sampicksolives (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} sampicksolives) wrote,@ 2004-10-13 17:44:00 |
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Olive Picking in Madar
A team of 7 olive pickers from the UK joined others from Austria, Germany, France and Switzerland arrived in the village of Madar at the start of this week in order to support farmers who have olive groves close to the main road to or the fence around Ariel (large Israeli settlement in Salfit region of the West bank.)
MARDA
The village of Marda is located in the Salfit region, in the the middle of the West Bank. It is currently home to 2000 Palestinians, a further 2,000 now live outside of Mardar. Before the first intifada many of the villagers worked inside Israel, they can no longer get the permits needed. Many others worked overseas in the gulf states and Venezula, but since the gulf war a large number of these workers have now returned. This has meant a large level of unemployment within Marda, with many families relient on the olive harvest as their only form of income.
MARDA UNDER OCCUPATION
The village has no been virtually closed off from other villages, with all but one exit now closed by roadblcs. An agricultural road was recently built to allow tractors to reach the olive groves. This was closed by the IDF (Israeli Defence Force) about 1 month after completion.
In orsder to get to Nablus, the nearest large city and hospital people have to cross checkpoints. in recent weeks Nablus has been declared a closed military zone, now no vehicles, including ambulances are able to enter Nablus.
Many nights the army enters the village, setting off sound bombs and occasionally enter houses. There have been cases of 11 and 12 year old boys being detained by the Israeli army and held for a number of hours and/or beaten and questioned. 4 people from the village are currently detained by the Israelis.
A team of 7 olive pickers from the UK joined others from Austria, Germany, France and Switzerland arrived in the village of Madar at the start of this week in order to support farmers who have olive groves close to the main road to or the fence around Ariel (large Israeli settlement in Salfit region of the West bank.)
MARDA
The village of Marda is located in the Salfit region, in the the middle of the West Bank. It is currently home to 2000 Palestinians, a further 2,000 now live outside of Mardar. Before the first intifada many of the villagers worked inside Israel, they can no longer get the permits needed. Many others worked overseas in the gulf states and Venezula, but since the gulf war a large number of these workers have now returned. This has meant a large level of unemployment within Marda, with many families relient on the olive harvest as their only form of income.
MARDA UNDER OCCUPATION
The village has no been virtually closed off from other villages, with all but one exit now closed by roadblcs. An agricultural road was recently built to allow tractors to reach the olive groves. This was closed by the IDF (Israeli Defence Force) about 1 month after completion.
In orsder to get to Nablus, the nearest large city and hospital people have to cross checkpoints. in recent weeks Nablus has been declared a closed military zone, now no vehicles, including ambulances are able to enter Nablus.
Many nights the army enters the village, setting off sound bombs and occasionally enter houses. There have been cases of 11 and 12 year old boys being detained by the Israeli army and held for a number of hours and/or beaten and questioned. 4 people from the village are currently detained by the Israelis.
