last wednesday we packed up from tiberias and began our journey back to jerusalem. the day was spent primarily in the west bank. much of what i witnessed and learned today was hard to swall, though somehow i am feeling hopeful and find solace in the resiliency of the human spirit.
driving south from the galilee along highway 6,
we eventually began traveling along the green line, with the separation wall dividing israel from the west bank. from the israeli side, the wall is barely visible, and therefore, hardly noticeable as it is almost entirely hidden from view by an embankment covered with shrubs and occasional flowers. lurking behind this earthen curtain, the concrete wall stands 10 meters high. depending on which side you are standing, you see very different realities.
driving south from the galilee along highway 6,we eventually began traveling along the green line, with the separation wall dividing israel from the west bank. from the israeli side, the wall is barely visible, and therefore, hardly noticeable as it is almost entirely hidden from view by an embankment covered with shrubs and occasional flowers. lurking behind this earthen curtain, the concrete wall stands 10 meters high. depending on which side you are standing, you see very different realities.
we attempted to enter qalquilia, a palestinian village directly bordering the green line that managed to put up a good fight in 1948 and was never taken by israeli forces during the war. today, it is completely enclosed by the wall with only a single road in and out, which is controlled by a security checkpoint. this area falls in the category of "area a,"
meaning it is under the jurisdiction of the palestinian authority. therefore it is restricted to israelis according to israeli law. despite the fact that no one on our bus was israeli, the bus itself was considered to be, due to its yellow license plates. the soldiers at the checkpoint refused to let us enter. last year, this had not been an issue when joy and arnie brought their group here. it seems that this was not actually a restriction (as last year's bus also had israeli plates) but rather a decision by the soldiers on guard.
fortunately, the UN vehicle passed without incident.
i wish that we had gained access so as to see the living conditions of those existing in this walled city, which i must say gave the impression of how i have always envisioned ghettos to have been constructed. supposedly, the wall cut right through a school in this town, though i was unable to see that for myself.
meaning it is under the jurisdiction of the palestinian authority. therefore it is restricted to israelis according to israeli law. despite the fact that no one on our bus was israeli, the bus itself was considered to be, due to its yellow license plates. the soldiers at the checkpoint refused to let us enter. last year, this had not been an issue when joy and arnie brought their group here. it seems that this was not actually a restriction (as last year's bus also had israeli plates) but rather a decision by the soldiers on guard.
fortunately, the UN vehicle passed without incident.i wish that we had gained access so as to see the living conditions of those existing in this walled city, which i must say gave the impression of how i have always envisioned ghettos to have been constructed. supposedly, the wall cut right through a school in this town, though i was unable to see that for myself.
each instance of encountering the wall adds to my perception that the path it takes is arbitrary. today we were given statistics of the footprint of the wall in terms of the one and a half million olive trees uprooted and tens of thousands of homes demolished to make way for the wall. this is not to mention the countless other issues of communities being disrupted or destroyed, programs halted or changed, the lack of access to lands and services, the separation between home and work or school, and the confiscation of land. maybe if the wall were being built solely along the green line these issues would seem less severe, but instead the majority of the wall exists on occupied palestinian land within the west bank.
disappointed and frustrated by having to turn around at the checkpoint, we continued on to jayyous, where we saw a firsthand account of a community of farmers being cut off from land to which they have rightful ownership. 
here, the wall is not the ominous concrete structure as seen in qalquilia but rather an electrified fence of chainlink and razor wire. the area has been declared a military zone by the israeli government. as we viewed the land from a rooftop in the village, tractors plodded along the military road, grading the shoulders in order for the soldiers to monitor for footprints of anyone attempting to cross. apparently, this is a practice that the u.s. employs along the mexican border to watch for illegal immigrants.
gates exist every so often along the wall, though i don't know how many or how far between. from the rooftop, only one gate was visible along a long stretch of road. the majority of these gates are open three times a day for one hour at a time to allow the villagers to access their lands and return home. one gate is open from 7 to 7.
we all climbed back into our bus and rode to this particular gate to get a better sense of it. we drove through thick olive groves and a few citrus groves as well, with the rocky, narrow road eventually turning to run alongside the fence. when we got to the gate we watched as small groups of villagers (four or five at a time) approached on their tractors and were made to show their i.d.s to cross back to the village side of the gate. as one group passed, they cheered for us and said, "come back every day! today we passed so quickly!" we attempted to cross through the gate ourselves but were not permitted to do so by the guards. we asked why but received no response. we tried to engage them in conversation, but they did not feel like talking with us. eventually, they left the place where we stood and went toward a building and were out of our sight.
we ventured back to the village and enjoyed an amazingly flavorful lunch prepared by the women's committee. this was my introduction to taboon, a type of flatbread that is baked with zatar and other spices, onions, and nuts. delicious.
the individuals i met and the stories i heard about the work of the women's committee, the struggles the farmers face, and the impact of the high rate of imprisonment of young men from this village will hopefully find their way into another posting.
here, the wall is not the ominous concrete structure as seen in qalquilia but rather an electrified fence of chainlink and razor wire. the area has been declared a military zone by the israeli government. as we viewed the land from a rooftop in the village, tractors plodded along the military road, grading the shoulders in order for the soldiers to monitor for footprints of anyone attempting to cross. apparently, this is a practice that the u.s. employs along the mexican border to watch for illegal immigrants.
gates exist every so often along the wall, though i don't know how many or how far between. from the rooftop, only one gate was visible along a long stretch of road. the majority of these gates are open three times a day for one hour at a time to allow the villagers to access their lands and return home. one gate is open from 7 to 7.
we all climbed back into our bus and rode to this particular gate to get a better sense of it. we drove through thick olive groves and a few citrus groves as well, with the rocky, narrow road eventually turning to run alongside the fence. when we got to the gate we watched as small groups of villagers (four or five at a time) approached on their tractors and were made to show their i.d.s to cross back to the village side of the gate. as one group passed, they cheered for us and said, "come back every day! today we passed so quickly!" we attempted to cross through the gate ourselves but were not permitted to do so by the guards. we asked why but received no response. we tried to engage them in conversation, but they did not feel like talking with us. eventually, they left the place where we stood and went toward a building and were out of our sight.
we ventured back to the village and enjoyed an amazingly flavorful lunch prepared by the women's committee. this was my introduction to taboon, a type of flatbread that is baked with zatar and other spices, onions, and nuts. delicious.
the individuals i met and the stories i heard about the work of the women's committee, the struggles the farmers face, and the impact of the high rate of imprisonment of young men from this village will hopefully find their way into another posting.
No comments:
Post a Comment