Beduoin Family Ordered Out of Their Home by the Israeli Army
[Jayyous, Qalqilia]
Today, at 10:30 AM, Zarriffi, the mother and wife of the Abu Amar family reported that the Isreali army ordered them out
of their home. The family was told that they must have a permit to live in their home because their home "is now located
in Israel." After several hours of work with a human rights organzaition, the family was granted access back to their
home.
The family home of Abu Amar is located on the outside of the Israeli Apartheid Wall, opposite the village of Jayyous.
They are the only family isolated from daily life there. The family attempts to pass daily through a gate in the Wall
controlled by Israeli soldiers, but they are often harassed and denied passage.
This is not the first time the Abu Amar family has faced such circumstances. Beginning on September 1, 2003, after the
completion of the Wall, the Israeli army began to sporadically open the gate for the children so that they could attend
school in their village. In order to survive, the family has received shipments of food and water sent over the Wall
from the people of Jayyous.
The gate the Abu Amar family passes through, the "south gate," intersects what has historically been a road to land for
some 25 farmers to access approximately 700 dunams of land on this side of the village. On November 23, 2003, the
Israeli army announced this gate closed permanently for anyone except the family of Abu Amar.
The Israeli soldiers gave no reason for the family needing to leave other than to say that this was Israel and they did
not have permission to live there because they never had a permit to build their home ten years ago.
This family is in grave danger of losing their home and everything in it. While there have been no orders for
demolition, it is clear that the intent of the Israeli army is to push the family out of their home.
Please take action and demand that the family be allowed to stay in their home without daily harassment from Israeli
soldiers! Please support the Abu Amar family and all the people of Jayyous in their struggle to access their land and
live freely!