It isn't often that we meet not one but two Palestinian village mayors whose faces beam with joy and delight. But it happened last evening as a result of their villages being moved from the Israeli "seam zone" to the West Bank 6 days ago. Their feelings were tempered somewhat by the loss by some of their villagers of land and trees, but there was no doubt of their overall feelings. The story is as follows. Because it depends on the crazy way in which Israel's Wall/Fence zig zags around this area to incorporate the settlements built illegally on West bank Palestinian land into Israel, we need part of the same map I showed in Report #4 to make sense of it all.
The story concerns three small villages Wadi ar Rasha, Ad Dab'a and Ras at Tira, total population 1200. You can find them on the map near the large words in red "Ras 'Atiya", and close to the purple/mauve settlement area marked Alfe Menashe. You will see this whole area surrounded by a red/black line which represents the Wall/Fence. You will also see a dotted red line near the settlement: this is a new Wall.
When Israel built its Wall/Fence in this area 7 years ago, the three villages and their lands were incorporated into the Seam Zone around Alfe Menashe settlement, that is within territory that is directly connected by road to Israel and which Israel considers, contrary to international law, to be its own territory. Many of the Palestinian inhabitants of these villages worked for example as teachers in the West Bank which, if they had permits, they accessed via a checkpoint marked on the map as a red circle with a white cross in the middle. Even for those with permits, this checkpoint like others was a constant source of delay and aggravation. When we first visited these villages in March, we found a car with a bride inside stranded on the West Bank side of the wall. The mayor of Ras at Tira had gone to enormous trouble to get permits for all the many wedding guests and participants, but a new team of soldiers at this checkpoint made real problems and she was delayed for her own wedding.
There were innumerable problems of this kind over the years, and the Palestinians suggested the villages should be placed outside the Wall/Fence in the West Bank. After due legal process this has been done. A new Wall (not a Fence) has been constructed closer to Alfe Menashe settlement and the old Fence and checkpoint are being removed although leaving a 100 yard wide scar across the hills and fields.
The advantages of their new position are many. The main one is that the villagers now have their freedom to come and go within the West Bank, and to visit friends and relatives. Our taxi driver used to be good friends with one of the mayors but hadn't been able to visit him for 7 years. He described to us the strange feeling of being able to drive into this land from which he had been excluded for so long. Another is the recovery of lands that were inaccessible before.
There are also disadvantages. Some people have lost their jobs in the settlement. Others have lost land and trees behind the new Wall—although this will have two agricultural gates to access trees left in the Seam Zone during the olive season, many people will find it difficult to access their trees. But the balance of feelings is very positive.
I can add some other points of interest.
· Mayors: we have met many Mayors of West Bank towns and villages. I think without exception they have been impressive and capable. They are elected. Mayors of small villages like these do the job unpaid. It is a huge worry, they have to deal with the Israeli authorities and legal issues, and do the best for their village. The two Mayors we met yesterday have full-time jobs in Israel as construction workers (not in settlements) which means starting from home at 0430 or 0500. Mayors of larger towns such as Jayyous are salaried, but the worry level is high, too.
· Families: as in many places, villagers here belong largely to an extended family started in this case in the early 1800s by someone who came here.
· Security: the Israelis claim that the Wall/Fence is for the security of the settlers. The Mayor here stated that since 1983 when Alfe Menashe was founded, there had been no incidents even of stone throwing. Israeli security is threatened by their constant theft of land for settlements—seems obvious really.
· Bedouin villages: there are also two Bedouin villages in the Alfe Menashe seam zone, Arab Abu Farda and Arab ar Ramadin al Janubi. The former have no papers for the land they live on, and Israel will in time move them on. People in the latter have the correct papers for their land from 60 years ago, and can access the West Bank through a checkpoint. They have no intention of moving.
Mike Barnes
18 May 2010
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