The Israeli authorities today demolished 17 partially built homes in the Arab town of Kfur Kas’m, 15 kilometers east of Tel Aviv. One might think that this quiet family centered town had become a hotbed of terror, and the houses were demolished as part of Israel’s punishment strategy against the Palestinians. But no, the people of Fur Kasumi are Israeli citizens and pay their taxes like everybody else. Today their tax monies were used to finance a military operation in support of a seemingly arbitrary government decision to demolish an entire new neighborhood.
Zuhar Mustapha Taha was sleeping in his partially built two-story house when he awoke at 3.a.m. to find the muzzle of an M16 rifle just inches from his face. The house was full of army and police, as was the surrounding neighborhood. At least 30 troops were in full combat gear. Zuhar was ordered out of the house and taken to the police station where he was held till 4 p.m. in the afternoon. Meanwhile the army cordoned off the neighborhood and bulldozers demolished 17 partially built houses being built by various members of the Taha family. Two homes were two-stories and the other fifteen were single story houses.
The story started in 1986 when the Israeli government decided that a tract of land owned by Mustapha Achmed Tacha was not being used for the purpose for which it was zoned, agricultural, and decided to confiscate it. Under Israeli law the government has the right to confiscate land it deems to be unused or underutilized for the purpose for which it is zoned. Town councils do not have the authority to overrule the central government on these issues even when the land in question is within their jurisdiction. The land in question is steep and rocky and useful only for olive trees or homes. Designating the land ‘agricultural’ is an old Israeli tactic to control the growth of Israeli Arab and Palestinian communities. This often results in absurdities such as individual building lots inside a village being designated agricultural.
However the land on the northern edge of Kfur Kas’m has been in the Tacha family for generations, from the time when the Ottoman Empire ruled Palestine. However since 1986 the Tacha family has waged a legal struggle to regain control of their land. The case currently pending in the courts and while no more construction was supposed to take place, no demolitions had been authorized. It is possible that the demolitions were illegal, even under Israeli law. In the meanwhile hundreds of thousands of dollars of construction work has been eradicated, and seventeen families have had their dreams shattered by an uncaring and cruel act.
This is not the first time that the people of Kfur Kas’m have had their land stolen. An industrial zone on the southern edge of the town has been annexed to the adjacent Jewish town of Rosh Ha-Ayin after promises had been made to the Kfar Kas’m municipality that they would retain jurisdiction and receive the property taxes from the zone.
Kfar Kas’m has a population of 15,000 and populated mostly by six large extended families. The Tacha family is the third largest numbering almost 2,000 people.
There are even greater tragedies in the town’s history. On October 29th, 1956 a unit of the Israeli Army slaughtered 49 men, women and children in cold blood. A full account translated from the Hebrew newspaper, Kol Haam, can be found by following the link above.
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