the latrun valley an integral part of the state of palestine

7/28/2019 The Latrun Valley an Integral Part of the State of Palestine

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Palestine Liberation OrganizationNegotiations Affairs Department

June 2013

The Latrun Valley: An Integral Part of the State of Palestine

The Latrun Valley is located 20km northwest of Jerusalem on the historic road to Jaffa; it coversan area of 50km 2, and is close to the Green Line. In 1948, the Latrun Valley consisted of thefollowing villages: Beit Nuba, Yalu, Imwas, Latrun, EL Khalayil, Beit Mahsir, Deir Aiyub and

Khirbat El Buweiriya. As a result of the 1948 Nakba (catastrophe), when two-thirds of thePalestinian population were forcibly exiled from their homes by Zionist militias prior to thecreation of the State of Israel, almost half of the valley is now considered No Mans Land(NML), 1 an integral part of the Occupied State of Palestine.

The Latrun Valley is well-known for its rich water resources and fertile land. The valley begins

just west of the Palestinian village of Budrus and runs southwards until it reaches Qatanna, aPalestinian village 12km northwest of Jerusalem. The Church of Imwas, a pilgrimage site for Palestinian Christians, is also situated in the valley.

During the June 1967 war, the Israeli military occupied the whole area of the Latrun Valley. Thethree Latrun villages that were left after the 1948 Nakba (Imwas, Yalu and Beit Nuba) wereethnically cleansed before being completely wiped off the map. After the forced displacement of the Palestinian inhabitants was conducted by the Israeli Army, the Jewish National Fund, incooperation with Canada, built a park (the Canada Park) over the site of the villages.

Most recently, Israel has begun the construction of a fast train between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem

that passes through areas of the Occupied State of Palestine, including the Latrun. The route of the fast train demonstrates Israeli plans to turn its occupation into the annexation of vast areas inPalestine, of which the Latrun represents one of the most strategic areas to be annexed.

Though Israeli propaganda claims that the three villages were already empty when the Israeliarmy arrived, the testimonies of the residents of those villages, in addition to testimonies of someof the Israeli soldiers who were present at the time, confirm a premeditated forced expulsion. AnIsraeli photographer Yosef Hochman, who accompanied the soldiers at the time, reported that heasked Major General Uzi Narkiss (Central Command General in 1967 who gave the orders for the destruction of the villages) why the three Latrun villages were destroyed. According toHochman: Narkiss answered that it was revenge for what happened there in 1948.

1 There are several areas of the West Bank that are referred to as no mans land (NML). These are found around the area of the LatrunSalient and in Jerusalem. NML is not a specific term under international la w. The designation does not mean that the land belongs to no one.The NML is part of the West Bank. The NML like the rest of the West Bank was occupied by Israel in 1967. Since it was acquired by force,

Israel cannot have a valid legal claim to the territory itself. There is some indication that Israel recognizes that it does not have sovereignty over the NML. For example, in the case State of Israel v. Eytan Kramer (CF Beit Shemesh) 1193/04 (2005), the magistrate court of Beit Shemeshfinds that Israel does not have sovereignty over the NML. This is recognition by an arm of the state that the NML is not part of Israel proper.Israel has tried to argue that NML is terra nullius -- essentially making the claim that the NML was not under any sovereignty and up for grabstherefore Israel merely took possession of it after the 1967 war. This argument does not hold, most obviously because the land was inhabited byPalestinians. The village of Deir Ayyub and the Latrun monastery both are situated in the NML. The Israelis depopulated the village of Deir Ayyub in the 1948 war and the Franciscan monks of the Latrun monastery continue to live in and cultivate the area to this day.


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In his memoirs of the 1967 war, Moshe Dayan wrote about the destruction of the Latrun villagesand half of Qalqilya: [houses were destroyed] not in the battle, but as punishment and inorder to cha se away the inhabitants.

The villages:

Imwas:

At the time that Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, Imwas had around 2000 inhabitants,most of whom worked in the agriculture sector. The village had a school and religious shrines for Christians and Muslims.

The village of Imwas alone owned some 55 000 dunums (approx. 13 600 acres) of agriculturalland. During the Nakba of 1948, Zionist militias had attempted to occupy the village of Imwas

several times, but were defeated. As a result of the truce-agreements2

signed at the time, Imwaslost some 50 000 dunums of its land. By 1967, Imwas had a mere 5,167 dunums of land.

Yalo:

The village of Yalo covered an area of 14 992 dunums (approx. 3700 acres), which were mainlyused for agricultural purposes. When Israeli forces entered the village in 1967, Yalo had a

population of around 1,700 inhabitants. Most of the villagers left for the Ramallah region andJordan.

