wfn.org | FEATURE: The Harvests are Rotting While the People Depend on

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

FEATURE: The Harvests are Rotting While the People Depend on Food Aid 
Peaceful Protest against the Wall in the West Bank 

JAYYOUS, West Bank/GENEVA, 10 February 2004 (LWI)  Why arent they building
the wall along the Green Line? Why are they taking 70 percent of our most
valuable land away from us? What will happen to the people living between the
Green Line and the wall? What will we live on in the future? The jobs in
Israel have already been lost, and now we are losing the land that sustains
us. Abu Assam, one of the prosperous farmers in Jayyous, northeast of
Kalkiliya in the West Bank, stands on the hill where his village is located,
and looks down onto the fertile coastal plain. His land is on the other side
of the wall, as the barrier in Palestine is now referred to. As early as
September 2002, one could see from Jayyous what the people would have to
face. 

The construction of the wall began with a large-scale eviction campaign. In
mid-2002, farmers in the northwest of the occupied Palestinian territories
between Jenin and Kalkiliya found official notices nailed to their trees: the
Israeli civil administration for the West Bank informed them that some pieces
of land would be confiscated for military reasons. According to the letters,
appeals to this notification could be submitted within 14 days. The
justification cited was the heavy attacks carried out on the Israeli civilian
population by Palestinian suicide bombers in the first half of 2002. The West
Bank was to be sealed off in order to prevent terrorists from penetrating the
area. 

The landowners were outraged less by the prospect of being cut off from
Israel  and thus from their Palestinian relatives in Israel and Israeli
jobs than by the course that the planned barrier would run. At the start of
construction north of Jenin, the barrier still followed what is known as the
Green Line - the border between Israel and the West Bank that was drawn as
the cease-fire line in 1967 following the Six Day War. But the land to be
confiscated for the barriers construction farther south, was not located
along the Green Line. In many places it lay not just a few hundred meters,
but a few kilometers east of this border within the Occupied Palestinian
Territories. 

Tens of Thousands of Olive Trees Felled to Clear Way for Wall Construction
 
All appeals against the eviction were rejected, and construction began. A
massive machine was used to cut a broad swathe straight through orange and
olive orchards. Since then, over 100,000 plants have been uprooted, including
many olive trees that had sustained their owners for several centuries. 

There was great bitterness among the people living along the new border, and
not only because of the loss of valuable land. Many communities found
themselves caught again between the Green Line and the barrier, and others
were cut off from their land west of the new border. All feared that they
would no longer have access to vital water sources for domestic use and for
irrigating the fields and greenhouses. 

With support from international solidarity groups, the affected people
organized peaceful protests at the construction site. The Imam of Jayyous
invited his congregation to Friday prayers in the fields. But the
demonstrations did not help, and the barrier began to take shape. It became
not only a security fence, as the Israeli authorities had called it, but
rather a fortified border, complete with everything that entails. A high
concrete wall was even built around the cities of Tulkarem and Kalkiliya. 

During the construction  which ran into the first half of 2003  the farmers
could still cross the construction site with their tractors and transport
vehicles, as the security forces that were meant to protect them allowed them
to pass. But the traders with their trucks were seen less and less
frequently. Gradually, driving became increasingly difficult as the security
forces enforced stricter measures. 

In August 2003, the barrier was finally completed. The 2.5 meter-high fence
was flanked on both sides by a street and a deep trench with several rolls of
barbed wire fitted with small, razor-sharp metal plates. 

The Gates Remained Closed for Weeks

Impassable. But, there were also two gates in the fence for Jayyous farmers.
Assam was skeptical, but had not lost all hope. He said, We can cross onto
our land. They promised us that. But we will also sleep there, in tents if we
have to.

The gates, which initially remained wide open, were closed in October 2003
and re-opened only briefly at specific times of day. They remained closed for
weeks on end after further attacks in Israel and during Israeli holidays.
Anyone who slept in the fields was driven away by the threat of heavy fines.
The shepherds from Jayyous, who wander about with their herds of sheep and
goats, were denied access to the land beyond the barrier. In the end, only a
specific category of people received passes to cross the border at all. Assam
and many other landowners with him, were not in this group. He stated with
conviction, I dont know why. But Im not giving up. 

Next, Assam planned a demonstration at one of the two gates. Again he carried
his tent. In addition to the Jayyous community, many international volunteers
joined him. They included members of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in
Palestine and Israel, which has been monitoring the situation on location in
Jayyous since October 2002. Israeli human rights activists also came by the
busload. Assam is a member of a dialogue group comprising both Israelis and
Palestinians.

Some Day, This Wall too Will Fall! 

Assam is full of praise and appreciation for the international support
provided in very tangible ways to the people of Jayyous, right in their
village. This is boosted by humanitarian assistance that includes aid from
Christian organizations, of which the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is one
of the donors. He described this support as a great source of encouragement
for all of us, as well as a sign that the world has not forgotten us. Some
day, this wall too will fall! 

Assam is well aware of the fact that he copes comparatively well. Many in
Jayyous now depend on humanitarian aid that is brought to the village in
large trucks. Distribution is difficult: there are too many people in need,
and it is not enough for everyone. Imagine that, in a village that can
actually produce enough to sustain not only itself, but also many other
people. Our harvests are now rotting, while our people stand in queues at the
distribution centers. Its absurd. How long can things go on like this?
(1,122 words)

(This is a contribution by Rudolf Hinz. From March 2002 to December 2003,
Hinz worked in Jerusalem for the LWF as Coordinator for International
Encounter, Dialogue and Reconciliation.)

[The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 136 member
churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7 million of the 65.4 million
Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas
of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology,
humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless
specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or
opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article
contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with
acknowledgment.]

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