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Turning an Apricot Grove into a Septic Tank

By Jonas Moffat, May 2007

The beautiful and historic village of Artas lies just outside Jesus’ hometown of Bethlehem. Israel is building the Apartheid Wall through Artas to expand one colony, Efrat, and build two new settlements, Tamar and Dagan. This expansion is illegal under international law and the so-called "Road Map to Peace." The residents of Efrat are now piping out their sewage through land that the Abu Swai family has been cultivating apricots on for generations.

In mid-May, Abu Swai’s family received the IOF’s evacuation notice, and a call for activist support went out. "This is the night," Abu Swai told me. "This is the night our trees will die."

Twenty or so international activists heeded the call, and by 11:30 on May 20th, we had assembled at the orchard, joining 50 local Palestinians. Tents had been set up at the orchard two nights before, and campfires were boiling water for tea and coffee. People were eating pita bread and telling stories. On the surface, they seemed to be having a good time, but if you looked deep into the eyes of Awad and others, you could see the truth. There was a nauseated, impatient, waiting feeling to the whole scene. Around 2:30am, we saw a pack of Israeli soldiers walking the perimeter of the village. The campers continued to drink tea and chat. We were hearing the rustling apricot leaves for the last time.

The soldiers then entered the village. It was too dark to go ahead with their operation, so what did they want? "We are here to inform you that there is a Jewish sniper somewhere in the hills around here. We are here to protect." Basically, they wanted us all to go home. But they knew we wouldn't. This was home to some of us. They were also gathering information: How many Palestinians are here? How many Israelis and internationals? How many soldiers and police would they need?

Nobody slept. The tents were empty. At 5:00am, just as the skies were getting bluer, a Palestinian boy came running into the village. "Jeish! Jeish!" The army is coming. Thirty soldiers arrived in six jeeps. They held a paper in Hebrew and showed it to everyone. Then they spoke to Abu Swai and the group in Hebrew—the language of the Occupation. The commanding officer said that in five minutes, if we didn't voluntarily leave, we would be forcibly removed.

An hour later, most of us had been arrested, and the bulldozers were at work destroying the magnificent old trees— all just to provide a place for the settlers to dump their sewage.

What kind of “democracy” uproots trees and destroys livelihoods to privilege one group of people over another?

Jonas Moffatt is from the Bay Area and now resides in Cairo as a long-term volunteer with both ISM and the Tel Rumeida Circus for Detained Palestinians.