Haaretz – Adapted

Farmers in the village of Annan demand that the gate in the wall that divides the community's residential portion from their fields be opened every day, not only twice a week, so they can cultivate their land.

Five years after the installation of the separation wall in their region, they initially made this request in 2007, but it was denied. The military informed the petitioners and the court that it intended to turn the gate into a "seasonal," meaning that instead of opening it twice a week, it would only open it twice a year for tills and olive picking. The military had previously requested it in August of last year, but when their direct request to the Civil Administration and the Army was not positively responded to, they petitioned the Supreme Court last March. Farmers must go 25 km one way and 25 km another way from another gate in order to access their land every day if they want to reach their land.

Although the gate is only a five-minute walk from the petitioners' houses and their land is a five to twenty-minute walk from the gate, the judges never reviewed the petition with the petitioners or listened to them or their client.

It is extremely difficult to obtain a permit to enter agricultural land, and only those residents whose ownership certificates are acceptable to the civil administration and those who can demonstrate a direct relationship with the landowners (spouses and sons) are granted one. Permits are not issued to descendants. Strict security measures and administrative oversight are in place for everything. Depending on the type of permission, it may need to be renewed every few months, annually, or twice.

The ruling, according to attorney Meir, demonstrated a substantial decline in the court's awareness of the entity's obligations towards the population affected by the wall.