Between the years 2000 and 2007, the Israeli Civil Administration demolished 1,626 Palestinian buildings in Area C, which covers 60 percent of the West Bank, and where the Civil Administration has full planning authority. Although this is not a new phenomenon, the underlying factors behind house demolitions are not well known. The main purpose of The Prohibited Zone is to unveil these factors and to describe how Israel is using planning tools in at attempt to control Palestinian building and to restrict its spatial expansion. The report indicates that the main reason for the large number of house demolitions in Area C is the Israeli planning policy. In most Palestinian locales in Area C, the only planning schemes still effective are the Mandatory Regional Outline Plans approved some 60 years ago. In the past, the Israeli military regime issued thousands of building permits, based on these plans. But today, the Civil Administration’s stringent and erroneous interpretation of the Mandatory plans barely allows building permits to be issued by virtue of these plans. The Civil Administration has prepared new outline plans for a small number of Palestinian villages in Area C. However, these plans do not meet the needs of the villages, and their main aim is to delimit the built-up area in the Palestinian locales and to prohibit its expansion. The primary victims of this policy are the 150,000 Palestinians who live in Area C, but it has far-reaching consequences for millions of citizens living in Areas A and B (together, 40 percent of the West Bank), which Area C villages in in the Palestinian Israeli planning policy are under Palestinian planning authority. The building restrictions imposed by the Civil Administration in Area C prevent the construction of vital infrastructure for the Palestinian population of the entire West Bank, and impair the spatial connections between the various Palestinian locales. The chief aim of the Civil Administration’s planning policy in Area C is to restrict the demographic growth of its Palestinian population and to guarantee large reserves of land for Israeli interests, primarily for settlements. The Prohibited Zone The Prohibited Zone Israeli planning policy in the Palestinian villages in Area C The Prohibited Zone Israeli planning policy in the Palestinian villages in Area C June 2008 Written by Nir Shalev, Alon Cohen-Lifshitz Researched by Alon Cohen-Lifshitz, Diana Mardi, Nir Shalev Field work by Diana Mardi Mapping by Nava Sheer English translation by Shaul Vardi Counseling: Ernest R. Alexander, Dalia Dromi, Shmuel Groag, Yehezkel Lein, Karin Lindner Legal counseling by attorney Neta Amar-Shif, Rabies for Human Rights, and attorney Sleiman Shahin, Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights (JLAC) Cover photograph: a residential buliding demolished by the Civil Administration in the village of Al Funduq; photograph: Alon Cohen-Lifshitz, photograph processing: Gama Design Design: Gama Design Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights is an Israeli NGO that was established in 1999 by planners and architects with the vision of strengthening the connection between the planning systems and human rights. Bimkom is using professional tools in order to promote equality and social justice in planning, development and allocation of land resources. Bimkom assists communities disadvantaged by economic, social or civil circumstances to exercise their planning rights The Prohibited Zone Table of Contents Preface 5 Introduction 7 Planning Failure 8 The Report and its Goals 11 Chapter One: Processes of Fragmentation in the West Bank 15 The Interim Agreement 15 Physical Means 17 Ramifications in the Field of Planning and Building 20 Conclusion 23 Chapter Two: Israeli Land Policy – Territorial Expropriation 25 Settlements as a Military Necessity 25 The New State Land 26 The Land Code 27 The Declarations Policy 29 Land Purchases on the Private Market 30 Circular Deals 31 Planning Ramifications 32 Conclusion 34 Chapter Three: Planning and Building Laws in Area C 35 The Planning System in the Jordanian Law: Structure and Powers 35 The Hierarchy of Plans 36 Building Permits and Inspection Activities 38 Legislative Changes Introduced by Israel 39 No Local Committees – No Representative for Palestinians 41 Conclusion 44 Chapter Four: Perpetual Motion – Developmental Processes in the Palestinian Village 47 The Agglomerated Village 47 Winds of Change 48 Secondary Communities 50 Conclusion 52 Chapter Five: Relics of a Forgotten Area – The Mandatory Regional Outline Plans 55 Introduction 55 Part One: The Regional Outline Plans and Their Orders 57 Historical Background and Goals 57 Land Zones and Permitted Uses 60 Construction in the Agricultural Zone 61 Construction in Development Areas 74 Part Two: The Implementation of the Plans by the Civil Administration 77 Harsh and Mistaken Interpretation 78 Refusal to Approve Relaxations 84 Refusal to Permit Land Subdivision 85 Difficulties in Current Use of the