Masafer Yatta - a demolition order of a school in Umm Kusa
Masafer Yatta
The purpose of the shift: a visit to the village of Umm-Kusa, whose school (as well as other buildings) are under order of demolition. There are also posts about this on Facebook and Twitter.
At the turn to road 317 opposite the Meitarim industrial area, you can clearly see the progress of the work preparing the area intended for the Meitarim vineyard for making wine. There is already fencing in some of the area. Three bulldozers were working on leveling additional areas, one of them near the road. There is clearly an expansion into the territories of the Upper Wadada, where Ziad Awwad's family lives.
On our way, we left clothing at Maktal-umm-Salem opposite the industrial area.
Umm Kusa is located near the road leading from Umm al-Kheir to the Jordanian border police building in Umm Daraj, north of the village of Al-Zuweedin, deep in the area. The village houses are scattered over a large area, with a spectacular view of the Judean desert, and some of them have demolition orders, despite ownership certificates dating back to the Ottoman period.
On our way we picked up Nasser al-Adara from At-Tuwani, and he gave us the following details: the village school (elementary school) was built about two years ago. A few trees were planted and a fence was built. A small building is used as a separate toilet. Nasser says that Ilan, from the Civil Administration
, claims that the fence was not approved, and in addition other changes were made. According to Ilan, the school was built on military territory (the firing zone of Masafer Yatta) and therefore the demolition order. Nasser explains that there is probably permission to build the school a few hundred meters away towards the north, but not in the current location!
There is a court order ordering the villagers to destroy the school themselves. There is also a threat: if they do not do so within seven days, the authorities will carry out the demolition, and will charge the residents for the expenses of the tools and security. In other words, the residents will be required to pay the Border Police who guard the demolitions.