High Court of Justice

This morning I attended a hearing at the High Court of Justice in Jerusalem, the highest court in Israel. The hearing, presided over by three justices, was regarding the expansion of the security fence around Carmei Tzur, an Israeli settlement just north of Hebron, where it has encroached on the small farming village of Beit Ummar. The villagers launched a lawsuit to block the expansion, which would effectively cut them off from a large portion of their land. The hearing of course was in Hebrew so I of course could not follow the arguments, though the Justices peppered the Israeli attorneys with questions, which at times appeared to thoroughly stump the attorney. Many charts and maps and photos were shown by both sides to supplement their oral arguments. I still don’t know what the main arguments were. I was impressed however, that over a dozen farmers from this small village attended the hearing, though they, like me, couldn’t understand any of it. There were a number of internationals there to provide a presence in the courtroom, like myself, and a representative from the US consulate also attended. I’d be curious to know what his interests were.

There are many lawsuits of this nature throughout the West Bank, yet victory is rare and the fence in this case, 8-meter concrete wall in others, continues to be built. The path of the wall in many cases prevents Palestinian farmers from accessing their fields – to plant, prune, harvest – and shepherds from taking their flocks to graze. In some cases the wall (being built for security purposes) divides villages in half and frequently, if not in all cases, the main water sources of the villages end up on the Israeli side of the wall and is then sold back to the village. Access to water is a significant humanitarian concern in the region.