TITLE: Living in the West Bank Part 1

25 July 2007
STORY 1 - Palestinian farmers in Salfit cut off from their land by the West Bank Barrier
STORY 2 - Bedouin families deprived of homes and property in the southern West Bank
STORY 3 - The school day starts at a military checkpoint for Palestinian youngsters in Azzun'Atma

Two 15 minutes selection of stories will be available on 25th and 26th July 2007 at 14h00 GMT on the Eurovision World. This material is free of rights and free of charge in Europe (W3A), the Americas (NSS806) and Asia (Asiasat2).

Go to http://www.eurovision.net/net/content/worldfeeds.php and access the technical details for this transmission by clicking on the synopsis number and check out the scripts or find below the content of these transmissions to http://www.eurovision.net/nms/Logs/ITM/HTML_WorldFeed/ITM337443.htm
http://www.eurovision.net/nms/Logs/ITM/HTML_WorldFeed/ITM337531.htm


Living in the West Bank - EUROVISION WORLDFEED PART 1 - 25 July 2007 14h00 GMT
15 minutes selection:
Camera: Alain Pentucci
Producer: Virginie Louis
Source: ICRC – access all

Preview (RealMedia stream 56Kbs - 128kbs)

For broadcast tapes and information on footage: Virginie Louis, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva,

SHOT LIST

STORY 1 - Palestinian farmers in Salfit cut off from their land by the West Bank Barrier
Date & location: Palestine, West Bank, Salfit, 13 February 2007
Duration: 5'29'' mins
ICRC Reference: VF-CR-F-00945-E


00:00 Abou Ma'Zouz saddles up his donkey in town of Salfit , West Bank, to set out on 3 km journey to reach his olive groves.

00:24 Abou Ma'Zouz rides his donkey towards the West Bank Barrier across the olive trees

00:38 Abou Ma'Zouz walks beside the West Bank Barrier, barbed wire - various shots

00:42 Abou Ma'Zouz waits at locked gate

01:26 INTERVIEW Abou Ma'Zouz
"Its humiliating to have to stand in front of the gate. Its like the apartheid system in South Africa. Specially knowing we inherited the land from our fathers and grandfathers, and we have been working on it since we were children, since we were less than 10 years old. "

"These problems cause many delays, because the land and the trees don’t just need tending once a year or once a month, they need regular upkeep - regular pruning, digging over, spraying, harrowing the soil and so on."

"I did not get a single Agorot (cent) as compensation, even though I lost the most. They uprooted 52 of my olive trees, 30 of my apple trees and 15 of my grapevines."

02:43 Arrival of vehicle from Israeli Civil Administration

02:57 Officer unlocks gate

03:02 Abou Ma'Zouz unloads donkey (1 metre wide gate is too narrow for a loaded animal to pass through)

03:27 Abou Ma'Zouz and donkey go through gate, bring through tools and reload, helped by Israeli officer.

03:33 Abou Ma'Zouz hands out his ID and travel permit (red document)

03:54 INTERVIEW Lt Shadi Yassein, Israeli Civil Administration Liaison Officer
"Nobody wants to see farmers stuck on the other side of the fence, nobody wants to see the olive trees die.. why not? We are helping to reduce terror in a psychological way.

This same gate is only to prevent terror, not to prevent farmers going to their land.

That's it….and if there was no terror there would be no fence. That’s the truth!"

04:18 Abou Ma'Zouz sets off to land, just across road, and prunes olive trees-various shots

04:29 ICRC Delegate Erlend Linklater (English)
"Sometimes the farmers have to wait for two, three, four hours, and often give up after that length of time turn back and return to their homes without actually having reached their land.

I think the impact on their fields is that if the fields are not regularly maintained , then the productivity will decrease, their olive production and the olive oil which is produced from the trees will also decrease as well. But also, the affect is psychological as much as anything else. Its their land, they have every right to access that land, there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to tend the land. And for them to have to wait for hours at gates to reach it has a huge psychological impact on the people I think."

05:20 Abou Ma'Zouz continues his journey in his fields, with Israeli settlement of Ariel in the background.

(Length : 05' 29'')



STORY 2 - Bedouin families deprived of homes and property in the southern West Bank
Date & location: Palestine, West Bank, Massafer Yatta, February 2007
Duration: 5" 31" mins
ICRC Reference: VF-CR-F-00945-H


SHOT LIST

05:31 GVs Karmel settlement in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, southern West Bank

05:40 Israeli military vehicle in Karmel with sign post 'Karmel' and watch tower

05:58 Several close-ups Bedouin families living in tents, mother and children

06:19 Pano from Karmel settlement in background to Bedouin tents

06:25 Bulldozers clearing rubble left from destroyed houses

06:52 Fatima Hadalin, old lady, walking in rubble of her home

06:58 INTERVIEW Fatima Hadalin
"The Israelis came with bulldozers, they demolished the houses. We tried to stop them but they beat us up and used tear gas. We are sick because of what has happened. Look what's left? Nothing. What else can I say?"

