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July 16, 2007
The Village of Ertas
We spent a couple of hours the valley of the village of Ertas (a.k.a. Artas or Irtas) on the 29th of June. Here are my reflections:
The settlement of Ephrata had demolished Awad’s home and orchards forty days ago to make way for a sewage tank on his land in the valley below the settlement. This tank would hold the sewage until it overflowed and spilled into the valley, ruining the most fertile soil around and contaminating the ground water. This was just a tank, not a processing system, or septic system. The idea is that the Israelis build a sewage tank that would last 8-10 months until it’s full, and then leave it to the Palestinians (who are the rightful owners of the land the settlement is built upon) to build the connector to their own waste water systems and process it themselves. Of course, all of this without compensation. NONE.
We took part in a non-violent demonstration in protest of this confiscation of property. We gathered at the end of a long dirt road pass around the mountain and heard from Awad and from folks from the Holy Land Trust, who explained it to us. There were dozens of armed Israelis in full riot gear, and two with video cameras in addition to their machine guns, taping everything that was said and every face that was present.
Because of the international presence there, Awad was allowed to go onto his property, but only for 15 minutes. How he did not break down and weep over his confiscated land I will never understand. He spoke to us about his land, pointing here and there to show where his home had stood, where his apricot and plum trees stood, where his children played, and where his animals grazed. And now the beginnings of a sewage tank sit there. As they were escorting us off the property, Awad invited us to eat the plums from the few remaining trees on his land.
This video (linked) was shot on the 20th of May and is the reason why we joined the non-violent demonstration on the 29th. The man who speaks is Awad.
Here's another link to an article about the day we spent with them. The young guy with the Camelbak is Rick. It is his hand you see in this shot.
your host for this episode : carrie; July 16, 2007 08:28 AM