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Help Jayyous Keep Its Land In the middle of the ceasefire, Israel's Zufin settlement is going to build 1500 new houses on the Palestinian village of Jayyous's farmland. Already, hundreds of Jayyous’s olive trees have been uprooted, and farmers have been unable to get to their land because it’s been blocked off by the Wall. Read the NY Times feature about Jayyous here.    Even though Israel has redrawn the path for the Wall, it still cuts the West Bank into fragments, cutting people off from their land, from neighboring villages and cities, and from the rest of the West Bank. See the new path of the Wall here. Two months ago, Senator Lincoln Chafee wrote a letter to the State Department objecting to Israel's confiscation of Jayyous's land. Recently, the State Department replied, but with no intention of changing the grave situation for the people of Jayyous. The reply said, among other things, that the Israeli government intended to stop uprooting olive trees while the situation was to be investigated, but failed to mention that all the olive trees on the land in question have already been uprooted. Observers in the area saw the trees replanted in West Jerusalem, bearing backhoe and chain marks. Help the people of Jayyous reclaim their land by sending a letter to your elected representatives, asking them to investigate the situation in Jayyous and to halt Zufin’s expansion. We'll CC your letter to Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens, whose company's bulldozers are uprooting Jayyous's trees. Sample Letter for Campaign Subject: Stop Illegal Settlement Building Dear [ Decision Maker ] , I'm writing to ask that you investigate the expropriation of the West Bank village of Jayyous's land. In the middle of the ceasefire, Israel is expanding its illegal settlements on top of Palestinian land. Last winter, Israel's Wall was built right through the Jayyous's land. The Wall, whose path was declared illegal by the International Court of Justice, has cut the people of Jayyous off almost completely from their farms. Now, the nearby Israel settlement of Zufin is building 1500 new houses on Palestinian farmland. The New York Times recently wrote a feature story about the situation in Jayyous, which you can read here at http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/29/international/middleeast/29mideast.html I'm writing to ask that you contact the State Department and call for a halt to Zufin's expansion on to Jayyous's land. Sincerely,

Campaign Launched: March 01, 2005

Background Information

The wall's impact on Palestinians is devastating. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are cut off from schools, hospitals, work, fields and family. The wall separates Palestinians from each other, making its route impossible to defend on security grounds, which, in any case, would not overcome its blatant illegality. Jewish Voice for Peace has assembled a great deal of information on the wall, including articles, maps and links to more info. You can access it by clicking here.

Jayyous was one of the first villages in the West Bank that was affected by Israel's Wall.  The people of Jayyous, in the West Bank, have been fighting to keep their land, and they need our help.  Last winter, Israel's Wall was built right through Jayyous's land, cutting the people of the village off almost completely from their farms.  You can see the new path of the Wall here. Now, the nearby Israel settlement of Zufin is expanding on to Jayyous's farmland with 1500 new houses.  Hundreds of olive trees have been uprooted, as Jayyous struggles to save its land.

The pressure to stop Israel's expropriation of Jayyous's land is building.  Senator Lincoln Chafee from Rhode Island has already sent a letter to Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, objecting to what's happening to Jayyous and asking for an explanation.  The New York Times recently wrote a feature story about the situation in Jayyous, which you can read here.  But the State Department has responded, not addressing the issue of illegal settlement building and offering no course of action to stop the settlement's expansion.

Help us put pressure to bear by writing to your representatives and asking them to call for a halt to Zufin's expansion on to Jayyous's land.