'Feels like prison': Palestinian family cut off from West Bank village by Israeli barrier
Record ID:
1459273
'Feels like prison': Palestinian family cut off from West Bank village by Israeli barrier
- Title: 'Feels like prison': Palestinian family cut off from West Bank village by Israeli barrier
- Date: 20th February 2020
- Summary: WALAJA, WEST BANK (FEBRUARY 17, 2020) (REUTERS) SUN RISING BEHIND ISRAELI BARRIER VARIOUS OF ISRAELI BORDER POLICE PATROLLING AREA NEAR ISRAELI BARRIER BETWEEN WEST BANK AND JERUSALEM WALAJA, WEST BANK (FEBRUARY 18, 2020) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT OF WALAJA, OMAR HAJAJLA, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE ENDS WITH HAJAJLA LEAVING VEHICLE TO OPEN GATE): "How do I feel? I feel like I am driving in and out of a prison. We need permission to open or close the gate. Prison may be better than this, because even though I am at home, it feels like prison. I have to open the gate for my children, for each one whenever they arrive. Now I have to go out of the car to open the gate, what is this meaningless life?" ISRAELI SECURITY CAMERA WALAJA, WEST BANK (FEBRUARY 17, 2020) (REUTERS) HAJAJLA ENTERING VEHICLE AND STARTING TO DRIVE HAJAJLA DRIVING VEHICLE THROUGH TUNNEL UNDER ISRAELI BARRIER AND ISRAELI SECURITY ROAD HOME OF HAJAJLA SEEN IN DISTANCE / ISRAELI SETTLEMENT ON OTHER SIDE OF HOME SIGN READING (Arabic/Hebrew/English): "AL WALAJA" DRIVING SHOT OF HAJAJLA DRIVING OUT OF HOME / GATE OUTSIDE HOME OPENING FOR HAJAJLA TO PASS ISRAELI SETTLEMENT / ISRAELI BARRIER WALAJA, WEST BANK (FEBRUARY 18, 2020) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT OF WALAJA, OMAR HAJAJLA, SAYING: "(U.S. president Donald) Trump's plan, they tried to implement it years ago. Ten years ago they tried but they didn't succeed, look to that wall there - they divided this land to what is called the Israeli side. They are trying to take it but they can't. The (Palestinian) owners are taking care of (their land) each season, they come to plant it and they control it." HAJAJLA AND SON COLLECTING RABBIT FEED HAJAJLA'S SON PUTTING FOOD FOR CHICKENS WALAJA, WEST BANK (FEBRUARY 17, 2020) (REUTERS) SUN RISING BEHIND ISRAELI BARRIER VARIOUS OF HAJAJLA SITTING WITH CHILDREN VARIOUS OF HAJAJLA SMOKING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT OF WALAJA, OMAR HAJAJLA, SAYING: "As much as our strength and determination allows us, my wife and I try as much as we can to keep our life normal, we take care of our children, we try to give them a break from this routine and we teach them, most importantly, that this is our land. This is our land, this is our country, and we will never give it up." WALAJA, WEST BANK (FEBRUARY 18, 2020) (REUTERS) HAJAJLA TALKING TO SON / ISRAELI BARRIER SEEN AHEAD (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT OF WALAJA, HAKAM HAJAJLA, SAYING: "I live here but my friends can't come to visit so I have to visit them. No one can reach me, I'm isolated, it's like a prison, I can visit people but they can't. I can't be home late after 9 pm because of the gate, it is hard." WALAJA, WEST BANK (FEBRUARY 17, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HAJAJLA HOME AS SEEN FROM NEARBY HILL
- Embargoed: 5th March 2020 11:30
- Keywords: Israel Jerusalem Palestinians Trump U.S. barrier family plan
- Location: WALAJA, WEST BANK
- City: WALAJA, WEST BANK
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA001C1F2PG5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Omar Hajajla may have a private gateway to his home in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, but it is hardly a sign of luxury: it runs beneath an Israeli barrier that cuts him and his family off from the rest of their nearby Palestinian village.
Israel began building its West Bank barrier in 2002 at the height of a Palestinian uprising, saying it aimed to stop attacks by bombers and gunmen in its cities.
But the barrier's circuitous route along and through the West Bank - Palestinians call it a land grab - slices through some Palestinian communities.
In Hajajla's case, it boxed him off from his village of Al-Walaja, near Bethlehem, part of West Bank territory Israel captured in a 1967 war.
"Prison may be better than this, because even though I am at home, it feels like prison," said Hajajla, 53, who lives in the house with his wife and three children.
After appealing to Israel's Supreme Court, Hajajla in 2013 reached a settlement under which the Israeli Defence Ministry built a tunnel and a remote-operated gate under the barrier, he said, giving his family access to their village.
That underground bypass road, strewn with graffiti, is now the sole entrance to Hajajla's home.
The family needs permission from Israel's military to use their remote control to open the gate and take their children to school or go to the grocery store, Hajajla says.
Israel could take away his remote access if he violates a series of conditions, Hajajla says, including having guests over without co-coordinating their visit in advance with the military.
"My wife and I try as much as we can to keep our life normal," Hajajla said. "We try to give our kids a break from this routine, to teach them that this is our land, our country, and we will never let it slip away."
U.S.-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking stalled in 2014. A new U.S. peace plan, unveiled by President Donald Trump last month, envisaged Israel keeping East Jerusalem and swathes of West Bank land, and was rejected by the Palestinians.
(Production: Mohammad Abu Ganeyeh, Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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