Behind the Wall - 'Bread and Water - The Struggles of Survival'

By Rich Wiles

As a child I was often told 'tomorrow is a whole new day', or that 'after
darkness comes light'. In Palestine I have heard many times a different
interpretation of this idea of what tomorrow will bring. Last night, sitting
with friends as the sun dipped and bats fluttered in the early evening sky
around Aida Camp, I once more heard the Palestinian version of this theory
repeated:

"The day coming is always worse than the day that has passed"

I have known Yousef for three years now. Known for dancing at any given
opportunity, his rhythmic drumming on the tabla, and his cooking skills, he
is invariably seen with a huge toothy grin on his face. But like most people
in Palestine his smile and spirit masks the struggles that he endures daily,
struggles that as he explained to me tonight have become even darker over
the last year or so as he attempts to raise his family whilst the economic
situation in Palestine continues on its rapid downward spiral.

Bread is the staple of all meals in Palestine. For breakfast it will be
eaten with 'zeit and zatar' (olive oil and a fine powdered mix of sage,
salt, pepper and sesame seeds). Lunch is the main meal of the day here and
normally bread will accompany a traditional hot meal of vegetables and meat
of some description. In the evening, salads, homous and other light foods
such as eggs and cheese are shared with copious amounts of 'hubous' (bread).
A few weeks ago a packet of ten fresh pitta breads could be bought for
around 2.5 shekels in Bethlehem. Here in the Camp the bread is made with
lower quality flour and is lower in weight making it cheaper to buy. Until
recently it cost two shekels in Aida's stores. Today in Bethlehem's bakeries
the same packet of ten pittas costs between 4 - 4.5 shekels, in the Camp it
is at least 3 shekels. These figures equate to a rise of between 50-80%
depending on where the bread is purchased, its weight, and its quality. A
rise of these proportions on basic food stuffs can only be accommodated into
a families budget if wages rise in unison. Yousef, like over 65% of the
Camp's population, has no wages as he has no work:

"Before the Intifada I worked in Israel, but my brother was killed by the
Israeli army, and since he became a shaheed our family name has been
blacklisted".

Yousef himself has never been in an Israeli prison, but having one brother
martyred, and having four other family members currently in prison, is
justification enough in the eyes of the Occupation to ensure he will never
again be given permission to seek work the other side of the Wall:

"A year ago I worked with UNWRA for three months but since then I have had
nothing, no regular work at all."

The UNWRA (United Nations Works and Relief Agency) has an employment scheme
inside refugee camps offering three-month placements to people from the
Camp's poorest families. But as there are many people in such economic
desperation these placements are non-renewable and people may have to wait
years to be given another chance of work through the scheme.

Bread is not the only food to have seen a dramatic price increase: "In the
last year a kilo of lemons has risen from 2 shekels to 6. Chicken used to be
7 shekels, now it is at least 9."

Palestine has seen drastic reductions in the amount of fresh food it can
produce. Gaza has become totally cut-off and isolated from the West Bank
economically as well as physically, and as the West Bank continues to be
colonized by Zionist expansion so its agricultural land and produce continue
to diminish. These factors mean that more and more food is imported from
Israel since it is Israel that controls all of Palestine's borders and can
therefore decide what trade can enter the country.

Yousef lives with his elderly mother - a Nakba survivor from Al Malha
village, his wife and their five children, meaning there are eight mouths to
feed in his household, and as the economy plunders so do his families eating
habits:

"We used to eat meat three times a week, now it is nearer three times a
month! I also can't pay any bills with no work. I haven't paid my
electricity and water bills in years. I owe 15,000 shekels (around $3,700)
to both the water and electricity company. I'm afraid they will cut of the
supplies soon."

If Yousef lived in Bethlehem and not in Aida Camp he would no doubt have
been cut-off from both supplies a long time ago, but inside the Camps the
companies, and the police, are reluctant to attempt such things knowing
people will immediately amass to defend their property, physically if
necessary. People look after each other here. Less than a week ago around
twenty armed Palestinian police attempted to confiscate a vehicle inside
Aida Camp, but they were very quickly heavily outnumbered by angry residents
prepared to defend their property, and the police withdrew empty-handed.
During this incident a youth turned to me with a smile on his face:

"The police don't make the rules here, WE do!"

