The village of Jayyous asks Norway to divest from Lev Leviev’s Companies

May 4, 2009

Subject:The village of Jayyous asks Norway to divest from Lev Leviev’s Companies

TheCouncil on Ethics

NorwegianGovernment Pension Fund

Governmentof Norway

Cc:        Kristin Halvorsen, Minister of Finance

            The Office of the Prime Minister

Henriette Westhrin, DeputyMinister
Roger Sandum, Deputy Minister
Geir Axelsen, Deputy Minister
Roger Schjerva, Deputy Minister
Ole Morten Geving, Deputy Minister

DearMembers of the Council on Ethics,

The people of Jayyous were deeply saddened to learn thatthe government of Norwayhas invested its pension funds in Lev Leviev’s company Africa-Israel. Leviev isthe co-owner of Leader Management and Development, the company that is buildingthe Israeli settlement of Zufim on our village’s land. According to mediareports, Danya Cebus, a subsidiary of Leviev’s company Africa-Israel, has alsobuilt Israeli settlements on Bil’in’s land, as well as the settlements of HarHoma and Maale Adumim around Jerusalem. Leviev is destroying the olive groves and farms thathave sustained Jayyous and other Palestinian villages for centuries, profitingfrom human rights abuses and violating international law. We call on thegovernment and people of Norway to follow the lead of UNICEF, Oxfam, and most recently theBritish government, and end Norway’s relationship with Leviev’s companies due to theirconstruction of Israeli settlements.

We invite you to visit Jayyous and other villages, andwitness firsthand what Leviev’s companies Leader and Africa Israel are doing toour lands. Jayyous was one of the most productive agricultural areas in the West Bank.Today, many families from our village live in poverty because they can nolonger reach their farmland due to Israel’s construction of a wall on our land, a wall intended toannex Jayyous’ land for the expansion of Zufim settlement.

During the 1990’s it became clear to the people of Jayyousthat Leader was our enemy. After Israel declared parts of Jayyous land “state land,” Leader usedbulldozers to clear our land for houses for Israeli settlers, and TNT todetonate more than 16 acres for a quarry. They uprooted all the olive trees onthat land. As a direct result of the quarry work, all the vegetables and fruitnearby were covered with dust. Leader also uprooted the olive trees on twoother plots. Many olive trees died because sewage from Zufim ran for many yearsthrough neighboring plots. Other plots were annexed to Zufim. Leader thenannounced that it would build 1500 new homes for “North Zufim”in a large area located 1.2 miles north of the existing Zufim settlement.Settlement construction as well as the exploitation of our natural resources inthe quarry are clear violations of the IV Geneva Convention.

In 2002 the Israel government began building its wall deep inside Jayyous, upto 3.5 miles from the border with Israel, in order to annex 75% of Jayyous' land (1700 acres) aswell as six underground well
s to Zufim. 130 acres of Jayyous' land have beendestroyed, 4,000 trees uprooted and 75% of our land cut off. The land being cutoff for Zufim’s expansion had been used to grow fruits and vegetables whichsustain our village's economy.

The Israeli government is now bulldozing more of ourfarmland and olive trees for a new wall route. The new route would stillannex most of  Jayyous' best farmland and its water resources, stealingJayyous’ land for Leviev to expand Zufim.

Jayyous organized its first peaceful protests, which are supported by Israeliand international activists, in 2002 when the first bulldozers started todestroy our land, and we are still actively fighting the Wall today. It isclear to all of us that as long as the Wall and the settlements exist there isno hope for our village and no future for our youth.

Out of 3400 residents of the farming village, only a littleover 110 people are currently granted permits to pass through the gate in theWall to reach their farmland, which in many cases happens to be the very areawhere Leader plans to expand Zufim. The number of permit holders has beenconstantly decreasing since November 2008, when demonstrations against the Wallin Jayyous gained strength. As a form of collective punishment, the Israeliauthorities have stopped processing some 80% of the applications for permitrenewal and the 110 existing permits are expiring one by one. With the largemajority of farmers denied access to their land, hundreds of Israeli and internationalactivists have helped us to harvest our olives this fall. As a result, ouronce-prosperous farming village, which once provided food for 60,000Palestinians, is now impoverished.

Leviev's settlement and Israel’s wall have devastated our village’s economy to such adegree that some parents explain that they find it difficult to cover schoolexpenses like tuition, clothes, and books. Students who want to attend highereducation in Qalqiliya, where the closest university is located, face acheckpoint that is randomly closed for them and where they are continuouslysubmitted to humiliation and harassment. Despite the hardships caused by thesettlement, the wall and the checkpoint, Jayyous remains first in the Qalqilyaregion in educational achievement. Our community is as strongly committed toeducation as we are to holding onto our land, because both represent aninvestment in our village's future.

In Jayyous, we are engaged in a struggle for justice, for our freedom – indeed,for our very lives. We call on the government and people of Norway to divest from Leviev’s companies and stand with us in ourstruggle to save our land, our communities and the dreams of our children.

Sincerely,

The Municipality of Jayyous

ThePalestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, Jayyous

LandDefense Committee, Jayyous