The above images represent glimpses of Deir Ibzi'a. The above photo is of dwellings constructed over 600 years ago. Though an historical reminder of Deir Ibzi'a origins, they are no longer in active use. The second photo (mouse over and you'll see it under the first) shows Deir Ibzi'a in the foreground. In the middle distance is the neighboring village of Ein Arik, and atop the farther hills, one sees evidence of ever encroaching settlement activity.

The following history of Deir Ibzi'a was taken from conversations members of Friends of Deir Ibzi'a had with the inhabitants of the village during a visit in June-July 2002. It also borrows from a series of extensive reports compiled in the spring of 2002 by International Checkpoint Watch and researchers from the Institute of Community and Public Health at Birzeit University. The full reports are available via the links provided. The experiences of this small community, as well as those of the surrounding 32 villages, is akin to the fate of many, many small villages within the Occupied Territories.

 

Deir Ibzia is a community of 35 families and approximately 1,600 people located about 10 kilometers equidistant from both the city of Ramallah and the Green Line (the pre-1967, "internationally recognized" border of Israel). Historically it's economy has revolved primarily around farming and agriculture. In the past two decades, many of the men in the village found themselves better able to eke out a living by crossing the Green Line into Israel, working jobs offered there in the lowest tiers of the Israeli economy.

 

The residents of Deir Ibzia have been and are facing tremendous social, economic and personal pressures due to the Israeli occupation, these troubles mounting ever more so since the beginning of the Intifada two years ago. For example, a significant percentage of the local men have been out of work since the Intifada began, no longer able or allowed to travel to their jobs in Israel or having been repeatedly prevented from accessing work in the nearby city of Ramallah as a result of the serial curfews and states of siege imposed upon that city by the Israeli Defense Forces. Along with all else that is going on in Palestine, the phenomenal economic devastation is making life everywhere increasingly untenable.

 

In addition to the pressing economic crisis, the villagers have regularly been harassed, and sometimes attacked by the Israeli settlers who progressively encroach upon ever more of their land. There have been numerous incidents of settlers cutting access to villages' electricity and water services, blocking access to roads or fields, bulldozing and conscripting olive trees and agricultural lands, damaging cars and property, shooting at homes, attacking children who are playing in the fields, and harassing adults who are attempting to commute to work. By day one can readily see the many fortress-like clusters of red-roofed settlements spread out upon the hills surrounding the village. At night their presence is more explicitly defined by their blazing orange lights and rings of outlying security roads patrolled by circling military jeeps

 

Until early 2002, there existed a notorious checkpoint located on the road just outside of Deir Ibzia. All occupants of Deir Ibzi'a and the surrounding 30-odd villages were required to pass through this checkpoint in order to reach Ramallah. The city of Ramallah provides all commercial needs and basic services for these villages - access to most food supplies, medical care, banking services, higher education, as well as a market for local produce and other goods. The checkpoint effectively turned a trip that ought to take 10 or 20 minutes by car into a torturous process, both dangerous and humiliating and one that could stretch into hours on end spent in line, being allowed - or not allowed - travel at the whim of Israeli Defense Force soldiers. This checkpoint controlled the access of 150 thousand people. Countless brutal incidents took place. We were told the story of one young man who was said to be not standing in line in as orderly a fashion as Israeli military men felt appropriate. The soldiers began to beat the man with fists and rifle butts and when the young man fought back in self defense, he was shot dead on the spot.

 

Then, on February 20th of this year, 6 Israeli soldiers were shot and killed at the same checkpoint. The Israeli army moved in immediately, removing the checkpoint altogether, destroying the road, and installing snipers in order to prevent all travel to and from Ramallah. All 34 villages were subjected to a state of siege and curfews were imposed. Deir Ibzia, due to it's immediate proximity to the checkpoint, was particularly affected. The village was kept under total curfew for the first 40 consecutive days and partial curfew thereafter. One family, whose home rests atop a hill in the village and was thus considered to be a good vantage point by the IDF, had their living space invaded and occupied by soldiers 15 times over the course of four months. The soldiers would arrive unannounced at any time of night or day, storm in without asking and stay as long as they pleased.

 

The killing of the soldiers brought harsh collective punishments down upon all of the villages. People were unable to travel to Ramallah, or, for a time, even make their way from one village to another. Already tenuous resources were further strapped. No one was allowed to travel to their jobs. Students who attended university or high school classes in Ramallah were unable to go to school - or in some cases, had to remain in Ramallah for months, away from their families. The villages were overrun with tanks, armored personnel carriers and military jeeps. Food and medicine ran ever lower and some ran out altogether. No ambulances were allowed to move, people needing medical care were prevented from receiving it.

 

The villagers only alternative for survival, whether to obtain utterly necessary food or seek urgent medical care, was to attempt to travel by foot, or if lucky, by donkey, over the rough terrain of the nearby mountains. This turned into a game of cat and mouse played with the Israeli army. The soldiers randomly trapped, detained or turned back villagers who were caught traveling in this manner. Food supplies were sometimes confiscated or simply destroyed. We were told of, or read reports of, the deaths and injuries that ensued….. an elderly man who died without access to medication, a woman who lost her baby in childbirth, a pregnant woman attempting to get to the hospital with her husband and father in law - her husband shot and killed, her father-in-law shot and wounded.

 

The basic aspects of life in all 32 villages were badly compromised during this period. Sewage tanks overflowed, and all garbage pickup was halted, forcing the communities to burn their garbage, including all kinds of plastics, releasing dioxin and other pollutants into the air and soil. Local farming and agricultural enterprises were severely impacted. Dier Ibzia had had a chicken farm which once supplied all of Ramallah and many nearby villages with chickens. Without access to animal feed or customers, 50 thousand dollars worth of stock was simply lost. The children's education was completely interrupted as curfews and the state of siege prevented both children and teachers from traveling to school. When they were able to get to school, classrooms were badly overcrowded. In some cases - such as in Deir Ibzia, the school itself came under attack: tanks entered the schoolyard, soldiers battered at the front door and ultimately hurled tear gas into the packed classrooms full of children aged 6 through 16.

 

In situations as dire as this siege, all Palestinian modes of survival effectively become nonviolent direct action, since acts as basic as simply seeking medical help or food supplies are deemed illegal by the occupying army. But the people, in their frustration, wanted to take it a step further and thus organized a nonviolent march on June 2nd of this year. Ultimately, 200 Palestinians and 30 Internationals marched from the mosque in Deir Ibzia to the roadblock outside of town. They were met by 10 soldiers, a jeep and an armored personnel carrier but, with some negotiation, were allowed to come within 50 meters of the roadblock. At that point, they all sat down and various villagers and internationals spoke about the dire situation and the immediacy of the problems facing Deir Ibzia. After almost an hour at the roadblock, the Israeli officer was asked if he wanted to comment or respond to the many things said by the villagers. He declined to speak. The whole procession then stood up and slowly returned to the village.

 

In June and July of this year, 2002, groups of volunteers associated with the International Solidarity Movement came to Deir Ibzi'a to participate in and assist with an innovative children's Summer Camp.