A Decade On, A Boy, A Ball And A West Bank Wall
by EMILY HARRIS
October 13, 2013 7:11 AM
A little more than a decade ago, in an effort to improve security, Israel began to build a physical barrier in and around the West Bank.
The Amer family, Palestinians, is among those whose lives were disrupted. The concrete wall and fence cut them off from their village. Their son was separated from his soccer buddies, the most important thing in the world to him at the time.
Simon Hatcher saw the 15-minute documentary about the Amer family last year, in his sixth grade class in Oregon. It stuck in his mind.
"I watched it in class and I thought, wow, there's really this kid that can't leave his house because there are walls on both sides of it, which must be so hard for him," Simon said. "I was just like — I was really sad."
"I'd like to know if his situation has gotten any better and I'd like to know if he is able to play soccer with his friends, and I'd like to know how his life is able to go on with a wall built on all sides of his house," he told me.
We found Ishaq, who is 19 now and recently became a dad. He lives in the village, and works in construction.
"I grew up, got married, I come and go," he says.
He visits his mother, father and younger brother regularly. They still live in the house on the Israeli side of the barrier. But now the family has a key to the gate.
Just inside, there is a paved road for Israeli military use only. Across that road is Ishaq's family home. Behind the house, a double fence separates this Palestinian family from an Israeli settlement. Ishaq says he's only partly glad he doesn't live here anymore.
"It's true that where I'm living now, I'm freer. There's no wall and no settlement," he says. "But I'm separated from my family and I don't like that. My feelings toward the wall are the same. It must go."
The Amer family lost their nursery business when the barrier went up, but they have planted some fruit trees and flowers around the house.
Ishaq's mother, Munira, waters petunias as she talks about the first years of the wall. She says even after they got the key, their movement was restricted and Ishaq was frequently not able to cross the barrier to play soccer with his friends.
An Israeli court finding in the case notes that the military offered to provide a home or land closer to the village. But Ishaq's father, Hani, is proud the family is still in their home.
Emad Burnat, a Palestinian who co-directed the Oscar-nominated documentary 5 Broken Cameras, displays the cameras destroyed by Israeli settlers and security forces. The film focuses on a Palestinian village protesting Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank.
"What is similar from those days is that our house is still walled in. What's different is that we have the key," he says. "We fought for this, and this is freedom compared to before. This makes me optimistic for the future."
"This wall is a prison," he says. "I don't know if it will ever go."
Unlike his older brother, Shaddad likes farming and writing more than soccer. Even now, Ishaq still finds some time to kick a ball around with friends.
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