Dorothy, of New Profile writes:

"Last week an additional 407 dunams [slightly over 100 acres] were expropriated from Mas’ha, which has already lost 98% of its land, consisting mainly of olive-tree groves. Mas’ha land owners have thereby lost most of their remaining source of livelihood.

Na’azi, a resident of Mas’ha and one of the founders of the Mas’ha Peace Camp, received the Hebrew document expropriating the land. He requested that we translate it into English. This, my spouse and I readily did when we returned home. We found the terms used to confiscate the land shocking: in Hebrew ‘taphsu’ and ‘yitpasuh’ (seized and will be seized). The document is educational for those of us who merely read it. For Na’azi and other Palestinians who receive these orders, the page or two of paper declaring the seizure means the tragic loss of more land.

As concerns the contents of the order, do not be fooled by the contention that the land is required for security purposes. This is pure nonsense. Mas’ha has never been a security threat, has never had a so-called ‘terrorist’ come from her. The sole reasons for this land grab is (a) the demands of the settlements involved and (b) the Israeli policy of expropriating land, land, and more land. To hell with to whom it really belongs!

Palestinian villages and property owners throughout the West Bank have received like documents depriving people of more and more of their land for the sake of the separation fence or wall--separation of Palestinians from their land and from neighboring communities, causing the West Bank to turn into a conglomeration of Palestinian ghettos sealed off from one another interwoven with well to-do Israeli settlements enjoying freedom of movement and excellent roads. Democracy? Not in in the Occupied Territories!"

Here is her husband's translation from Hebrew:

Israel Defense Forces
Order for the Seizure of lands no. 41/02/ú (border changes no. 2)


Within my authority as commander of the IDF in the Judea and Samaria regions, and because I believe that the act is required for military purposes, and in view of the security conditions prevailing in this area, and the need to take necessary steps to prevent terrorist acts, I order as follows:

1. Definitions
In this order

“the map” – a 1:20000 scale map signed by me attached to this order and forming an integral part thereof

“the lands” – a stretch of land of 407 dunam (7,511m length and ranging in width from 45 to 96 m) shown by red line on the map, which includes lands in the following villages:
Saneria blocks 2,4, and 5
Mas’ha blocks 2 and 3

2. Seizure of land
I here by declare that this land has been seized and will be seized for military purposes.

3. Cancellation of Land Seizure of Land
I hereby declare that the seizure of land shown on the map in yellow is cancelled. [the portion referred to is land that was originally included in the seizure order, but which the army 2 months ago agreed to return to the Palestinians; the present order resorts to the original plan of expropriating more land, at the demands of the settlers. D]

4. Holding
The land that has been seized and will be seized by Israel Defense Forces, is held and will be held exclusively by the Land Officer at the Central Command by means of the Staff Officer for the Defense Ministry Affairs in the Civil Administration.

5. Delivery
Copies of this order and of the map attached to it will be delivered if possible to the land owners or their land holders by the Liaison Officer in Qalqilya.

6. Publication
Copies of this order and of the map attached to it will be placed for the review of interested parties at the following locations
6.1 The Liaison Office in Qalqilya county
6.2 The office of the Legal Advisor of the Judea and Samaria Region
6.3 The office of the Staff Officer of the Ministry of Defense in the Civil Administration
6.4 The office of the Administrator of Abandoned and Government Property in the Civil Administration

7. The Clarification of the Right to User Fees and Compensation
Land owners will be entitled to apply to the Liaison Officer in Qalqilia to determine their rights to user fees and compensation. [A catch 22 here is that many of the people who have possessed and worked this land for generations do not have official titles to the land; some had titles under Turkish law, but they are worth little nowadays; in practical terms this means that the Palestinian land holders have no rights to compensation. Moreover, those we’ve spoken to do not want compensation because they do not wish to legitimize the expropriation of their lands. They want their lands, not money. D]

8. Term of Validity
This order becomes valid from the day it is signed till December 31, 2005 [The latter date will undoubtedly be extended ad infinitum if the present government and settlers have their way

9. Name
This order shall be called “order concerning the seizure of lands no. 41/02/ú (border changes no. 2) (Judea and Samaria)—2003. [the terms “Judea and Samaria” are the biblical names that the Israeli government, settlers, and Israeli media employ to refer to the West Bank, but which activists against the occupation refer to as The Occupied Territories. D]

Moshe Kaplinsky, Brigadier General
Commander of Israel Defense Forces
Judea and Samaria Region May 20, þ2003