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B'TSelem and Bimkom report: The Modi'in Illit Bloc
décembre 27, 2005
The Modi'in Illit Bloc
Source : B’TSelem
This case relates to a group of four settlements that were built as one urban bloc west of Ramallah and near Modi’in, a town inside Israel. The largest of the group is Modi’in Illit, which is located in the middle of the bloc. The other settlements in the bloc – Hashmonaim, Matityahu, and Menorah – lie to the west and south of Modi’in Illit. Access to the bloc is via Route 446, an offshoot of Route 443 going north. At the end of 2004, the Modi’in Illit bloc had 32,000 residents.
West of the bloc is a strip of land that runs to the outskirts of Jerusalem and known as "no-man’s land" because, until 1967, it was not under the control of either Jordan or Israel. Following Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, Israel annexed this strip and subsequently built four communities on it, three of them – Shilat, Lapid, and Kfar Ruth – in territorial contiguity with the Modi’in Illit bloc.
The Modi’in Illit Bloc
The Modi’in Illit settlement was established in 1993 as an urban community intended to ease the housing shortage of ultra-Orthodox Jews from Bnai Brak and Jerusalem. With 28,000 residents, it is the second largest settlement in the West Bank (not including East Jerusalem). As a result of a high birth rate and large-scale movement of families into the community, the settlement has grown by 350 percent in the past eight years. In 1996, Modi’in Illit was declared a local council. Its jurisdictional area covers 5,800 dunams, half of which is built-up. The settlement has two principal neighborhoods: Kiryat Sefer, in the center of the settlement, and Ahuzat Brechfeld, in the north. In 1996, Ganei Modi’in, a "neighborhood" west of Hashmonaim that is not contiguous with Modi’in Illit, became part of the settlement.
The other three settlements in the bloc belong to the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. Hashmonaim, which lies west of Modi’in Illit, was established in 1988 and has 2,200 residents living in 500 housing units. Its jurisdictional area covers 500 dunams. Matityahu, which is situated between Modi’in Illit and Hashmonaim, was established in 1981 and has 400 residents. Its jurisdictional area covers 900 dunams. Most of the residents of these two settlements, like those in Modi’in Illit, are ultra-Orthodox.
The Menorah settlement (also known as Kfar Haoranim) lies south of Modi’in Illit and has 1,700 residents. It is the only settlement in the Modi’in Illit bloc that is secular. It was founded in 1998 with complete territorial contiguity with Lapid, one of the communities inside the "no-man’s land." Access to Menorah is possible only via Lapid.
Many outline plans relating to the Modi’in Illit bloc are now in advanced stages of development. We shall only consider the plans that significantly affected the determination of the separation barrier’s route. We shall see that the route chosen has caused greater harm to Palestinian farmers living in the nearby villages than would have resulted had the route been determined solely on the desire to protect the bloc as it exists today. Our findings also prove that Israel’s goal is to gain control of privately-owned Palestinian land on the Israeli side of the barrier and thereby enable construction on that land as well.
The Outline Plans
Outline Plan 210/8/1 (Matityahu East)
The site of Outline Plan 210/8/1, known as Matityahu East and Nahalat Hephziba, is also situated within the jurisdictional area of Modi’in Illit and lies southeast of the settlement’s built-up area. The land is owned by the Custodian and the non-profit organization Keren L’geulat Hakarka (Redemption of the Land Foundation). The organization is the project developer and the party that filed the plan. The plan covers 872 dunams, one-quarter of which is designated for the construction of 3,008 housing units. The plan also designates land for public buildings (135 dunams), a nature reserve (30 dunams), roads (126 dunams), future planning (100 dunams), and other uses. The plan is a revision of a previous plan for the site (Outline Plan 210/8), which was approved in November 1998, and enabled the construction of "only" 1,500 housing units.
