Court halts work on fence near West Bank village’s historic terraces

The High Court on Thursday ordered the Defense Ministry to temporarily stop work on the security fence near the village of Battir over concerns the barrier could damage the area’s unique terraced landscape and residents’ ability to farm the way they have for centuries.

Residents of Battir and neighboring villages, together with environmental groups, petitioned the court last year regarding the route of the fence, claiming it would harm agriculture in the area and limit the use of the traditional farming practices for which Battir, located in the Judean hills south of Jerusalem, is renowned.

As a result, the court asked the government to consider other routes for the fence and ordered construction be stopped until a solution found.

The petition was backed by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, a governmental organization, which warned that the current route of the fence would cause damage to traditional irrigation systems and to the natural landscape of the area.

Palestinian farmer Elayan Shami, 62, plants eggplants in a maze to direct the water downhill from one terrace to another in his field in the West Bank village of Battir in May. (photo credit: AP/Sebastian Scheiner)

In May, Battir’s 6,000 residents were awarded a UNESCO prize for safeguarding the acres of terraces and retaining walls that stripe the hills and for maintaining the centuries-old network of irrigation canals that direct springwater over the stepped hills.

The canal network has been in place for 2,000 years, with residents continually keeping up the system, said Giovanni Fontana-Antonelli, a local UNESCO official, at the time.

Because the area is largely untouched by construction, it is still possible to see “the form and the shape of the past generations’ work,” he said. “In other places you have terraces, but you also have urban sprawl, roads and settlements.”

Many of the terraces date back millennia, to when Jewish farmers from the town of Betar tilled the hills. The Betar fortress was known as the site of the last stand of the second century Bar Kochba revolt against Rome.

The Parks Authority suggested that the barrier that is to be erected in the vicinity of Battir be made into a wire fence equipped with a hi-tech security system, coupled with a row of cactus bushes.

However, the local Palestinians rejected this plan and suggested that the route of the fence be relocated to Israeli territory.

The Defense Ministry responded to the court by saying that the route of the fence would be reconsidered as per the court’s instructions, stressing that it was necessary to complete the construction of the fence for the sake of Israel’s security. The ministry added that the fence around Battir was essential to preventing hostile elements from infiltrating Jerusalem and safeguarding the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem railway.

An alternative construction plan is to be presented to the court by July 2.

Last year, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel warned that construction of the latest segment in the West Bank separation barrier would inflict irreparable damage on local natural resources, damaging local streams and stripping the pristine scenery of its biblical character.

“The government has put great effort into the preservation and cultivation of heritage sites,” the SPNI report read. “In view of this, it is all the more baffling that it should undermine the scenic and cultural value of a heritage site as unique as the Judean Hills.”

The Defense Ministry issued a response saying it “sees the preservation of the environment as a top priority, allocating money to environmental projects. However, the ministry’s foremost commitment is to ensure the safety of Israeli citizens.”

The court has ordered the Defense Ministry to change the route of the fence in the past over concerns from area Palestinians. In 2007, Israeli judges ruled that sections of the barrier which run adjacent to the village should be re-routed to prevent undue hardship to the local population.

Philip Podolsky and the Associated Press contributed to this report.