Kh. Beit Skariya, a Palestinian village of about 100 inhabitants,  is located southwest of Bethlehem city. The village is surrounded by the Etzion  Block or Gush Etzion in Hebrew. The strategic location of Kh. Beit Skariya in  the middle of the Etzion Block, eventually, ended in suffocating the village;  thus, prohibiting its natural growth and development (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Location map showing the strangulation of Kh. Beit  Skariya village by the Etzion Block.

Figure 1: The Etzion Block is one of six regional settlement councils, and  is home to some of the earliest settlements established following the 1967 War.

 Table 1: The 14 settlements of the Etzion Block

Source: ARIJ Database

The Israeli colonizing activities started as early as 1967  when the village was occupied and depopulated by Israel. All the Palestinian families  of this devastated village left their homes except one single family who has remained  in the village since that time up to this moment. All over the years of Israeli  occupation, the village has been confronted with ceaseless Israeli conspiracies  aiming at evicting the indigenous people from their land.

As of today, the village houses around 100 family members who  live in hazardous primitive structures (shacks). Not only that, but also the farmers  are not allowed to build stone houses, or even to add a single bedroom to their  houses. Those shacks are even threatened of ultimate demolition at any time under  the pretext of being built without a permit (Figure 2). 

Figure 2 One of the threatened Palestinian structures.

In fact, the Israeli occupation authorities impose restrictions  on construction even when building permits are granted. It is almost impossible  for Palestinians to get permits in Area C (under full Israeli control) where Israel  intends to dispossess the aboriginal people of their property, and to replace  them exclusively with Jewish settlers.

In addition, the village mosque under construction is also  exposed to various attacks by the Israeli authorities that endeavor to impede  its completion. But the people of Kh. Beit Skariya resisted the Israeli void attempts,  and are determined to build the village's only mosque despite all Israeli obstructions.

Recently, on 21 September 1999, the Israeli authorities prohibited  the villagers of Kh. Beit Skariya to cultivate their 80-dunum land in an attempt  to seize it under the pretext of being 'state-owned land'. The Israeli scheme  is refuted by the landowners who have documents, dating back to the Ottoman Period,  proving their ownership of the land (Figure 3). 

Figure 3 Seized Palestinian land. 

It is also important not to forget the incident that occurred  on 29 January 1998, when 30 armed Jewish settlers forcibly occupied 28 dunums  owned by the people of Kh. Beit Skariya for annexation to the Etzion Block (Figure  4). 

Figure 4 The annexed land.

Moreover, in 1982, the settlers of the nearby Jewish enclaves  expropriated 707 dunums. The settlers later cultivated the land, fenced it, and  annexed it to Rosh Tzurim settlement. The case filed by the villagers 17 years ago  is still pending in the Israeli courts (Figure 5).

Figure 5 & Figure 6: Land annexed to Rosh Tzurim enclave.

Hence, the strangulation of Kh. Beit Skariya stands out as  a deliberate Israeli scheme to 'Depalestinize' an area which they consider an  obstacle to their expansion and natural growth.

In fact, the various maps (Allon Plan, Sharon's ' Strategic  Interest' Map, Netanyahu's Allon Plus Map, etc) proposed for the final status  agreement (whether by the Likud or Labor Governments) have envisaged annexing  the Etzion Block to Israel.

The settlement issue confronts the Palestinians with concerns,  which go beyond the legal debate and the political complications. It makes Palestinian  life, in terms of its daily requirements as well as ultimate promise, hazardous  and fraught with worrisome uncertainties. It permeates it with tension and violence,  impoverishes it, narrows its margins, and diminishes its possibilities.