The Supreme Planning Council discussed the plan in 2004 and recommended that it be deposited for the filing of objections. However, approval of the plan by the barrier’s planners was halted because of uncertainty regarding the route of the separation barrier in the area. Eighteen months later, in September 2005, the Supreme Planning Council’s subcommittee for settlement approved the plan. However, following the filing of a petition in the High Court against the barrier’s route in this area, the State Attorney’s Office directed the planners not to publish the plan, i.e., not to take the actions necessary to obtain approval of the plan.
However, in early 2004, construction began on the site, before the plan was approved and without building permits. Thirteen buildings eight- or nine-stories high, containing some 280 housing units, have already been built. In addition, the construction of twenty more buildings has begun. About one-quarter of the land designated for residential use is under construction. In response to Bimkom’s question to the Civil Administration inquiring about the illegal construction taking place on the site, the Civil Administration stated that it had issued stop-work orders. In a visit to the site in September 2005, Bimkom and B’Tselem found that the work was moving ahead rapidly.
Outline Plan 210/4/2 (Ohr Someyach)
This plan, also known as Ohr Someyach and Naot Hapisga, lies within the confines of Modi’in Illit, east of the built-up area. The land is owned in part by the Custodian and in part by the Hareut Company. The plan was initiated by the Special Committee for the Planning and Building of Modi’in Illit, and was submitted by "Ohr Someyach institutions" and "Kiryat Ohr, "which are based in Jerusalem. In July 2002, the Supreme Planning Council gave its final approval to the plan, and construction work began in 2004. The site covers 559 dunams, 154 of which are designated for the construction of 2,748 housing units. The plan designates 140 dunams for public buildings, 85 dunams for open space, 133 dunams for roads, and 14 dunams for a commercial area.
Outline Plan 210/6/3 (Matityahu North)
Matityahu North is the northern neighborhood of the Modi’in Illit Local Council. Its plan encompasses four stages: Stages 1 and 2, the western sections (Outline Plan 210/6/1-2), were approved in 2000 and much of the construction has been completed. These two stages, which contain 2,600 housing units, were given the name Ahuzat Brechfeld. Stages 3 and 4, the eastern sections (Outline Plan 210/6/3), have not yet been deposited, so only partial details are available. Most of the Matityahu North site is linked to Keren L’geulat Hakarka and Zipha International Ltd., which are partial owners of the land, the developers, and the parties that submitted the plan. The site covers 334 dunams, with 108 dunams allocated for housing. According to the Modi’in Illit Master Plan, which will be discussed below, 4,460 housing units (this number is not final) are to be built in Matityahu North. The eastern sections, Stages 3 and 4, call for 1,800 housing units, some of which lie outside of Modi’in Illit’s municipal borders.
Outline Plan 208/3 (Ganei Modi’in 3)
This plan, known as Ganei Modi’in 3, is situated north of Ganei Modi’in, in the jurisdictional area of Modi’in Illit, but is not contiguous with the rest of the settlement. This site runs along the eastern slope of a 238-meter-high hill, 200 meters from the nearby village al-Midya. The developer is Philodendron 12 Ltd., a real-estate company that claims to own the land. The plan was heard by the Supreme Planning Council in February 2004. Because the route of the separation barrier in that area had not been determined at that time, it was decided to postpone depositing the plan until a later date. The site covers 200 dunams, most of which is designated for the construction of 280 housing units. The buildings are dual-family structures with each unit comprising 220 sq. meters. The plan also designates land for roads (50 dunams), public buildings (4-10 dunams), and a commercial area (less than one dunam).
Outline Plan 211/2 (Menorah)
The site of this plan lies inside the jurisdictional area of Menorah (Kfar Haoranim), southeast of the settlement’s built-up area. The Custodian owns the land. The developer and party submitting the plan is Bar-Tura Ltd. The plan covers 668 dunams, with thirty percent of the land (100 dunams) intended for residential use. The rest of the land is designated as woods (84 dunams), and public open spaces (129 dunams). It should be noted that the plan contains a few islands of Palestinian-owned land that are not included in the plan. The Supreme Planning Council granted final approval in 1999, but construction has not yet begun, apparently because of difficulties in finding a route for an access road to the new neighborhood.
