These photos were taken during a trip to Qalqilya. The Wall has gone up in concrete and fence form round Qalqilya and Habla. We waited at one of the infamous ‘gates’ where those with permits – in this case farmers – can get access to closed areas during specific times. The army turned up 15 minutes after the scheduled opening time. The Palestinians have to open the first two gates, even though there is razor wire loose along one of them, and then they approach the soldiers at the third gate (one by one of course) and raise their shirts to show what is underneath.
We met a farmer who had invested all his money in new plastic growing equipment (possibly polytunnels, I’m not sure), and then the Wall had gone up. He has no option but to continue farming, even though he never knows if he will gain access to his land, and the limited access means the crops cannot be properly attended to and are often damaged. He is married with 2 children, he is not yet 30 years old.
We also visited a girls school very near the Wall. The Wall’s visual impact is obvious, less evident to the naked eye are the psycho social problems suffered by the children, and some staff, flowing from the Wall. Luckily for these girls, someone is trying to help them, with psycho social provision being arranged. But nothing can be done for the teachers who miscarried or had premature births as a result of the concussion grenades and gas that were used at the Wall.
We also drove along the new ‘Qalqilya to Habla’ road. This is, in fact, a road sunken below the land which has been confiscated for the Wall and the road runs under flyovers which have the Wall on them, and these ‘tunnels’ underneath the Wall have gates on them so that the road can be sealed off at any time. Ingenious, and it all looks fairly innocent if you’re not very observant.
