Living in the Shadow of the South Gate in Jayyous

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Friday January 16, 2009 16:05 by Ingrid Colvin c/o indymedia Journalist

An Irish woman in Palestine

I am sitting in the olive groves at the little hut of a friend whose land is in the South of Jayyous. The fire is burning telling me that the family has been here this morning lovingly tending to the land.

The sun is shining; it rays restoring some of the hope and energy taken from the community after yesterday’s demonstration. Walking here, I passed a family sitting under the shade of their olive trees having their lunch replenishing their bodies after working hard on their land. The land and the people are at ease.

It is Shabbat and so the machinery of occupation, hydraulic excavators, multi terrain loaders and compactors “destroyers and usurpers, gnawing, biting, breaking, hacking and burning” their way through the land working to clear the area of the olive tress that are on the land of the farmers of Jayyus, are quiet and still.

If I close my eyes to shut out the separation barrier it is easy to imagine the landscape restored to it former glory before the separation barrier was completed in 2003. The image is beautiful but makes the pain of occupation all the more difficult to bear.

This scene is far removed from that of yesterday, Friday, when the community used their right to resist the occupation of their land and to protest about the ongoing war in Gaza. Demonstrations have been taking place every Friday since the beginning of November. The protestors gather in the centre of the village and make their way towards the south gate. The army are always present and ready to react. Last Friday however, the Israeli army employed new tactics to disperse the demonstration. According to reports from demonstrators solders hid in the olive groves, dressed in civilian clothes so they could not be distinguished from the local people. We witnessed them surprising the crowd by opening fire using live rounds of ammunition, without warning, the sound of their weaponry controlled by silencers. Three were injured immediately and taken to hospital for medical attention. One was transferred to the hospital in Nablus as he has a heart condition aggravated by inhaling tear gas. Two others remain in the hospital in Qalqiliya recovering from their injuries.

The clashes between the army and demonstrators continued until nearly 6pm in the evening, exhausting the people, damaging their homes and bestowing fear and terror on the families and homes of the people at the south of the village.

On Saturday morning we met one of the families who live at the south gate to hear their story.

The family’s home is the first house at the entrance to the south gate and for weeks now they have endured the hostilities and the violence that the army rains on the community. The daughter explains “ it is a dangerous situation because our house is so near to the south gate, we cannot plan to do anything on a Friday. We get up early, make the breakfast quickly and tidy the house”. After this all they can do is wait until night falls and the army leaves the village before clam and normal life resumes.

The family of eight, the mother and father and six children from eight to twenty years are confined to their home each Friday. The father has a heart condition and each week brings new possibilities of it been aggravated by the tear gas that inevitably comes into their house. Last Friday three windows were broken by the army’s rubber bullets. One, as the son of the family slept “he was so frightened when he heard the noise he got up quickly and left”. If he had of been lying on the bed where the rubber bullet landed for sure he would have been injured by the shattering glass. “Yesterday we didn’t study, we didn’t eat or play we were just watching from the window”. The daughter had a college exam on Saturday and was unable to study, her education affected by the occupation. My sister is always crying she tells us “ I didn’t have time to study, I couldn’t concentrate”.

Being so close to the south gate, the family home becomes a place for people to gather, take shelter, and take photographs and for the injured to be treated. Last Friday, ten women took shelter in the house, an unusual occurrence because women do not always participate in the demonstrations. There were four cameramen form the local TV. The army accuse the family of providing sanctuary to the people participating in the demonstrations and of sheltering young people who the army blame for throwing stones and so they come frequently to search the house. The father explains “all of this is happening around us and it makes us tired and worried, we think about it all of the time”.

When we ask the father what can be done to limit the effects of the army’s response he tells us “ they always come here first because we are the first house, you can have a great affect by being here. Here my family is under occupation every day, you can tell people about this, tell your governments and ask them to talk with Israel and make them stop.”

Those organising the demonstration recognise the deep impact and the price that the people living in the south pay and say that they can support the families especially with the repairs to damaged property. Property is not the only thing affected at last week’s demonstrations four hundred chickens belonging to one farmer were killed from the tear gas. His livelihood and that of the family severely affected.

And it is not only on Fridays that the army enter the village. On Tuesday they came and broke into a house occupying the home, using it as an outpost for a couple of hours.

Despite these hardships the family see it as their duty to open their house to people every Friday. How can they refuse, they too are occupied by Israel every day and they too have a need to resist.

Ingrid Colvin - Ecumenical Accompanier – Jayyous