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"We are here and our water is there. Many farmers don't have permits to go to cultivate their land where the water is, and on this side of the wall we suffer from lack of water."
Tens of thousands of Palestinians are affected, separated from their land, farms and water resources and denied their means of livelihood - the Wall's route confiscating some of the most fertile, water-rich areas, Palestinians denied permission to use it.
Prior to the Wall's construction, Jayyus, near Qalqilya, was the region's food basket, its land some of the most fertile because water was plentiful. No longer, agricultural output falling to a fraction of its former level, making most families dependent on humanitarian aid. Other area villages were also affected, including Ras al-Tira, Dab'a, Wadi al-Rasha, and Ramadin, cut off and trapped in the "Alfei Menashe enclave," so-called because the Wall encompasses the Alfei Menashe settlement and much land around it. Qalqilya has been severely impacted, surrounded by the Wall on three sides, cut off from access to 80% of its agricultural land and 11 wells.
Movement Restrictions Affecting Water Access
Besides the Wall, they include hundreds of checkpoints, other barriers and various obstacles, including cement blocks, earth mounds and gates, creating a nightmarish system to negotiate, obstructing access and requiring detours, delays, and time-consuming journeys, what used to be less grueling.
According to a Susya resident:
"It takes me most of the day to go to the well, fill up the tanker and bring the water to the village....I have to rent the tractor, pay for fuel and spend a lot of money and time just to bring some water for our basic needs. At such a high cost, we cannot afford to buy water to irrigate the land....so we have no fodder for the sheep. We are being forced to sell some sheep because we cannot afford to feed them, but the sheep are our livelihood and if we are forced to sell them we will lose (it) for good."
Other towns and villages are just as impacted, seeing their way of life destroyed with few ways to compensate.
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