Last Shabbat, a soldier on leave, wearing a brilliant, white sweatshirt emblazoned with the "Maoz Company" military insignia, wandered the streets and the open-air market in Eastern Barta'a, in the West Bank. "See, there are Jews here," a falafel vendor quickly announced. The soldier's alarmed mother was startled by the sudden attempt to engage her in conversation. She only agreed to answer questions after considerable persuasion.

"What? This is the West Bank? We came here with friends. They took us to the souk in Umm al-Fahm and then they brought us here. They said everything would be O.K. if we came with them," she explained.

The Jewish family from Netanya was not the only one there. Store owners say that many Jews visit the market. This is the only place in the West Bank, except for East Jerusalem, where Jews still come to shop. But the plan to erect a fence in the center of the village that straddles the Green Line threatens to put an end to the economic boom that village residents currently enjoy.

	Advertisement

The market in Barta'a, located almost entirely in the part of the village that is in the West Bank, developed as never before in recent years. On Saturdays, enormous traffic jams clog the narrow streets. Most of the cars bear yellow license plates, attesting to the Israeli identity of drivers who arrive to shop, service cars in local garages or get haircuts. Prices are laughable in comparison to Israel.

A random survey, conducted last Saturday, reveals that tomatoes cost 70 agorot per kilogram, and a serving of falafel costs NIS 4. Local barber Maher Qabha charges NIS 15 for a haircut. About 90 percent of the shoppers are Israeli Arabs - the rest are West Bank residents and Jews.

Maher's barber shop is only one venue among hundreds. The shop is surrounded by clothing stores, produce vendors, butchers, video stalls, furniture stores, and garages that spread over kilometers. According to local council estimates, about 1,000 commercial establishments do business here. They provide income to thousands of families and attract residents from every corner in the West Bank.

The first time the village "imported" any product was in 1949. To quote one report, "a direct flight from Rhodes" landed on the other side of the artificial border. Armistice agreements between Jordan and Israel, signed at the end of the War of Independence, determined that the wadi that bisects the village would be the border between nations, and, eventually, the Green Line.

After the Six-Day War, the village was "reunited" and, a few years ago the separation fence went up in the area. The fence "swallowed" vast sections of the West Bank within Israel, creating a unique enclave at this site. Thousands of people live here, and their only connection to the outside world is the nearby checkpoint that separates them from the rest of the West Bank. A West Bank resident may not enter the area without a permit.

Raw sewage

The connection between Eastern and Western Barta'a is disturbing. Raw sewage flows in the wadi that connects and separates both sides of the village. The western side has paved sidewalks and roads - the eastern side is neglected and filthy. Differences between the two sides are not merely physical. Some of them were discussed, last week, in the home of Ghassan Qabha, Eastern Barta'a local council chairman.

There is a seemingly minor but significant difference in the way that both sides pronounce the "Qabha" name. In the East, they pronounce Qabha with a deep, guttural, Arabic "K" and in the West, they pronounce it with a soft "K".

"What's right? That's obvious. It's like saying, 'coffee.' Do you say, 'coffee,' or 'koffee'?'" said one resident, inducing laughter from his guests.

Political differences also divide the village. On the eastern side, Hamas and Fatah compete for votes; on the western side, Israeli parties are active.

Ghassan Qabha is proud that 90 percent of the residents voted for him, a Fatah candidate, in local elections. Yet a relative serves as a minister on behalf of Hamas: Wasfi Qabha, a Nablus resident, is the Palestinian minister of prisoner affairs. In the village of Jarf, where he was born, a majority of voters endorsed Hamas in parliamentary elections.

Split identities

Barta'a attracts residents of the entire West Bank because of its extraordinary situation and economic success. Village families in which one parent is Israeli send their children, who carry an Israeli identity card, to the Western side of the village to study. According to data presented by Rafat Qabha, director of the Basma local council education department, there are 19 families that fit this description. About 35 percent of the residents on the eastern side are Israeli citizens as a result of "mixed marriage" between Israelis and Palestinians.

Abd a-Rahman Mohammed Yousef is relatively new in town. He opened a toy store and rented an apartment in the village for NIS 1,000. (A similar apartment would cost NIS 500 in Nablus.) Yousef describes the difficulties of traveling between Barta'a and Nablus caused by the checkpoint:

"What's left for us? Only hope. Perhaps, some day, we will live with you in peace, and everyone will make money," he says.

The fear factor reached a zenith recently when press reports indicated that the Housing Ministry was considering erecting a fence that would separate both parts of the village. Concurrently, the Civil Administration made progress in judicial proceedings against 10 home owners along the Green Line, on the eastern side. Demolition orders were issued because the homes were constructed without building permits. The residents appealed to the High Court to overturn the demolition orders, and a hearing in this matter is to take place in coming weeks. The Israel Defense Force spokesman responds: "In the area in question, enforcement and supervision procedures address illegal construction in conjunction with routine operations conducted by administrative authorities."

All the homes subject to demolition orders are located only a few dozen meters from the Green Line. One of them is owned by family physician Dr. Walid Habaib. The only entrance to the parking space that serves his home and clinic is located on the western side of the village. In other words, every time Dr. Habaib leaves home in his car, he becomes an illegal resident in Israel. He completed building his home in the 1980s, when he was still employed in a Kupat Holim HMO clinic inside Israel. He addresses guests with an agreeable and warm demeanor until the subject of the fence is raised.

"Israel can build whatever it wants to defend itself, but why must it do so at our expense? Israel can build a fence inside its own territory," says Habaib.

Off the record, a few residents on the Israeli side say that they support the fence because it would reduce busy traffic in the village. But officially, no one can demand that the Green Line be moved. Israeli residents of the village cannot demand that West Bank land be annexed to Israel, and they would never consider joining the Palestinian Authority. An identical dilemma exists on the Eastern side. "We oppose fences," local council leader Ghassan Qabha explains. "Fences do not bring peace. A fence is a ghetto. It divides fathers and sons, and one brother from another."