But first, went from Ramallah to Jerusalem today and a journey that should take 45 minutes unhindered took about 2.5 hours. The wait at the checkpoint (outside in the cold) was absolutely huge and the queue moved ridiculously slowly. Its a mix between an airport (please keep this area tidy, please wait patiently) and Bentham and his idea of the Panopticon. Voices over the PA system (almost always female, always aggressive) as you trudge forward obediently. Not wanting to appear annoyed or flustered in case they hold you longer.
But on a much better note Tel Rumeida residents had a rare victory today in that they are allowed to walk through the main road which connects the city. Previous entries in this blog describe how this road has been shut for about six years changing a 5 minute walk into a 45 minute walk and stopping the city from functioning effectively. I'm unsure if they will be able to reopen their shops down this road but it is a victory and a big one. Of course there are many more battles to be fought but the resistance is alive still and it stops the settlers from continuing to cement their position.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Friday, December 29, 2006
Bilin
Today was the most vicious demonstration that I've seen in Bilin with huge amounts of tear gas and sound bombs, bullets flying around. I was quite shocked by how easily the Israeli army gets scared and how it reacts.
The demonstration started as usual and as always was peaceful, approaching the checkpoint which the soldiers had already come through. Pretty quickly a large number of people crossed the barbed wire to the fence and the soldiers came through and started throwing sound bombs all over the place, even at people who were not trying to cross the barbed wire fence. Others who came up and those who were already there were pushed about a little bit. This is how it carried on for an hour, with no Palestinians being violent towards the soldiers. So far so good, the demonstration was as normal and eventually got called off.
However the reason for calling it off was the massive invasion of the IOF into the village, something that they normally do but today they took over a number of houses. The villagers supported by internationals and entered the houses and demanded the soldiers left. In one house the soldiers did but in another they called in reinforcements. These reinforcements attempted to arrest a Palestinian, fired off huge amounts of tear gas and sound bombs. They also beat a number of people close by and at least one person was hit badly by rubber bullets, causing damage. This person was sitting on the ground at the time. There was no justification for these actions - although the protesters were vocal they were never ever violent towards the soldiers. Why the soldiers reacted in the way they did? Fear probably, though there was absolutely nothing to fear, these demonstrations have been going on almost 2 years now and have never been violent. Except for times when the Israeli Army infiltrated them and were violent.
A huge amount of tear gas was thrown up and my eyes were streaming for ages afterwards. I couldn't believe the way the soldiers reacted.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Jerusalem settlements
I went on a tour with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. They basically try and protect Palestinian houses from demolition and also resistance to the occupation in general. They also run a tour around Jerusalem to show people the settlements there.
In Jerusalem the Palestinians make up 35% of the population and pay 33% of the taxes. However they are a lot poorer than the Israelis and so they pay disproportionate amount of taxes. On top of that they only receive 11% of the budget. They get far less services than Israelis - in some areas the only service you can get is house demolition. The infrastructure is awful, you can see it driving down the roads, often no more than dirt tracks and potholed. There are two traffic lights serving 230,000 people. Whilst 26 libraries serve the Jewish population the Palestinians have 3. There are over 1,000 public spaces in Jewish areas, 3for Palestinians. They are badly represented in the council, only one Palestinian has ever headed a municipal department - that of Arab Affairs. On a national scale there has only ever been one (junior) Palestinian minister, despite the fact that they make up 24%of the population.
Around Jerusalem there are a number of settlements which can be divided into two types. Ideological, populated with people from the national religious movement aiming for a 'messianic' push.
Economic, settlements populated with people for economic incentives (see my post on the Jordan valley).
The first settlement we visited 'The Ascent of the Olives' settlement is mainly ideological and is close to one of the house demolitions I attended the other day. At present there are 2 families which they plan to double. This land was taken from the Israelis by Jordan but has been returned to them under Israeli laws. Palestinians, of course, who have had their land confiscated have not been so lucky. The Israelis manage to build these settlements, despite the fact they often break planning law. The Israelis have built many settlements and plan to extend and build more in order to surround the the Old City in order to prejudice any future negotiations about boundaries (the old city is part of the planned international city of Jerusalem)
These attempts to prejudice any future negotiations can also be seen in the building of the wall, which we visited. Only 6% follows the Green Line which designates, according to International law, the boundary between Palestine and Israel. It is quite obviously pretty awful at stopping people coming through - anyone determined can climb over or tunnel over and many have done. Although the Israeli government talks about it stopping suicide bombers there are other resons that can be attributed to this. And of 8 suicide bombers caught recently 6 were already in Israel. For the amount the wall cost, its a pretty crap security measure, especially when you think what else the money could be spent on. Israeli minisiters are quite open about its dual purpose, saying that it would influence future border relations.
The wall however is quite devastating for those around it - despite it being fairly easy to cross if you want to, it can't exactly be done everyday and for the average journey it would simply not be worth the risk of getting shot. The towns around Jerusalem where many Palestinians used to commute from are devastated with some, such as As-Sayahira Al Gharbiya being depopulated by as much as 60%. These towns have lost their urban fabric. Elsewhere, such as Bilin where I go every week for demonstrations, farmers can no longer easily get to their land. Only if you have property documents proving the land is yours (even if everyone agrees it is yours) an you get permits.
This separation is not just maintained through the wall but with apartheid roads that anyone but Palestinians can use. Some roads that the Palestinians can use have checkpoints, or only limited access but many as simply prohibited.
However the Israelis are very good at making the wall blend in around settlements such as Ma'ale Adumin where one can often completely miss the wall or think it might simply be a sound barrier on the road. This settlement is very secular and western and the Israelis try to make it as 'normal' as possible with the buildings designed using coastal architeture. This settlement, in Palestinian land, is massive with 37,000 people living there (up 5,000 in 2 years) and they plan to have 75,000 people here. The economic incentives for living here include disounts and loans and thus attract many young couples and immigrants. And the cost of all these settlements? Around 400 billion shekels a year - a huge amount of money. These settlements are so ingrained now that many don't even think of them as settlements and the people here even tend to vote for leftist less pro-war (I use this term rather than pro-peace).
The Palestinians of course don't get such luxuries with a hugenumber of houses having been demolished. House demolitions fall into four categories
Getting planning permission is impossible - you need to have a huge amount of money to do so, more than most Palestinans have. And in order to build a house the area needs to have the public amenities to be able to cope - water, electricity and good roads for example. Of course, as these areas do not have these due to massive underfunding it is pretty much impossible to get planning permission. On top of this there are many zones where it is simply forbidden, regardless of your circumstances, to get it. Therefore over time demographic changes make it more and more 'reasonable' for Israel to hold onto land that in previous peace agreement should have gone to the Palestinians.
Every day that a peace settlement is not found makes it progressively harder to have a Palestinian state. Every day the settlements become larger and more integrated into the Israeli way of life. No one wants to be evicted from their settlement and the more people who live here the harder a political solution will be to remove them - no one is going to vote for a party that advocates them having to return to Israel. And despite there being laws against the extension of these settlements they continue to grow - though unlike the 'illegal' Palestinian houses they won't get demolished.
In Jerusalem the Palestinians make up 35% of the population and pay 33% of the taxes. However they are a lot poorer than the Israelis and so they pay disproportionate amount of taxes. On top of that they only receive 11% of the budget. They get far less services than Israelis - in some areas the only service you can get is house demolition. The infrastructure is awful, you can see it driving down the roads, often no more than dirt tracks and potholed. There are two traffic lights serving 230,000 people. Whilst 26 libraries serve the Jewish population the Palestinians have 3. There are over 1,000 public spaces in Jewish areas, 3for Palestinians. They are badly represented in the council, only one Palestinian has ever headed a municipal department - that of Arab Affairs. On a national scale there has only ever been one (junior) Palestinian minister, despite the fact that they make up 24%of the population.
Around Jerusalem there are a number of settlements which can be divided into two types. Ideological, populated with people from the national religious movement aiming for a 'messianic' push.
Economic, settlements populated with people for economic incentives (see my post on the Jordan valley).
The first settlement we visited 'The Ascent of the Olives' settlement is mainly ideological and is close to one of the house demolitions I attended the other day. At present there are 2 families which they plan to double. This land was taken from the Israelis by Jordan but has been returned to them under Israeli laws. Palestinians, of course, who have had their land confiscated have not been so lucky. The Israelis manage to build these settlements, despite the fact they often break planning law. The Israelis have built many settlements and plan to extend and build more in order to surround the the Old City in order to prejudice any future negotiations about boundaries (the old city is part of the planned international city of Jerusalem)
These attempts to prejudice any future negotiations can also be seen in the building of the wall, which we visited. Only 6% follows the Green Line which designates, according to International law, the boundary between Palestine and Israel. It is quite obviously pretty awful at stopping people coming through - anyone determined can climb over or tunnel over and many have done. Although the Israeli government talks about it stopping suicide bombers there are other resons that can be attributed to this. And of 8 suicide bombers caught recently 6 were already in Israel. For the amount the wall cost, its a pretty crap security measure, especially when you think what else the money could be spent on. Israeli minisiters are quite open about its dual purpose, saying that it would influence future border relations.
