Apartheid Wall's drains only way to bring in food

Apartheid Wall's drains only way for Baqa and Nazleh Isa villagers to bring in food

This expose is by the Palestine Hydrology Group of Jayyous, contact details at end of message:

(photos of the food being passed through the drains online at http://www.womenspeacepalestine.org/abdelatifmarch04.htm)

When somebody watches a tragedy film for the first time, he feels surprised and sad, and when he watches the same film for the second time, he becomes less surprised and so on. However, the wall tragedy is a live one, its actions renew everyday, its pains and tears are real ones. In more than one and a half years watching the impacts by the wall, every time I visit a new location, or even the same location I notice new horrible actions took place, as if I see or hear the story of the wall for the first time. On one side, the wall deteriorates the economy, environment, health, and education, and on the other side, the social state and physiology of people. When you see the human catastrophe, and listen to people stories, you feel the oppression against the innocent people, the agonize of spirit, the you could not utter, you stutter, and the mind agitates

In every location the wall passes through, there are hundred of stories, which show people suffering and pain. Baqa Sharqiya is a village, which seized with two other communities between two walls for four months. In the past two weeks, the Israeli authorities took a decision to dismantle one of the two walls (8 kms of the fence). Now Baqa Sharqiya and the two communities connected to the rest of Tulkarm towns and villages. In the first opportunity, I went to visit one of the projects that Palestinian Hydrology Group implements. However, dramatic changes happened after the Israeli built the concrete wall. More than three hundred shops are closed out of 400 shops Baqa Sharqiya has. The concrete wall stopped any of the customers from Arab- Israeli to enter Baqa to do shopping or to maintain their vehicles.

I continued the trip with the mayor of Baqa to visit Nazleh Issa, a village adjacent to Baqa. On the entrance to Nazleh, I saw a huge pile and remnants of the destroyed market and buildings. In that location, the wall devastated more than 200 shops and demolished 6 residential buildings. There, the driver showed exactly, where was the location of his garage. Now, all destroyed, but still in memory of people. There are few kids, who still visit the site and climb over the amass concrete and stacks of steel. The scene is even more painful than the time the destruction happened.

We continued to drive inside Nazleh, and in a moment, we stopped in front of 8 meters high of concrete wall. It is like a bogy in a scary film, as if I see the wall the first time; although, I narrated the wall story thousand times. I went out of the car, but I do not know where to start, either to take photos, or to interview people, or to release the affliction I was running to it. The scene of the houses not far from the wall more than 1.5 meters, the razor wires along the wall, the kids who play in the shadow of the wall, the course of cactus trees adjacent to the barbed wires and in front of the houses. Nothing is painful than kids who play, move and fun in such innocence and infancy. Today, they are playing and tomorrow they will cry. They will grow with an awful shadow that wall stuff in memory. I wish they could stay kids, and to feel as I do!

In the same crypt, there is a building of three stories; and its western side is used as part of the wall. I went to the owner of that build, and asked him to let me go to the roof. He said welcome and asked if this wall will vanish one day, I told him exactly like the fence wall because both are invalid. In few seconds, I climbed to the roof and started taking photos in all sides. The view embodies the mentality for separation and opposing to natural and social continuity. Then I went to listen to the stories the people telling on the past night and how the soldiers shot many tear gases and sound shells. How their kids waked up frightened in the mid of night. These people have no quite nights even to dream, or hope for tomorrow. The wall separated Nazleh from the sources of income inside 1948 market, and families from each other. A distance less than 10 meters between Nazleh and th

During the talk with people, a man whose name Basem Hussein came and lay down on wall foot and start calling somebody from the other side, then I saw bundle of green onion coming out of a hole of 6? in the bottom of the wall. There are about 16 holes, which made to drain water. I wondered of what I have seen, and asked could you explain to me that?. He said, my brother and his family live on the other side, and I was calling them to bring me the onions. Then I asked him what your work is? ?He said before this wall I have had vegetables? shop, and I used to sell vegetables to people who are now behind the wall. I have five children, and when they built this wall, I lost my income and no market here. Therefore, I let my eldest sun lives there now, and everyday I buy him the vegetables, which I can pass through this hole. So that, he sells these vegetables on a cart, and this is how w

I was shocked, and my tongue stutters to ask him any more questions and I asked the driver to bring me out of the village. In that moment the life become small like that hole; life becomes so dark and I could not see any light except the one coming out of that hole. In my way back to Jayyous, the wall and checkpoints traveled with me, for 45 kms you see destruction and sabotage. I realized that I know little about the wall and its impacts; there must be thousands of stories, which buried under the wall footing. The final destination is Jayyous, where the wall kneels on my chest, but today my fever is about those families, and kids in Nazleh and Baqa.

by:

Abdul-Latif M. Khaled/ Palestinian Hydrology Group

© Scoop Media