In the small Palestinian village of al-Issawiya in the Jerusalem district, the residents have endured an inordinate amount of abuse from the state of Israel. When tallying up the stories of its residents, one becomes overwhelmed: countless house demolitions, arrests made in the middle of night by masked Israeli soldiers, administrative detentions, crops uprooted, arbitrary police checks, traumatized children unable to sleep…the list goes on. A recent example is of Alternative Information Center member Mohammed Abu Humus, a 45 year-old resident of Issawiya who was arrested in the middle of the night and taken from his family home for organizing demonstrations against the Israeli attacks on Gaza.
On a recent resident-led tour of the village, it was clear that while the residents of Issawiya endure endless suffering, they remain steadfast and hopeful. A prominent member of the village, Sheikh Riyad, told us the story of his son whose house was recently demolished. “He went out for a visit with his family and when they returned their house was gone. Completely destroyed.” With tears in his eyes, Riyad explained that for him, the stress and trauma of seeing his family lose their home proved too much for his health, and he suffered a stroke shortly after the demolition. However, with his arm now in a sling, and the need to permanently walk with a crutch, Sheikh Riyad has somehow retained hope for peace and change in the future. “I want Issawiya to be a place for peace and justice. I want my children to go to school with Jews, Muslims, and Christians and live in peace with their neighbors.”
According to the Sheikh, al-Issawiya has historically been a place where those from the three major religions have all lived together in peace. He argues that Zionism is what has caused the destruction and the violence. He says, “we have no problem with Judaism- it is the blind hate of Zionism that we are fighting.”
Today, al-Issawiya is a glaring example of how East Jerusalem residents suffer from Israel’s discriminatory land policies. Looming over the village, you see the tower of Hebrew University, the Jewish settlement of French Hill, an Israeli military base, and an Israeli military detention center. In the distance is the imposing Jewish settlement of Ma’ale Adummim.
Trying to Keep What They Already Have
A field in the outskirts of the village at first looks entirely barren. Looking at a rock field with intermittent patches of green grass, I am surprised when an Issawiya resident in our group tells us that this is where they are planning to plant olive trees. Underneath this rock field is rich, arable land. “We were growing many olive trees just over there,” as he points to a different part of the field about 500 meters away, “but [Israeli] soldiers uprooted them. They want to build a military base here.” He says that the court has given them two months to cultivate the land, but no one knows what will happen when the time is up. Now, there is a group of resident families that has started digging up rocks and plowing the soil. Small children, women, and men all make an effort.
Driving away from the field, we pass the Israeli military base on the left. Five minutes later, an Israeli police car speeds past us and stops in front of our bus. Rushing out of the car, the two policemen demand to know where we’ve been and what we were doing. Is there some kind of law that we’ve broken? What did we do? I ask. The woman next to me explains, “This happens to us everyday, they find any excuse to stop us and give us trouble.” After 45 minutes of checking passports and waiting, they finally let us drive on, claiming that they wanted to make sure we didn’t take any pictures of the military base. None of the local residents were surprised.
With sincerity, Sheikh Riyad ended the tour- “this meeting and tour is the beginning of people organizing around justice and peace. We welcome you, thank you!” For most of us this won’t be the last time we visit al-Issawiya—now that we’ve witnessed the plight of its residents, it can’t be ignored.
To read more about Al-Issawiya, click here.
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