Beit Nuba:

By 1967, Nuba was a village comprising 12 890 dunums (approx. 3200 dunums) of land andhad a population of around 1,500.Like Imwas and Yalo, most of the land was used for agricultural purposes. Beit Nuba was known by the Romans as Beth Annaba. About 90% of the people of Beit Nuba fled to Jordan and the remaining 10% fled to the neighboring villages of Beit Liqia, Beit Sira and Qataneh. Today there are a number of people from Beit Nuba living inRamallah.

The Karama Neighborhood of Beit Liqia:

In 1974, some of the people of Beit Nuba who were now living in surrounding villages receiveda few permits from the Israeli occupation authorities to build houses in the southern part of theneighboring village of Beit Liqia. Until today, the total number of permits issued is only 16.

This area became known as the Karama neighborhood (residents refused to name the areanew Beit Nuba as they remain convinced that one-day they will go back to their original

2 Rhodes agreement: http://www.peaceau.org/uploads/egyptian-israel-1949.pdf
http://www.peaceau.org/uploads/egyptian-israel-1949.pdfhttp://www.peaceau.org/uploads/egyptian-israel-1949.pdfhttp://www.peaceau.org/uploads/egyptian-israel-1949.pdfhttp://www.peaceau.org/uploads/egyptian-israel-1949.pdf


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village). The whole neighborhood lies in area C .3 Today there are about 320 people living inthe neighborhood but the number is diminishing year after year, as Israel prevents the peoplefrom expanding or constructing extensions to the houses in which they live. When Israel beganto build its Annexation Wall in the West Bank, land was seized from the Karama neighborhoodas with many other Palestinian villages..

The Annexation Wall strangled the Karama neighborhood, completely separating the peoplefrom almost all of their agricultural land. In addition, half of the houses in the neighborhoodreceived demolition orders from the Israeli military. Recently, the Israeli authorities also issued ademolition order to the monument built in the neighborhood for the legacy of the fallen Egyptiansoldiers of the war in 1967.

It is therefore not difficult for the people of Beit Nuba to remember how they used to live in their village before 1967. The place where they reside today is almost a stone s throw away from their destroyed village. In fact, what they can see from their homes today is an Israeli settlement calledMevo Horon built on top of their destroyed village and the its cemetery, which they are

prohibited to visit or to maintain.

Latrun: Another Example of Palestines denied potential:

Preventing Palestinians from making use of the Latroun area is part of Israels systematic attemptto turn the occupation of Palestinian land into annexation. The Latrun Valley holds enormous

potential for Palestinians, including its fertile lands, water resources, archeological sites andreligious shrines. It is a vital and integral part of the State of Palestine as defined by the 1967

border.

3 In accordance with the Oslo Interim Agreement signed between the PLO and Israel in 1993


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Ramot Allon

Atarot

Beit El

Modi'in Illit

Har Adar

Giva't Ze'ev

Makkabim

Lapid

Hashmonaim

Mevo Horon

NeveYa'akov

Psagot

RamatShlomo

Beit Horon

FrenchHill

Shilat

Har Shmuel

PisgatZe'ev

KochavYaacov

Dolev

Kfar Ruth

Givo'n

Hachadasha

Talmon

RamatEshkol

Al Bireh

Biddu

Beituniya

Qatanna

Beit Liqya

Saffa

Kafr 'Aqab

Bil'in

Kafr Ni'ma

Beit 'Anan

Deir Ibzi'

Ni'lin

Shu'fat

BeitHanina

Bir Nabala

Beitin

Beit 'Ur at Tahta

At Tira

Surda

Beit Surik

Al Jib

Beit Sira

'Ein 'Arik

Rafat

Al Jalazun Camp

Kharbatha al Misbah

Beit Ijza Al Qubeiba

Beit Duqqu

KharbathaBani Harith Abu Qash

Al Midya

Deir Qaddis

Al Janiya

Beit Iksa

'Ein Qiniya

Al Judeira

Ras Karkar

Beit Haninaal Balad

Qalandiya

Beit 'Ur al Fauqa Al Am'ari Camp

Ummal Lahim

Beit Nuba

Yalu

Deir Aiyub

'Imwas

Latrun

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CITY

A l Q u d s

J e r u s a l e m

Ramallah

W e s t E a s t

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D E S T R O Y E D P A L E S T I N I A N V I L L A G E S I N O C C U P I E D L A T R U N V A L L E Y( J U N E 2 0 1 3 )

NAD-NSU

DestroyedVillages

1967 Boundary (Green Line)

Palestinian territory west/east of the Wall

Palestinian city, town or village

Local Palestinian road

Israeli checkpoint

Israeli settlement built-up area

Planned settlement expansion

Israeli settlement cultivation

Israeli Wall

Israeli settler bypass road

MevoHoron

NeveShalom

Beit Nuba

Yalu

Deir Aiyub

'Imwas

Latrun

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LatrunMonastery

EL Khalayil

KhirbatEl Buweiriya

the latrun valley an integral part of the state of palestine

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