The wall however is quite devastating for those around it - despite it being fairly easy to cross if you want to, it can't exactly be done everyday and for the average journey it would simply not be worth the risk of getting shot. The towns around Jerusalem where many Palestinians used to commute from are devastated with some, such as As-Sayahira Al Gharbiya being depopulated by as much as 60%. These towns have lost their urban fabric. Elsewhere, such as Bilin where I go every week for demonstrations, farmers can no longer easily get to their land. Only if you have property documents proving the land is yours (even if everyone agrees it is yours) an you get permits.
This separation is not just maintained through the wall but with apartheid roads that anyone but Palestinians can use. Some roads that the Palestinians can use have checkpoints, or only limited access but many as simply prohibited.
However the Israelis are very good at making the wall blend in around settlements such as Ma'ale Adumin where one can often completely miss the wall or think it might simply be a sound barrier on the road. This settlement is very secular and western and the Israelis try to make it as 'normal' as possible with the buildings designed using coastal architeture. This settlement, in Palestinian land, is massive with 37,000 people living there (up 5,000 in 2 years) and they plan to have 75,000 people here. The economic incentives for living here include disounts and loans and thus attract many young couples and immigrants. And the cost of all these settlements? Around 400 billion shekels a year - a huge amount of money. These settlements are so ingrained now that many don't even think of them as settlements and the people here even tend to vote for leftist less pro-war (I use this term rather than pro-peace).
The Palestinians of course don't get such luxuries with a hugenumber of houses having been demolished. House demolitions fall into four categories
- To kill someone inside the house - rare
- Punitive - about 1500 so far. To punish families of those who have attacked Israel. Sometimes whole apartment blocks for one persons actions. These, however, have largely been stopped as they have finally realised this only creates violence rather than preventing it
- Administrative - the house doesn't have the right planning permission
- Military - the military wants to clear the space
Getting planning permission is impossible - you need to have a huge amount of money to do so, more than most Palestinans have. And in order to build a house the area needs to have the public amenities to be able to cope - water, electricity and good roads for example. Of course, as these areas do not have these due to massive underfunding it is pretty much impossible to get planning permission. On top of this there are many zones where it is simply forbidden, regardless of your circumstances, to get it. Therefore over time demographic changes make it more and more 'reasonable' for Israel to hold onto land that in previous peace agreement should have gone to the Palestinians.
Every day that a peace settlement is not found makes it progressively harder to have a Palestinian state. Every day the settlements become larger and more integrated into the Israeli way of life. No one wants to be evicted from their settlement and the more people who live here the harder a political solution will be to remove them - no one is going to vote for a party that advocates them having to return to Israel. And despite there being laws against the extension of these settlements they continue to grow - though unlike the 'illegal' Palestinian houses they won't get demolished.
cold
The wait at Huwwara and Kalandia yesterday has taken its toll and I'm reduced to a sniffling wreck. This, combined with the fact that the IOF decided to close Kalandia today so I had to walk for 20 minutes in the cold to get a taxi to Ramallah, means I'm going to be on the cough medicine for a while. Little things like this make life very very hard for the average Palestinian. The traffic waiting to pass through Kalandia was huge: 3-4 lanes for about a 2-3km.
However its not all bad news, I've had an awesome day doing an ICAHD tour of Jersualem and going to the Palestinian circus. I'll write a bit more about that when I've found all the blankets I can in Palestine and am wrapped up warm
However its not all bad news, I've had an awesome day doing an ICAHD tour of Jersualem and going to the Palestinian circus. I'll write a bit more about that when I've found all the blankets I can in Palestine and am wrapped up warm
cold
The wait at Huwwara and Kalandia yesterday has taken its toll and I'm reduced to a sniffling wreck. This, combined with the fact that the IOF decided to close Kalandia today so I had to walk for 20 minutes in the cold to get a taxi to Ramallah, means I'm going to be on the cough medicine for a while. Little things like this make life very very hard for the average Palestinian. The traffic waiting to pass through Kalandia was huge: 3-4 lanes for about a 2-3km.
However its not all bad news, I've had an awesome day doing an ICAHD tour of Jersualem and going to the Palestinian circus. I'll write a bit more about that when I've found all the blankets I can in Palestine and am wrapped up warm
However its not all bad news, I've had an awesome day doing an ICAHD tour of Jersualem and going to the Palestinian circus. I'll write a bit more about that when I've found all the blankets I can in Palestine and am wrapped up warm
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Nablus
I visited Nablus for the last two days hence the lack of posting as I didn't have access to Internet there. Nablus and the Old City are incredibly beautiful and the people are incredibly friendly as always. The main job of internationals here has been to pick olives and protect Palestinians from Settler attacks.
However the Olive Harvest is now over so I was just visiting. The city is often invaded by the army, in fact pretty much nightly, who tend to kill fighters in the town and throw sound bombs. Whilst this is happening the Palestinians would rather we were safe and to be honest there wouldn't be much point hanging around the streets. You can achieve nothing and just likely to get killed as the army can be trigger happy.
The contacts we have there showed us around including the candy factory, and we were pretty much force fed candy. Tea was provided pretty much everywhere we went as was cake and for those who smoke, cigarettes. You can pretty much spunge off the Palestinians here if you so choose!
Anyway after that I've returned to Jerusalem, its taken about 4 hours and that's lucky. We were stopped at one checkpoint for ages. I was asked if I had a bomb in my bag (despite temptations to make a stupid joke I said no) and was told that this area was not safe and we should not visit. The soldier also told me that Palestine wasn't worth a visit and told us to go to Haifa.
At which I did innocently reply, oh no I've heard its not safe.
Anyway during this time my bag was searched, I had to walk through the metal detector a number of times. Then finally let through. Whats interesting is that me and a friend ended up in two different queues, he got through in 5 minutes. I had about 25 minute wait; random decisions about which line to take can hold you up for ages. Of course this wasn't the first checkpoint, we were then stopped again (briefly) and then crossing the wall. Which again took ages. I don't know how much longer this adds to the journey but it is well over an hour. I know people though who have been held up for 4 hours at one checkpoint. It also increase the cost of the journey: instead of just one bus, you have to take taxis to one checkpoint, then switch, then switch again.
How many 'terrorists' has this stopped? Not many I imagine as there are plenty of back roads left and the army believe there are lots of fighters in Nablus but manage to kill people off at quite a rate. How many 'terrorists' are created through the daily grind and humiliation of these checkpoints? Probably a considerable number. I'm cold tired hungry, it issnowing here, and I'm really pissed off by the soldiers stupid attitute. I can't imagine putting up with it daily
However the Olive Harvest is now over so I was just visiting. The city is often invaded by the army, in fact pretty much nightly, who tend to kill fighters in the town and throw sound bombs. Whilst this is happening the Palestinians would rather we were safe and to be honest there wouldn't be much point hanging around the streets. You can achieve nothing and just likely to get killed as the army can be trigger happy.
The contacts we have there showed us around including the candy factory, and we were pretty much force fed candy. Tea was provided pretty much everywhere we went as was cake and for those who smoke, cigarettes. You can pretty much spunge off the Palestinians here if you so choose!
Anyway after that I've returned to Jerusalem, its taken about 4 hours and that's lucky. We were stopped at one checkpoint for ages. I was asked if I had a bomb in my bag (despite temptations to make a stupid joke I said no) and was told that this area was not safe and we should not visit. The soldier also told me that Palestine wasn't worth a visit and told us to go to Haifa.
At which I did innocently reply, oh no I've heard its not safe.
Anyway during this time my bag was searched, I had to walk through the metal detector a number of times. Then finally let through. Whats interesting is that me and a friend ended up in two different queues, he got through in 5 minutes. I had about 25 minute wait; random decisions about which line to take can hold you up for ages. Of course this wasn't the first checkpoint, we were then stopped again (briefly) and then crossing the wall. Which again took ages. I don't know how much longer this adds to the journey but it is well over an hour. I know people though who have been held up for 4 hours at one checkpoint. It also increase the cost of the journey: instead of just one bus, you have to take taxis to one checkpoint, then switch, then switch again.
How many 'terrorists' has this stopped? Not many I imagine as there are plenty of back roads left and the army believe there are lots of fighters in Nablus but manage to kill people off at quite a rate. How many 'terrorists' are created through the daily grind and humiliation of these checkpoints? Probably a considerable number. I'm cold tired hungry, it issnowing here, and I'm really pissed off by the soldiers stupid attitute. I can't imagine putting up with it daily
Monday, December 25, 2006
Bethlehem and Jerusalem
Hello there
Well I went to Bethlehem for Christmas Carols with my church. Abbas, President of the PA was there which was very interesting. The service was in both Arabic and English and was also a half political rally.
The Bishop told us about his meeting with the Archbishop and the Prime Minister of England - this land has been ravaged by Herods of the past, and is now attacked by the Herods of today. Peace is not the absence of war and conflict and he spoke about his desire to see not just co-existence but co-living. He also made an attack on the war in Iraq saying that the easiest route to democracy in Baghdad, is through Jerusalem and for this to happen we need to see the outbreak of collective common sense. We should stop building walls and instead build bridges. It was all pretty stirring stuff. The church I'm a member of is very very pro-Palestine.
I then went on to midnight mass in Jerusalem were we said prayers for those humiliated at checkpoints, those who had lost family and friends and those who had been killed in this conflict. And today I've just been to the morning service, a slightly bizarre mix of Arabic and English were people say the prayers in their own tongue and sing the songs in their own tongue at the same time, which makes for some interesting sounds! It all fits together remarkably well.
