Problems with the army

The mayor of the northern Jordan Valley village of Al 'Aqaba, west of Tubas in the West Bank, is Hadj Sami Sadiq. During a visit to Yanoun he told us that his town of 300 inhabitants has no Israeli settlements nearby, but is surrounded by military camps and has trouble from the army. Actually his personal problems with the army started in 1971 when he was 16 years old. He was injured by three bullets fired by soldiers while he was working in his field, and one remains in his body to this day because it was too close to his spine and heart to remove. He has to use a wheelchair.

Hadj Sami Sadiq

Hadj Sami says the army prohibits all building in Al 'Aqaba, and 95% of the homes have demolition orders, but they are frozen in court. A U.S. NGO, Rebuilding Alliance, has helped to rebuild some houses. The army refuses to let residents connect to a water supply system, so they must purchase all their water from tank trucks at nearly four times the usual cost. The mayor says the army has destroyed the two roads to the village three times, even though ironically one of them is called the "Peace Road." The  army frequently trains in Al 'Aqaba, and last October they were shooting on the mayor's yard in the middle of the night.

Israeli outpost atop Hill 777 by Yanoun

Settler harassment rather than military harassment is the concern in Yanoun (population 80), because it is surrounded by five Israeli settlements and outposts, which seem to be growing. Some of them shine spotlights at Yanoun all night.  I did not see any settlers in the village during long walks during my three days there.

Rashed Murrar

Yanoun mayor Rashed Murrar recalls that the whole village fled in 2002 following threats from settlers, but gradually moved back as international media drew attention to their case and the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program established a protective presence. The community, which depends on sheep raising and olives for its income, has lost 70 percent of its land due to settlement and outpost expansion.

Traffic jam near Yanoun

Computer games in the cultural center

In addition to providing a protective presence in Yanoun, EAs monitor an opportunity for the kids in the village to play games on computers in the cultural center. I saw three of the four computers being used for very violent games. I wish they had games that would teach values of teamwork and cooperation.

Before leaving Yanoun, I had hoped to see the village health clinic in operation. It has been operated a couple of times a month by the Red Cross/Crescent and the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, with assistance from the European Community Humanitarian Fund and CARE. It was open two weeks ago, but the lady in the store next door said she is not sure when it will reopen.

Health clinic in Yanoun