Monday, March 31, 2008

Spring at Shiloh's Valley

Shiloh, Hills of Efraim, Israel








All views, looking south-east from the Ramat Shmuel neighborhood (where I live).

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would like to ask you who exactly is the land owned by? According to government documents, it's privatively owned by Palestinians, mainly from the town of Turmus Aya. So are you planning to steal it also? I mean they are already having problems every year with settlers who vandalize the land!

YMedad said...

The residents of Turmos Aya, as far as we know, own the land of Turmos Aya, including almost all the valley. They have not proven, in over 30 years, despite given the opportunity in court, to prove private ownership of land within the Shiloh village boundaries which were established in accordance with the property lines set back in British Mandate days. As you know, the Jordanian Government never registered in any orderly fashion land in the Shiloh area and in fact, Turmos Aya has disputes with Sinjil as well so it seems land diosputes arise becuase of inability to prove ownership either through tax records, actual deeds or other documentation. Planting trees, though, is one way to steal land and that is how Arabs have 'absorbed' land by planting groves.

Anonymous said...

According to people I spoke to, including my father, when the settlement was founded in the late seventies, there were trees for the residents of Turmus Aya that they cultivated, and the trees were taken by Shiloh residents, and caged in. They then went to court, and the court got Israeli eye-witnesses that said the land was never used, and of course the court believed them. Also, I don't know what you mean when you say that the Arabs stole the land by planting trees on it. How can someone steal their OWN land by planting trees?
And according to the oldest Ottoman Empire census of that area that was retrieved, Turmus Aya had 200 residents in 1596, proof that they had that area for them. I know many Palestinians object to the settlement of Shiloh, but now there's nothing to do but to try to stop their repeated absorbance of Palestinian land. Because they are the ones that 'absorb' Arab land by caging it little by little.
I know you're a resident of Shiloh, and I am almost positive that you want all of the West Bank, and you want all Arabs to leave. But how would you feel if the Arabs start taking your land now, forget about what happened to Jews 1500 years ago, and think about now. Have some sympathy for the thousands of people in that area that have been living there for hundreds of years.

YMedad said...

"...when the settlement was founded in the late seventies, there were trees for the residents of Turmus Aya that they cultivated, and the trees were taken by Shiloh residents, and caged in." - maybe. and maybe the trees were there before the Arabs came. In any case, Pliah Albeck who was in charge of land questions, used aerial photos, documents, tax records. maybe ownership could not be proven.

"How can someone steal their OWN land by planting trees?" - easy. if Israel stayed in Lebanon and established villages, that would be how. that's what the Arabs did to us. they took our National Homeland. then planted trees.

"I am almost positive that you want all of the West Bank, and you want all Arabs to leave." - but that's what the Arabs wanted up until 1967 but then, they wanted Jews out of --- Israel!!! Read the original PLO Charter. We don't mind anyone here as long as they don't engage in terror.

"how would you feel if the Arabs start taking your land now" - but they have and do. the Arabs only came here as occupiers in 638.

YMedad said...

Photos from 100 years ago or so and the land seems a bit empty around Shiloh.

And more old photos.

Anonymous said...

Stop lying to yourself!
Your pictures don't show anything! Turmus Aya valley has always been empty because the people of Turmus Aya farm/farmed it. Your pictures are only a section of Turmus Aya
And I don't know what you mean by we stealing your homeland, because the Jews got kicked out over a thousand years ago by Christians, not Arabs. The Arabs took it from them, not Jews. And they lived in the empty land. And then farmed it. And we became the residents. You can't claim a piece of land, and say it is yours because your forefathers thousands of years ago had it. How did Arabs "steal" your "homeland" when they lived there for a thousand years? Also, I never heard of a tree that lasted over a thousand years. How were those trees for the Jews? That would be amazing!
Here's proof that Palestinians lived in the regions for hundreds of years: http://img97.imageshack.us/i/census.png/
That is the tax payment/census that the residents paid to the Ottoman Empire in 1596.
Please have respect for human rights, you can't go to land and say it's your because your ancestors had it thousands of years ago, and steal it away from the residents!
We don't mind you much anymore, but as long as YOU don't engage in terror.
Last year, settlers came to Turmus Aya, and drew Stars of David on the Mosque. What do you call that?