Bethlehem. Thursday PM, 28-4-05Observers: Yael I. and Ilana D. (reporting)From 2:00 to 6:00 PMWe concentrated all our efforts on the village of Walaje this week.On Monday we had a meeting with Eitan Peleg, the lawyer who has taken upcudgels for Walaje since 1988. The reason was that Yael wanted topersonally hand in the check she had received from her friend Rivka R. inNew York who had joined us on our shift at the beginning of the month, and decided to contribute a donation towards the legal representation of the village. The donation was intended for the villagers of Ein Juweize to assist them in their struggle,and the check, had been made out to Mr. Peleg directly to save extra costs.Eitan Peleg, has been deeply involved in their plight and spent many hours on their cases, sometimes appealing to the High court in the middle of a house demolition. Ayoung lawyer in his office is, if at all possible, even more fervently active on behalf of Walaje. Mr. Peleg explained in great detail the unique situation of Walaje, which is annexed to Jerusalem, but never received municipal services and whose residents have West Bank Id’s and own cars with Palestinian number plates. He painted a bleak picture for the population and although he stated that the judges have been extremelysympathetic so far (Dorith Beinish once described behavior of the authorities as ‘pure transfer’), the fact remains that Israel wants continuity between Jerusalem and the Etzion Bloc and that for land developers and expansion of Jerusalem the village is clearly in the way. He told us that unfortunately the village is divided and does not present a solid front, which make dealings more difficult. The only person who mightchange the situation favorably is the new Minister of the Interior, OphirPaz-Pines and we wonder whether any of our MW-colleagues has access to him.Eitan Peleg urged us to go often into the village and talk with as many of itsinhabitants as possible, asking us whether we had ever met with Amin A.a young bright villager with excellent management skills. Therefore our first stop today was at Amin’s father’s house near the mosque. He told us that yesterday in the afternoon the Border Police had made their presence known by coming into the village in two jeeps and hooting loudly all the way down. Then in the middle of the night at 1:00 PM men were sought out in their houses and investigated as to how long they had been living there. He produced air-photographs showing the border of Jerusalem, which part of the village is Area B etc.. However, he doubts there will be a wall, rather something low behind the newly planned neighborhood, which will encircle the village for about 80%. He told us that the fruit trees, which had been cut down, formed part of the Refa’im Park to be developed along the railroad track. He and his father don’t see eye to eye as to how to act towards the authorities. He is clearly less mellow and impatient and feels that the population ought to ask for blue Id’s so that they will have some status and it will be impossible to chase them away from their homes. He said that 200 people of the village want to apply together with him fpr blue Id’s, but since they cannot enter Jerusalem legally, it is difficult to obtain the necessary forms from the Ministry, since each applicant can only get one form. . He said that the lawyer has no time to apply for each case individually and that they may have to find someone else to do this He had no patience at all for the rich members of the community who have built the palaces at the entrance to the village. Needless to say they have no money to spend on their poorer neighbors. Most of the villagers have no work and many try to get to Jerusalem without permit in order to find work.From there were proceeded to Ahmed B. who was touched and moved by Rivka’sgesture. They would write to her and thank her. He again stressed how much efforts and personal input Eitan Peleg had already invested in Walaje and contrary to Amin does not believe that his young assistant’s advises are more useful. He dwelled at length on the differences of opinions in the committee representing Ein Juweize and said that Eitan had strongly advised against applying for permanent status to the Ministry of the Interior. He thought that it was people from the Ministry that came in the middle of the night to investigate and thought it might be because some people had in fact already applied, since this is the way the Ministry works, by checking who sleeps where. He believes, it would be counterproductive, since some people (albeit only genuine family members who have rights to the houses and land) have only arrived in the last couple of years and would never qualify for permanent Israeli residency and the split would give the Israeli authorities a way to discriminate against all.The talks clarified part of the picture but did not raise our hopes.