The Modi'in Illit Master Plan
The Modi’in Illit Master Plan, made in 1998, relates to the four settlements in the bloc and to Lapid, Shilat, and Kfar Ruth, the communities situated in the "no-man’s land." The plan was initiated by the Ministry of Construction and Housing, with the cooperation of the Civil Administration’s Planning Department, the Modi’in Illit Local Council, and the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. A master plan does not have a statutory status and does not undergo any approval process. It is a guide for planning policy for a specific area, and forms the basis for the preparation of outline plans. One of the "advantages" of a master plan, as far as the authorities are concerned, is that objections cannot be raised against it.
The master plan provides a forecast for the year 2020, by which time Modi’in Illit bloc will have 25,000 housing units and 150,000 residents. The total land area of the plan, including roads, is 17,302 dunams, forty percent of which are for residential use, fifteen percent for public buildings, and open spaces, and six percent for roads.
One of the conspicuous features of the master plan is that it ignores the borders of the local authorities. Part of the plan applies to land lying outside its jurisdictional area, including some that is privately-owned Palestinian land. For example, attached to Outline Plan 210/8/1 (Matityahu East), discussed above, are 600 dunams of land that now lie outside Modi’in Illit’s jurisdictional area, on which 1,200 housing units are to be built, in addition to the 3,000 units in the official plan. The "attached" land, which contains many olive trees, is owned by Palestinian residents of the adjacent village Bil’in. The Matityahu North plan goes beyond the settlement’s borders and adds 1,800 housing units to the 2,600 units set forth in the approved plans, which are to be built on the land of the village Deir Qadis. The master plan also contains a neighborhood (Ramat Modi’in) northeast of the Hashmonaim settlement. This plan, which covers an area of 400 dunams, lies outside Hashmonaim’s borders. The land, on which olive trees are planted, is owned by residents of the Palestinian village Nil’in. The master plan also proposes for construction large areas of land situated next to the built-up area, indicating that the land reserves inside Modi’in Illit’s built-up area have not yet been exhausted.
The Barrier's Route
The route of the separation barrier around the Modi’in Illit bloc was first approved by the government in October 2003, as part of Stage 3 of the barrier. It is fifteen kilometers long, and runs from the southern edge of al-Midya in the north to Saffa in the south, and extends as far as four kilometers from the Green Line. For most of its length, the route runs alongside the nearby Palestinian villages. Following the High Court’s decision in Beit Sourik, given in June 2004, Israel thoroughly revised the barrier’s route. In February 2005, the government approved the revised route, which moved most of the route around the Modi’in Illit bloc a few hundred meters closer to the Green Line, shortening the route by two kilometers. As a result, the area between the barrier and the Green Line was reduced by 2,000 dunams.
Despite this, most of the route around the Modi’in Illit bloc is almost identical to the original route that was set in September 2003, and does not conform to the revised route approved by the government in February 2005. An exception is the most southern section, west of Saffa, where the barrier was built according to the revised route. In the northern section (south of Deir Qadis, N’alin, and al-Midya), work has not begun because of petitions pending in the High Court of Justice that were filed by Palestinian and by settlers. However, based on the recent requisition orders relating to these areas, which are currently in effect, the route was generally based on the original decision, and not on the revised route.
The aerial photo of the Modi’in Illit bloc shows that the outline plans described above, which will expand the Modi’in Illit bloc in all directions, was a primary consideration in setting the barrier’s route. In the southern section, the route runs along the border of Area B around Saffa, some 1,200 meters from the built-up area of Menorah, completely surrounding the Outline Plan 211/2 site. In the eastern section, the route follows the eastern borders of Outline Plan 210/8/1 (Matityahu East) and Outline Plan 210/4/2 (Ohr Someyach), and the borders that were drawn in the master plan. In this section, the route runs 1,800 meters from the built-up area of Modi’in Illit (the Kiryat Sefer neighborhood), very close to the houses of the Palestinian villages Bil’in and Kharbata. The state admitted that these two plans were taken into account in setting the route. Regarding the northern section, based on the requisition orders that have been issued, the route leaves the sites of Outline Plans 210-/6/3 (Matityahu North) and 208/3 (Ganei Modi’in 3), neither of which has been approved, on the "Israeli" side of the barrier.
