A visit in Yasuf
Visit to Yasuf.
LOCATION. in the Salfit Governorate, the northern West Bank, 37 kilometres (23 mi) SW of Nablus, adjacent to Kfar Tapuach settlement (Wikipedia).
POPULATION. 2,500 people; Iskaka, sister village, 1,500. (as of last month).
Baladiya: villages with more than 5,000 people; majdeles, with less.
K., the quiet, restrained deputy mayor receives us well in this peaceful and lovely village. Smiling, he tells us that in a month he will be the mayor; we congratulate him.
WATER. Mekorot allocates 11-12 cm of water an hour for the populations of Yasuf and Iskaka. This, of course, is not enough, K. says. They use a rotation system both in the 2 villages, and in their neighbourhoods. That is, when one village has running water the other does not, and the same is true for Yasuf neighbourhoods. Sometimes, during two days they have no water at all.
As K. explains, this quantity is the same all the year around, and it has been so, for years. The difference is that in the winter, this amount is supplemented by private wells which collect rainwater in their homes. Though only 20% of homes have wells, K. tells us, neighbours help each other out, those with wells sharing their extra water with their neighbours.
Of course, in the summer months these wells are dry. And, though he didn’t say, of course in summer, people drink more, and there is more laundry. The big reservoir on the hill is usually empty, for it is not meant to keep rainwater but Mekorot water. There is a heavy lid, which is not easy to raise.
Of course, those who can afford it, supplement this rationed daily water by buying from the expensive mobile water tanks.
To quote from our 31.07.18 report: “the 1996 Israeli-Palestinian water agreement stipulated that Yasuf should receive 12 cm/day. But in fact, the water delivery has deviated in three basic and important ways from this agreement: in the quantity, in the targeted population, and in the size of this population. First, the village does not always receive 12 cm. a day; sometimes less, and sometimes no water at all for 2 days. Secondly, the agreement did not take the natural growth of the population into consideration, nor has anyone since. So even when the villagers finally do receive the allotted 12 cm, it clearly isn’t enough for its expanded population. And this is all the more true because the following year the water agreement was “slightly” changed: the same daily amount was now allotted not only for Yasuf residents, but also for those of Iskaka. In 1996, there were 200 homes in Yasuf; by 2018 there are 480 homes (more than double). Although they didn’t give us the exact number of people per home, the population growth is obvious. And, according to our previous report in February 2017 there were 2,000 people in Yasuf and 1790 in Iskaka. Total: 3,790 people. That is, many more people now receive a smaller amount of water than that promised in 1996.”
And now, almost a year later, there are 2,500 people in Yasuf and 1,500 in Iskaka, that is a total of 4,000 people. Some 200 more than on our last visit. But the water Mekorot allocates for the 2 villages has remained at best the same, sometimes less.
ELECTRICITY. no problems.
MEDICAL SERVICES. A clinic serves Yasuf and Iskaka, and is located mid-way between them. A doctor is there daily from 9 am to 3pm, except for Fridays and Saturdays. Serious cases go to Salfit Hospital; K. says he was told that the quality of doctors’ services depends on how much they are paid.
EDUCATION. Two kindergartens, one private, one paid by the Palestinian Authority. An elementary school—grades 1 through 4—for all; for the higher grades, one for boys, one for girls. Many go on to University at Shechem, Salfit and Al Kuds.
WORK. 70% in Israel, construction work; 20% in agriculture; 10% for the Palestinian Authority. Unemployed: almost none.
Weekends include both Friday and Saturdays, both for schools and the Palestinian Authority; but at the Council they do work on Saturdays.
WOMEN. Only 5-10% of the women work— as teachers. Though many have University degrees, there is no work for them. In telling us that in Yasuf there are “almost no unemployed people,” K. overlooks the fact that women are 50% of the population, and can indeed be a very productive part.
However, in telling us about the skills and studies of girls in his hometown Kafr Kassem, Raed implicitly reinforces this unexpressed point. Many girls study in Jordan Universities; others go to Turkey, Moldovia or Germany where it is cheaper than in Israel. A young girl may go with friends or alone; their parents trust them to look after themselves. Raed tells us that girls are more serious students, finishing their BAs in 3 or 4 years, while boys tend to waste their time having fun in “clubs,” etc. As to languages, his own 12-year old daughter knows not only English, but also Turkish from watching TV series.
SETTLERS’ HARASSMENT. Four months ago Tapuach settlers came to the village and punctured some 30 cars, and also desecrated their mosque, writing on its wall: ”Blood revenge!” Raed added that at the time, Patchia and he examined this graffiti, which is still visible today. Since then, there have been no disturbances.
EXPROPRIATION OF LANDS. Apart from the land where settlers in Tapuach and its caravan outposts now live, there are other recent encroachments. As elsewhere, Yasuf farmers have been deprived of autonomous and unlimited access to lands which are adjacent to Zaatr, to Tapuach and those near Jamma’in. Their access is now very limited in time: at harvest time, they are allowed 2 to 3 days, and then only from 10 am to 4 pm, when the agricultural gates
are open. Without the help of Yaakov Manor and his volunteers, they would hardly have managed to harvest their olive trees.
K. could not provide us with the exact amounts of land thus seized from Yasuf. But he does remember there was a plan to annex Yasuf and Iskaka to Ariel as well as many small villages—with populations from 2,000 to 4,000 people. It was when he was a Council member— thirty years ago in 1998.
TRUMP’S PLAN. Asked what he thinks about this, our host says: first, he’s not sure what the US President will actually do. But he has declared that he won’t send any more money to the Palestinian Authority; that there won’t be 2 states, no Palestinian state at all—contrary to what was agreed in Oslo. Of course, this agreement was first cancelled by Bibi. Bibi’s “government is for the settlements, not for Israelis,” he says. Asked which is his source of news, he answers that six
months ago he stopped watching TV. He reads the Internet.
The ORCHARD. K. took us to a lovely orchard in a shady area, in whose winding paths lemon, pomegranate and other fruit trees grow. Benches invite visitors to socialize around a small well. The beautiful pomegranate trees are now in bloom.
The trees belong to individual villagers but no label or sign indicates to whom each one belongs. Yet at harvest time each owner knows exactly which fruit are his/hers to pick.
K. comments that were it collectively owned, the council would have taken better
care of it. He seems unaware of how well the probably centuries-old unwritten management works and how unusual it seems to us. This lovely and peaceful place speaks eloquently of the good neighbourly ties in Yasuf.