Going to Bethlehem has been one of the best experiences here but also one of the most depressing. Bethlehem is through a checkpoint but we were waved through, the soldiers gave us sweets and wished us a merry Christmas. They were incredibly polite and we were through the checkpoint in less than 5 minutes. Incredibly different to the experiences I have had and seen in Ramallah, Hebron, Jerusalem and the experiences I know others have had in the North. If one had never visited the West Bank one could wonder what all the fuss was about at the checkpoints. I was half tempted to give my seat on the coach to a Palestinian who have been denied entry to Jerusalem as they would have got straight in.
Bethlehem is a town that has been economically depressed by the Israelis, as with the rest of Palestine no wages have been paid to any government staff for 10 months now as the EU and USA withhold their former contributions due to the democratic election of Hamas. I've not seen begging before in Palestine, one or two kids have asked for a shekel but this was very different and quite depressing. This is pretty much the one time of year that they make any money and you can't blame them for begging or trying to force you to buy things off them.
Anyway I hope everyone at home is having a great Christmas. If you are reading this on Christmas day have a look at this.
Well I went to Bethlehem for Christmas Carols with my church. Abbas, President of the PA was there which was very interesting. The service was in both Arabic and English and was also a half political rally.
The Bishop told us about his meeting with the Archbishop and the Prime Minister of England - this land has been ravaged by Herods of the past, and is now attacked by the Herods of today. Peace is not the absence of war and conflict and he spoke about his desire to see not just co-existence but co-living. He also made an attack on the war in Iraq saying that the easiest route to democracy in Baghdad, is through Jerusalem and for this to happen we need to see the outbreak of collective common sense. We should stop building walls and instead build bridges. It was all pretty stirring stuff. The church I'm a member of is very very pro-Palestine.
I then went on to midnight mass in Jerusalem were we said prayers for those humiliated at checkpoints, those who had lost family and friends and those who had been killed in this conflict. And today I've just been to the morning service, a slightly bizarre mix of Arabic and English were people say the prayers in their own tongue and sing the songs in their own tongue at the same time, which makes for some interesting sounds! It all fits together remarkably well.
Going to Bethlehem has been one of the best experiences here but also one of the most depressing. Bethlehem is through a checkpoint but we were waved through, the soldiers gave us sweets and wished us a merry Christmas. They were incredibly polite and we were through the checkpoint in less than 5 minutes. Incredibly different to the experiences I have had and seen in Ramallah, Hebron, Jerusalem and the experiences I know others have had in the North. If one had never visited the West Bank one could wonder what all the fuss was about at the checkpoints. I was half tempted to give my seat on the coach to a Palestinian who have been denied entry to Jerusalem as they would have got straight in.
Bethlehem is a town that has been economically depressed by the Israelis, as with the rest of Palestine no wages have been paid to any government staff for 10 months now as the EU and USA withhold their former contributions due to the democratic election of Hamas. I've not seen begging before in Palestine, one or two kids have asked for a shekel but this was very different and quite depressing. This is pretty much the one time of year that they make any money and you can't blame them for begging or trying to force you to buy things off them.
Anyway I hope everyone at home is having a great Christmas. If you are reading this on Christmas day have a look at this.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
merry christmas
Hope everyone has a good christmas. I hope everyone has a great day, please spare a thought for the Palestinian children who will continue to be harrased and those who cannot be with their family because of Israeli border restrictions
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Happy Hanukkah
Hanukkah has passed off without incident here! Thank goodness, was worried about it for a while but apart from the usual it was OK.
A few police tried to move us on and a few soldiers told us we weren't allowed to be here and a few got annoyed when I attended a detainment but it has been fine. The weather was also bad which perhaps kept them inside!
Am excited to be going to Bethlehem and Jerusalem tomorrow, sit down and have a drink and spend time with people who aren't liable to throw stones and shoot at me will be welcome. A proper hot shower as well!
If you discount the flight here I think my carbon emissions are much lower here without having to do much at all. Although there is a lot of litter and no recycling available (it still breaks my heart to throw glass in a bin etcetera) life here is much better. Apart from one or two things like lack of my own room etcetera Iits much easier to live a sustainable lifestyle without even really noticing. It certainly doesn't impact much on how I see my quality of life.
A few police tried to move us on and a few soldiers told us we weren't allowed to be here and a few got annoyed when I attended a detainment but it has been fine. The weather was also bad which perhaps kept them inside!
Am excited to be going to Bethlehem and Jerusalem tomorrow, sit down and have a drink and spend time with people who aren't liable to throw stones and shoot at me will be welcome. A proper hot shower as well!
If you discount the flight here I think my carbon emissions are much lower here without having to do much at all. Although there is a lot of litter and no recycling available (it still breaks my heart to throw glass in a bin etcetera) life here is much better. Apart from one or two things like lack of my own room etcetera Iits much easier to live a sustainable lifestyle without even really noticing. It certainly doesn't impact much on how I see my quality of life.
Friday, December 22, 2006
bilin continued
See a report of today here. A few kids in hospital, which hasn't happened in a while
sound bombed
Went to Bilin demo as most internationals do pretty much every Friday. It was slightly more aggressive than usual recently, the soldiers had already come over the fence in order to take on the Palestinians who arrived and started pushing them around straight away and even a few internationals were pushed and shoved.
The Palestinians made their protest, a few people who threw rocks were quickly told that this was a peaceful demonstration and that they should stop immediately. The Palestinians then attempted to cross the barbed wire fence in order to get right up to the 'security' fence which they managed in one or two locations. The soldiers were quick to come and soon the Palestinians were spread out along the wall.
I went with one or two in order to make sure they were OK with one or two Israelis and as the barbed wire was being pulled a sound grenade was thrown and exploded quite close to me as I was moving away. However its pretty pathetic and didn't create much noise and my ears rang for a bit but that was all. One Palestinian actually managed to get trough the fence which caused the soldiers to get really annoyed and started to push and attack various people who were not involved with that. At this point the demonstration was called off and we returned around the village with tear gas and rubber bullets being exchanged with stones in the village.
All in all this was the most aggressive demonstration I've been on. You were never expecting the soldiers to do anything too stupid though a few people have cuts and bruises but you never feel completely safe.
There are some South African activists here at the moment who say that Apartheid in South Africa is child's play to the scenes the witness today. This is interesting as people often say that calling the wall an apartheid wall does a disservice to the South Africans who lived through the apartheid there.
On our journey back to Tel Rumeida an Arab who was sharing our taxi - he had tried to go to Jerusalem with his wife and children and they had all been allowed through but he had not been. When we got to his destination he jumped out of the car and returned with about 20 oranges for us, for no reason whatsoever!
Hanukkah tomorrow in Tel Rumeida, likely to be very quiet or very rowdy. I'll take this chance to wish a happy Hanukkah to any Jews who may be reading this!
؛PS a sound bomb is a grenade that on impact makes a large noise and releases some smoke, its designed for crowd dispersal
The Palestinians made their protest, a few people who threw rocks were quickly told that this was a peaceful demonstration and that they should stop immediately. The Palestinians then attempted to cross the barbed wire fence in order to get right up to the 'security' fence which they managed in one or two locations. The soldiers were quick to come and soon the Palestinians were spread out along the wall.
I went with one or two in order to make sure they were OK with one or two Israelis and as the barbed wire was being pulled a sound grenade was thrown and exploded quite close to me as I was moving away. However its pretty pathetic and didn't create much noise and my ears rang for a bit but that was all. One Palestinian actually managed to get trough the fence which caused the soldiers to get really annoyed and started to push and attack various people who were not involved with that. At this point the demonstration was called off and we returned around the village with tear gas and rubber bullets being exchanged with stones in the village.
All in all this was the most aggressive demonstration I've been on. You were never expecting the soldiers to do anything too stupid though a few people have cuts and bruises but you never feel completely safe.
There are some South African activists here at the moment who say that Apartheid in South Africa is child's play to the scenes the witness today. This is interesting as people often say that calling the wall an apartheid wall does a disservice to the South Africans who lived through the apartheid there.
On our journey back to Tel Rumeida an Arab who was sharing our taxi - he had tried to go to Jerusalem with his wife and children and they had all been allowed through but he had not been. When we got to his destination he jumped out of the car and returned with about 20 oranges for us, for no reason whatsoever!
Hanukkah tomorrow in Tel Rumeida, likely to be very quiet or very rowdy. I'll take this chance to wish a happy Hanukkah to any Jews who may be reading this!
؛PS a sound bomb is a grenade that on impact makes a large noise and releases some smoke, its designed for crowd dispersal
Thursday, December 21, 2006
More Tel Rumeida
I'm a little jumpy at the moment with Hanukkah on its way. It could be either very quiet or very problematic, depending. I don't know if there are likely to be attacks or not but we shall see. There are lots of foreign Jews in the area, who in the experience of those who have been here a while, tend to be quite aggressive. There are lots of Hanukkah celebrations going on and fireworks which make me jump.
It has been a quiet day however here with no real problems. A bunch of soldiers were going around with a sledgehammer and originally I thought they were going to push into a house or do a raid but they were practicing. This basically involves going up to a house, cocking their rifles and then standing around. I followed them around for a bit and then left it.