So Yousef's water has not been cut-off by the company as yet but this
doesn't mean he has a regular supply. Aida Camp is built on a steep slope
and Yousef's house stands right at the top of the Camp. Over the last two
years the water supply to Aida has deteriorated, this has coincided with the
completion of the Apartheid Wall around the Camp and people believe water
has been rerouted over this time. Water is supplied through very old and
exposed pipes above ground to houses and stored in tanks on the rooftops,
but for houses in the higher sections of the Camp the flow is not powerful
enough to be piped up to the water tanks on the roofs. Yousef, like many in
this area of Aida, has setup a makeshift system of his own. The bare pipes
pump water into two large plastic drums outside his front door. From here he
pumps it up to the tanks on his roof by way of a small generator which he
had to buy himself. Many neighbouring houses often pitch-in to buy this pump
and generator system between them as each costs around 800 shekels (nearly
$200). Families will then pump water up to their rooftop tanks before
disconnecting the system and passing it onto their neighbours to do
likewise. Even with this makeshift system in place Yousef still often finds
himself without water due to the ancient supply pipes and his houses'
elevated position in Aida Camp:

"Until four weeks ago we had gone nearly a month without water. I had to go
to collect it every day in buckets from the taps in Beit Jala. I would spend
all day worrying about it and having to go collecting water."

These public taps alongside Aida, in Beit Jala, remain from when the first
water supply was set-up for the Camp around 1960.

Yousef's house is down a very narrow street, or rather alley, no more than a
metre and a half wide. From the upper floors of his house he could reach out
comfortably and collect the washing which hangs outside the house opposite
in which live another twelve members of his extended family. In such cramped
living conditions no conversation is ever private. As we talk another
neighbour walks past and hearing our discussion interjects:"I can tell you
about water! Further down in the Camp they have water but up here we have
nothing! I have had no decent water in two weeks now!"

In little over a week the new school year will begin. Of Yousef's five
children four are of school age and attend the UNWRA schools in Aida Camp
which provide a lower standard of education than Bethlehem's private
schools, but importantly also provide free education which is essential for
a family such as his:

"I want my children to work hard at school and go to university. I don't
want them to end up like me. They struggle in English and maths but I cant
pay for extra tuition for them. Really, this life means shit to me! I want
to live on an island like Robinson Crusoe, with no children, no houses, no
shops or bills. I would just hunt and kill animals to eat!"

Laughter echoes out of Yousef as he says this but his desperation is clear,
and the new school year clearly brings with it extra worries:

"To start school they need new clothes, bags, books, pencils - I don't know
where I can get these from. I should call George Bush and ask him for 1000
shekels a month to pay for my children! My nephew has six children but he
can't even buy milk for them. If I wanted to steal from people what could I
steal? No-one has anything!!!"

Earlier this year one of Yousef's daughters was sick, she had a bad
infection in one eye. He was told she must go to the children's hospital in
Bethlehem since UNWRA do not provide medical facilities in the Camp. UNWRA
offered to pay 70% of the hospital fees but Yousef had no way of finding the
other 30%, so she remains untreated.

Since the international blockade of Palestine began after last years'
elections poverty and unemployment levels have soared. Yousef's struggle for
survival for himself and his family is desperate but he is sadly just one of
many thousands in this position. He relies on support and handouts where and
when he can get them.

Many of Aida Camp's residents are languishing in Israeli prisons. They
survive on the meager sustenance of vile prison food, and with the strength
of their spirit. Yousef has committed no crime, he is not a 'prisoner' in
that sense of the word, yet he must raise his family in a world where he
could never be considered a 'free man'. A world where every day he faces a
struggle for survival to find the most basic of necessities - bread and
water.


About Rich Wiles

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