Theo Schwedmann, far left, and teachers from Northrhine-Westphalia walking the Green Line
Ramzi Kabha is a shopkeeper and baker. His home and business are all in the same building just meters from the Green Line that passes through Barta’a village where all the residents share the same family name, Kabha.
The Green Line, a ditch a few meters wide and few meters deep, was the pre-1967 border between Israel and the then annexed by Jordan West Bank.
Immediately on the other side of the ditch, Ramzi owns a reasonable sized piece of land, enough to build a house for each of his sons. However, that piece of land is in the West Bank, nowadays an Area B and therefore under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.
“We are Israeli citizens and want to stay here. They should have their own state, a fence put up between and let everybody get on with their lives in their own state,” is Ramzi’s opinion.
“My goodness, this is so complicated,” was how a German teacher visiting from Northrhine-Westphalia reacted when an explanation of this situation was given as she and the rest of her group stood alongside the ditch.
In this area of the divide Ramzi has planted grass, flowers and tall swaying in the breeze plants both alongside and in the ditch itself.
Ramzi Kabha’s greened line
In the past Ramzi had said that with so many visitors coming to see the ‘Green Line’ he decided to create a visual one to match! Apart from that the area is more or less his front garden.
The majority of the ditch running right through the sprawling village is full of rubbish most of the time - creating a health hazard in the stiflingly hot summer climate.
The German teachers were in Israel for a two-week seminar dealing with the Holocaust organized by Yad Vashem and they came for a one-day excursion to Givat Haviva to hear about the projects for coexistence and to tour the surrounding area.
Group leader Theo Schwedmann brought a similar group some months ago and asked Yad Vashem to enable the August group have a likewise ‘Givat Haviva experience.’
Following the visit Theo Schwedmann commented that the group were most impressed with the work of Givat Haviva’s Peace and Education center and particularly of the program the international department devise for visiting groups from abroad, and wrote the tours gave participants a better understanding of daily life for people living in close proximity to the Green Line.
“During our tour of Barta’a Lydia illustrated to the teachers how complex and difficult the situation in the area is e.g. in the two parts of Barta’a village, one part on the Israeli side and one on the other side of the Green Line.
“Having the opportunity to talk to people living in Barta’a and then see for ourselves the checkpoint at Reichan helped really know what life is really like for the people of the area and gave the teachers the chance of improving their knowledge that up until then had been based solely on the reports of the German media.
“One of the teachers actually said at the end of the day that after seeing the facts on the ground that they were quite sure it will be very difficult for both sides to find a fair solution!”
BLACK & WHITE: Northrhine-Westphalia teachers visit Barta’a village in Wadi Ara with Givat Haviva
