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When one listens to the people of the Arab unrecognized villages Jordaih and Al-Nwakeer, which are adjacent to the Israeli-Lebanese border, one would think that the issue that worries them the most after the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah, in July 2006, is the lack of public or private shelters to protect them if the fire broke out again in the region. The concerns of the population Jordaih and Al-Nwakeer and the village of Arab Al-A\'ramsha are justified in light of the last war when the villages turned to battlefields. From these villages\' perimeter, the Israeli army opened fire on the occupied Lebanese territory while dozens of Katyusha rockets launched by Hezbollah fell on them. This concern became more acute after the disaster caused by the fall of one missile at one of the homes of Arab Al-A\'ramsha, resulting in the death of three citizens.
This fear of what is coming is heard in every word of the population of Jordaih and Al-Nwakeer. And this is the issue that makes A\'ursan Maghis uneasy, Abu Mohammed, a resident of Al-Nwakeer, who says: "We live along the border and we are intimidated by the sound of bullets." He adds that: "our fear was strengthened after the recent war, while rockets fall, forcing many residents to flee the village, some of whom went to Jerusalem, some of them went to Arab towns in the interior. However, the infirm and the elderly, who are powerless stood there their grounds and stayed in their homes, despite being subjected to missiles and risks."
Talking about the recent war was an introduction to speak in more details about the Al-Nwakeer village, and her sister Jordaih, two of the Arab villages that Israeli authorities refuse to acknowledge, and strives to deport their inhabitants.
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Doubled persecution
Whether the inhabitants of the unrecognized villages in the interior face prosecution by the authorities of the Organization and what they bring them from demolition orders to summonses to court and the denial of services, the population Al-Nwakeer and Jordaih face together with all of this the constant harassment by the authorities of the army as well. Maghis states that the "security forces and the army do not want any Arabs here. But we live and inhabit the land of our ancestors long before Israel was established, and remain and continue to adhere our land in spite of all what we have faced since the 1948 war which has displaced our people and made some of our families live behind the border in Lebanese territory." He assures that: "our land is owned by us will not abandon our land."
Seven families live today in Al-Nwakeer, consisting of 50 Members, in Jordaih five families consisting of 33 Members. These are the remaining residents of the two villages, a number of which was forced to leave due to the policy of demolition, confiscation and the attempt to obtain the services that are deprived from residents of the Arab unrecognized villages. According to the residents, the number of families that left Al-Nwakeer are only four families, and that was about four years ago. They stressed out that the important thing was that these families refused to sell or abandoned their lands.
According to the people, also, a citizen of Jordaih and Al-Nwakeer was recently brought to trial on charges of unlicensed construction.
Don’t we have the same rights as the population of Zara\'it?
The people of Al-Nwakeer and Jordaih are registered in their identity cards as citizens of the village of Arab Al-A\'ramsha, which was established to the north-east of the villages under the scheme of authoritarian goal to the displacement of residents of small villages and regrouping them in the towns set up for this purpose. However, the population refused to leave their land and continued to live in spite of all the difficulties and despite of all the suffering and deprivation.
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Sadeq Maghis, Abu Tawfiq, joins Abu Muhammad in our conversation with him, and asks: "Do we not have the right to live with dignity and receive the full rights as any other citizen? Do we not have the same rights as the Jewish citizens who were brought to the area and for whom the village of Zara\'it was established, or the town of Admit which was established on the ruins of the displaced Arab village of Admath and on the territory of Al-A\'ramsha?" He adds: "if you compare between the services given to A-Nwakeer and Jordaih and those obtained by the near Jewish residents of villages. Does not the vast difference makes you scream: Were the missiles that landed here discriminating between a Jewish home and an Arab home? "
He adds: "our villages lack many services that a person can not live without, but there are other supposed shortcomings of the state which claims democracy and the protection of vulnerable social groups and the elderly that the state is ought to provide to these people. As you can see, most of the people here are elderly, so why not provide them with the social services they deserve? Why does not the Ministry of Health care for and provides vaccination, health services and care for pregnant women and their children? The same is true for young people, why isn\'t there any educational frame for them to benefit from?"
These questions and many more are raised by the population which the authorities ignored. When it comes to the authorities there is nothing but homes to demolish in this region and therefore the community is denied their services and the authorities seeks to deport them by all means necessary.
"When you water roses, berries quench their thirst"
Still, it appears and as Abu Muhammad puts it: "When you water roses, berries quench their thirst" because "the houses of Al-Nwakeer village were linked to electricity, because the authorities had to bring electricity to the border and mainly for the Israeli army, and so they had to comply with our request to light our homes." The same is true for the road leading to the villages, the authorities had to crack a road through the border for the army which is a path used by the community today, knowing that a few years ago they were barred from entering this road and had to take other roads".
