Good Kites Make Good Neighbours

international | miscellaneous | press release

Thursday June 24, 2004 13:25

by Colm Walsh

upkildare at eircom dot net

Events to stop the Fence

On Thursday, June 24, 2004, at 16:30, kites will fly at Mevasseret Tzion
and Beit Suriq as an act of solidarity and a sign of the neighborly
relationship between the two communities. During the event, children and adults of both communities will make and fly kites, residents of Mevasseret beside Mevasseret's water tower and residents of Beit Suriq on an adjacent hill.

Good Kites Make Good Neighbors
Beit Suriq and Mevasseret Tzion

On Thursday, June 24, 2004, at 16:30, kites will fly at Mevasseret Tzion
and Beit Suriq as an act of solidarity and a sign of the neighborly
relationship between the two communities. During the event, children and
adults of both communities will make and fly kites, residents of
Mevasseret beside Mevasseret's water tower and residents of Beit Suriq on
an adjacent hill.

The activity joins a series of events that have taken place since
residents of Mevasseret discovered that the proposed route of the
security fence passes close to the houses of Beit Suriq, preventing the
villagers from reaching their fields and orchards. The fields and
orchards are an important, and in some cases only, source of income for
the families of Beit Suriq.

In February 2004, because of the expected impact on their lives, Beit
Suriq, Katana, Bidu, Beit Sira, Al-Qubeiba and six other villages
included in an enclave to be created by the fence petitioned the High
Court of Justice to change the route.

Mevasseret residents feared that a fence on this route would create
desperation and anger and that, instead of promoting peace, would upset
the relative quiet that has existed between the two communities for some
37 years. Therefore, they asked the court to join the petition of the
Arab villages.

During the court deliberations, retired high-ranking military and police
personnel
testified. They claimed that the route of the fence, in addition to being extremely
inconsiderate, would not even provide the sought-for security. They suggested an
alternate route that would provide security to Israeli citizens while interfering as little as
possible in the lives and income of the villagers. Deliberations ended in May but the
court has not yet given its decision.

Residents of the area from both sides have held a number of events to generate support
for changing the route. There have been gatherings of Mevasseret and Beit Suriq
residents and tours to the proposed route. A Beit Suriq/Mevasseret women's group has
been formed. Some two weeks ago, a visit was made to the Al-Sheik family whose
house is on the proposed route and who has been served a demolition order. The kite
event is one of several planned future events.