[Palestine] Three Fridays in Jayyus at the Wall

In “The Mending Wall,” Robert Frost wrote,

‘Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.'

Israel is constructing a barrier to segregate the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Berlin wall was 4 meters high in most places. This wall is 8 meters high. In some areas the wall is concrete, in some razor wire or electrical fencing. There are pillboxes, control and observation towers, concrete roadblocks and trenches along the barrier. Checkpoints can stop both pedestrian and vehicular traffic for hours without any explanation except”security”.

Section of the wall near Jerusalem

Contrary to Israel’s statements, the route of this wall is not along the green line (the armistice boundary declared after the 1948 war). The segregation wall is within the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Every year the United Nations publishes a map with the current cadastral locations of the barriers and the accepted green line. The map clearly shows the completed and planned routes that snake through Palestinian villages and impede movement. The wall is not built on Israel land. It is on the land of those who are occupied. It includes a “buffer zone”, or additional confiscated land that is needed to protect the wall that “protects” the citizens of Israel. The reasoning is as circular as the wall itself.

Route of the barrier curving around Jayyus' land

The International Court of Justice declared the wall to be “contrary to International Law” in 2004.

Jayyus is a small village in the Qalqulia district of the West Bank, Palestine. The segregation wall circles Jayyus; 70% of the arable land is behind the segregation wall. From Dec. 9 to Dec. 20 in 2004, Israeli bulldozers uprooted about 750 olive trees for the wall and the buffer zone. The six artesian wells that have provided water for Jayyus are on the “wrong side of the wall”…for security reasons? Farmers must obtain permits to visit their land. Permits are scarce, for security reasons. So a 65 year old farmer may access his land but cannot bring young sons to help with the work. The old Ottoman Land Law of 1858 is in force. If a farmer does not work his land for three years it is confiscated by Israel. Some farmers have not been able to obtain permits in three years. Is it security or a land grab of fertile productive land?

So Jayyus has joined a long list of villages that are staging non-violent protests against the wall and to resist the Occupation. Every Friday the list of villages demonstrating against the Occupation grows, and more and more Palestinians gather at the wall or a roadblock to demand access to their land, their livelihood, their dignity,and their human rights. As the number of protesters grows, the question becomes more apparent, “Is this wall making you safer?” Did the wall around Gaza provide security?

On Friday the menu of local demonstrations was: Burqa, Jayyus, Nai’lin or Bi’ llin. This MPT team member chose Jayyus. When we arrived, the army was patrolling the village and stopped us before we reached the starting point.

Soldiers approaching as we enter village & asking for identification and passports

After a discussion we ignored their questions and met the other internationals gathering in the center of the village.

Beginning the protest

The army jeeps blocked the main road out of the village toward the gate in the wall.

Some of us were able to slip past the block and some Palestinians took side streets to bypass the block. The soldiers found themselves surrounded by protesters, chanting in Arabic. They were obviously unnerved when they found themselves in the center of the demonstration and in close quarters. It was too confined to allow them to use tear gas, concussion grenades or the usual methods of crowd dispersal. They broke ranks, retreating down the road toward the wall and leaving some of the soldiers stationed outside the village.

As we walked with the soldiers who were headed out of the crowd, a group of neighbor women came out of the houses to see what was happening. I linked arms with a Palestinian woman and smiled (because I have so little of the language and that is the only way I knew to communicate.) Soon there was a line of women with me following the soldiers, in djellaba or thawb and head scarves. The chant, “No, No, to the Wall” in Arabic rose up behind the military. The soldiers were anxious. As they spotted the army jeep positioned in the road they stopped and turned to face the crowd.

