Saturday 10 July

Went to Walajeh, A village between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, on the green line. The near by Cremason monastery have invited the hundred or so children to their grounds to do dance, games, sports and singing at a 10 day summer camp.

This is a good break for all of the villagers, as the inhabitants are in a vulnerable position with the Israeli military. The village's Ansar Center organises this event each year and tries to bring internationals to share their celebration and to show their situation.

One of the founders of the Ansar Center and a painter and decorator, lost his house to an Israeli bulldozer in 1991. Moving away from the deafening noise of children having fun under the pine trees, he told us of the fate of Walejeh.

'All of us are refugees in Walajeh. In 1948, the Israeli's chased the people out of our village. My grandfather told me how he used to go back to look at his house and sit down.

"He couldn't imagine he had lost his house. The Israeli army didn't like this so they destroyed the village. They were frightened even by the dreams. In 1967, we were made refugees again and we moved to another hill, where we are now.

"They destroyed my house in 1991 and keep destroying them. They do not tell us in advance if they are going to destroy a house, because the whole village, even the old people, would stand in the way.

"We would bring in people from outside. They just arrive at 7am, with a lot of soldiers, sometimes over 160. They destroy the house in 1 - 2 hours and leave. They want to push us further into the West Bank.

"Seventy-five houses have been put on the list for demolition, because Israel had decided in 1967 they are under the Jerusalem municipality. They never told us until two years ago.

"The police allowed us to buy a permit for their own land. One man saved for a year and when he finished his last payment, he came home to find that the bulldozers had knocked his house down. He told the soldiers that he had paid for the permit. A soldier said, "That will pay for the bulldozer."

He pointed over to Gilo settlement, perched on the next hill, parallel to us. 'Gilo will spread down and over us and will join up with Assion settlement.

They will build 55,000 apartments for 12,500 settlers. (Many of them from the dismantled settlements of Gaza) The Israeli government even pays for people to populate the settlements, because many people are too scared to move in because of this situation.

Paul Gent