International Women’s Peace Service (IWPS)
Deir Istiya, Salfit
Telephone: 09 251 46 44
Website: http://www.iwps-pal.org

Human Rights Report No. 424
Human Rights Summary: Closure of access route to farmland
Date of incidents: On 08.01.11 approx
Place: Marda, Salfit district
Witness/es: Local Farmer

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those
involved. However, we will do our best to furnish you with the information you may require, on request.

Description of Incident:
The village of Marda lies on a hill in the Salfit district of Palestine. Above the village is an Israeli settlement and below the village is the main road to Ramallah. The largest part of the agricultural land farmed by the Marda people lies on the flat land on the opposite side of the road to the village.

Between the village and the road is a fence constructed by the Israeli military in 2000/2001. The fence is three to four metres high and topped by rolls of razor wire, making access to the land difficult and requiring a detour of 400metres each way along a busy, dangerous road. A gap in the fence had been made by locals to enable farmers to access their land. A few days ago several tons of soil and rock was placed across the access gap by the Israeli military.

The blockage creates considerable difficulties particularly when transporting required agricultural materials or when using donkeys. Larger tools and machinery cannot be transported across the blockage

Report written by: Valerie
Report edited by: Kim
Date of report: 16th January 2011

The International Women’s Peace Service, Deir Istiya, Salfit, Palestine.
Email: iwps@palnet.com Website: www.iwps-pal.org

Operating out of Deir Istiya, near Salfit, the International Women’s Peace Service monitors and responds to Human Rights Abuses in the area. Part of our mission is to contact the relevant authorities in the case of any arrests that take place in the Salfit area.