"As for the water it was supplied by our brothers from the Arab Al-A\'ramsha village who linked us with a 2 inch diameter water pipe." Apart from that, these people do not enjoy any sort of services.
About the future that seems to be the appropriate time to resolve their issue, the people of Al-Nwakeer and Jordaih are devoted to stay on their land and say that the best solution to the problem of recognizing them is the expansion of the area of influence of the Arab Al-A\'ramsha and annexing them to it. The population turns to the Association of Forty asking for their help to achieve this solution as well as admiring the work of the Association for last years for the great efforts to solve the problem of the unrecognized villages and to stabilize its people on their land.
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Abu Tawfiq guaranteed that one of his children recently received a letter from the Regional Council "Mateh Asher", under which\'s the area of influence of the Al-Nwakeer and Jordaih, confirming their consent to annexing the two unrecognized villages to Arab Al-A\'ramsha area of influence.
The delegate of the Association of Forty approached the Chairman of the local committee of Arab Al-A\'ramsha, Mohammed Abu A\'dnan, who welcomed the idea and said that he is working hard to expand the flatbed of Arab Al-A\'ramsha "so that we can annex Al-Nwakeer and Jordaih." He also stated that he will soon be filing a detailed map of the two towns.
Umm Suleiman: the living memory of Jordaih
In Jordaih, the twin village of A-Nwakeer, we met a senior citizen Nimra A\'bbas, Umm Suleiman. She was sitting in the courtyard of her home, which every stone of it confirms every period of time in history the house survived.
Umm Suleiman is 86 years or more, however the deep scares that time may have left on her cheeks did not impair her steadfastness, her adherence to her land and her house confirming her deep rooting to her town.
The conversation with Umm Suleiman took us to the past, to life in this town, to the catastrophe (Al Nakba) that displaced her people from their hometown and made took them away from it despite the fact that their homes are only a few meters away from her home near the border strip. She possess a strong memory and will do all she can to pass this memory on to her daughter living with her.
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During the recent war, one Katyusha rockets hit one of the parties of Umm Suleiman\'s home creating serious damage. However, the house that has witnessed the modern history of the town and which Umm Suleiman confirms was built before 1945 had also stood in front of all Israeli attempts to destroy it and deporting its owners. "When the missile fell," says Umm Suleiman, referring to the remnants of the rocket which is she still keeps: "my daughter Delah had an anxiety attack and was transferred to a hospital in the city of Naharya But God was kind and courteous to her as God is to us." Umm Suleiman wonders: "I heard that the government gave compensation to the owners of houses that were damaged during the war, why has not any one compensated us for?"
Umm Suleiman tells us that an Israeli soldier took her home as an embankment during the war, and fired from it in direction of the fire coming from the Lebanese territory. And she wonders: "Is it this soldier\'s right to take us as a shield? Did he not consider that opening fire from our house endangers us?"
Concerning the town\'s conditions and the harassment they are subjected to by the authorities, Umm Suleiman wonders: "What they want from us, our rights are flouted and lost, what do they want, will they prevent the air from our lungs? And to whom should we complain, to the slave or to the master? "And then she swears that "the complaint to non other than God is an insult to his name."
She adds: "I am an old woman who is left only this house. You know, they refuse to allow me to build a small toilet!!" then she says: "I wonder if a Jewish person was living here would the authorities accept that he lives in such circumstances? I swear to God, he would be living in a heaven. However, the situation is different when it the intended are Arabs," says Umm Suleiman, then determines clearly: "Yes, we are Arabs and take pride in being Arabs."
Umm Suleiman believes that the same destiny links Al-Nwakeer and Jordaih. She says: "Each person who left home and went after what they call progress and development is the loser." and uses an old Arab proverb that fits, saying: "who ever leaves his land, dishonor becomes easier to him."
The Association of Forty: we support the demands of our people in Jordaih and Al-Nwakeer
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The Association of Forty states in light of the demands raised by the families of Jordaih and Al-Nwakeer it\'s supports to all of these demands, and in particular to the schematic solution envisaged appropriate by the people as means to end their suffering and achieve recognition and ownership of their lands.
The Chairman of the Association, Mohammed Abu Dauf, said that the Association will initiate the correspondence and meetings with the concerned parties to put the demands of Jordaih and Al-Nwakeer on the table and work on achieving recognition of the two villages and provide all services to the population, stressing that the geographical location of the two villages on the border, makes it imperative for the authorities to expedite the processing of this case and provide all required services in order to achieve a life of dignity, security and stability for the people of the two villages
