Israeli wall divides Palestinian villagers from their land and crops

WHEN the gate finally opened and the Israeli soldiers let eight farmers through to their fields, plaintive cries went up from the dozens left behind: “Please water my tomatoes”; “Please please pick up some of my olive sacks.”

The barrier that Israel is building in defiance of international protest is meant to keep suicide bombers at bay, but it’s also cutting off thousands of Palestinians from their land and disrupting the West Bank’s ancient farming rhythms, especially these days as the olive harvest, normally a joyous occasion, turns into a nightmare.

Farmer Adilah Mousa, a haggard-looking woman in her 60s from the northern West Bank village of Jayous, says she has spent 10 days waiting to cross the barrier to her olive grove.