***image2***On February 12, 2004, the Occupation Administration officer headed towards the isolated house âAbu Sharebâs family- behind the wall in Jayyus village. The Occupation officer is there, for the third time at least, to order the family out of their home in yet another attempt to expel the family from their lands. Threatening that they are going to put barbed wires all around the house, the Occupation Forces would leave the family with only a narrow passage, which will also be surrounded by barbed wire. These actions of the Occupation forces mean that the family will not be able to use vehicles or carriages to move from the house to the village, nor will they be able to transport necessary water and supplies to the house. Already, the children were only allowed to go to school at nine oâclock, after having to wait hours in the cold until they were allowed to pass.
Rumor has it, according to what people have heard from Occupation forces, they are later planning to completely close the southern gate, used primarily by Abu Sharebâs family to get to the village, as well as by farmers whose lands âplanted with olives- have been isolated behind the Wall. The people have heard that the Occupation forces has intentions to close 1\3 of all of the gates currently open in the Wall, in those areas where it has been completed in the northern districts of the West Bank.
As for the northern gate in Jayyus, it was closed for three days, from February 4th to 7th, under the pretext that some people in the village “burnt the gate”. The Occupation forces closed the gate and barred the farmers from reaching their lands; they also invaded the village at night and started randomly shooting sound bombs and tear gas. The Occupation forces raided the mayorâs house and threatened that if actions against the Wall continue, the gate will remain closed. The shooting of bullets and bombs destroyed parts of the electricity network in the village, leaving an entire part of the village without electricity.
Read more about Abu Shareb’s family in our Community Voices section.
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