On the roof I saw the secret military cameras filming me, goodness knows what for. I find doing my laundry incredibly boring, I can't imagine that watching me do it is any more exciting. Later on played football again with some other internationals versus some Palestinian kids- aka Brazilian football side.
Been thinking about that article about the increased level of stress, violence amongst children here and talking to other people about it. A lot of kids have counselling and are very aggressive and show signs of stress. And with no school recently due to the lack of funds there are problems seeing it. I spoke to someone who is involved with after school activities and they have to spend a lot of time trying to tell the kids what is 'normal.'
Had dinner at a Palestinian house, someone who is not anything to do with the project here but decided to invite us along to say thank you! We hadn't done anything for him directly, he doesn't live in the Israeli controlled area but we had more food than we could eat over 3 or 4 meals and they kept almost shoving it down our throats. Political discussions inevitably ensued and again the people were well-informed, non-violent. I really love the culture over here, the idea of extended family, the friendliness of it all. The only things I don't like are
They were interested in the culture in the West and were quite shocked at the amount of single mother families that don't get help from the extended family or the father amongst other things. I'm not a self hating westerner but I think there is a lot to be said for the culture of extended family over here and the level of friendliness. If at home if someone invited me randomly to their house I would probably think they were a bit weird or some kind of stalker. I can see why some activists come back again and again and again.
A few days of demonstrating to follow I think followed by Christmas!
It has been a quiet day however here with no real problems. A bunch of soldiers were going around with a sledgehammer and originally I thought they were going to push into a house or do a raid but they were practicing. This basically involves going up to a house, cocking their rifles and then standing around. I followed them around for a bit and then left it.
On the roof I saw the secret military cameras filming me, goodness knows what for. I find doing my laundry incredibly boring, I can't imagine that watching me do it is any more exciting. Later on played football again with some other internationals versus some Palestinian kids- aka Brazilian football side.
Been thinking about that article about the increased level of stress, violence amongst children here and talking to other people about it. A lot of kids have counselling and are very aggressive and show signs of stress. And with no school recently due to the lack of funds there are problems seeing it. I spoke to someone who is involved with after school activities and they have to spend a lot of time trying to tell the kids what is 'normal.'
Had dinner at a Palestinian house, someone who is not anything to do with the project here but decided to invite us along to say thank you! We hadn't done anything for him directly, he doesn't live in the Israeli controlled area but we had more food than we could eat over 3 or 4 meals and they kept almost shoving it down our throats. Political discussions inevitably ensued and again the people were well-informed, non-violent. I really love the culture over here, the idea of extended family, the friendliness of it all. The only things I don't like are
- The pushing and shoving that often happens for the bus
- The one or two occasions someone has tried to short change me
- Bartering - I'll never be any good at it
- Spitting on the street - horrible
- And something else that I can't remember now
They were interested in the culture in the West and were quite shocked at the amount of single mother families that don't get help from the extended family or the father amongst other things. I'm not a self hating westerner but I think there is a lot to be said for the culture of extended family over here and the level of friendliness. If at home if someone invited me randomly to their house I would probably think they were a bit weird or some kind of stalker. I can see why some activists come back again and again and again.
A few days of demonstrating to follow I think followed by Christmas!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Links
Just a few links online to see what we put up with here
Pictures of Jewish grafitti
Settler children attack a Human Rights Defender, more videos on the right hand side
SOme of the comments on YouTube make for some interesting reading!
Pictures of Jewish grafitti
Settler children attack a Human Rights Defender, more videos on the right hand side
SOme of the comments on YouTube make for some interesting reading!
Impacts of Tel Rumeida
Not much happening today as I've been having a break in Jerusalem. In the Palestine Times today there was an interesting article about Hebron and the psychological impact it is having on children in the area. Huge numbers of children suffer from stress anxiety and depression. Violent incidents are high, particuarly among children who have had their homes invaded. Hopefully they will put the article up tomorrow and I can link to it.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
detained
Well today I was detained by the army and police. The soldiers were not doing their duty as set by Israeli courts to escort the children through the Tel Rumeida settlement and I filmed this from the roof of our apartment. The soldiers called me down and said this was not allowed I was in big trouble etcetera etcetera. I asked why and I was told it was because I could see what their cameras could see! Complete rubbish and no rule saying this I'm sure, they were just making trouble. Anyway I wait around, and ask what exactly I am under, and I'm told I am being detained and if I try and run away i will be arrested.
Can I go to the loo? I promise when looking out the window I'll keep my eyes closed so I can't see what your military cameras can see. When I came down again I asked them to explain the rules
"Shut up this is controlled military zone yeah? We don't need to explain ourselves"
"So how am I supposed to know if you don't explain what I can and cannot do"
No reply. When delving further I got to the usual
"These are the orders"
"It always is isn't it."
Anyway the police turned up (45 minutes later) the soldiers and police argued, largely I suspect, over the fact that, of course, I hadn't done anything wrong. The police asked for my passport and for the camera, which was in the apartment. I said they could only see the tape and I wanted my passport back first. They accused me of wanting to run away, whenI pointed out that there was only one entrance to the block of flats I asked how they expected me to do this? By jumping off the roof? I felt quite confident at this stage as if they arrested me they wouldn't have anything to go on. Anyway I showed them the footage which is perfectly legal - I didn't film any military checkpoints.
I then asked if the police would now tell the soldiers after seeing this footage of them neglecting their duty to tell them to do it.
"No, its not your job to tell them what to do"
"Well why don't you tell them?"
"Its not your job to tell them"
"Yes so I want you to"
ad nauseam
Anyway then moved onto whether I can film from roof
"Yes"
"Will you tell the soldiers that? They don't seem to think so"
"Well they don't know the rules"
"Maybe you can refresh them on the rules of taking the kids up and the fact I'm allowed to film from the roof"
"No"
So I did, the soldier comes over, they argue, and then I'm told I'm not allowed to film from the roof
"Even in the direction of the city? There are some nice landscape views?"
This was allowed then it wasn't, and so on and so forth.
When I asked if I can have this in writing they said they could take me down the police station and get it in writing. Needless to say I declined this offer and decided that I wouldn't push the matter anymore!
Anyway, final outcome is we are allegedly not allowed to film from the roof, if we do I will get arrested. I felt tempted to go do it straight away but common sense prevailed.
It was only after that that I felt really rather angry, I thought it was a complete joke and its simply one soldier just trying to feel important. But anyway I'm now in Jerusalem for a night and have met up with some very interesting people from university for a well earned drink and interesting talk. Some more touristy things tomorrow hopefully! And then back to it all. Though possibly somewhere else, worringly the soldiers all know my name, some are being very very polite as well. I can't help but feel suspicious!
Can I go to the loo? I promise when looking out the window I'll keep my eyes closed so I can't see what your military cameras can see. When I came down again I asked them to explain the rules
"Shut up this is controlled military zone yeah? We don't need to explain ourselves"
"So how am I supposed to know if you don't explain what I can and cannot do"
No reply. When delving further I got to the usual
"These are the orders"
"It always is isn't it."
Anyway the police turned up (45 minutes later) the soldiers and police argued, largely I suspect, over the fact that, of course, I hadn't done anything wrong. The police asked for my passport and for the camera, which was in the apartment. I said they could only see the tape and I wanted my passport back first. They accused me of wanting to run away, whenI pointed out that there was only one entrance to the block of flats I asked how they expected me to do this? By jumping off the roof? I felt quite confident at this stage as if they arrested me they wouldn't have anything to go on. Anyway I showed them the footage which is perfectly legal - I didn't film any military checkpoints.
I then asked if the police would now tell the soldiers after seeing this footage of them neglecting their duty to tell them to do it.
"No, its not your job to tell them what to do"
"Well why don't you tell them?"
"Its not your job to tell them"
"Yes so I want you to"
ad nauseam
Anyway then moved onto whether I can film from roof
"Yes"
"Will you tell the soldiers that? They don't seem to think so"
"Well they don't know the rules"
"Maybe you can refresh them on the rules of taking the kids up and the fact I'm allowed to film from the roof"
"No"
So I did, the soldier comes over, they argue, and then I'm told I'm not allowed to film from the roof
"Even in the direction of the city? There are some nice landscape views?"
This was allowed then it wasn't, and so on and so forth.
When I asked if I can have this in writing they said they could take me down the police station and get it in writing. Needless to say I declined this offer and decided that I wouldn't push the matter anymore!
Anyway, final outcome is we are allegedly not allowed to film from the roof, if we do I will get arrested. I felt tempted to go do it straight away but common sense prevailed.
It was only after that that I felt really rather angry, I thought it was a complete joke and its simply one soldier just trying to feel important. But anyway I'm now in Jerusalem for a night and have met up with some very interesting people from university for a well earned drink and interesting talk. Some more touristy things tomorrow hopefully! And then back to it all. Though possibly somewhere else, worringly the soldiers all know my name, some are being very very polite as well. I can't help but feel suspicious!
Monday, December 18, 2006
Israel has the right to defend herself
"Israel is a democracy and a friend and has every right to defend itselfGeorge Bush, May 2004
from terror."
