Wall slices off al-Khader’s famous vineyards

In the past they were sold all over the West Bank and Israel but farmers can no longer get their produce to the market. I traveled to al-Khader to witness the impact of the wall on the village at the invitation of Samer Jaber of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements.

At his apartment in al-Khader, Samer shows me a map of the al-Khader area located on the western edge of Israel's "Greater" Jerusalem. The wall will cage the villagers of Battir, Wadi Fukin, Husan, Nahallin, and will cut off residents of al-Khader and Beit Jala from their fertile lands. Roughly 40,000 Israeli settlers inhabit this region of the West Bank with some 20,000 Palestinians. Once the wall is completed, al-Khader residents will only be able to access their land through a pedestrians-only turnstile located south of the village. The farmers will require permission from from Israel to bring vehicles and large equipment to their land through a gate 20 kilometers from the village. Samer tells me that two houses next to the wall have received demolition orders, because the owners built their houses without Israeli permission.

The wall runs along the oldest part of al-Khader

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