeq, have initiated a local and international campaign, in cooperation with several Israeli and American human rights organizations, to save the village. The campaign has included taking Israelis and foreign diplomats to visit Aqabah, lobbying the Quartet and asking for its intervention, and conducting a US speaking tour with the participation of Mayor Sadeq and prominent Israeli architect Shmuel Groag.

The goal of the campaign is to encourage the Israeli authorities to authorize the land-use plans and allow the village to stand.

History

Byzantine period

Aqabah is mentioned in the 6th-7th century Mosaic of Reḥob inscription under the name ’Iqabin (איקבין), being a place inhabited mostly by non-Jews and, therefore, agricultural produce obtained from the area could be taken by Jews without the normal restrictions imposed during the Sabbatical years, or the need for tithing.

Israeli occupation (1967- )

After the 1967 Six-Day War, for 36 years, Aqabah was the site of an Israeli military camp, and the area was declared as closed military zone, with only 4 pre-1967 stone houses regarded by the occupying power as 'legal'. Another 70 houses built since without Israeli permits, which cannot be obtained in areas defined as military zones, are up for demolition. The IDF conducted live training exercises inside the village, causing the death of 8 villagers and wounding more than 50 residents.

Haj Sami Sadeq, Mayor of Aqabah, is one of the victims of those live training exercises, paralyzed for life after being shot by three bullets while working in his fields as a 16 year old.

In addition, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Israeli military also expropriated large areas of privately registered land.

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.

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. Israel has refused to connect the village to a water grid, and supplies have to be purchased and trucked in.

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.

Threats and Acts of Demolition

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.

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

On April 17, 2008, after four 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.

Rebuilding Alliance founder Donna Baranski-Walker issued a press release noting that the village has never posed any security problem, and there is no justification for demolishing the houses. The demolition orders should be stayed until BIMKOM's land-use plan is authorized.

See also

  • House demolition in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
  • Sumud
  • Oslo Accords

References

  • video - The Kindergarten in Al Aqabah
  • A Historian's Perspective on Al Aqabah
  • Rebuilding Alliance
  • Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions website
  • BIMKOM - Planners for Planning Rights
  • Adam Keller's Blog
  • Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center
  • Aqaba, Welcome to Palestine
  • Al 'Aqaba (Fact Sheet), Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem, ARIJ, February, 2006
  • Al Aqaba village profile, ARIJ, February, 2006