I had a tour of Hebron today going a bit further than the Tel Rumeida settlement. But we did pass through this area - it turns out that the soldiers often ban the residents from repairing their houses, hence the fact that many have moved out. Many more moved out after the massacre in 1994 by Baruch Goldstein and the Israeli government imposed a curfew for their own 'safety'. This curfew stopped them going outside for days at a time or visiting shops.
The settlers have also invaded a number of Palestinian homes the most 'amusing' story I heard from one activist is when a group of Palestinians saw an Israeli leave a satchel in a field nearby. The police investigated and found it contained food - it transpired that the Israeli Jews had decided that they would come and throw rocks and stones in the village but because of Shabbat cannot carry food. Locally they have also burnt down olive trees that date from the Roman or even Byzantium era 
(pictured). A local house has also been turned into a closed military zone but local Jews are often observed going here for illicit affairs and for drinking alcohol. But when the locals return they are often harassed by the soldiers.
(pictured). A local house has also been turned into a closed military zone but local Jews are often observed going here for illicit affairs and for drinking alcohol. But when the locals return they are often harassed by the soldiers. The most shocking thing I think I saw today was the sign pictured above, which is written all over the place in Hebrew and as pictured English. The fact that some Jews want to perpetrate a Holocaust is awful, especially as the fact is the state of Israel was largely created due to the Holocaust.
Although there were no egg throwing incidents (we quite blatantly kept a camera trained on the window that they have been coming from) two settler children did attack some Palestinian boys with sticks but the soldiers intervened, but told the Palestinians off.
Another interesting thing is the fact that for a long time there has been a Palestinian Jewish presence in Hebron and we were shown the old Jewish cemetery and for years they lived peacefully with the Muslims. Again I heard I don't want all the Israelis to leave Israel but I want the settlers to leave my land. And also the fact that although people don't condone suicide bombing they can understand why they do it. One email I had from a friend asked if they don't condone it why don't they stop it. But its not that easy, as on can see in my home country, a large majority was against the Iraq invasion with many demonstrating against it but even in this democratic country we couldn't stop thousands of soldiers going. So why should we blame the majority of the Palestinians for the actions of very few.
I'm starting to feel quite angry and helpless here and can fully understand the motives behind attacking the Israelis. Palestinians say they have all served in the army (OK not quite true but a large percentage have) and so they are all complicit in the crimes of the settlers - we were told of numerous court rulings that allow them to go to various places or use various roads that they cannot get enforced. Whilst the settlers break various rules but they cannot get them prosecuted - if they try and film they are often harassed and attacked by the settlers and soldiers. I feel on one level I've lost some of my humanity here - I'm questioning whether I would I care if someone massacred 29 settlers tomorrow? I feel ashamed for thinking it but probably not as much as if it was Israeli civilians in Tel Aviv. I am going to Jerusalem soon for some perspective on all this. At some point locally there are going to be more deaths, the look of hate in the kids eyes on both sides is actually quite scary.
As I'm finishing this off there are some settler kids wandering the streets with music blaring out, they just walked past two soldiers who did absolutely nothing. I'm now going to go looking for quotes from the Bush administration that state the Palestinians, and their democratically elected government, have the right to defend themselves from terror. If anyone can provide me with one I'd be most grateful.
And on that note
I've just watched the Israelis get a guy to take his jacket off and put him up against the wall, I didn't have my camera unfortunately but there was no need for that. He is a local who must pass through there at least once a day and I imagine they could have checked for 'suicide bombs' in any number of other ways like they usually do.
Hebron
Is about the coldest place I've ever been. When you get up in the morning you shiver due to the lack of heating, go outside in two t-shirts jumper coat scarf and gloves and hat and you shiver. I've been to the Arctic and its worse than there. This is the only time of the day I seriously consider simplying flying home today
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Update and note on soldiers
The police have let Mary go after 4 hours, after threatening to deport her and arrest her. Which is good. Mary quite rightly was trying to make sure the children were allowed through the olive groves. This route is actually the route that they are legally obliged to take and actually to tell me that it is Israeli land is wrong. I don't think the settler children are even allowed there. Apparently they have set fire to bits of the field but this went out. I'll have a look tomorrow and find out what happened.
On another note the soldiers around here, with one or two exceptions, have been much much politer recently than they were to start with. I feel most of the time we have a mutual dislike of the settlers. This is a definite improvement but I still dread to think that if these are 'not bad' what the worse are.
On another note the soldiers around here, with one or two exceptions, have been much much politer recently than they were to start with. I feel most of the time we have a mutual dislike of the settlers. This is a definite improvement but I still dread to think that if these are 'not bad' what the worse are.
What a day
Well what a day!
EAPPI the organisation that usually takes the school run in the morning was not here so we took the children to school at 7am which is a little early by my standards! We thought it passed off without incident but it turns out a teacher was hit by a rock and has now gone to hospital, the rocks that were thrown include this one with my hand by the side to show how large it is. In the afternoon from the same window as the rock and apples were thrown eggs were thrown at me and the children as I walked them home. The soldiers are quite good here and asked if I had seen the woman who threw it. They dislike being here I think for the most part.
Before this though we had gone up the hill as there were problems, Israeli children are currently on holiday and were having some kind of picnic going on in the olive groves which the Palestinians used to own but the Israelis seem to have 'acquired'. Anyway some of the children walking home from another school normally pass through this to get home. Today, however they were not allowed and despite us trying they had to go the very long way around which takes a lot longer. We phoned the police who said they should be allowed through but they were not allowed - the soldiers are scared of the settlers in effect and wouldn't allow the children through. We also called the DCO who said they would 'sort it out' but being the DCO didn't. The children's picnic was quite a site, about 50 children and 8-10 soldiers at any one time plus one settler who had a gun. Quite what this does to you growing up in this situation (and for the Palestinian kids who watched) I don't know.
On top of that I sat at a checkpoint with other activists for about 40 minutes with aman they were detaining for no reason that I could work out, apparently he 'wanted to be there'.
Now Mary, the local 75 year old activist has been detained, we are not sure if she is going to be arrested yet - on the charges of hitting a policeman apparently! We've called the police, the embassy and a few other groups to see what is happening but more news when it comes.
It strikes me that most of the soldiers don't really want to be here, in fact I would think that the majority of Israelis don't really want this settlement. Anyway Hanukkah is upon us, the children are on holiday and I'm sure this is going to the case for the next few days. I think its only a matter of time before someone here gets killed, not this week or next week but in the long run I think this place will simmer over, probably at a time when Israeli-Palestine violence is higher than it currently is now instead of the idiotic Palestine on Palestine violence at present.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Back in Hebron
I'm back in Tel Rumeida for a few days, not sure for how long but they always like a larger group for Saturdays as this is often a day that the settlers kick off. As I turned up at the end of the street to watch the children out of school a few apples were thrown at the kids from the settlers house. As I went to look at what was thrown (it wasn't obvious at the time) a soldier shouted at me but I didn't understand, he translated saying get out go away you are not allowed here. But of course, we are and I told him that and stayed. So of course, my ID was checked, once, twice, three times within about half an hour, twice by the same guy. And there I stayed, watching the settlers go past, who incidentally argue that they are peaceful despite the fact that they often attack Arab children on their way back from school and spit at internationals. What I want to cover here is some things that have been said about internationals in Palestine and our reasons for being here.
Many call our presence here 'anti-Semitic', I allegedly am a communist or an anarchist, looking for trouble - etcetera etcetera. The internationals here are violent and support Palestinian violence, according to one or two websites, who often make fun of the death of activists out here. We deliberately set out to cause trouble etcetera etcetera. None of these things are true I'm afraid, I'm not a communist or an anarchist or anti-Semitic. I'm pro peace and I'm not even necessarily saying that the Jews cannot live in Hebron. However I don't see why they should be able to live in Hebron at the expense of the Palestinians, forcing them to go through checkpoints to their own homes, shutting down the main street of shops and constantly questioning them.
If I hit a settler with anything around here then I would be, quite rightly, would be arrested. If I had spit at someone or used terms such as 'nigger' in front of my parents then I would have been in deep trouble. I don't imagine the child here today will get punished. And yet as a Breaking the Silence document detailing parents often not disciplining their children is and not exactly caring. The people who wrote this document however aren't the anarchists or communists but soldiers who were posted in Hebron, detailing some heartbreaking stories of how they prevented a wedding from happening, stopping Palestinian children going to hospital when ill in emergencies and other such events. What happens here is despicable but most of those who disagree with me won't argue the relative merits of the Jewish population being able to stay here with army protection. I'll simply be called an anti-Semite, in favour of suicide bombings, working for a terrorist linked organisation, perhaps say I deny the holocaust (I don't incidentally but I equally don't see why the Palestinians should pay for the atrocities of my home nation). And that will be the end of the argument.
The reason I suppose is that there aren't very many good reasons for the Jewish population to be able to run amok like they do here, or in fact any reasons at all. If anyone can give me these reasons then I'd be happy to hear them. If a two-state solution is implemented this will become part of Palestine, I can't see any reason why this shouldn't be the case. I'm straying into dangerous territory here as I don't want to dictate how a peaceful settlement should be worked out but there seem to be some undeniable things. Yes there are some sites of Jewish heritage in the local area but this does not mean it needs to be part of Israel - I'm sure rights of access can be secured. That isn't to say that the Jews here will be forced to move out but Israeli soldiers would no longer be able to stand outside their settlements. That Jewish people who commit crimes against Arabs or other Jews (and vice versa) will be prosecuted fairly regardless of race or religion. Checkpoints would be shut and the main street here would be reopened.