Face to face

Most of the soldiers are very young men, some in their late teens. As they turned, they were toe to toe with a line of women old enough to be their mothers and grandmothers. The look of surprise and confusion on their faces “was priceless”, to quote a US commercial. I spoke quietly to the soldiers near me, explaining that we were not a threat,. We were standing in front of them in peace and pointing out that we could have been their mothers. I hoped I could reduce some of the tension and anxiety so that we could make our statement peacefully, without tear gas and bullets. The soldiers were uncomfortable with the situation. When that became apparent, more women, both Palestinian and international, reinforced our position. It was a feminist’s dream come true. Women empowered had brought soldiers to a standstill. After about thirty minutes and some jockeying for position, the soldiers tried to move their line forward. The women and the crowd standing behind us did not move. There was a crush of bodies but no movement on either side. We stood for a while longer.

A military jeep came up behind us as though to plow through the line. They revved the engine. The women did not budge. After standing in from of the soldiers for an hour we sat on the road. There were piles of stones in the road and on either side. Photographers were scrambling over the rocks, filming and photographing the contrast of Palestinian and international women against a background of guns and olive drab uniforms. I was holding hands with the woman next to me and we all smiled up at the soldiers. The sweat was dripping off them. The leader of the demonstration brought us bottles of water. We took a drink and I offered it to the soldier. He was again confused and refused the drink.

The demonstration lasted about three hours. There were no rocks thrown. The head of the village took the loudspeaker and declared that we had expressed our resistance to the wall and the occupation and we should reconvene in the village municipality. I believe the Palestinians felt they had controlled some part of their day and had been able to show their disapproval of the segregation wall.

I felt so proud to have been with those women who were strong and determined to change the lives of their community. This one day was radically amazing because it worked. The protest was peaceful and effective.

[Palestine] Creative resistance in Beit Sahour

Beit Sahour is a town where Christians and Muslims have lived and worked in harmony for many years. During the First Intifada [1987-1993] the community was highly organized in methods of non-violent resistance. This was a time of resistance to the occupation. From 1987 to 1999 they refused to pay taxes to Israel and turned in their IDs. The result was the confiscation of household furniture, necessary supplies (including pharmaceuticals) in the various stories and daily harassment by the Israeli military.

The town expected support from the United States because their action was so similar to the US struggle of “no taxation without representation.” Unfortunately the support did not materialize. There was also a lack of support and similar action by other Palestinian areas. However, the spirit of nonviolent resistance is still alive in Beit Sahour.

Bethlehem has illegal Zionist settlements on three sides. On the east side, where Beit Sahour is located, is an area of land called Ush Ghrab. It is a high hill and has a commanding view of the surrounding country and Jerusalem. Its position made it a valuable military location. The Ottoman Empire established a military base there. That was followed by a Jordanian base; in 1967 Israel took it over. Israel used the area as an army base, but evacuated the area and left the land vacant in 2006.

The municipality of Beit Sahour is trying to acquire the land for a community and cultural center and a children’s hospital. Much of the land is privately owned by residents of Beit Sahour. The city built a public park, nature trail, a playground, and developed areas for families to gather. Cure International would like to build an orthopedic and cardiac hospital for children.

The municipality is trying to acquire all of the necessary permits and approvals from Israel to complete the project and build the hospital. As they are navigating the legal process, Israeli settlers have begun to enter the area and claim it as a future Israeli settlement, even though they have no legal standing. On several occasions they threatened and stoned Palestinians who were using the land. Racist graffiti has defaced walls and bulldozers have torn through the area. Beit Sahour citizens have painted peace slogans over the graffiti six times. Prayer meetings and peaceful gatherings have been disrupted by the Settlers. The Israeli army has protected the Israeli settlers and closed the road to Palestinian traffic at various times.

The response from the people of Beit Sahour has been non-violent and creative. One Sunday MPTers joined local families for a day of kite flying, food, a young Palestinian rap band, and general family fun. 

It would be a symbol of hope to see the land that was used by the military for so long dominated by a children’s hospital dedicated to healing - not destroying. Sometimes resistance can take the shape of a kite and not a fist.