Plans 87 Conclusion 90 Case Study: Umm ar-Rihan – A Forest Reserve for Palestinians, a Development Area for Settlers 92 3 Case Study: Yanun – A Demolition Order against the Only Access Road to the Village 96 Appendix: Building Permits Based on the Regional Outline Plans 99 Chapter Six: Delineation Line – The Special Outline Plans 101 Introduction 101 The Principles of Delineation 102 The Covert and Overt Goals of the Plans 104 The Plan’s Map and its Orders 106 Level of Detail 110 [Non-]implementation of the Plans 111 Capacities and their Calculation 113 Environmental Considerations 128 Detailed Plans 135 Roads – Another Means of Restricting Palestinian Construction 137 The Special Outline Plans – A Legal Perspective 138 Conclusion 140 Case Study: Barta’a – One Village, Two Planning Worlds 142 Case Study: Zif – Only Settlers May Build in Archeological Sites 146 Case Study: Jiftlik – A Virtual Highway in a Remote Corner of the West Bank 151 Summary and Conclusion 157 Appendix 1: Palestinian Communities and Residents in Area C 159 Appendix 2: Glossary 165 Maps and Photographs The administrative division of the West Bank 9 Agglomerated construction in the village core of Ni’lin 51 Yasuf – A Palestinian community built according to the village-street model 51 Land subdivision and building rights in the Regional Outline Plans 64 The fragmentation of the West Bank 65 Factors of fragmentation between Nablus and Salfit 66 The planning and administrative division of the village of Walaja 66 State land in the West Bank 67 Umm ar-Rihan 68 Yanun 70 The mandatory Regional Outline Plans in the West Bank 72 A demolition order issued by the Civil Administration 81 The Special Outline Plan for the village of Al Funduq 115 Qarawat Bani Hassan and the Special Outline Plan 115 The detailed outline plan for the village of Fasayil 116 Level of detail in plans for Palestinian villages and in plans for settlements 117 Outline plans in Barta’a al Gharbiya and in Barta’a ash-Sharqiya 118 Jiftlik 120 Zif 122 4 The Prohibited Zone Preface Since its founding, Bimkom has often assisted Palestinian villages in Area C that are not recognized by the Israeli authorities and which are without any up to date planning. These villages suffer from longstanding and extensive demolition of buildings and infrastructure. The focused assistance that Bimkom attempted to give to each particular village soon led us to conclude that house demolitions are a symptom of a deeper problem: the fact that Israel ignores the needs of the Palestinian population in Area C and has imposed a policy designed to restrict the development of the Palestinian communities in the area. To examine this policy in depth, a broader framework was needed that looks beyond the concrete problems faced by each individual Palestinian resident whose home is the subject of a demolition order. The current report is intended to provide this broader perspective. The Prohibited Zone describes the reality of the area in terms of planning and construction and reveals the planning tools Israel uses to minimize the growth of the Palestinian population in Area C, which accounts for some 60 percent of the total area of the West Bank. The size of the report reflects the aim to reveal the planning practices Israel has used in the West Bank over several decades. The complexity of the subject demanded analysis of the smallest details. We hope that the information and figures revealed in this report, in part for the first time, will lead to a change in Israeli policy in the area. Such change should enable the Palestinians living in Area C to enjoy their basic rights in the fields of planning and building. 5 The Prohibited Zone Introduction For many years, planning and building have been among the most serious sources of daily friction between the Israeli authorities and the Palestinian population in the West Bank. The interim agreement with the PLO (1995), under which all the planning powers in Areas A and B (together accounting for approximately 40 percent of the area of the West Bank) were transferred to the Palestinian Authority, was supposed to moderate this protracted conflict. However, approximately 60 percent of the West Bank remains in Area C, under exclusive Israeli planning control. In this area the policies of the Israeli authorities designed to restrict and prevent Palestinian construction have only got worse. Some 150,000 Palestinians currently live in Area C. This figure includes 47,000 Palestinians who live in 149 communities whose entire built-up area is located within Area C, while the remainder live in villages where some of the homes are in Areas A and B and others in Area C. Accordingly, Israeli planning policy continues to exert considerable influence over a significant Palestinian population. From the beginning of 2000 through September 2007, the Israeli Civil Administration issued demolition orders for 4,820 buildings established by Palestinians in Area C – an average of 714 demolition orders each year.