I live in Kafr Qadum. I own a 77 dunam plot of land. It is 1.5 km north-east of the village, and one km west of the settlement Kedumim. My late father used to tend to the plot until 1973, he used to plant seasonal crops. After that, my cousins took care of the land, and since 1997 I’ve been doing it.
About five years ago, I dug two wells and in February 2013 I planted approximately 300 olive saplings. This year in January I planted an additional 400 olive saplings. The saplings were subsidized by the Palestinian ministry of agriculture.
I go to my plot around twice a week and I hire workers and they work regularly, almost daily. The plot can be reached on foot, without access problems.
On Saturday March 1, 2014, my workers left for work as usual and found damage to the saplings, some had been uprooted and some had their trunks cut. At the end of the workday, they came to my home and reported the damage to the saplings to me.
The next day, Sunday, I went to my land at 8 am and saw that 300-400 olive saplings had been uprooted or cut. The saplings are 3-4 years old.
I took part of the saplings that had been uprooted and cut with me and I went first to the governor’s office in Qalqiliyah, where I was given the saplings that were subsidized, and from there I went to Ramallah to the head office of the ministry of agriculture and reported the incident. After that, I went to the Kedumim Police station to file a complaint, but they referred me to the Israeli DCO in Beit El. At 4 pm I got to the Israeli police in Beit El and they took my testimony there. When we finished, I was asked to sign my testimony, but I refused because I don’t sign documents I can’t read. I received a receipt for the complaint.