[Palestine] IWPS & Olive Harvest in Marda

The MPT team spent some time working with the International Women’s Peace Service (IWPS), a group that provides international accompaniment and non-violent intervention to abuses in the West Bank. MPT and IWPS have a shared mission. Their home-base is in a small village called Haris. It is in the Salfit district, north of Ramallah.

Ari’el, one the oldest and largest settlements in the West Bank, is situated near the Palestinian village of Marda. The settlement was built on land confiscated from the local farmers, and electric fences and rings of razor wire have been placed at intervals to surround Ari’el. In some places, there are six rows of fortifications placed among the terraced olive trees.

The mayor of Marda had received permission from the Israeli government so the local farmers could enter the enclosed area to harvest their trees. However, the previous week on the official access day, when they approached with internationals from Great Britain, they were denied entry and more razor wire was in place.  After further phone calls and negotiations, we approached early in the morning to try again to reach the olive groves.

The army was present at the top of a steep gravel path and a double row of gates. Palestinian farmers waited uneasily as each was allowed to entry singly. They were searched, patted down, their IDs checked and confiscated, and told to wait at the side of the military access road. Two donkeys were brought up the road and their packs were thoroughly searched; grain bags for collecting olives were tossed on the ground and inspection of the saddle completed.

Then a man was arrested and placed in handcuffs next to the jeep. When the soldier was asked what the problem was, we were told he was “wanted”. It was pointed out that wanted men do not usually present themselves with an ID to the army. The soldier said, “You wouldn’t believe what they do!”

Farmer arrested and handcuffed

A tractor with a small trailer was pulled up the path near the gates, to be used to transport the olives. The soldiers refused to open the gates for the vehicle. There were phone calls and discussions with the Palestinians but the tractor was not allowed inside the razor wire.

An hour later, after harassment and humiliation, the farmers were told they could go to their trees and they could return at either two or four o’clock for their IDs. The man who had been arrested was released with no explanation and told to go to join the rest of the villagers picking olives. The MPT team was told they were going to be allowed to enter but they had to stay with the farmers and not enter anywhere near the settlement or “There will be big trouble for everyone.” The soldier seemed to believe he was benevolent in allowing us access that had been agreed upon weeks before.

We walked up the hill toward the settlement with an older man who had not been able to see his trees for five years. There is a law retained from the Ottoman Empire that allows the government to take land that is not worked for five years, even if the government does not allow entry to the land. This gave his trip even more importance.

Farmer denied entry for five years

When we reached the area of his trees, we found another fence and a padlocked gate. We again waited for the military. They unlocked the gate.

The farmer went in and inspected the trees. He returned crestfallen; there were no olives. He had not been able to tend the trees, to fertilize, prune, and care for them and there was nothing to pick. He walked back toward the gate, hoping to find the soldiers and his ID before they left.

We joined another farmer with two young helpers and walked up the steep terraces toward his trees. He had better luck and there were olives to pick. He was carrying a pruning saw and pruning shears and worked on the trees as we picked. There were places where weeds, vines, and brambles had grown so thickly that he had to clear the land before we could even get to the trees.

We spread plastic tarps under the trees, to catch the olives. The youngest and lightest of the boys was able to climb to the top, weakest tree limbs and knock the olives to the ground.

Tarps to catch the olives as we pick

Of course there were glasses of tea around 10 o’clock and then a mid-day meal of pita and hummus and some raw vegetables, spread under the trees. It was almost possible to forget we were trapped between an electric fence on one side and razor wire on the other, with no place to go if there was trouble.

We worked with the farmer, making our way to the top terrace directly below the settlement. The terrain is rough and uneven because they cannot do the necessary maintenance of the retaining walls and area around their trees.

Loading the donkey for the trip out

By the end of the day, we were able to load the saddlebags on the donkey and fill another sack for his back. This man was fortunate that he had a donkey to help him with the harvest. Some of the villagers had to walk 3 km with the heavy olive sacks on their backs. It had turned into a productive day for some of the families of Marda.

