By Hama Waqum
19 May 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza
Ten Palestinian volunteers harvested wheat in Gaza’s
northern no-go zone on Wednesday, May 16, only 350 meters from where the
Israeli Apartheid wall encircles the Gaza Strip. Two weeks ago the
barley was cut and gathered and on Wednesday, volunteers loaded the
harvest onto donkey carts to transport it for sorting, in the face of
Apache helicopters, tanks, and F-16 fighter jets.
Palestinian farmers harvesting barley near the no-go zone in Gaza despite risk of Israeli army attack.
The work began at approximately 8:45am in northern
Beit Hanoun, and immediately an Israeli tank became visible on a distant
hill. A few minutes later, a helicopter circled above and would remain
there for three hours. At 9:10, a number of jeeps patrolled the border
and by 11:30, one of the Israeli outposts fired 8 shots at a point
slightly further than the farmland. Over the next hour, a total of
around 30 shots were fired from the same outpost.
The volunteers offered to help the owner to farm his
land, due to its proximity to the Apartheid Wall. A distance of 300
meters to the border is considered the ‘no-go zone’, in which the
Israeli Government prohibits farming. Even farmers outside the no-go
zone, however, come under regular fire simply for their proximity to the
Wall. Volunteers from the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative team farmed for
six hours, joined by International Solidarity Movement volunteers.
The team of volunteers successfully finished transporting the barley despite the military presence.
Hama Waqum is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement.
