Khirbet Tana, near Beit Furik, Nablus
Demonstration assembling in Beit Furik at Beit Furik Municpality at 10am, Thursday 14th July.
On 5th July Israeli forces demolished the entire village of Tana, near Beit Furik, Nablus. The residents had received
one day's notice that their homes were to be demolished by a piece of paper left outside outside one of their dwellings.
The villagers knew no one to call and the razing of their homes went ahead unhindered. The UN estimates 170 persons have
been "displaced", the villages say Tana was home to about 100 families. The villagers intend to protest this distruction
and reclaim their land this Thursday 14th July.
Tana is a small farming village in the Jordan valley in one of the longest continually inhabited areas of the world.
Residents say the area is mentioned in the holy books and was known 3500 years ago. The village mosque, the only
structure not to be demolished, has stood for several hundred years.
The paper announcing the demolition says that the villagers had built their homes without Israeli permission. Their
caves and stone constructions are hundreds of years old. In recent years they have added steel and concrete structures
to the front of their caves. A school house was built six years ago and, contrary to the UN report, this too was
destroyed last week. When the army destroyed the village they demolished not only the steel structures but the caves
themselves and even the villagers' cars.
In 1989 the villagers had a court case in Israel, after which they were told they would be allowed to farm the western
portion of their land. In recent years the villagers have also been threatened by settlers from Itamar, who came and
swam in their water supply.
The villagers are not defeated and refuse to be intimidated. They intend to go back to their land, rebuild their homes
and continue farming.International and Israeli activists to support this action.