Consideration of these expansion plans compelled, in certain instances, the planners to choose an inferior route from a topographical and engineering perspective. For example, placing the area covered by Outline Plan 208/3 (Ganei Modi’in 3) on the "Israeli" side of the barrier required that the barrier run north of the hilltop on which the neighborhood is planned, placing the barrier at a lower altitude than the houses on the western side of the Palestinian village Nil’in. The revised route that the government approved in February 2005 runs a few hundred meters to the south, closer to the built-up area of Hashmonaim and Ganei Modi’in, on land with superior topographical features. In light of the topographical inferiority, seven generals serving in the reserves, in an opinion on behalf of the Council for Peace and Security, warned against the security ramifications of running the barrier north of the hilltop on which Ganei Modi’in 3 is planned.
A similar situation was created in the section west of Bil’in, where Israel wanted to run the barrier around the site of the Matityahu East and Naot Hapisga plans. The route descends to an altitude of 260 meters, to the bottom of a deep river bed (Wadi a-Ralb), which separates the planned neighborhoods. In the segment that crosses the wadi, the route is lower than Bil’in, thus requiring complex and expensive engineering work. Had the barrier’s goal been to protect Modi’in Illit as it currently exists – in this area, only Kiryat Sefer – the barrier could run a few hundred meters to the west, 200 hundred meters from the built-up area, and avoid the descent to the wadi.
Effect of the Barrier’s Route on the Palestinian Population
The separation barrier being built around the Modi’in Illit bloc runs adjacent to the houses of six Palestinian villages: al-Midya, Nil’in, Deir Qadis, Kharbata, Bil’in, and Saffa. These villages have a total of 16,000 residents. In the 1980s and early 1990s, thousands of dunams of these villages, some of which are privately owned, were declared state land and designated for the establishment and expansion of the Modi’in Illit bloc settlements. As a result of the barrier’s route, thousands more dunams that are now used for farming and grazing, or are intended for future development, will be separated from the rest of the villages’ land.
For example, 3,000 dunams of land belonging to Saffa that are situated southeast of the Menorah settlement, which comprise one-third of the village’s land, remain on the western side of the barrier (construction of this section of the barrier will soon be completed). In addition, 250 dunams of the village’s land have been taken to build the barrier, during which trees were uprooted and the land leveled. Of the land remaining west of the barrier, 2,100 dunams are privately owned and contain, among other things, 3,000 old olive trees. The head of the village council estimates that the income from the sale of olive oil generated from these trees amounts to half a million shekels a year, , and constitutes a major part of the livelihood of many families. The same is true for the other five Palestinian villages.
The Palestinian Land Affected by the Route of the Separation Barrier around the Modi’in Illit Bloc (in dunams)
| Name of community | Number of residents | Land area | Land taken to build the barrier | Land on the "Israeli" side | Amount of village land harmed (by percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| al-Midya | 1,200 | 900 | 120 | 270 | 43% |
| Nil’in | 4,600 | 13,300 | 200 | 5,200 | 41% |
| Dir Qadis | 1,900 | 8,200 | 200 | 2,600 | 34% |
| Kharbata | 2,800 | 7,000 | 150 | 600 | 11% |
| Bil’in | 1,700 | 4,000 | 150 | 1,900 | 51% |
| Saffa | 3,900 | 9,700 | 250 | 3,000 | 33% |
| Total | 16,100 | 43,100 | 1,070 | 13,570 | 34% |
Source: The figures on the amount of land affected were obtained by cross-referencing figures from various Palestinian sources, among them local councils and non-governmental organizations.
