Sheerin and The Rev. Geoffrey Black, General Minister and President, United Church of Christ


















Sheerin Al-Araz with Ecumenical Accompaniers Brigitte v.Winterfeld and Andrea Bodekull




A PATIO, A VIEW, AND A WALL: THE VILLAGE OF AL WALAJA

“Welcome. We are going to build a 12 meter high concrete barrier and we will need your backyard to give us enough land for security reasons.” Though not an exact quote this phrase could sum up the situation facing Sheerin Al Araz, her family, and many others in the village of Al Walaja in the West Bank, Palestine. The village is about 4 kilometers northwest of Bethlehem and 9 kilometers southwest of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Sheerin greeted us, three Ecumenical Accompaniers from Bethlehem, on her first day home from completing her job in Darfur. She shared her family story and history of the village before driving us around to see how the plan for the wall will surround the houses. It will leave the land outside and inaccessible to the owners.

Sheerin’s grandparents fled the destruction of Al Walaja in l948 and lived in a refugee camp near Hebron. They returned to the area where they lived in a cave for 12 years. Her grandfather built the house where Sheerin now lives in l965 when it became apparent that neither he nor his neighbors could return to their original homes. He finished work on the ceiling in l967 on the day war broke out and the family had to flee once more. The majority of the residents fled to Jordan, Lebanon, and refugee camps in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

As individuals returned to the area, Al Walaja was reconstructed on the opposite side of the valley. From the former village, 70 per cent of the land was seized in l948. In the fifties, two Israeli towns were established on this land. In the
l970’s, more lands were confiscated for the construction of the settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo. The village now consists of 4,400 dunams of the original 17,793 dunams, according to a recent report from the UN Work and Relief Agency. ( A dunam is a measure of land equivalent to 1,000 meters or about an acre.)

On a later visit to Al Walaja, Sheerin drove two more visitors around the village, the Rev.Geoffey Black, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, and Dr. Peter Makari, Executive for the Middle East and Europe, Global Ministries, United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ.) She came to a building with a United Nations flag flying from the roof.
She explained that the villagers are technically refugees. This fact allowed UNRWA to rent a building constructed by the villagers for a much needed school. Acting as landlord, the UN may protect the school from being demolished because it was built without an Israeli permit. Building permits are rarely granted.

The residential status of the villagers is unclear. Half of the village is located within the Jerusalem Municipality and the rest in the West Bank. Those living within the Jerusalem Municipalitiy were not granted status as Jerusalem residents and consequently were declared “absentee landlords.” This means that they are living in their homes illegally and demolitions orders have been issued for homes built without Israeli permits. Yet the Municipality refuses to approve a zoning plan which would establish a system allowing residents to officially submit requests for building permits. Residents of the Jerusalem side of the village have appealed to the Israeli authorities to be included as part of the West Bank but their request has been denied.

We returned to Sheerin’s endangered backyard. Construction on the wall resumed in April. Though her property is not immediately in danger, it will be if the current plan is followed. In another area of town, bulldozers flatten out sections of the terraced land to mark a route for the wall. The Israeli Authorities have confirmed the plan to encircle Al Walaja with the separation barrier. This will make it a Palestinian enclave inside the settlement of Gush Etzion and will be connected to the towns of Beit Jala and Bethlehem through a tunnel – while losing 1,600 dunams more of village land.

As construction advances, hundreds of trees have been uprooted. In one incident, recorded by a July, 2010 report by UNRWA, on April 22 more than 200 trees (almond, olive, apricot, grape) were uprooted or damaged. Four families were deprived of an important source of income. In some cases, the wall will cut them off from their fields that will soon be on the other side of the wall. The Civil (Israeli) Administration has said that agricultural gates will be installed for the farmers in the future. However, in other West Bank locations the agricultural gate system has severely limited access to the land.

One change in the route of the wall has distressed the Muslim population of Al Walaja who with their Christian neighbors have existed peacefully with Cremisan Salesian Monastery. However, when the village was talking with the Israeli authorities about changing the route of the wall, the Monastery reached a separate agreement. The wall now will come closer to the village and this decision has strained relationships among the villagers. Meanwhile they await a court judgment on their petition.

From Sheerin’s patio, she can see between the mountain peaks to Husan, a small village like Al Walaja which will be seriously encumbered if current plans for the wall are followed. Both are located between mountains scored by terraces built up over hundreds of years by innumerable Palestinians who continue to be the living stones in the West Bank. How long before her view is blocked by a 12 meter concrete wall and her patio disappears?