The setting for much of my work was the North Gate in Jayyous,
which is situated where the separation barrier, (a fence at this
location) cuts through the Palestinian countryside some three to
five kilometers east of the Green Line. The land cut off from the
village by the fence totals 9,000 dunams, or 72 percent of the
total village lands, and includes some of the best farmland in the
community. Many village families have holdings in this "paradise"
that produces a range of citrus fruits, vegetables and olives. Some
farmers have made considerable investment in greenhouses
(poly-tunnels) and irrigation to enhance production. The area
includes a number of wells, but extraction levels are limited by
Israeli regulations. Jayyous is a village of 3,300 people with an
economy largely based on agriculture. The village has about 420
unemployed. Since mid-October 2003 the farmers have needed a permit
(permission or tasreeh) to get to their land.
While in Jayyous, I was able to witness the daily commute to and
from work of the 40 percent of farmers granted permits by the
Israelis to cross the barrier to get to their land. This usually
amounts to between 35 and 45 people going through the gate. During
holidays, this figure could double and would include women and
children with picnics going to work, and also to visit their land
to instill a sense of their heritage in their children. It was
explained to me on a number of occasions that the olive trees are
members of the family, so when the 2,500 trees were dug up to build
the barrier the farmers took their trees home. I have seen the
piles of olive tree trunks outside many houses in the
village.
The Understanding Donkey
One of my early experiences in Jayyous was witnessing a soldier's
refusal to allow a farmer passage through the gate to access his
land. On that morning, the inner gate had been left open and the
man's donkey had wandered, unnoticed, towards the main gate. The
IDF jeep came over the hill, and the soldiers saw the donkey close
to the main gate. On hearing the jeep the farmer called his donkey,
which immediately turned with its cart, and came back through the
inner gateway.
The soldiers opened the main gate and motioned people to move
forward to have their IDs and permits checked. Finally only the man
with his donkey cart was left. The soldier started to shut the
inner gate. I asked him, "Does he have the right papers?" The
soldier said, "I don't speak English," and then added, "He can't
control his donkey." I phoned Hamoked, a Jerusalem-based human
rights support group, and the farmer talked to them. As he turned
to go home, he said sadly, "My donkey understands more than the
soldiers."
Apple Cakes
One evening, toward the end of Ramadan, the men returning from the
fields had been kept waiting due to repairs being made to the
gates. They waited in the growing darkness, lined up on the other
side of the fence from where I was standing. They sat on the ground
while their donkeys stood silently beside them. Eventually, well
over an hour after sunset, the soldiers began checking the men's
permits. It was a slow process that evening, with each check taking
well over the average 35 seconds. I was offered a ride to the
village in one of trucks that carried that day's harvest up the
hill. As we entered the village a door opened and a plate of juicy
apple cakes was handed through the driver's window. He passed them
to me before sharing this ifthar (breakfast) with the other men,
saying I had to eat first as I was their guest.
Visiting Israelis
One day, a group of Israeli students arrived with a party from the
Peres Center for Peace in time for the midday gate opening. They
went to the main gate as soon as the soldiers opened it, and began
talking to them. The Palestinians waiting to get through stood
patiently at the inner gate, despite this further disruption to
their working day. Eventually, in a strange joint action, the
soldiers and I asked the Israeli party to leave the area in front
of the gate. The soldiers, I suspect, because they were uneasy with
having so many people at close quarters, and me because the
students were stopping the farmers from getting to work. Abu Azam
of the Land Defense Committee in Jayyous told the young visitors,
"...most of all we need the fellowship of the Israelis."
No "Permission" for Sheep
On one of my last gate watches, while talking to some unusually
friendly soldiers by the open gate, a shepherd approached with a
flock of sheep. There had been a problem with sheep in Jayyous over
the winter, as there was insufficient food for them. Many of the
sheep were underfed and some farmers had spent money they can ill
afford on fodder. The shepherd's ID and permit were in order, but
he could not take the sheep into the Jayyous land, as they did not
have veterinary certificates to comply with Israeli animal health
regulations. "This land is now Israeli", the soldier said.
These four examples illustrate the conditions farmers in Jayyous
experience on a daily basis. This disruption to their lives takes a
toll in terms of wasted energy, lost working time, diminished
income, low morale and most of all in terms of personal freedom.
They will not easily be detached from their land, their trees and
their "stones." This is their heritage. These case studies relate
the ethnographic nature of my work in Jayyous, based on participant
observation, supported by field notes, photography, the stories of
individuals and the keeping of a reflective journal. The validity
of information is based on its grounding in experience and in its
triangulation of various sources.
Note
The Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel
(EAPPI) was launched in August 2002. Ecumenical accompaniers
monitor and report violations of human rights and international
humanitarian law, support acts of non-violent resistance alongside
local Christian and Muslim Palestinians and Israeli peace
activists, offer protection through non-violent presence, engage in
public policy advocacy and stand in solidarity with the churches
and all those struggling against the occupation. The program is
coordinated by the World Council of Churches (WCC).