After completing construction work on the barrier, Israel is expected to declare the area between it and the Green Line a closed military area, as it did in the case of sections of the barrier built as part of Stage 1 of the project. From that moment, Palestinians will be allowed access to their land east of the barrier only if they have an entry permit from the Civil Administration, which is contingent on a GSS finding there are no security reasons to refuse granting the permit, and subject to the resident proving ownership of land in the closed area. Based on past experience, some Palestinians will be denied all access to their land. Those who obtain permits will only be able to gain access during the hours in which the agricultural gates that will be installed in the barrier are open.
Israel contends that the establishment of gates reduces the harm caused to the Palestinian population by the construction of the barrier and makes it proportionate to the benefit provided by the barrier. This argument assumes that harm is caused to meet a military-security need. As we have seen above in this chapter, the primary reasons for setting the route around the Modi’in Illit bloc are not related to military-security needs, but are political and economic (i.e., are intended to benefit the real-estate developers). This being the case, the question of proportionality is irrelevant.
Furthermore, the permit regime proposed by Israel will not solve the two significant problems that are derived from the villagers’ separation from their land. First, some of the land that is situated west of the barrier comprises the small, and in some instances the only, amount of land reserves available for village construction. In their testimonies to B’Tselem, the village heads noted that the lack of building options is one of the main reasons that the young generation is leaving the villages. Second, one of the income sources of the villagers is raising sheep and goats. The barrier separates them from land that they previously used for grazing. Israel does not grant permits to residents to cross the barrier with their sheep and goats, so the villagers will have to buy more and more fodder for their flocks. This increased expense will force the villages to consider whether they should continue raising animals for a living.
Even worse, there is concrete evidence that plans exist to expand the Modi’in Illit bloc on privately-owned Palestinian land situated on the "Israeli" side of the barrier. As noted above, hundreds of dunams of privately-owned farmland outside the Modi’in Illit bloc, and also outside its official outline plans, are intended, according to the Modi’in Illit Master Plan, for the expansion of the settlements. For example, 600 dunams adjacent to Outline Plan 210/8/1 (Matityahu East), which are owned by a few families in nearby Bil’in, and on which hundreds of old olive trees are planted, are designated as a site for 1,200 housing units. In early November 2005, residents of Bil’in were surprised to find that a new road had been built leading from Matityahu East to the area involved. In the process, more than 100 olive trees were uprooted and stolen. On 13 November, the Bil’in Village Council filed a complaint with the Israeli Police Department’s Shai District. The building of the road strengthens the contention that Israel seeks to take control of the Palestinian land.
Similarly, 1,000 dunams of cultivated land owned by residents of Deir Qadis and N’alin that are situated near the site of Outline Plan 210/6/3 (Matityahu North 3) were attached in the master plan to land comprising the site of this outline plan.
Beginning in the early 1970s, Israel took control of hundreds of thousands of dunams throughout the West Bank by declaring them state land. According to the applicable legislation, such a declaration is legal, inter alia, if it is proven that the land was not worked for at least three consecutive years (see Appendix 1). In light of the objectives that are apparent in the master plan, there is grave concern that the hidden objective of the barrier is to cause the Palestinian residents to cease working the land that is intended for expansion of the settlements, and thereby enable Israel to declare them state land.
Suliman Yassin, 69, a resident of Bil'in
Suliman Yassin, 69, a resident of Bil’in, described in his testimony to B’Tselem the dramatic change in his life following construction of the barrier:
More than twenty-five years ago, I bought thirty dunams of land on the edge of my village… Our house, which is located in the center of the village, is too small for us, and we hoped to build houses for our children, when they grow up, on the land that I bought. I have been working the land ever since I bought it. I dug a well to water the land. I brought tons of dirt for planting and sowing. I needed to add the dirt because much of the land was rocky. There were twenty-five old olive trees on the land when I bought it. I planted more than fifty olive trees, about fifty almond and fig trees, and about twenty grapevines. In another part of the land, an area of some ten dunams, I planted grains, and on seven dunams I planted vegetables.
