Jordan Valley - Libraries and women’s gathering
We began in Duma, with expellee women from Ein Rashash. After years of harassment by the colonists from the outpost of ‘Angels of Peace’, they left their village in great pain and moved to the nearby village of Duma, where they are situated on the outskirts of the village. However, there is not enough room for the entire community so they 3 enclaves distant from each other, and their ties have been deteriorating. Women are especially suffering since they are not mobile and do not frequently leave their homes. A woman lives in the south side of Duma while her sister is in the north side, another lives on the east side and her mother on the south side. We called one of the men an evening before we came and asked him to bring the women living in the north and east of Duma village to a family who lives on the south side.
When we arrived, 3 women were already waiting and slowly more came with their children and met each other with hugs and great joy. We sat in the hospitality tent and they began to tell us of their hardships, the difficulty that results from the deterioration of a community that had been united decades for better or worse. Then they told us that one of them (17-years-old) is marrying a guy from El Maita in the northern Palestinian Jordan Valley so the whole community is going there in two weeks and we won’t be able to meet. I promised her to come and visit for I am friends with the families at El Maita. Hagar also offered women cards and asked them to write a sentence or draw something that happened to them that day.
From there we continued to Mughayir a Dir, located just next to Michmash settlement. As usual, they told us how Israeli police ambushes every car driving on road 578 and turning to the dirt track leading to the village – there is a white line there, but they must drive another 10 km. if they wish to turn. Michmash colonists turn there in full view of the police, no one bothers them…
There we met the Hajja, over 90-years-old, and her unmarried 50-year-old daughter who takes care of her mother, as is the custom in many families. The daughter is also the local librarian. As we spoke, a 12-year-old boy entered, behaving like an 18-year-old, and told disappointed Hagar that he has left school. The reason – the school is too far and there are settlers on the way. Now he works with his father herding their flock. Another boy his age came in, he too has left his studies two months ago and they gave five, like grown-ups who have tricked the system. We asked what their parents say about it, but they shrugged indifferently. They couldn’t care less. One of the boys brought us cold water and kissed the hand of the old Hajja.
We stopped for a short visit at Ma’arajat and Ras Al Ein, just to bring new books and take away the old ones.