Cremisan Valley - the issues

Taken by Yolande Knell, BBC (2012)

Today I have been given a new task - to write about the village of Cremisan. I have spent the morning on research using the internet and hope to visit the village to see for myself in the next few days. Here is the story:-

The Cremisan Valley is part of Beit Jala within the Bethlehem Governorate, in Palestine. It is a stunning area. Lush green terraces are cultivated with olives, almonds, apricots, lemons and figs as well as vineyards. The Monastery was built in built in 1885 on the ruins of a 7th Century Byzantine monastery. Since then, the monks have produced their own wine.

There is also a Convent here. The Monastery and Convent belong to the Salesian Order. The Convent opened a school in 1960 and has 400 children in the kindergarten, primary school. It includes a school for children with learning difficulties.

Apart from the Church, local Palestinian families, both Christian and Muslim, own and tend the land on these ancient terraces, honouring the rhythms of the seasons and artfully managing rain and sunshine exposure for the benefit of all, providing restful picnic space and splendid views for families, as well as necessary food for nearby towns and villages in the Bethlehem District.

However, Israel plans to extend the Annexation Wall through the valley. It will weave around three sides of the Convent, dividing it from the Monastery (which will then effectively be in Israel) and “annexing” 75% of the land to Israel. If this goes ahead, Palestinian children will have to pass through a checkpoint to get to school, and farmers through an agricultural gate. This means them having to deal with soldiers every day, being subject to search and arbitrary restrictions on access.

The Israeli government claims security, of course, for all its land confiscations. But if it were concerned about security, it would not send more and more settlers into so-called dangerous areas, would not subsidize the settlers, nor arm them, nor encourage them.

Many groups have been campaigning for the wall to be stopped. As the Convent and Monastery, a lot of these have been Catholic groups.

The Society of St Yves, the Catholic human rights organization connected with the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of the Holy Land filed the lawsuit against the construction of the wall in the Cremisan Valley.

The Chairman on International Justice and Peace, US Conference of Catholic Bishops, has written to John Kerry.

Bishops of the Holy Land Coordination wrote to the Security Council of the UN. 

Pax Christi, the International Catholic Peace Movement, has issued a call for support.

Father Ibrahim Shomali, priest of Beit Jala (and Rafat's cousin) has presented the case of Cremisan Valley to the Pope in person. He also leads a Mass every week in Cremisan Valley. I am hoping to attend this next week.

Other groups are supporting Cremisan – type #cremisan into twitter to see more.

On Jan. 29, 2014 the residents of the Cremisan Valley in the West Bank had 

their day in court. On Monday (Feb. 3) they received a favourable decision. 

The Israeli Supreme Court ordered the state of Israel to show justification for the proposed route of the separation wall through the valley by April 10 and to halt all construction until then.

So we need to act before April 10th. I am helping the Holy Land Trust to consider how to mobilise people across the world to help stop the wall.