IN STEREO

Look, I’m not a real farmer, but after work every day I go to the land to take care of it. The one that I can reach, [in] Al-Makhrour. It’s my land – you could say it’s part of me. And especially for us Palestinians, the land means a lot to us. It’s our roots. So if we don’t have the land, we don’t exist. And the whole problem is about the land. If we don’t care about our land, they can simply come anytime and they can take it – they have a lot of excuses to confiscate our land, and we can’t do anything. The choices in front of us are very limited. If we don’t go to our land, they can simply take it. They always have. It’s called a ‘magic wand’. They can [wave it], under any ‘security reasons’. And if you see the shape of the wall, it’s like a snake. Do you know the reason for building it like this? To confiscate more land.

I remember a story: I was a little boy, five or six years old, I think. They announced that they wanted to open a road through our land in Cremisan. They announced to the lands’ owners to come and see where the road will go, through which lands. So I remember we were there, and my father told them: “Over my dead body, this road will be opened.” But then they cancelled this road. It’s now behind the wall. So now there is no reason for this road – the land is behind the wall and it’s under their control. In the other location, in Al-Makhrour, nothing has happened to the land yet. We hope that their planning will not be implemented, because they are planning to open a ‘security road’ from Al-Walaja to the checkpoint on Route 60. If they open this road, maybe they’ll touch this land. – Issa A.