Jayyous Gate 25 Closed to Palestinian Farmers

For the last, six days, Israeli Operation Forces closed gate 25 to the Palestinian farmers of Jayyous.

The gate is the single entrance to 8000 dunums of Palestinian land that contain tree orchards and vegetable crops. According to one of the residents, the land sustains 300 families. Without access to their land, farmers cannot maintain their crops and the vegetation will die. The people of Jayyous have serious concerns as to how their families will survive without the trees and a harvest of crops.

“The farmers and their families wait under the hot sun looking for this gate to open,” one man explained. “But the hope disappears.”

If the gate closure does not end on Sunday, Israel’s Independence Day, members of Gush-Shalom, an Israeli peace organization, will take action. Their hope is that once Independence Day is over, the closure will be over and Jayyous farmers will have access to their land.

The reason for the IOF’s sudden gate closure is unknown.

When the farmers ask Israeli soldiers why they will not open the gate, the soldiers tell them to go back and talk to the bosses.

As of Sunday just before midnight, 50 families remain stranded on the other side of the gate. Since the Israeli Army denied the farmers access to their farmland for the last six days, it is unclear how they managed to gain access to the other side. Ten Israeli Army jeeps stationed at gate 25 will not permit farmers access to the gate. Israeli soldiers told the farmers they have access to gate 24. According to one resident, it is too far a distance for the farmers.

“The people in the village are looking to this drama and could do nothing,” one man expressed. “We talked to humanitarian organization, to lawyer offices. For tonight, nothing can be done, and they said we hope tomorrow.”

Sonia Nettnin is a freelance writer. Her articles and reviews demonstrate civic journalism, with a focus on international social, economic, humanitarian, gender, and political issues. Media coverage of conflicts from these perspectives develops awareness in public opinion.

Nettnin received her bachelor's degree in English literature and writing. She did master's work in journalism. Moreover, Nettnin approaches her writing from a working woman's perspective, since working began for her at an early age.

She is a poet, a violinist and she studied professional dance. As a writer, the arts are an integral part of her sensibility. Her work has been published in the Palestine Chronicle, Scoop Media and the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. She lives in Chicago.

© Scoop Media