Olives

[Palestine] MPT visits with families in Tuba

On Monday morning, June 23, 2008 MPT headed south to the cave community of Tuba in the south Hebron hills. When MPTers arrived in At Tuwani, Christian Peace Team (CPT) was glad for their presence because there had been a growing number of settler attacks. Many families and shepherds had been calling for CPT to accompany them in case of attacks; however at the time they were unable to meet the growing need.

A member of CPT was going to walk MPT through the hills to Tuba. Along the way, they stopped to meet with a shepherd who had asked for some accompaniment. The night before, he had been grazing his sheep on land that he had the paperwork to be on. Settlers had come down with slingshots and begun shooting rocks at his sheep. He had to run away quickly with his sheep. However, he was afraid that while running away, he may have lost some sheep and that they might have been killed. He wanted CPT/MPT to go back with him and if his sheep were there to take pictures. Thankfully, when they went to check, they did not find any dead sheep, though he said it was still possible they had taken some sheep.

MPT waited a while with the shepherd as the sheep grazed. Almost as soon as MPT arrived, two settlers appeared from behind the trees of an illegal outpost. The outpost is near several settlements. The two settler men appeared with a dog and it also seemed that they were masked. Phone calls were made and the cameras began rolling. The settlers did not come any closer. Soon the Israeli army arrived and watched from the top of the hill. The shepherd began backing away with his sheep and goats, even though he had the right to be grazing there.

Two settlers come from the illegal outpost

As MPT walked through the hills, they could hear loud fighter planes, gifts from the U.S. to Israel, flying overhead. It was a weird sound to hear in the middle of the wilderness. There is a military base near by. After a long walk through the hills, MPT arrived at Tuba hidden within the hills. MPT has had an ongoing relationship with these families. Recently, this community has been experiencing settler violence and has been calling for international presence. The night before MPT arrived, two of the children were giving water to the sheep and goats when two grown men approached and began shooting stones at them with slingshots. Luckily, they were able to get it on film. B’tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, has given one of the children a video recorder in order to capture and make public the settler violence.

MPT was able to go out with the sheep twice, allowing the sheep and goats to have several hours of grazing that had been too dangerous lately. Thankfully, there were no settler incidents while MPT was there.

MPT enjoyed the generous hospitality of the families at Tuba and got to participate in the beautiful simplicity of their lifestyle. They spent a lovely night sleeping under the stars next to the caves. One MPTer was even given rides on a donkey up the steep hill!

As MPT travelled back to At Tuwani, they learned a conflict had occurred between a shepherd and some settlers that morning, though no one was injured. That night, MPT learned that there had been another attack in the area after they had left.

[Palestine] The Extraordinary is Nothing but Ordinary at Checkpoint 300

“Welcome” said the Palestinian woman to MPT at the massive Checkpoint 300 between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. She had just had her documents checked and been fingerprinted. She watches as MPTers get by easily with their U.S. passports. Yes, here is the real welcome. It is not the soldiers behind the bulletproof glass, but the women whose community we are entering that welcome us.

Checkpoint 300 is the military designation for the exit and entry point for Palestinians traveling between Jerusalem and the north and beyond. It was built in November 2005 to replace an older, smaller and simpler checkpoint. It sits under the illegal Israeli settlement of Gilo.

MPT arrived at Checkpoint 300 at 5:10 am on Monday, June 16, 2008. It was quite a sight as hundreds of men were already in line. Every man in Bethlehem lucky enough to have a work permit must pass through this checkpoint every day on his way to work in Jerusalem.

MPT’s goal for the morning was simply to accompany the Palestinians on their typical morning checkpoint experiences as they went to work. MPTers would also keep their eyes open for human rights abuses as checkpoint 300 is one of the most militarized checkpoints in the West Bank and is infamous for violence and harsh interrogations.

The checkpoint is closed during the night so no one can enter or leave Bethlehem. It is supposed to open at 5:00 am. At 5:10 am, there was no sign of it being open. Around 5:20 am, it opened and the first charge of people toward the entrance began. Everyone started rushing and moving, hoping to get through the checkpoint as quickly as possible. The line no longer mattered. It was a bizarre experience to watch.

