Palestinians in Occupied Territories petition Israel for access to their farms

Ma'an - Residents of the Wadi Ar-Rasha village filed a petition Tuesday with the Israeli High Court of Justice to secure access to their land during the olive harvest, an Israeli rights group said.

Residents of the village, in the northern Qalqiliya district, had applied for 98 requests to access their olive groves which fall behind Israel's separation wall, but all requests were denied by Israel's Civil Administration, Yesh Din wrote.

... The village is one of five Palestinian villages near the illegal settlement of Alfe Menashe. After the separation wall was erected around the settlement, the village became an enclave.

... "This case shows that the authorities not only fail to protect the Palestinians from right-wing Jewish extremists, but also prevent them from exercising their legal right to harvest their olives", said Sfard. Read more