Helping Victims of Israel's "Separation Wall"
A letter from Dr. Haidar Abdel Shafi
Gaza City, Gaza
November 2003
Dear friends and contributors,
Israel’s “separation wall” is no longer a mere
plan. It is being built at a feverish pace even as I write you this
letter. Its first phase, from north of Jenin until south of Qalqilya,
has already isolated seventeen villages with a total population
of 14,000 people. The villagers are trapped in a no-man’s-land
between the wall and the Green Line, cut off from their relatives
in nearby villages, from markets, and from such vital services as
hospitals, clinics, schools, and universities. Another fifteen villages
situated to the east of the wall now find that their land is entirely
on the western side. Also isolated on the western side are thirty-six
kilometers of water pipes and networks and more than thirty-three
artesian wells that farmers depend on for irrigation.
In the face of a tragedy of this scale, it is easy to feel powerless.
But there are practical steps that you can take to make a difference.
With your assistance UPA can provide critical aid to individuals
whose livelihoods are threatened by the wall. Consider the story
of Abdel Nasser Mahmoud Quzmar of ‘Izbat Salman. Mr. Quzmar
is the thirty-two-year-old breadwinner of a family of six. He once
farmed twenty-seven dunums of lands with olive and citrus trees,
vegetables, and greenhouses. Now Israeli bulldozers have destroyed
five dunums of his land to build the wall, leaving his remaining
dunums inaccessible on the western side. Even if he eventually gains
access to them, the lands will soon be dried up, because bulldozers
have destroyed the village’s cisterns.
UPA is appealing to your generosity and compassion at
this time of crisis to help farmers and villagers like Mr. Quzmar
and his family, whose livelihoods are threatened by the wall. Through
UPA assistance farmers can receive the financial aid and technical
assistance they need to sustain their farms and feed their families.
UPA assistance to local clinics and schools in isolated villages
and towns will likewise enable Palestinians to continue to receive
adequate health care and education despite being cut off from surrounding
towns and their services. You can be a lifeline to Palestinians
now trapped and impoverished by the wall. Please consider the urgency
of their situation and give as generously as you can today.
With much appreciation,
Dr. Haidar Abdel Shafi
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