A few of Al-Nu'eman houses. In the background: Har-Homa neighbourhood.

 

At first sight, Al-Nu'eman seems a peaceful village: 22 homes, surrounded by fruit trees and olive orchards, on a beautiful hill between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Within a few years, however, very little of this may be left.  Unless people take action, this village will most likely disappear.  Israeli courts may rule yet again that the residents of Al-Nu'eman have no right to their lands and their homes, that they are trespassers in their own village, and a threat to Israeli security. The siege around Al-Nu'eman from all sides is tightening, and it seems that soon its inhabitants will be rendered refugees. If we cannot stop this silent deportation, we can at least speak out, make this case known, and share with you, in sharp detail, how the larger picture of occupation is personally felt by the residents of this village.

 

Location of the village on Jerusalem's map

 

 

Mistaken identity
The Al-Nu'eman tragedy began in 1967, when an Israeli army committee charged with setting the post-occupation borders of Jerusalem, decided to annex the village to Jerusalem, and thus to the state of Israel. Residents of Al-Nu'eman, however, were listed in the census of that same year as residents of nearby Umm at-Tala', which was not annexed to Jerusalem. Al-Nu'eman`s land was now officially part of Israel, but its people were not – they had become residents of the Occupied Territories. For more than 25 years this absurd situation mattered very little – the city of Jerusalem did not provide the village with any services, nor did it collect taxes or enforce building codes so the village continued its life the way that it always had. Children and adults went to school and worked in the closest villages which were part of the Jerusalem Municipality, received services from the Occupied Territories, and no one knew there was a problem. (An article about 'The Legal status of East Jerusalem and its residents' in 'B'tselem' website)

 

 

Satellite photo: the red line is the seperation fence. Areas B-D are extensions planned for Har-Homa. Al-Nu'eman is located just to the right of area D.

 

Welcome to Jerusalem
Trouble started in the 1990s. In 1992, representatives of the Israeli government arrived in the village and announced that since the city of Jerusalem had not prepared a zoning plan for the area, building of any kind was prohibited. In 1996, the children of Al-Nu'eman were made to leave the school in neighboring Umm Tuba, because the school belongs to Jerusalem municipality and they did not have Jerusalem residency. In 1993, Israel enforced a closure on the Occupied Territories, and since that time has required special permits for any Palestinian seeking to enter Israel from the territories. Thus, it became ostensibly illegal for residents of Al-Nu'eman to live in their own homes. In 2003, when plans for the "separation barrier" were on the way, the men of the village were occasionally arrested in their homes and charged with illegal presence in Israel (an article on the consequences of the fence in 'The Guardian'). All efforts to change this situation through the Israeli Ministry of the Interior and the Israeli Supreme Court have been rebuffed. The village continues to receive water, electricity, and sewage services from the Occupied Territories, and now the only contact residents have with the Jerusalem Municipality is in the heavy fines they pay for building their houses, and the charges that they must pay for the Israeli demolition of two `illegal` homes in January 2006. Further demolitions are pending.

 

 

One of the houses which were demolished on January '06

 

Good enough to pay the fines but not to be citizens . . .

(The sentence of the court declaring the illegality of a house which was demolished)

 

Under Siege
Two roads once led to Al-Nu'eman. In 1994, the Israeli army began intermittently blocking the road leading north, towards neighboring Umm Tuba and Jerusalem. Thus, Bethlehem became the residents` only choice for services and employment. In 2003, as work on the separation barrier got under way, the road to Bethlehem was also blocked, first intermittently and now permanently. The village is thus effectively under siege. The residents are supposedly permitted to pass into the Occupied Territories but, in fact, are harassed daily as they try and enter through the gate in the barrier, while entering Israel is illegal since they are not residents.

 

A blocked road on the entrance to the village

 

 

Occupation Kills
Residents of Al-Nu'eman live in fear: their every movement depends on the good will of the Border Police – sometimes passage through the separation barrier is allowed, at other times, just as mysteriously, it is denied. Those seeking passage may be detained, forced to undress or otherwise humiliated. On December 16, 2005, Al-Nu'eman residents Mahmud and Da`ud Shawawra were stopped by Border Police between Al-Nu'eman and Umm Tuba (both Arab villages yet Umm Tuba, 300 meters north of Al-Nu'eman, is inside the Jerusalem Municipality) and accused of illegal presence in Israel. Da`ud was taken to a police station while Mahmud, who was riding a mule, refused to go along. He was found several hours later, tied to his mule, badly battered and unconscious. Five days later he died in hospital, never having regained consciousness. He was 43 years old and a father of eight. ('Haaretz' report of the incident in hebrew)

 

 

The valley where 'Liberman' road is being paved.

 

An inspector calls
Dvir Cahana was the first to tell Al-Nu'eman residents of the plans for their future. Cahana arrived in the village in March 2003 accompanied by the Border Police. He announced that he represented the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Housing and the Jerusalem Municipality. He presented a map showing the projected separation barrier cutting the village off from the Occupied Territories, and told residents the decision had been taken to `clear` the village of its residents. Cahana offered financial compensation for those willing to leave immediately. Those who stay, he said, `will be like a tree without water`. Human rights activists, lawyers and journalists have been here since, promising to fight the decree. But Cahana, it seems, may have the last word. (To the relevant 'Haaretz' report in Hebrew)

 

 

Quiet village life. Not for long.

 

Sorry, you're in the way
Residents` request to move the barrier west so that they have at least access to the Occupied Territories, their source for school and work, was denied `for reasons of planning`. Work on a new road to the settlements of Nokdim and Tekoa and on a `terminal` related to the barrier is already in progress on the village’s agricultural lands. Plans to build Jerusalem’s new ring road, as well as the Jewish neighborhood Har Homa D on village lands and houses have been approved. All these plans seem to assume that the village will soon disappear. How? By siege, intimidation, court orders, house demolitions, and the complacency of the Israeli public and the world, to whom Al-Nu'eman is all but invisible.

Go to the news archive in order the get a better comprehension of the political and legal history of Al-Nueman, or Watch the Movie

So what can be done?