A settlement from the east, another from the north, and a recent third besieging the ancient ruins of Deir Semaan from the west, and encircling it as if it were a military barracks, to which the Palestinian is denied access, and it is permissible for the Israeli occupier, whether settler, civilian or military.
Two weeks ago, Israel issued a military decision to confiscate the lands of Deir Semaan Castle and Deir Qalaa, located between the lands of the towns of Kafr Ad-Dik and Deir Ballut in the city of Salfit, in the northern West Bank, to convert them into recreational areas and parks for settlers and to falsify its archaeological reality as a civilization that has been in succession for Byzantine, Roman and Islam eras.
On the ground, Israel does not need to notify the confiscation, as it does so in the first place, but it wants to justify Judaization and to beautify its image before human rights and legal institutions.
A side of settler homes in the settlement of Leshem, which appears crouched on the lands of Khirbet Deir Samaan (Al Jazeera)
The conflict is intensifying most these days in Khirbet Deir Samaan, and Fares Al Deek, 40, a Palestinian citizen, continues to oppose the occupation and its settlement projects, as his land - where the ancient castle is located - is the last remaining non-confiscated lands of the citizens.
Out of 20 dunums (a dunum equals a thousand square meters) belongs to the citizen Al-Deek - which is the last remaining land not confiscated in the place - the occupation will confiscate 6 dunums, which is the site of Deir Samaan by a military decision, and what remains of it will gradually put its hands on it de facto, as happened in the previous one. .
Part of the archaeological relics of Simaan Monastery, which were confiscated by the occupation (Al-Jazeera)
Guardianship by force The
rooster exploits his weekly vacation as a university lecturer on Thursday and Friday to visit his land and desperate to defend it, and he tells Al-Jazeera Net that the danger of the occupation’s decision is that it is considered that the confiscation is "for the benefit of the public," as if it is also intended to benefit the Palestinians, and this is not true at all.
The most dangerous - according to the rooster - is that the occupation considers itself the guardian of Monastery of Simon, because it is located within the "C" areas under the control of Israel, which will lead to the confiscation of the rest of the land, which has become a "horseshoe" surrounded on all sides by settlements.
Al-Jazeera Net monitored, through field trips, the rapid changes brought about by the settlement of Lechem and the three settlements perched above the two archaeological sites, Deir Samaan and Deir Qala.
As a result, Palestinian access to the place is no longer easy, as settlers attack the citizens and attack them, which prevented the young Abdullah Daoud from the village of Deir Ballut organizing his paths and tours there.
An ancient Roman pool in Khirbet Deir Semaan (Al-Jazeera)
"Isolating" the place and
David closely monitors the acceleration of the settlement process there, and tells Al-Jazeera Net that the occupation confiscated 20 dunums a short time ago to build apartments, each costing more than $ 300,000, and promoted this under the slogan that "the place overlooks the Palestinian coast and Archaeological sites and olive trees. "
Out of 17 thousand dunams is the land area of Kafr Ad-Dik, and about 50 thousand dunams belonging to Deir Ballut, only crumbs remain, all of which were confiscated by the occupation for the benefit of its apartheid wall, and 4 settlements: “Aali Zahav”, “Beduel”, “Brokhin” and “Leshem”.
The place became narrow with its Palestinian residents who could not find an outlet for construction after the retreat of the outline plans for their villages, and they became - as described by the mayor of Kafr al-Deek Ibrahim al-Deek - "outside the Palestinian geography."
Al-Deek tells Al-Jazeera Net that Israel is working on falsifying the place, history and heritage, and showing it as if it is Jewish, "and this is why the Israelis closed the Monastery of Simon more than once and searched in it and looted monuments thereof."
Mosaic floor in Khirbet Deir Semaan (Al Jazeera)
The occupation and its settlers want to "isolate" the place and turn it into a shrine and a religious shrine for the Jews. The two monasteries (Simon and the Citadel) were subjected to more than one theft, during which stone columns, engravings, and archaeological evidence proving the Palestinianness of the place and its antiquity, even they transferred some stones to their settlements and used them in construction and others Their gardens.
Thus, they seek to create a link between their settlements and the history of the place, and this is "fraud", according to the description of the director of antiquities in the Salfit Governorate, Montaser Musa, who affirms that they vandalized the archaeological site more than once and stole its possessions.
Simeon and the Citadel are two monasteries aged 1500 years and successive civilizations of the Byzantines, Romans and Islam, and they have evidences confirming this, such as contemporary, Roman pools and churches as well, as well as Islamic inscriptions and hundreds like them in Palestine.
An ancient building in Khirbet Deir Samaan (Al Jazeera)
Civilizational conflict and fraud,
Israel is working to deny this historical characteristic of those sites in the Palestinian areas and attributing them to them by virtue of their location within Area C, as is the case in Salfit, which contains 80 archaeological ruins and about 300 sites between a shrine, a shrine, graves and rock sections, more than 70% of them According to Montaser Musa, "It is under occupation control in Area C."
Also in Salfit, the conflict is not only cultural and heritage, but also demographic, as it is the only governorate in which the size of settlement and the number of settlers exceed the number of Palestinians and their villages. 25 settlements are located on its lands, estimated at 204 square kilometers, in addition to the settlement outposts, corresponding to only 17 Palestinian communities. .
Israel is working hard to convert the historical narrative to its advantage, and is digging for antiquities using various pretexts. However, the decision to confiscate the Monastery of Samaan under the pretext of preserving the archaeological sites has not been witnessed the same.
The only similar case - according to the Israeli "Emek Shafi" association, which opposes the official antiquities authorities in Israel - occurred in 1986 in the village of Susiya in the south of the West Bank "to preserve a synagogue, according to their claim."
A side of the ancient Khirbet Deir Semaan, opposite the Bedouel settlement (the island)
The association said on its Facebook page that the decision to confiscate Deir Samaan is reprehensible for two reasons, namely that the owner of the land worked to preserve and develop the site and the Israeli Civil Administration could develop it with the residents and for their benefit, but it preferred to confiscate their lands and exclude them from it.
In addition, international law obliges the occupying power to pay attention to the antiquities for the benefit of the local community, that is, the Palestinians. The purpose of confiscation will make the settlers the only beneficiaries, and it excludes the Palestinians from their lands.
The decision to confiscate the landowner gives the citizen Fares Al Deek 60 days for legal objection to it, so he - along with the official Palestinian institutions - continues efforts locally and internationally and through human rights and legal institutions - including the Israeli and Palestinian - to stop and restrain the occupation, as well as his steadfastness on his land and his documentation of violations of the occupation.