Features

WAFA

- The residents of Jayous Town, Qalqilya, await anxiously the “Isolation Wall” trial ehich

is to tale place in the International Court of Justice, Lahai this week (23 February 2004).

The Israeli “Isolation Wall” looted and isolated all of the town’s agricultural land.



The residents of the town, located north of Qalqilya, say that they look to the

international court for support amidst the silence they received from the international

community despite the great injustice done to them by the Israeli occupation

authorities.

Jayous is one of the most devastated Palestinian villages as a result

of the establishment of the wall.

Over 9000 dunums (1dunum=1000m2) out of 12500

dunums (the area of the town) were confiscated for the purpose of the wall, leaving over

70% of the residents without land and source of income.

Head of the town’s council

Fayez Salim says the wall leaves hundreds of families that depend on their land for

livelihood without hope, pointing out that in addition to over 100 farmers whose land was

completely destroyed under the wall, 300 other families lost their only source of income

since their land is currently behind the wall.

He adds that the residents of the

town feel bitterness towards Arab and international incapacity vis-à-vis the issue of the

wall. He also sees that obtaining a legal position from the internal court is important in

turning the issue into a political one and that through the decision of the court the

United Nations would be able to exert pressure on Israel to end the construction of the

wall and remove it.

The wall, which is made of fences, ditches and roads, is built

6 kilometers into the town and away from the “Green Line” and isolates all of the town’s

agricultural land, leaving behind only the homes of the residents. This represents a

catastrophe for the residents of the town who depend solely on agriculture.

From

within the Citrus, Almond, Guava and Olive trees that richly cover the land of Jayous, the

“wall” bends, cutting through these farms and causing great destruction and disfiguration.

Jayous Municipality estimates the size of production from the land now isolated behind the

wall at 9 million kilograms of vegetables and fruits yearly.

The resident

Abdellatif al-Hilo, whose land has been totally isolated behind the wall, sees that raising

the case in the International Court of Justice as extremely important. He says that

listening to the residents’ testimonies in the court is a historical documentation of the

struggle. He also stresses the importance of media coverage of the decision to be released

by the court.

Since the start of the establishment of the wall in Jayous at the end

of 2002, the residents have not been able to reach their land.

Head of the town’s

council says that reaching the land is now impossible and is subject to the mood of the

soldiers based at the metal gates that were set up within the wall to separate them from

their land.

He also denied Israeli claims that the Israeli army is issuing

permissions to owners of isolated land and described the claim as a “con”. He said that

most of the permissions which were issued to farmers in the town were to dead people or

people living abroad, and also to old people or children who cannot work.

During the

past olive season, dozens of the residents were forced to stay in tents on their land

behind the wall until the end of the harvest, for fear of being prevented from crossing the

gates that now separate them from their land.

Another problem which the residents of

the town face is water. All artesian wells have been confiscated along with the land. Head

of the council says that all six wells are now completely gone and water networks

destroyed, which means Jayous is currently without a source of water.

The wall

leaves no land or water for the residents of Jayous, who await the trial to convene in the

hopes that this would trigger world conscience to support them in pressuring the Israeli

occupation to remove the wall that stands on their land and livelihood.