When I bought the land, I built a five-room house and a bathroom because I have twelve children, the oldest being forty-three years old and the youngest twenty-two. All of my children are married, and I have some thirty grandchildren. We all earn a livelihood from the land, and we all share the yield… In addition, I bought more than one hundred head of sheep and goats, which provide milk products and meat for the whole family. With the revenue, I bought another parcel of land that was next to my farmland…
A year ago, the Israeli army expropriated most of my farmland so they could build the separation fence. In February 2004, I received an order taking twenty-five dunams. The order came as a big surprise. Ten dunams planted with trees remain on the western side of the fence, and in a few days I won’t be able to get to them. Everything I had invested in the land, and the security that it gave me and my family was at risk… Although they took less land from me than from others [in the village], I was the only one who lost his primary source of income and most of his land. I was left with only five dunams, those on which we live – the house, which is 120 sq. meters, and three structures for the flock, and the well… I tried to replant the uprooted olive trees on the land that remained, but I only succeeded in planting fifteen of them. Now, the fence is in the final stages of completion.
Many demonstrations take place near my house, which lies about twenty meters from the fence. Lots of tear gas and stun grenades have been fired into my yard, and live ammunition and rubber bullets fired at demonstrators have hit the walls and windows of the house. Stones thrown by the demonstrators have landed inside our house. On numerous occasions, my family choked from the tear gas that was fired at the demonstrators. Two and a half months ago, my son Muhammad, who is thirty years old, choked and was wounded in the head by a tear-gas canister.
My flock, too, has been hit by army gunfire. Since last March, thirty of my goats have been killed by gunfire. In November 2004, I planted potatoes, but did not pick them, not even one, because the soldiers damaged the crop when they walked over it. They also destroyed more than two hundred heads of cauliflower, one-quarter dunam of garlic, half a dunam of onions, and one and a half dunams of beans.
Since they have taken my land, I feel as if my children and I have no future. I have become poor, and am left with only thirty head of sheep and goats. I began to sell my flock to meet our household needs. In the past, the flock grazed in wide-open spaces on the land, but now they are confined, and I have to buy them fodder. I feel that I’ll end up with not even one sheep, which means that I will have lost my livelihood and my last source of food, having lost my land. I hear the flock moaning, and understand their frustration, just as I understand the frustration of a person who is imprisoned and can’t get out. When the time comes for me to feed them, I feel queasy out of sorrow for my flock and the situation they are in.
Those of my children who were living with me left and moved to live in the village. Some of them had already left before work on the fence began, because they couldn’t build houses on our land, which is situated in Area C. Others, such as my son Marzuq, who lived with me together with his family, left the house because of the many demonstrations near the house, and out of fear of harassment by the soldiers. In the past, my whole family used to gather at our house, eat together, and spend most of our time there, and the children played on our large piece of land. Now we are all dispersed. Only my son Taysir and his wife and one of the grandchildren and my small daughter, who will soon marry, remain in the house. In the past, at this time of year, I fertilized the land. In the two months after I fertilized it, I sowed the wheat and barley, and grazed the flock in the morning. This year, though, I did not work the land and did not fertilize it, and the flock remained in the pen.
Not only has the fence damaged our livelihood, it also destroyed our privacy. They [the army] set up electric cameras to monitor the fence. These cameras document every movement and everything that happens near the fence. My house lies very close to the fence, so they document every movement of mine and of my family. For example, if at night I want to go to the bathroom, which is outside, an army patrol comes to the house to check what is going on in the yard. About a month ago, I forgot that a sack of fertilizer belonging to a relative of mine was next to the fence. Army jeeps broke into our house at 8:30 P.M., and the soldiers demanded that I go outside and take them to check what was in the sack… This is very scary, and I hate to think what would happen to me if one day somebody places next to the fence a sack like that with explosives inside. Our life has become hell. I feel humiliated and harassed all the time, and I don’t know what to do.
