Speaker maps out Israeli conflict

Responding to a recent presentation by Isareli journalist Michael Yoschay, Ben Scribner of Boston2Palestine offered a refute Wednesday night, discussing the separation barrier wall, land loss, and poverty.

Scribner opened his presentation by summarizing the current situation between Israel and Palestine. He offered maps and numbers that showed how many Israeli citizens currently occupy Palestinian territory.

Scribner went into further detail, discussing effects of the conflict on a West Bank village called Jayyous. He outlined what he said were the three main issues affecting citizens of Jayyous: military occupation, land loss, and poverty.

"The military occupation is more about control then security, because checkpoints are all around Palestinian villages and cities, not just at the borders," said Scribner. He mentioned that Jayyous has lost 20 percent of its land since the creation of Israel in 1948. Additionally, the separation barrier and the Israeli settlements have together taken 75 percent of its current agricultural land, including six water wells.

According to Scribner, poverty is a result of U.S. sanctions.

This August, Scribner said, he spent time with two Palestinians, Mahmoud Kareem, an English teacher, and Shareef Omar, a farmer, who both offered some insight on how they have been affected by Israeli occupation. Scribner videotaped their discussions and showed the recordings during his presentation.

Kareem started with a discussion about salary. "We are given just enough money to buy our food and maybe send our child to university," said Kareem. He said, however, that he and his colleagues had not been paid since March. He talked about how he observed the gradual increase in obstacles for people of Jayyous concerning getting a permit for farmers to pass through the "agricultural gate" and access their farmland. He said that initially, Israeli claimed they would issue permits to the entire village. Now that they have expired, however, citizens must apply for the permits and the Israeli military can refuse to grant permits without giving a reason.

Kareem said people are afraid of moving past the gate alone. "People are fearful because of the indignities and inhumane treatment that citizens have to suffer at the hands of the Israeli military when they are at the gates," said Kareem. Non-Palestinians could help prevent this treatment by simply being at the gates. Their presence, or even the use of cameras, would be enough to deter inhumane behavior on the part of the Israeli guards, said Kareem.

Omar spoke of what he felt were injustices that he and his fellow farmers experienced because of the Israeli military. He said there were violations of the Ottoman laws and multiple instances in which Israelis uprooted or exploded land that was not yet declared theirs, in order to create quarries.

Omar cited an instance in which he saw Israelis uprooting olive trees on a fellow farmer's land. He asked them what they were doing and if they had permission to do it, he said, and they then asked him if it was his land. When it wasn't, he said they pushed him back to where his land was and said nothing further.

A current issue, said Scribner, is that Israelis are slowly occupying more of the farmland with the claim that they are expanding on their current settlement of Zufin. They intend to build 1,500 houses in this occupied area.

Scribner said that another issue farmers had to cope with was the high water bills that they had to pay the Israelis, which came as a result of Palestinians not being allowed to build electric wells.

Scribner concluded by emphasizing the importance of equality. "I would just like to emphasize that this is not about religious identity," he said. "This is about land. It's about autonomy and about people being treated equally."