Living in the Shadow of The Wall

A farmer from the village of Farata. Due to the violence of settlers from the illegal settlement of Gilad, farmers in the area can now access their land only with the protection of the Israeli Military, which they are given for 1 day during the spring to tend the land, and between 2 and 7 days in the autumn in order to harvest the olives. If the farmers attempt to visit the land without the military, the settlers attack them and the Palestinians risk getting arrested.

Sheep waiting to cross ‘Akkaba Agricultural Gate. The gate is open three times a day for half an hour,  three days a week for farmers accessing their own land which now falls on the other side of the separation barrier.

Workers wait for 7am at Tayba Checkpoint. The checkpoint opens at 4am for workers crossing into Israel, but many people are given permits that only allow them to enter at 7am. If you are the first in line, you might get through in 10 minutes, but if you are the last it will take closer to 2 hours. The workers therefore come very early and wait in the queue from around 5am.

A Palestinian protestor is arrested at the annual commemoration of Land Day in Jerusalem. In 1976, in response to an Israeli government announcement to expropriate land in the Galilee region, Palestinians called a general strike which the Israeli government tried to prevent by announcing a curfew. In the ensuing protests, six Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces. Protests have taken place on the 30^th of March ever since, both within the Occupied Territories and overseas.

Some of the empty tear gas canisters left behind after the Friday demonstration in Kafr Qaddum. The villagers meet weekly to protest against the roadblock that prevents them from leaving the village by the main road and forces them to take a long detour. Although organised as a peaceful protest, boys from the village often throw stones towards the Israeli military, who ‘respond’ (often preemptively) with teargas. Two people were recently hit by canisters at the demonstration, suggesting the canisters are being used as weapons rather than a crowd dispersal method.

New opening times are announced at the Agricultural Gate in Deir Al Ghusun. Farmers must pass through the gate in order to reach their land on the other side of the Separation Barrier (though in many cases this land is on the Palestinian side of the Green Line, as much of the barrier is inside Palestinian territory.)  The farmers using this gate are the ‘lucky’ ones – their gate is open three times a day, seven days a week. Other farmers are not so lucky - some gates only open three days a week, or only during the olive harvesting season. It means famers cannot rest in the mid-day heat and return to work later, or return home in an emergency. Farmers tell us that it is increasingly difficult to get permits to cross the barrier, even to land they can prove that they own.

Waiting for opening time at Deir Al Ghusun agricultural gate.