44 Israeli Land Grab and Forced Population Transfer of Palestinians the two colonies (the colony of Susya and the archeological site of Susya) expanded at the expense of our agricultural land. They kept putting up new borders or grabbing more hills, so we lost more and more lands. Before the year 2000, we could use around 80 percent of our lands and after the Second Intifada, under the pretexts of military zones, and prevention of contact or collision between the colonists and ourselves, we found ourselves permitted to use only 30 percent of our lands. Often the Israeli Civil Administration military orders state that it is forbidden for both us and the colonists to enter these lands for security reasons. However, the facts on the ground are different. It’s forbidden for the Palestinians to access their lands while the colonists can enter and can even plant trees. As a result, we lose lands because they use laws that deliver the lands to those who, today, benefit from it. In addition, they use Ottoman laws against us, which affirms that if you haven’t used your lands for a few years - you don’t cultivate or plow it - it becomes ‘State Land’ and the State eventually transforms it into a colony. For instance, the Israeli Military prohibits me reaching my land. Meanwhile ,Israeli authorities take aerial photos and they state that I didn’t work in my land or plant anything for a few years without mentioning the real facts that enabled me to reach or to use my land, and then they adopt the Ottoman law without questioning why I couldn’t reach the land or taking into consideration that I was prevented by the military. Land access From 2001, the settlers of the colony of Susya and its outpost (with the help of the Israeli Military) started to prevent us from accessing our private lands on an area of 3,000 dunums (3 km2) around the colony – an area that is 10 times bigger than the built up area of the colony itself. The Israeli Civil Administration never gave official orders that deny our access to the lands, but what happens is that the military does not allow us to access the lands and they tell us to go to the Israeli Civil Administration. But the Israeli Civil Administration still fails to give us any explanation. For instance, the Israeli Civil Administration gave us permission to access some of our owned lands and at the same time, totally prohibited the colonists to enter them, but unfortunately what happened on the ground was that the soldiers prohibited the Palestinians from entering, even if they didn’t have a specific order to do so from the Military Commander. However, if they see colonists on the land they say nothing to them even if there is an order that forbids the colonists from entering the lands.