Jerusalem24 – The owners of the lands of the Al-Rawa area in Wadi Ara, in Israel, received warnings telling them not to enter their lands and graze their livestock in that area, as it is considered a closed military zone.
This is not the first time that farmers have received such warnings, as they have faced Israeli restrictions since 1998, after the Israeli authorities seized thousands of dunums of the lands of Kafr Qara, Muawiyah, and Ein Ibrahim, and considered them a training area for the army, and prohibited their cultivation and livestock grazing.
These lands have belonged to the residents of the Wadi Ara area for hundreds of years, and dozens of families in the area live from the livestock sector, but the Israeli authorities seized them and eliminated the farmers’ livelihood, by preventing livestock from grazing and approaching the valleys adjacent to the grazing areas.
Livestock herdsman Ibrahim Mahamid told Wafa: “For years, we have been suffering as a result of these policies that aim to uproot us from the land of our fathers and grandfathers. In return, we insist on clinging to these lands and defying the Israeli authorities to preserve the only source of livelihood that remains for us, but the authorities are seizing the livestock and stipulating Every time he paid 150,000 shekels to liberate her, we can no longer bear these burdens, especially since we are herding livestock on lands we have owned for hundreds of years.”
