Rana (not her real name) lives in the north of the Jordan valley and is a volunteer with Jordan valley solidarity. She welcomed us and cooked our meal when the choir visited the solidarity centre.
Yesterday she talked with the visiting Belgian solidarity group about the harassment she has to overcome to stay in her home. In 2006 her home was raided at midnight and her ID card taken by the Army. Her children were babies at that time and she was told to prove that they were hers and that they were born there. She was told she had to travel to the checkpoint to get it back. At the checkpoint she was held all day and everyone who passed the checkpoint was asked if they knew her and if she came from the village she claimed to live in.
A few years ago she had cancer and finally obtained the necessary permit to travel into ’48 (Israel) for treatment. She travelled by Palestinian ambulance to the checkpoint but was refused permission to cross, even though she had the correct paperwork. The ambulance then embarked on a hazardous journey over mountain tracks to travel into Israel, with the knowledge that they could be shot at at any point.
In 2018 at 3am her house was raided again and she was accused of stealing water from Mekorot ( the Israeli water company which has total control over supply of water to the West Bank. She pays monthly for her water and had the receipts to prove it. ( she lives in Area A so does get water, although at great expense and not reliably). She was arrested and questioned for 3 hours and then told she must pay a 5,000 shekl fine (approx £1,400). She does not have that kind of money and asked if she could pay monthly. The Army captain mocked her and said ‘ this is not a supermarket bill you are paying’. Eventually members of the family collected together the money and she was released.
Under Israeli military occupation there is not even a pretense of justice and families live in a constant state of uncertainty about every single aspect of their lives.
