Khaled. A farmer from Deir Al Ghusun. Movie-star material according to Guillaume. I will not disagree.
Khaled forgot his ID today, so he decided to take us around and show us some very old houses near the Wall. He also showed us a demolished house, where you still could see the laundry left behind by the bulldozers. It is prohibited to live within 1 km of the Wall, so all the houses that were considered too close were demolished. The affected people did not receive any compensation for their losses. Only the bill for the demolition.
House demolitions are still a major problem for many Palestinians, especially in Area C (as decided in the Oslo Accords), where the Palestinians require permits from Israel to build houses. This is rarely granted and in any case a very slow process. But since people need more space, they start building houses without permission. The Israeli army then comes and tears it down. But the people try again. And the bulldozers are sent back in. And so it continues...
But back to Khaled. A month before we came, he had some trouble at the gate. He was waiting in line with his tractor when an officer walked by and suddenly decided to confiscate it. There was no reason other than the whim of a moody soldier. Khaled then received a fine of 6000 shekels (9000 Norwegian kroner). With the help of ICRC, he hired a lawyer and started a court process to get his tractor back. Just before the court case started, the Israeli military said he could get his tractor back if he paid half the fine. He decided to comply and is now in possession of his red tractor again.
It could have made a nice Erin Brockovich-style movie, with a Palestinian ending of course. Anyway, farming suddenly seems less unattractive...
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