Peace maker in Nablus...

Philippa Hitchen is at present in the Holy Land travelling with the so called Holy Land Coordination Group: bishops from across Europe and North America making their annual pilgrimage in support of the Christian communities there. She met up there with Pax Christi Executive Committee member Ann Farr , now on her Ecumenical Accompaniment placement in the village of Yanoun, not far from Nablus in Palestine who tells her what her work there entails: "..all the time we're alongside the people and we work with both Palestinian and Israeli peace makers .."

In this interview Ann Farr explains the kind of problems people there have to live with: "...in areas like Bethlehem Jerusalem and Hebron theyr'e very much faced with the issues of the wall and check points which are causing lack of freedom and denial of human rights to the people of Palestine ... also Palestinians and Israelis cannot cross over to the opposite side of the wall ... "


But she also focuses more specifically on the situation in a tiny village up near Nablus, where she says the principal problem is represented by illegal settlements . A consequence of the Intifada when villagers were forcibly removed from their homes at gunpoint by illegal Israeli settlers . A situation addressed by the presence first of Israeli peace makers and consequently a permanent international presence by people like herself .
A presence which it seems the villagers consider essential : " they tell us they only remain there because of our presence.. we become very aware they live in fear all the time. In our village we can see all the way around us on the tops of the hills the outposts of the Israeli settlements ..at times ..settlers will come down and will cause harassment..."
While Ann Farr describes some of these hostile acts among which theft of land, control and denial of water and destruction of olive trees her hope is that while all this takes place , with the international presence in the area the villagers will at least feel safer.
Listen: