Jayyous

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Jayyous
Arabic	جيوس
Government	Municipality
Also Spelled	Jayyus (officially)
Governorate	Qalqilya
Population	3,300 (2006)
Jurisdiction	dunams

Jayyous (Arabic: جيوس‎) is a Palestinian village near the west border of the West Bank, close to Qalqilya. It is a farming community.

Located in an area directly affected by the Israeli-built separation barrier, around 75 per cent of the village's farming land is on the other side of the wall. [1]. In order to get to their land the farmers need to use one of two gates, North gate or South gate, or gates number 943 and 979 respectively. The two gates are supposed to be open for three short periods a day. In June 2005, the gates were usually closed, and farmers were staging regular protests at the gate. As of February 2007, the gates are open for only 3 hours per day - one hour each morning, afternoon and evening on average.

In 2002, Jayyous became the first village to mount a nonviolent campaign with Israeli and international participation against the construction of the wall and the expansion of settlements on its land.^[1] Because their agricultural land has been cut off of the wall, 50% of the once prosperous Jayyous villagers are now on foreign food aid, according to The Financial Times.^[2]

The mayor, elected in 2005, is a retired teacher of English, and a member of Hamas. He is also a farmer who has lost a large portion of his land behind the wall.^{[citation needed]}

Falkirk, Scotland, maintains a sister-city partnership with Jayyous, a history of this twinning can be found at The Antonine Friendship Link.^[3]