The story of Ali Saleem Mousa

Ali Saleem Mousa

Ali Saleem Mousa has a large family - his children and grandchildren number 32. He lives with all his family on the western fringe of the village of Al Khader, about 5km west of Bethlehem.  He owns and farms 30 hectares of land. 

The Annexation Wall has been built through his land, which is in the West Bank. It has been classified as area C under the Oslo Accord, which means that no buildings are permitted by Israel without a permit; no permits have been granted for buildings in Al Khader since 1967. 

Ali Saleem Mousa's house

Ali Saleem Mousa has received 6 demolition orders and his house has been demolished three times so far. Yet he shows incredible resilience and resistance to pressure from the Israelis to vacate his land. 

The view from the house

Part of his land can be seen from the house, but is now behind the wall. Instead of a 10 minute walk, he now has to travel 1 hour on a donkey - he is not allowed to take a vehicle - to tend his crops. 

Ali Saleem Mousa can recite the names of 11 generations of his family. All have lived on this land. He lived in the small shack you can see in the photo for 25 years. As his family started to grow, he build a new house. He lives without an electricity or water supply - he has to buy water from a tanker at £50 a time which lasts the family 4 days. 

As the house is high on a hill overlooking Al Khader, the Israelis used the land next to the house to build a military camp, from which they could fire on Al Khader during the 2nd Intafada in 1999/2000. 

The route of the Annexation Wall was planned to pass through the property and so in 2002, the Israelis arrested all the family and took them into the military camp while they demolished the house. 

Ali Saleem Mousa started building again.  Two months after the house was complete, he received another demolition order. He fought this in the courts and got the demolition stopped.

In 2004 the Israelis came and demolished the new house, and two more of his houses as well. 

The Anexation Wall, gate and tower

The Annexation Wall was completed in 2006; it is about 150 yards in front of the house. When the wall was completed in 2006, the military camp was closed and replaced by a watch tower in the wall overlooking the property. A huge metal gate in the wall allows the Israeli military to enter Al Khader whenever they choose.

In 2010 the bulldozers came again, despite the fact that Ali Mousa had a court decision from the Israeli High Court declaring that the demolition was illegal. The soldiers took no notice and demolished the house. 

After this third demolition, the Mayor and other  dignitaries came - the Housing Minister, the Governor, Leader of the Palestinian Authority - and pledged their support for Ali Mousa. 

We listen to Ali's story

He began rebuilding for the third time. He bought materials for the house, confident in the knowledge that the municipality would help him. They didn’t and he went to prison for not paying the bills. During the rebuilding, the Israelis came several times and and took away materials that he was using to build the house.  He got all his friends to dump stone and earth on the road to block the route from the large gate in the wall through which the Israelis enter his land. 

In September 2012 he received another demolition order. 

Ali Saleem Mousa told us today “I do not cry for my house, I cry for my land. I am ready to pay my life for my land.”

Some of the family, and the donkey

This battle has so far cost this family £60,000 in legal and rebuilding costs. He also gets a bill each time from the Israelis for the cost of demolishing his house. 

The Israeli Government plans to extend the Annexation Wall in both directions. If this is done, he will have no access to his  land. 

Do you think Ali Saleem Mousa is a security threat to Israel?