Many call our presence here 'anti-Semitic', I allegedly am a communist or an anarchist, looking for trouble - etcetera etcetera. The internationals here are violent and support Palestinian violence, according to one or two websites, who often make fun of the death of activists out here. We deliberately set out to cause trouble etcetera etcetera. None of these things are true I'm afraid, I'm not a communist or an anarchist or anti-Semitic. I'm pro peace and I'm not even necessarily saying that the Jews cannot live in Hebron. However I don't see why they should be able to live in Hebron at the expense of the Palestinians, forcing them to go through checkpoints to their own homes, shutting down the main street of shops and constantly questioning them.
If I hit a settler with anything around here then I would be, quite rightly, would be arrested. If I had spit at someone or used terms such as 'nigger' in front of my parents then I would have been in deep trouble. I don't imagine the child here today will get punished. And yet as a Breaking the Silence document detailing parents often not disciplining their children is and not exactly caring. The people who wrote this document however aren't the anarchists or communists but soldiers who were posted in Hebron, detailing some heartbreaking stories of how they prevented a wedding from happening, stopping Palestinian children going to hospital when ill in emergencies and other such events. What happens here is despicable but most of those who disagree with me won't argue the relative merits of the Jewish population being able to stay here with army protection. I'll simply be called an anti-Semite, in favour of suicide bombings, working for a terrorist linked organisation, perhaps say I deny the holocaust (I don't incidentally but I equally don't see why the Palestinians should pay for the atrocities of my home nation). And that will be the end of the argument.
The reason I suppose is that there aren't very many good reasons for the Jewish population to be able to run amok like they do here, or in fact any reasons at all. If anyone can give me these reasons then I'd be happy to hear them. If a two-state solution is implemented this will become part of Palestine, I can't see any reason why this shouldn't be the case. I'm straying into dangerous territory here as I don't want to dictate how a peaceful settlement should be worked out but there seem to be some undeniable things. Yes there are some sites of Jewish heritage in the local area but this does not mean it needs to be part of Israel - I'm sure rights of access can be secured. That isn't to say that the Jews here will be forced to move out but Israeli soldiers would no longer be able to stand outside their settlements. That Jewish people who commit crimes against Arabs or other Jews (and vice versa) will be prosecuted fairly regardless of race or religion. Checkpoints would be shut and the main street here would be reopened.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Bilin demo
As I'm writing this there are clashes between various Palestinian groups, which has lead to a number of deaths and injuries. It is quite strange to think that literally a few streets away, where I went for dinner tonight there has been a gun battle.
Today also went from Ramallah to Bilin today for the demonstration that they have every Friday. As usual the march went up to the gate and a few Palestinians and internationals crossed the barbed wire and made a peaceful protest on the other side of the barbed wire by the fence, though others who tried to join them were pushed quite hard by Israeli soldiers as were those by the fence. Eventually we left the soldiers and walked back to the village where there was a 'running battle' for want of a better way of putting it between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian youths. We stayed away from it but got a very good view and again it was incredibly surreal to see people running, shouting, throwing things on the side. Some kind of futuristic wide screen movie. Then got hit by the tear gas, which is pretty nasty. Not too badly but it does really choke the back of your throat. Left quickly after that, the Palestinians are very keen to make sure that as few people get hurt as possible and those who organise the demonstration want to keep it peaceful as possible. As we were leaving one of the Palestinians told us there was now live fire. Am going to leave Ramallah but whilst I'm here I'm obviously not going to go into town. It seems a shame that despite a cease-fire killings go on. You would have thought that the Palestinians had seen enough bloodshed, without adding to it themselves - for instance the killing of three kids the other week. As I think I've said before I'm pro-peace and I think the violence happening at the moment in the West Bank and Gaza and attempts to shoot elected members is despicable, regardless of whether the bullets and bombs come from Israeli or Palestinians.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
ًWelcome to Israel.. . A trip down the Jordan Valley
I haven't had time to double check all the facts in here, one or two statements that I wasn't sure about I've left out or approximated if I haven't got the exact statistics to hand
Today had a trip down the Jordan valley (left), the Palestinian person who we had showing us around had just been delayed for two hours at a check point. A soldier on the way through a checkpoint had drawn a star of david in the dust of the car. When they returned the soldier wanted to know who had wiped it off and held them for two hours demanding to know.
We started at a farm near the Bisan check point where Plestinians now find it very difficult to take their produce through to the markets they once used and therefore now have to go to markets elsewhere. However with problems at check points this is often problematic and adds huge costs to their journey making their products less competitive as Israeli trucks are allowed to use specific roads and bypass the checkpoints.
Despite the fact that this is the Jordan valley the Israelis do have farms out here, in fact quite a few and many Palestinians were angry at the amount of land that they have taken off them. Israeli settlers who want to move here are given 70 dunums of land (approx 17 acres), a house and long term loan of 70,000 USD. Companies such as electrical, telephone and water etcetera are obliged to give them discounts of up to 75% we were told. This obviously makes their lives much easier out here despite the fact that this is well into the West Bank. A fact that many soldiers seem to ignore - when checking our passports one soldier said welcome to Israel - I hope you enjoy it here.
However it is not the case that although these settlers pay 75% less than the Palestinians, in fact the Palestinians pay nothing for these utilities. Why? Because they are not available to them - we passed a large number of houses often next to huge water tanks, electricity wires etcetera that they are not allowed to connect up to. Many Palestinians only build plastic houses or corrugated metal houses as otherwise the Israelis knock them down. In fact even these can be knocked down. Last year 22 houses were knocked who in one day while around half the land in the Jordan valley is no longer available to Palestinians - it is closed to settlers, environmental reserves and military training areas. Now as an environmentalist I would normally applaud the opening of environmental reserves but actually these people live very sustainable lives and there is no reason why these areas should be, in particular, protected. This has lead to the population to drop from 300,000 pre -1967 to 52,000 last year.
Planning permission for new houses for Palestinians is difficult to get, a new school built is being threatened with demolition, attempts to generate power are stopped. Badala has been waiting 10 years for permission for a water tank but the nearby Israeli settlement, built without planning permission has services described in the paragraph above. A clinic in a tent has also been deemed illegal in the past and knocked down (picture on right - despite electricity lines going right by it and some more 'permament' buildings they are not electrified).
But it isn't in just these respects that the Israelis control the local area, they even try and control the sun, one Palestinian joked. A community project with NGO support meant that a few households had purchased solar panels to generate electricity. One man was arrested and put in prison for three days for 'stealing' this off the Israelis, despite the fact he had documentation to demonstrate how he had come to acquire it. He was fined 300 NIS and put in prison for three days without even being able to call relatives to help out while he was away. Israeli settlers then came and looked around the house while he was still in prison.
When visiting another farmer we saw the electrified fence, the English reads, danger electric fence but the Arabic says warning: potential death. The farmers daughter touched it and received a shock. The land that is fenced off was once his but was taken in around 1970. The Israelis manage this by saying that land not used in three years can be taken and redistributed, the fact that many of these people were unable to return home or were prevented from accessing their land is not important. He finds it difficult to get water all year around as the Israeli settlers get the water from the Valley, in fact he has to drink bottled water.
Again the message I got was all these people want is their rights to be respected, his family had lived in this area since 1920. The farmer accepted that the Jewish must live (in Israel) here but they did not have the right to take his land. He can't see an end to this situation as both peaceful and non-peaceful means have both failed. The more time I spend here the less likely I think there is going to be peace anytime soon. Certainly if any peace deal does not remove the Israelis from most of this land and if the wall is at least not rerouted out of the West Bank then it certainly won't be possible.
At checkpoints where we were stopped we often just handed our passports to them and they handed them back a few minutes later without checking them. Often however Palestinians are forced to wait much longer than we are.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Objectivity and honesty
I just wanted to write a small piece about this blog rather than what I'm up to. Someone said the other day it is difficult to be objective about the situation here but one should at least be honest. I think in one sense this is true but equally I think the two are linked. I'm obviously not trying to present a textbook balanced argument about the rights and wrongs about the actions of both sides but equally I've not come across anything that has managed this successfully. I don't believe that the Palestinians have acted perfectly or anywhere near it during the conflict and I don't (nor does anyone else I know) condone suicide bombings by Palestinians which kill innocent civilians.
What I am trying to be in this blog is as honest as possible, I'm not saying it is completely correct but it is as correct and honest as I can conciously make it. Sometimes I've realised I've possibly taken things out of context without realising - this is my first attempt at anything like this. I've edited this when I have reread later. Some of the situations I find myself in have been stressful and its interesting talking to other people here who have seen exactly the same thing you have but have interpreted the same actions in very different ways.
On the note of objectivity and honesty I'd like to recommend The Great War for Civilisation - The Conquest of the Middle East by Robert Fisk who makes for interesting reading, i will put up a post linked to this at some point in the next few days
What I am trying to be in this blog is as honest as possible, I'm not saying it is completely correct but it is as correct and honest as I can conciously make it. Sometimes I've realised I've possibly taken things out of context without realising - this is my first attempt at anything like this. I've edited this when I have reread later. Some of the situations I find myself in have been stressful and its interesting talking to other people here who have seen exactly the same thing you have but have interpreted the same actions in very different ways.
On the note of objectivity and honesty I'd like to recommend The Great War for Civilisation - The Conquest of the Middle East by Robert Fisk who makes for interesting reading, i will put up a post linked to this at some point in the next few days
house demolitions continued
Later on today I will be able to upload pictures but after the first two house demolitions which we missed we were called to another house where another organisation had been staying but could no longer manage. We somehow managed to get there (buses finished so had to take bus and walk) and luckily some friendly people gave us a lift - everyone here is incredibly friendly to us, much better than I've found anywhere else in the world.
This house was beautiful, it was an extended family where each 'part' of the family had a floor. The family has obviously done very well for itself and have been building it over 6 years but it was only 2 years ago that the Israelis authorities complained about it. They paid a huge amount of money for permission (over 1,000GBP) but were told they needed to pay more, money which they did not have to hand. The Israelis threatened to demolish the house therefore. This is bad enough except for the fact that there is a huge Israeli settlement, which I'm sure breaks many of the peace accords that have been signed and is built with no permission on the hill opposite. They have fantastic utilities whilst this house has very little - the roads are poor, other services are unreliable etcetera. This family also had a school built on their land by the government who never compensated them for it.
Therefore we spent the night in anticipation that the bulldozers might arrive in the morning (most houses have been demolished early in the morning and this one would take some time). The family had taken lots of steps to prevent the Israelis from entering in the hope that an upcoming court case would decide in their favour. We hoped that if they arrived we would prevent them from bulldozing as the family had arranged the money that had been demanded (bringing the total to around 5,000GBP) to be paid in the morning but only once post office opened. Once they brought the receipt it would guarantee no demolition today but it could happen on Thursday. In short they have spent a huge amount of money on planning permission with no guarantee the house will be kept.
Despite this huge worry they were incredibly kind to us, asking us about our lives at home. and feeding us incredibly well. Many of them were intelligent articulate and had a good knowledge of world affairs, philosophy etcetera and say all they want to do is live on the land that they have done for generations and are happy to live peacefully with the Israelis. The reason for demolishing the house, they believe, is so that more homes for Israelis can be built eventually forcing them out of the area and giving Israel more claim to this land.
The bulldozers did not arrive but we heard of other demolitions near Bethlehem but would not have had time to go to them. Its difficult to know what we have achieved in the last 24 hours. We haven;'t delayed any houses from being destroyed and have only really shown solidarity. Hopefully providing images of the destruction might make more people try and influence their governments but apart from that its not been brilliant. I'm going to have a few days off and then travel elsewhere, am not sure what yet but will keep posting as and when. Hopefully I will be able to bring good news about this house in a day or two. We've been told we will be welcome to come back anytime and I really don't think this is an empty promise. As we went to leave they were full of thanks, even though all we had done was drink and eat lots!
PS now that I have some free time I will upload some pictures and correct the spelling and layout of the other articles
This house was beautiful, it was an extended family where each 'part' of the family had a floor. The family has obviously done very well for itself and have been building it over 6 years but it was only 2 years ago that the Israelis authorities complained about it. They paid a huge amount of money for permission (over 1,000GBP) but were told they needed to pay more, money which they did not have to hand. The Israelis threatened to demolish the house therefore. This is bad enough except for the fact that there is a huge Israeli settlement, which I'm sure breaks many of the peace accords that have been signed and is built with no permission on the hill opposite. They have fantastic utilities whilst this house has very little - the roads are poor, other services are unreliable etcetera. This family also had a school built on their land by the government who never compensated them for it.
Therefore we spent the night in anticipation that the bulldozers might arrive in the morning (most houses have been demolished early in the morning and this one would take some time). The family had taken lots of steps to prevent the Israelis from entering in the hope that an upcoming court case would decide in their favour. We hoped that if they arrived we would prevent them from bulldozing as the family had arranged the money that had been demanded (bringing the total to around 5,000GBP) to be paid in the morning but only once post office opened. Once they brought the receipt it would guarantee no demolition today but it could happen on Thursday. In short they have spent a huge amount of money on planning permission with no guarantee the house will be kept.
Despite this huge worry they were incredibly kind to us, asking us about our lives at home. and feeding us incredibly well. Many of them were intelligent articulate and had a good knowledge of world affairs, philosophy etcetera and say all they want to do is live on the land that they have done for generations and are happy to live peacefully with the Israelis. The reason for demolishing the house, they believe, is so that more homes for Israelis can be built eventually forcing them out of the area and giving Israel more claim to this land.
The bulldozers did not arrive but we heard of other demolitions near Bethlehem but would not have had time to go to them. Its difficult to know what we have achieved in the last 24 hours. We haven;'t delayed any houses from being destroyed and have only really shown solidarity. Hopefully providing images of the destruction might make more people try and influence their governments but apart from that its not been brilliant. I'm going to have a few days off and then travel elsewhere, am not sure what yet but will keep posting as and when. Hopefully I will be able to bring good news about this house in a day or two. We've been told we will be welcome to come back anytime and I really don't think this is an empty promise. As we went to leave they were full of thanks, even though all we had done was drink and eat lots!
PS now that I have some free time I will upload some pictures and correct the spelling and layout of the other articles
Monday, December 11, 2006
demolitions
Last night we received a call saying that there were going to be demolitions of houses in Palestinian areas today and could we go so two of us from Hebron went to Jerusalem and then travelled out to Azzawya. When we arrived we found that the house had already been destroyed, the bulldozer had come at 5am. All we could do was document it by taking photos and talking to the people there. The father was there but the children and mother were all 'sick' - presume he meant stressed as I know I would be! It was gutting to see and it raised the question of how far we can go. If my house had been bulldozed over I doubt I would want to have people asking me questions but they were all very happy to let us take photos and ask questions . This is the second time the house has been knocked down - they were told if they paid 10,000-20,000USD it may be saved but of course they do not have that money. They had rebuilt it from the last occasion simply because they had no where else to go.
This family will now move into another house next door which other members of their family live in - the reason they had moved out is because there were too many - now 6 people with have to move into a house with similar number. The space available to them is pretty small as it was so this is going to make the situation even worse. Its pretty terrible and I felt pretty helpless. Luckily they had enough time to retrieve almost all their belongings before the house was knocked down
We then went onto another house closer to Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives to watch the demolition take place, the police would not let us anywhere near because of 'orders'. When questioning one of the soldiers pushed a journalist for no real reason, only a small push but still it is unacceptable, he was not trying to pass the soldier. That is all they normally ever say, they say its their orders, and don't talk about the morality of the situation normally. However today one police officer said before this house they knock down a Jewish house and then go onto another Jewish house, in fact a lot of the houses they knock down are Jewish. Of course vague on details and when we said we had never heard of this - one person in the group has researched this she said well i see different research. They then said we can take pictures from here.
"But we can't see the house!"
Shrug of shoulders and they walk off
Eventually we got onto the roof of another property but most of it was over. The soldiers and police who were there were all patting each other on the back and shaking hands - (job done). We again went to see the family, they were lovely - offering coffee in a neighbours house as if we had mildly inconvenienced them and they let us take photos and talk. The children were there and some of the grown men had tears in their eyes, which is a pretty awful sight. I can't really say anything to them, all I can do is tell them that I will tell the people at home what happens here and try to get my government involved. Other houses in this area have been bulldozed recently as well and some residents seem worried that other houses might go soon.
Feel pretty helpless about it all but what can you do. I will fill in place names etc and upload photos later. I am now in Jerusalem for a few hours before deciding what to do next.
Picture: part of one of demolished houses, I've decided not to use any of the pictures I took of the residents
Sunday, December 10, 2006
hebron continued
Today the same soldier who threatened me yesterday was at it again outside the flat. He came up to me and threatened me again saying I obviously had no recollection of yesterdays conversation. It turns out the other week he threatened to beat someone up and slash their throat. he is a complete nutcase whose face was so close to me that I could smell his bad breath. Mary however was having none of this - she is a 70+ granny about 5ft 5 who stands up to the soldiers. she knows her rights to the letter and makes sure the soldiers don't prevent her doing whatever she wants within them. Some of the soldiers love her, others hate her. These ones today hated her - eventually they called the DCO and some officers arrived who eventually left. The soldiers repeatedly asked us if we thought there was terrorism here and laughed at our replies. They asked for every Palestinians ID and held them up, stopping people from going abut their legitimate business, and asking for people to lift up their shirts. They got bored and eventually started shouting and pretending to shoot which scared a few kids. Later I played football with Ronaldo and various other members of the Brazilian football side aka Palestinian kids 6-11. Saying I was England the best side in the world was met with laughter. needless to say I lost (though of course I let them win ;-) Its difficult not to dehumanise the Israelis. Te soldiers here believe that everyone is a terrorist ad see them as subhuman. I see every soldier as a potential murderer - normally with fingers on trigger- every action is seen as hostile. Whilst they see me as someone who prevents them from preventing terrorism (or allegedly). I must make sure that I remember to see them as humans often young scared kids who have been attacked on occasion by Palestinians, some of whom have been fighting in Lebanon. I came here wanting to promote peace and solidarity and I don't want to come across or become simply just anti-Israel, which I am not.
Picture: Boarded up house in Tel Rumeida
Friday, December 8, 2006
Reasons for going and first days
My reasons for wanting to travel to Palestine were quite varied. Obviously there is the injustice of the situation, my main reason for going. Having spoken to others who had been I felt that the presence of westerners could make a difference rather than simply going on holiday for a bit or a 'life changing' gap year style project in Kenya where you get pissed, dig a hole every now and again and say how you changed the world. Aka New White Mans burden. I don't usually fly due to environmental reasons but I thought this was a good excuse
Secondly I really wanted to see it for myself how the whole system worked. its very difficult to find objective reporting on this area even if it is honest. And I realise this blog will be subjective.
Thirdly doing various political and sociological papers at university thought it might help that out!
Anyway arrived in Ben Guiron airport and was let through quickly - some activists get sent away but normally people who are returning. But I did not pack any pro Palestine literature. Then spent a day or two in Jerusalem seeing the old sights and going to a few churches. My tour guide was interesting and showed how deep the problem is. She is on the board of an interfaith group who meet to promote understanding between Muslims, Christians and Jews but even she felt that although they could coexist they would never mix. Which is a shame - Jerusalem is full of invisible boundaries that Jews, Muslims and Christians do not cross but which I, and other tourists, are oblivious to most of the time.
Following a few days here I moved onto Ramallah for training, and got shown a frightening array of the various instruments used by Israelis - sound bombs, tear gas canisters (often fired at people with great potential for injury and death) rubber bullets (which again can kill). Taught how to protect oneself, how ISM is a non-violent movement (which it is, despite what some might try and tell you.
After training we moved onto a demo . the wall has been built across these peoples land and so they have little access so every Friday they demonstrate and ask for internationals to go and document any Israeli Occupation force abuse. The march went up to the top of the hill with no problem and at the fence we were told we were here illegally, stating this was a controlled military zone - something which an officer can declare at anytime. We did not leave but protested by trying to remove barbed wire at various points of the wall. Israeli soldiers roughed up one Palestinian man who had not done much - they don't bother arresting international and Israelis as these people come up under Israeli law and it takes an age to prosecute.Eventually they arrested this man, a few people tried to hold on to this man to stop them taking him away (they can be detained for 8 days without seeing a judge and then held for 6 months in order to prevent them committing crimes, although they have a right to a defence they are not told what crimes they allegedly might have committed so its obviously a little difficult - 2,000 people are held like this). they pulled people off often by the neck or hair and then held the man blindfolded him and took him away. After a while the demonstration finished but there were running battles between youths throwing stones and soldiers firing tear gas and rubber bullets. We followed the soldiers and kept asking them what they were doing, which means we narrowly missed the odd stone.
I travelled from there t Tel Rumeida where there is an Israeli settlement, these settlers are nutcases, there are no other words for it. Very few of them work but they are funded by Israeli Jews who basically believe that they are reclaiming the holy land and they constantly attack Palestinians. two weeks ago they bottled one of my colleagues and almost blinded her, her vision is still not perfect. ( http://www.telrumeidaproject.org/Proposal_Background.html for info about another group working here). Our job is to make sure that they let the children get to school and back and generally be a presence to make the Palestinians feel safe. the street I am on was deserted but was once the main street, a checkpoint and the forced shutting of all shops (for security obviously). Many shops have been grafittied by pro Israel support. Although there was little trouble today when the children left school, one settler got a little close, I was threatened by Israeli soldiers.
They were on a patrol and one of them walked towards me but was called off, he then proceeded to kick stones and make remarks, he then came over to me and asked what i was doing. i said i was looking around, he then said that's a lie, we went on and he searched my bag of oranges (3 times!) and asked what was in my pocket (a video camera) - he then said it is dangerous here for you, you leave tomorrow. He kept repeating this while getting closer and closer to me and repeating this saying look into his eyes, its not safe. he then asked what I thought of Jews, what my Jewish friends thought of me and then kept repeating its not safe. its very threatening and with 4 soldiers with guns its not particularly nice. I had been intending on doing that but now I'm going to bloody stay.
Settlers continued to spit and shout a little but there were lots of foreign ones (come to see how their millions are spent) who would say hello to us and were quickly told not to - obviously we don't look like the devil we are made out to be! The settlers hate us and i feel little compassion for them, i saw one bitten by a dog and didn't feel much compassion. I can see how easily the Palestinians can see these people as subhuman, most of the soldiers dislike then. this settlement is guarded by 4 soldiers to every one settler ! One soldier when questioned by a friend said he didn't want to pull out of the west bank as even though they should never have invaded it would destroy the fabric of Israel. when questioned a bit more essentially his views are: if we pull out these nutters move back to Israel!
Many Palestinians who I talk to ask what people in England think of them and almost beg me to make sure you all know that they are an intelligent, articulte group who feels their labnd has been taken and feel they have the right to resist. But they are not monsters, whatthey want is justice and peace
Secondly I really wanted to see it for myself how the whole system worked. its very difficult to find objective reporting on this area even if it is honest. And I realise this blog will be subjective.
Thirdly doing various political and sociological papers at university thought it might help that out!
Anyway arrived in Ben Guiron airport and was let through quickly - some activists get sent away but normally people who are returning. But I did not pack any pro Palestine literature. Then spent a day or two in Jerusalem seeing the old sights and going to a few churches. My tour guide was interesting and showed how deep the problem is. She is on the board of an interfaith group who meet to promote understanding between Muslims, Christians and Jews but even she felt that although they could coexist they would never mix. Which is a shame - Jerusalem is full of invisible boundaries that Jews, Muslims and Christians do not cross but which I, and other tourists, are oblivious to most of the time.
Following a few days here I moved onto Ramallah for training, and got shown a frightening array of the various instruments used by Israelis - sound bombs, tear gas canisters (often fired at people with great potential for injury and death) rubber bullets (which again can kill). Taught how to protect oneself, how ISM is a non-violent movement (which it is, despite what some might try and tell you.
After training we moved onto a demo . the wall has been built across these peoples land and so they have little access so every Friday they demonstrate and ask for internationals to go and document any Israeli Occupation force abuse. The march went up to the top of the hill with no problem and at the fence we were told we were here illegally, stating this was a controlled military zone - something which an officer can declare at anytime. We did not leave but protested by trying to remove barbed wire at various points of the wall. Israeli soldiers roughed up one Palestinian man who had not done much - they don't bother arresting international and Israelis as these people come up under Israeli law and it takes an age to prosecute.Eventually they arrested this man, a few people tried to hold on to this man to stop them taking him away (they can be detained for 8 days without seeing a judge and then held for 6 months in order to prevent them committing crimes, although they have a right to a defence they are not told what crimes they allegedly might have committed so its obviously a little difficult - 2,000 people are held like this). they pulled people off often by the neck or hair and then held the man blindfolded him and took him away. After a while the demonstration finished but there were running battles between youths throwing stones and soldiers firing tear gas and rubber bullets. We followed the soldiers and kept asking them what they were doing, which means we narrowly missed the odd stone.
I travelled from there t Tel Rumeida where there is an Israeli settlement, these settlers are nutcases, there are no other words for it. Very few of them work but they are funded by Israeli Jews who basically believe that they are reclaiming the holy land and they constantly attack Palestinians. two weeks ago they bottled one of my colleagues and almost blinded her, her vision is still not perfect. ( http://www.telrumeidaproject.org/Proposal_Background.html for info about another group working here). Our job is to make sure that they let the children get to school and back and generally be a presence to make the Palestinians feel safe. the street I am on was deserted but was once the main street, a checkpoint and the forced shutting of all shops (for security obviously). Many shops have been grafittied by pro Israel support. Although there was little trouble today when the children left school, one settler got a little close, I was threatened by Israeli soldiers.
They were on a patrol and one of them walked towards me but was called off, he then proceeded to kick stones and make remarks, he then came over to me and asked what i was doing. i said i was looking around, he then said that's a lie, we went on and he searched my bag of oranges (3 times!) and asked what was in my pocket (a video camera) - he then said it is dangerous here for you, you leave tomorrow. He kept repeating this while getting closer and closer to me and repeating this saying look into his eyes, its not safe. he then asked what I thought of Jews, what my Jewish friends thought of me and then kept repeating its not safe. its very threatening and with 4 soldiers with guns its not particularly nice. I had been intending on doing that but now I'm going to bloody stay.Settlers continued to spit and shout a little but there were lots of foreign ones (come to see how their millions are spent) who would say hello to us and were quickly told not to - obviously we don't look like the devil we are made out to be! The settlers hate us and i feel little compassion for them, i saw one bitten by a dog and didn't feel much compassion. I can see how easily the Palestinians can see these people as subhuman, most of the soldiers dislike then. this settlement is guarded by 4 soldiers to every one settler ! One soldier when questioned by a friend said he didn't want to pull out of the west bank as even though they should never have invaded it would destroy the fabric of Israel. when questioned a bit more essentially his views are: if we pull out these nutters move back to Israel!
Many Palestinians who I talk to ask what people in England think of them and almost beg me to make sure you all know that they are an intelligent, articulte group who feels their labnd has been taken and feel they have the right to resist. But they are not monsters, whatthey want is justice and peace
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