MARDA - its fight for survival.

The story of the ancient Palestinian town that fought alongside Al Salidin against the Crusaders.

Marda, an ancient Palestinian town in the very centre of the West Bank that is now overshadowed and threatened by an ever-expanding colony of Ariel built on land seized from Marda, a town whose livelihood centres on the olive tree plantations in front of it - and on terracing right to the top of this hill. Ariel is surrounded by a multi-layer security fence visible along the hillside beneath its houses.

As we arrived in Israel as international volunteers to help pick the olives, we read in Israeli papers that Marda had just been raided by the Israeli military. The photos below are from this event. The first shows some of the army vehicles - and a few of the stones and tires put on the road to hinder them. The soldiers said it was because stones had been thrown at Israeli vehicles on the main road that passes outside Marda - a long way from its houses as the photo above shows. They occupied the roof top of the highest building in town - arrested the young men, firing ear-splitting percussion grenades, live rounds of ammunition, gas rounds and metal balls covered in thin rubber - the so-called rubber bullets. The photos are of the rounds left behind. The family showed us the bed occupied by their small daughter (in centre) smashed by a round fired by the army, showering her with glass - and also holed their water tank and smashed tje water heater on their roof (perhaps because it was next to a Palestinian flag). Such raids are now frequent event - part of life in an occupied land. There was however no further raid in such strengh during the 2 to 3 weeks that we were there as an international team of observers from the UK. The next raid happened immediately after we left.

The olive farmers of Marda arranged accomodation for us - and an initial briefing by their Mayor and some of the farmers we had come to help. During this meeting the Israeli army did its regular night patrol past us. We took this photo at the time... two armoured vehicles patrol Marda, passing by the room in which we met.

Marda is an ancient town - it used to be far bigger. When Al Salidin recruited soldiers here to help recapture Jerusalem and when the crusaders in revenge attacked it,the town had seven mosques. It now has one. Next to it there is the office of the local charity (with the Palestinian flag) that helps put children through school. The head of this also works against the Israeli Wall and against Israeli discrimination across the West Bank. His earlier permaculture farm was destroyed by the Israeli army on the basis that it was 'too near' to the main road. On the far side of the mosque lies the ancient well - a long flight of steps leads down to that water - and the hoses within it supply the new local Palestinian permaculture farm.

By the ancient well sit some old stone vessals - and across the road Murad works in the new and expanding permaculture farm he runs that is supplied by this well.

The mosque in Marda from the hillside above - on the carefully terraced rockyhillsides on which are grown the olives we pick ...we are provided by the farmer with a picnic lunch below. Above - one of the very ancient olive trees in the centre of Marda - thought to be sevearl hundrd years old.

The Palestinian farmer who took us to see the fortifications is up the ladder - and his wife (not shown at her request) and his children are helping.

But then our pick was rudely interrupted when a couple of Israeli soldiers arrived - with automatic guns and Leeds accents! They had migrated to Israel from the UK.

It seems they had been sent to warn us not to take photographs of the fortifications for the Israeli colony of Ariel - that lay right above us as we picked . The farmer had just taken two of us up to this barrier to show us his dead olive trees the Israeli settlers had killed near their extensive military-scaled defences - and to show us the large number of trees he could no longer farm because they were the other side of the Ariel razor wire, with effectively their crop stolen from him. All the slope up to the houses and beyond is his land - stolen from him without compensation. The farmer said he was pleased we were there - for the soldiers did not order him to stop picking as they often did.

Sandwiched between the Ariel razer wire, the electified fences and motion sensors, is the security road constantly patrolled by the Ariel army of security guards. Two are by the car in the centre watching us. The trees around them are olive groves stolen by Ariel from the farmer we were picking with - it has put its security zone right through his farm.

As I was about to post this page, in January 2008, I learnt that yesterday the army closed the main gate to the village and put barbed wire on an earth mound blocking the former main road on the other side.entrance at the other side.   They were in the  village in the middle of the afternoon, chasing children and shouting at people to close their shops and to go home.    They were also using the percussion or sound bombs photographed above. They gave the same fabricated reason for their action - children had thown stones.
 
Apart from their usual nightly visits army patrols are now a common sight in the village during the day.

It was reported today that the rate of Israeli attacks on and killings of Palestinians has doubled since the Annapolis peace summit. Mustafa Barghouthi reported that forty times more Palestinians are being killed than are Israelis in the occupied territories, up tenfold from the 4 to 1 at the time of the Second Intifada. (2000-2004)

When a settler is attacked, the occupying Israeli army collectively punishes nearby Palestinian towns (despite this being a violation of international law). While we were there, there was one such attack - and we watched from a Marda rooftop as the army blocked the olive picking tracks for the neighbouring town - first photo below - the fence on the other side of the road was installed to stop access from Marda olive groves to the road . The main road in was also blocked even ambulances - despite this town not having a hospital. This block was put in place two weeks before we left Palestine - and was still there when we left.

the Mayor of Marda (with black bag) passing through recent Israeli army road block stopping vehicle access to large Palestinian town in distance. Nov. 2007

- and the steel gates that the Israeli army installs on all access roads to Palestinian towns including Marda so they can easily be cut off.

A moment of peace.. A farmer, Arafat with his son on his olive farm - with the small town of As Sawiya that is their home in the background (the Israeli Ariel settlement is to the left down this same ridge). The valley is on the southern side of Ariel and to the left goes to Salfiit, the regional provinical town. The rich land of the valley floors gave this the name of the bread basket of Palestine .

And fnally - some lessons on olive picking - here at Marda one of the pickers is using a rake to dislodge the olives - although many preferred just to run the fingers down the branches.

A Jewish group of volunteers, from Rabbis for Human Rights, is given a briefing by the farmer from As Sawiya - and they set to work. The olives are allowed to drop onto the sheets.

Then the olives have to be picked up and put in sacks.

From where we are picking, the roofs of the nearest Israeli colony can just be seen. Settlers from here sometimes stone the Palestinian pickers and set dogs on them.

A welcome rest - and the Rabbi that accompanied us on one day for the pick - bringing with him twenty rabbinical students.

Graffiti in Marda shows resistance to the military occupation is still alive, Click on the road sign (link coming soon) to visit inside Ariel with us to learn more about what is going on...

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