07:25 Little girl walking to mother

07:32 IINTERVIEW Xavier Godfroid, ICRC (English)

"Two days ago the Israeli Civil Administration backed by the Israeli Army came to this place and destroyed 20 houses. The reason invoked mainly by the civil Administration to destroy the houses is the lack of permits. The problem is that the local inhabitants of this village cannot obtain permits as they are not issued by the civil Administration."

"Over time the settlers have created a 'Non Go Zone', a zone which is totally inaccessible to the local population. If the local population want to enter this zone, they will face numerous difficulties, ranging from being attacked, being assaulted, their sheep being poisoned, they also face tremendous difficulties in terms of access to water cisterns because settlers prevent them accessing the water cisterns. And without access to the water cisterns, they cannot water the sheep and they have to reduce the livestock, which has a dramatic impact on the source of income of this extremely vulnerable population."

08:42 Soldier pointing gun at cameraman, Settlers heavily armed telling him not to film

08:58 INTERVIEW Xavier Godfroid, ICRC (English) continues
"Its extremely simple, according to International Humanitarian Law, settlements are considered as illegal and so are the house destructions. Destroying houses, or destroying private property is totally prohibited by International Humanitarian Law."

09:14 Pano from Bedouin tents to Xavier talking to Bedouin farmer, Soleiman Hadalin

09:21 INTERVIEW Soleiman Hadalin (Arabic)
"The house that used to be over there (gestures), I have the papers, it was registered. The tribunal came, the lawyers came, the Land Defence Commission, they came. But even so, a Demolition Order was issued. They destroyed the house, regardless of the law."

10:04 Girl and woman in front of demolished house

10:09 Bulldozers

10:18 Zoom out from Bedouin families with Karmel settlement in far background.

(Length: 5'31'')



STORY 3 - The school day starts at a military checkpoint for Palestinian youngsters in Azzun'Atma
Date & location: Palestine, West Bank, Nablus, 19 February 2007
Duration: 4'14'' mins
ICRC Reference: VF-CR-F-00945-D

SHOTLIST:

10:27 Israeli checkpoint in the village of Azzun'Atma, West Bank

10:35 Abdel Rahim walks towards checkpoint, stopped by soldiers and show his student ID papers.

11:08 Azzun'Atma school

11:10 In classroom doing lessons

11:46 INTERVIEW Mohammed Omar Mara'be, teacher.

"The first problem is being late to start work. The second problem is the psychological state of mind of the students when they arrive here in the morning. They feel thwarted, because of the humiliation and verbal altercations or harassment that they experience at the checkpoints. In wintertime, when it rains a lot, they arrive in a very difficult state of mind, because they have to wait at the checkpoint. And like any human being, they find it hard to put up with these verbal altercations and harassments."

12:22 Students come out of school
12:28 Pano from Israeli settlements at the background to school teenagers on their way home
12:39 INTERVIEW Abdel Rahim, en route:

"I prefer to go to school, and I' m doing well at school. I do my homework, it' s a way to discover the meaning of words…"

12:53 Abdel Rahim and his friends cross the West Bank Barrier at Azzun' Atma Checkpoint

13:26 Abdul Rahim arrives home

13:35 Abdul Rahim with family at home, does homework

13:44 INTERVIEW Sharifa Abed El Hafaz Sheich, mother of AbdelRahim

"I am of course worried for my son because he has to keep crossing the checkpoint manned by Occupying Israeli Forces, I am always very worried about him having to go there."

13:59 INTERVIEW AbdelRahim Theeb Sheick, father of AbdelRahim

"They asked me for a copy of my ID; I photocopied it with the birth certificate. Sometimes they let you pass and sometimes not. They stopped me several times at the gate, and with the presence of their administration officer they were asked to let me go. They said that they could not be sure if my ID was false, and that's it."

14:29 GVs family on sofa

( Length 04'14'' )

14:40 ENDS


STORIES:

Title: Palestinian farmers in Salfit cut off from their land by the West Bank Barrier
ICRC Reference: VF-CR-F-00945-E

Abou Ma'Zouz lives in the town of Salfit, in the West Bank, just a few hundred meters away from the barrier that encircles the Israeli settlement of Ariel built into Palestinian occupied territories, which is illegal according International Humanitarian Law.
Since the construction of the barrier three years ago, Abou Ma'Zouz can no longer reach his land to farm it properly. He is one of 200 farmers who live on one side of the barrier, while their land and source of income is cut off on the other side. To reach their land they are forced to cross the barrier at one of just two gates which for most of the day remain locked. The gates are supposed to be opened for half an hour morning and evening, but this often does not happen. The farmers must wait for hours in all weather or leave the land untended.

When the barrier was first constructed the farmers had no right of access at all. It had a devastating impact on the well-being of their trees. After negotiation, the farmers were allowed to cross the barrier three times a year - but this was not enough to do the necessary farm work. The time of year when the gates are open has been extended but the farmers are forbidden to use tractors or other vehicles to tend the land or load their harvest.

Abou Ma'Zouz has been a farmer all his life, raising a family on the earnings from making olive oil and selling grapes, apples and almonds. Since the barrier, he has not been able to tend his olive groves and orchards regularly and has seen production plummet. He was never paid for his loss: I have never received any compensation, although I was one of the worst affected farmers. Over 6,000 donums (on donam is 1000 square meters) of Palestinian land are isolated behind the barrier round Ariel settlement, with thousands of olive trees destroyed to make way for it.

Abou Ma'Zou climbs on his donkey to go to the gate and wait till it opens so that he can prune his trees and maintain his stone walls. He finds the process humiliating. According to ICRC delegate Erlend Linklater, it contributes to the demoralisation of local people, and many farmers have given up coming altogether:" the affect is psychological as much as anything else," says Linklater


For the Israelis on duty at the gate, the reason for the barrier is clear - according to the liaison Officer charged with opening the gate : "This same gate is only to prevent terror , not to prevent farmers going to their land."

Whatever the intentions, the reality is that the restrictions on access have a serious impact on the lives and livelihood of Palestinian farming families. In the words of Erlend Linklater, the farmers ' have every right to access that land, there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to tend the land

Title: Bedouin families deprived of homes and property in the southern West Bank
ICRC Reference: VF-CR-F-00945-H

Bedouin families living in the Massafer Yatta area in the southern West Bank saw their houses destroyed and their flocks scattered when the IDF moved into their hamlet with bulldozers in February this year.

The families are long term refugees who fled to Massafer Yatta after the 1948 war. They live off the land raising sheep and goats. The region, at the northern edge of the Negev desert, covers around 3,600 hectares with around 1200 Palestinians scattered in 20 small hamlets.

The people here are among the poorest in the West Bank, lacking access to basic amenities and services. In the 1970s, they began to encounter serious difficulties when Israel declared the area a closed military zone. In the 1980s, building started on Israeli settlements in Massafer Yatta, together with extensive house demolitions by the IDF. According to International Humanitarian law the settlements are illegal but this has not prevented the settlers from establishing 'No Go Zones ' prohibited to the Bedouin families, and severely restricting their movement. According to ICRC delegate , Xavier Godfroid, the No Go Zones have been the source of enormous difficulties, preventing families from accessing grazing land and water, under threat of harassment and aggression from settlers.

The latest destruction of 20 houses was, according to the Israeli Civil Administration, carried out on the grounds that the families did not have building permits. Yet it’s a Catch 22 situation, says Xavier Godfroid, "The problem is that the local inhabitants of this village cannot obtain permits as they are not issued by the civil Administration."

To help families who have had their homes demolished, the ICRC provides tents and household items including blankets, kitchen utensils and jerrycans. But the future for these very vulnerable people looks bleak. Plans have been drawn up to expand and further consolidate the settlements in the region, to add outposts, and to build a new road linking the settlements. The Palestinians believe that this is a prelude to annexing land in Massafer Yatta. They live under the continuing threat of expulsion. The economic and social situation can only get worse in view of the growing restrictions on movement. For farmer Soleiman Hadalin, the situation is frustrating: " They destroyed the house, regardless of the law . "

Title: The school day starts at a military checkpoint for Palestinian youngsters in Azzun'Atma
ICRC Reference: VF-CR-F-00945-D

16 year old Abdel Rahim Na-Thmi Sheik lives in the village of Azzun'Atma. The village is close to the West Bank Barrier which divides the village from the Israeli Settlement of Sha'are Tiqva. To get to school each day, Abdel and over 150 other secondary school students and teachers from Beit Amin High School have to cross the barrier, passing through a heavily armed military checkpoint.

It is sometimes a slow and painful process. The students have their identity papers and bags checked every time they cross. Sometimes they are held up and questioned. Things got worse when the Israeli authorities set up a new building with an X -ray machine. The queue of people got far longer as the school students had to wait each morning alongside people going to work, traders and farmers. The students staged a sit-in and managed to get the procedure relaxed with a system of student cards.

The staff confirm that once at school, it is difficult for the students to settle down to class: "students have to queue for a long time, and arrive frustrated and sometimes they get angry against the situation." says Mohammed Omar Mara'be.


And once school is over, the whole process happens in reverse.

AbdelRahim has a family of 3 brothers and 9 sisters. He likes computer games and wants to be an electrician one day. His mother, Sharifa, worries about the daily checks and controls and the effect on his school performance. His father, AbdelRahim Theeb, often has to go to the checkpoint to answer repeated questions about the authenticity of his son's identity papers. For this family, like many others in this area, it is not just a question of restricted access to education facilities. Community life is confined and restricted by the barrier in many ways. Sharifa can only visit friends and family living inside the barrier at certain times, and her husband is not able to tend his farmland which has affected production and therefore income.