In a couple minutes, movement stopped again and the waiting continued. Every ten minutes the Israelis staffing the checkpoint would let in a few more people and then there would be waiting again. MPT along with the men followed the line into a narrow fenced-in path that runs along the apartheid wall. The wall is covered in writings in many different languages. It has messages like “We want peace” and “Jesus wept for Jerusalem. We weep for Palestine.”

A man standing in line near MPT explained that today was a good day. There weren’t too many people, he said. It was hard to believe that the hundreds of men did not constitute many people. He also said that it opened close to 5:00 am. Yesterday was awful, he explained, because it had opened closer to 5:30 am. He said the Israeli soldiers open it whenever they feel like it. Before Checkpoint 300 was built, he said, he left his house at 6:30 am to be to work on time. It was only a 15 minute drive to Jerusalem. Now he has to be at the checkpoint by 4:30 am and still doesn’t get to work on time.

When the checkpoint was opened for a few more people, it could first be heard from the back of the line and again everyone would begin to rush. People would run up along beside the fenced-in line and then jump over and get closer to the front. The men in line had a pretty good sense of humor about it. For those couple of minutes while the checkpoint was open, it felt like chaos. A member of MPT said, “majnun, majnun” meaning “crazy, crazy” in Arabic and the men around would laugh and laugh.

Men run up along the side of the line and climb over the fence

At 6:50 am, MPT reached the first turnstile. It had been an hour and a half and it was just the first step. Everyone held up their documents as they passed through the turnstile. MPT stood out of the way and watched as the men went through the turnstile, which brought them to the other side of the apartheid wall, and then took off at a sprint through the parking lot where soldiers and dogs were walking around. The men ran into the checkpoint building that looks like a large warehouse.

Once inside the building, there was another line and more waiting. This was the line for the metal detector and MPT watched as men took off their shoes and belts while emptying their pockets. One man even took off the pins in an arm bandage. The soldier behind the glass kept yelling, “Go back” in Arabic to the men for no apparent reason. To the soldier’s surprise, MPTers declined the white privilege preferential treatment she offered them and put their belongings through the metal detectors.

Inside of the checkpoint

Once through this step, the men would run to the next line with their shoes half on as they put their belts back on and prepared their papers. The men then waited in line again to have their work permits checked. They struggled with the new equipment that scans work permits with hardly any instruction. This equipment, along with fingerprint machines, is a gift from the United States to Israel. Some men were fingerprinted. Not all stations have fingerprint machines. It seemed entirely random.

After the second intifada in 2000, Israel cancelled all Palestinian work permits. Every Palestinian had to reapply for a work permit and not many were granted, which accounts for the high unemployment rate in the West Bank. It should be noted that the second intifada erupted following Ariel Sharon’s highly provocative act of entering the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the third most holy site in Islam, with many armed Israeli soldiers.

By the time MPTers reached the last step in the Checkpoint 300 process more than two hours had elapsed. It was hard to imagine doing this every morning before going to a full day’s work.

MPT stayed to observe as every sort of Palestinian man, young and old, short and tall, dressed in business or laborer’s clothing, went through the line. At times, the men grew loud and angry by the metal detector. An MPTer asked one man as he came through if there was a problem. He said, “Everything problem. No easy.”

MPT met a couple of Israeli observers who said this seemed to be a pretty calm day. One of them said, “We may not be able to do much. But sometimes we can do a little.”

If nothing else, hopefully the Palestinians that MPT saw know that internationals care and are watching. Seeing men running with their shoes half on, putting back on their belts, wishing us a good morning, and struggling to show their documents as the equipment kept changing and everything was different depending on which line you were in was difficult to watch. MPT now shares with you what they learned about the absurdity and dehumanization of checkpoints. This story needs to be told so that all who hear it can refuse to let this be ordinary.

