Annexation Wall threatens olive harvest of A'neen village

Saturday October 20, 2007 16:45 by Ali Samoudi - IMEMC News

Residents of the village of A'neen, located near the Green Line border between Israel and the West Bank, have expressed fear that their olive harvest will be lost after the annexation wall has prevented them from reaching their olive groves.

A'neen is a small village located near the city of Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank. The Israeli army has recently constructed the Annexation Wall on village-owned land, effectively annexing the villagers' olive groves to Israeli territory.

The villagers of A'neen, like many Palestinians, depend on the olive harvest as their sole or primary source of income. The olive trees have been passed through generations of Palestinian families for hundreds and even thousands of years in some cases.

Rabah Yassen, head of the village council, said that the Israeli army had confiscated thousands of dunums of village lands for the construction of the Annexation Wall, adding that that the army had closed off all the land between the village and the Wall and prevented the residents from reaching their lands. In addition, the Army has imposed strict security procedures including deployment of patrol vehicles in every part of the village, and restriction of the movement of the village residents.

As the olive harvesting season begins in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, many Palestinian farmers throughout the West Bank are facing a similar situation to the village of A'neen.
Salem Husni, a resident of the village, said that it is clear that the Israeli procedures will continue throughout this year's olive season.

"We've been waiting all year for the olive harvest -- this is our main source of income", stated Husni, adding, "Many people in our village used to work inside Israel. Since Israel began the closure, our unemployment rate has grown extremely high. That makes us even more dependent on the olive harvest for income. Now that they have closed off our lands, we have nothing."

In spite of their feelings of fear and anxiety, the residents of A'neen renewed their rejection of any Israeli attempt to force them to apply for permits to access their own land.

Nu'man Abdallah, a resident of the village, said that "Last year, the Israelis tried to force us to get permits from the Israeli civil administration and we refused to do so. This year, we reaffirm our rejection of this Israeli policy. This is our land, it is our right to enter our land."

Translated by Manar Jibrin, edited by Jenka Soderberg

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