On Friday, 21 November, upwards of 500 people—Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals—marched toward the gate of the Wall in the West Bank Palestinian village of Jayyous, and within a few minutes the gate was open and in pieces.
The villagers were ecstatic at what had been accomplished, waving pieces of the gate in the air with smiles ear-to-ear.
Yet, when Israeli soldiers arrived on the scene, they responded by shooting live and rubber bullets at villagers and firing teargas canisters into the air. Five villagers were injured.
Approximately one hour later, the soldiers detained five internationals as they attempted to leave the village in a car along with a number of Palestinians.
“This was a clear message to internationals that they will pay for being present at these demonstrations” said one of the internationals. “The Israeli authorities do not want us here so that they can do what they want with the Palestinians.”
Jayyous was the first village to engage in regular nonviolent protests against the Wall six years ago this month. The situation was so bad for Jayyous that the municipality actually managed to get their case heard at the Israeli High Court.
After years of debate and legal charades, the Court finally ruled on 4 November that the Wall should be moved back by two kilometers.
While sounding like a positive development, the decision will actually make things worse for this small farming community.
Prior to the decision, Jayyous villagers were able to cross the Wall through a gate twice per day to access their olive and citrus groves on the other side of the Wall. Now, the gate will permanently be shut, leaving plenty of space for the expansion of Zufit settlement and the development of an Israeli industrial zone.
The High Court decision is notably in direct contradiction with the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion of 2004, which states that the Wall is illegal in international law, that farmers should be compensated, and that all settlers should be repatriated to the other side of the Green Line.
In all, 5,585 dunam of land will be confiscated from Jayyous once construction of the new Wall is complete, leaving the majority of Jayyous’ farmers stripped of their livelihoods and unemployed.
Given these circumstances, it is certain that the villagers of Jayyous will continue to protest against the Wall, despite the recent High Court decision.
And, as in other villages adversely affected by the Wall, internationals will continue to maintain their presence, despite the arrests and intimidations.
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