[Palestine] The South: Fragile Desert Ecology, CPT, Operation Dove, and Hafez

Bedouin subsistence life is gentle to the land. Their diet consists of dairy products and meat from their animals, bread from the wheat they plant and harvest in the slopping ravines, and a few purchased food products.  Goats and sheep provide milk, meat and wool.  A few olive trees, grape vines, and tomato plants provide treats now and then.  Bedouins dwell in tent-like housing or caves, carefully using the water they draw from deep cisterns on the hill slopes.  When necessary, they walk, use donkeys and take public transportation to nearby towns. They are a people who seem happy with their families and simple life.

However, the Israeli settlers have established large scale agribusinesses which are not environmentally friendly. The limited availability of water and the waste byproducts from intensive agribusiness pose a potential longer-term threat to the delicate desert environment.

MPTers arrived in Tuba on time to do school patrol for the Bedouin children coming home from school, which we repeated the next morning. Later, the team spent time visiting with two families and helping a bit with the harvesting of the wheat.

This gregarious young woman gives the team an ongoing commentary in Arabic whether the team understands or not.

Despite the unfamiliar beauty of the land and the welcoming spirit of the Bedouin families, there was a sense of fear in the area. The Christian Peacemaker Team [CPT] had reported to them an invasion three days earlier of 20 heavily armed Israeli settlers, army, and police into the nearby At Tuwani village. Several Palestinians were injured and a member of Operation Dove [an Italian peace team that works with CPT] had a possible eye injury. All were returned from the hospital to the village before we left. The Israeli army and police did not respond to the pleas of the Palestinian villagers or the internationals from CPT and Operation Dove even when the police and soldiers were witnesses to the brutality of the Israeli settlers. After hearing this report, MPTers walked two and a half hours with great alertness through desert land where settlers have harassed and seriously injured Palestinians and internationals.

In the evening as the shadows crept across the hills and the women were drawing water, the 17-year old daughter from the family who lives in the cave, spotted two settlers coming down a hill a distance from them. When she pointed out the settlers, she seemed a bit hysterical. Her mother had been beaten by settlers a few months ago. To the relief of the young women drawing water, the settlers turned and returned to the settlement. However, the village invasion news, the citing of settlers on nearby distant hill, and the fact the Israelis were celebrating 60 years of independence [which for Palestine means 60+ years of occupation] kept the team alert.

Some MPTers slept fitfully that night wondering if settlers would invade to hurt the people and destroy their dwellings or animals and also hurt them. However, the team only has to deal with this feeling of fear for a brief time compared to the daily occupation the Bedouins feel for themselves, their children, and their livelihood.

Hafez - "Gandhi of the South.'

Returning to At Tuwani, the team stopped to visit Hafez, whom some MPTers call “Gandhi of the South.” He shared his inspiring life story, which is always difficult for him to tell because he relives the suffering at each telling. A few years ago, Hafez was at a meeting with Israeli peace activists when he received a call that his 71-year-old mother was being attacked and beaten by Israeli settlers from the nearby settlement. The settlers were attempting to steal the sheep his mother was herding in an area close to his home. Despite the threat of death with settler rifle shots near his feet, Hafez moved toward his mother. The settlers stopped and retreated, leaving the sheep with Hafez’s mother when they saw the Israeli activists had come to tape the events with video cameras.

Hafez says he thought of revenge, but decided that violence against violence would only continue the violence and would eventually destroy his whole family. Even when faced with this horrible event he chose nonviolence and has continued to work with the Bedouin people of the area, developing leaders and helping to educate people in nonviolence. In a demonstration two years ago, he suffered broken ribs and received a court order that keeps him away from demonstrations, but not the opportunity to continue to organize the people and direct demonstrations by phone from a distance.

The team left with heavy hearts for the suffering of the Bedouin people, but with hope for the future because of the nonviolent work of the communities there, led by the “Gandhi of the South.”