How can this be news. Surely this happens every day you are saying.
What happened today does not happen every day. Now read the story and feel the joy.
Wafaa and Abed’s family have lived for many generations in the beautiful and peaceful village of Battir. The fertile lands around the village are filled with vegetables, fruit crops and olive groves, watered by ancient irrigation systems, built more than 2000 years ago. The family was growing and so they started to build a new house on their land in the hills surrounding the village. It took them four years and was finished in 2002.
Just one month after they moved in, the Israeli soldiers descended without warning on the village, closed the roads, and brought in bulldozers. With no court order, no warning, and while the family were out, they moved in a demolished this home, with all the family belongings inside.
Those who live in a just world will seek to find a justification for such action. Battir is close to the Green Line, the boundary established between Israel and Palestine in 1967. The villagers are perceived by Israel as a security threat, particularly as the nearby Jewish settlement grows ever larger and nearer to the village.
Can you imagine the distress caused to the family. Wafaa did not visit the site for 10 years as the pain was too great – she has since apologised to the house. Many officials came to visit and to talk to the family, but nothing was done.
Then The Holy Land Trust told Wafaa and Abed that they would work with others to rebuild the house. The work started in 2012. The word spread and others came to help, including the Amos Trust, based in the UK.
And today the keys were handed over to Wafaa and Abed and they have moved in. For today at least, everyone can celebrate and share the joy.
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