Hello there
Well I'm back home and already missing it out there, colleagues are being attacked in Hebron as a result, I guess, of the Israeli High Court Order, which the soldiers are already breaching. Palestinian contacts that we have out there are being attacked by polce and soldiers are detaining and blindfolding internationals out there.
Everyone I've spoken to who can be put in the broadly 'pro-Israeli' category, when I've shown them the evidence of Hebron has said 'well I don't agree with that and most Jews don't'. However for these people are not using their own resources to be there, if it was simply themselves wanting to be there they would have been chucked out a long time ago. The whole mechanism of the state is used to protect these people and keep them there. The army is the most obvious, but so are the fact that various ministries subsidise these settlements etc. etc. Israeli, which to the best of my knowledge, has the most proportional system of government in the world. It wouldn't take much to make sure that parties that support these initiatives in Hebron were voted out of power.
Internationals will keep going there and protecting the local Palestinian population, not just in Hebron but all over Palestine. No doubt its only a matter of time before another international is hurt or killed . One day hopefully these particular Jewish settlers here will be removed from Hebron. God knows where they will move - most Jews in Israel are not particuarly keen to have them living next door and Palestinians even less so!
Monday, January 1, 2007
Back home
Hello there
Well I'm back home and already missing it out there, colleagues are being attacked in Hebron as a result, I guess, of the Israeli High Court Order, which the soldiers are already breaching. Palestinian contacts that we have out there are being attacked by polce and soldiers are detaining and blindfolding internationals out there.
Everyone I've spoken to who can be put in the broadly 'pro-Israeli' category, when I've shown them the evidence of Hebron has said 'well I don't agree with that and most Jews don't'. However for these people are not using their own resources to be there, if it was simply themselves wanting to be there they would have been chucked out a long time ago. The whole mechanism of the state is used to protect these people and keep them there. The army is the most obvious, but so are the fact that various ministries subsidise these settlements etc. etc. Israeli, which to the best of my knowledge, has the most proportional system of government in the world. It wouldn't take much to make sure that parties that support these initiatives in Hebron were voted out of power.
Internationals will keep going there and protecting the local Palestinian population, not just in Hebron but all over Palestine. No doubt its only a matter of time before another international is hurt or killed . One day hopefully these particular Jewish settlers here will be removed from Hebron. God knows where they will move - most Jews in Israel are not particuarly keen to have them living next door and Palestinians even less so!
Well I'm back home and already missing it out there, colleagues are being attacked in Hebron as a result, I guess, of the Israeli High Court Order, which the soldiers are already breaching. Palestinian contacts that we have out there are being attacked by polce and soldiers are detaining and blindfolding internationals out there.
Everyone I've spoken to who can be put in the broadly 'pro-Israeli' category, when I've shown them the evidence of Hebron has said 'well I don't agree with that and most Jews don't'. However for these people are not using their own resources to be there, if it was simply themselves wanting to be there they would have been chucked out a long time ago. The whole mechanism of the state is used to protect these people and keep them there. The army is the most obvious, but so are the fact that various ministries subsidise these settlements etc. etc. Israeli, which to the best of my knowledge, has the most proportional system of government in the world. It wouldn't take much to make sure that parties that support these initiatives in Hebron were voted out of power.
Internationals will keep going there and protecting the local Palestinian population, not just in Hebron but all over Palestine. No doubt its only a matter of time before another international is hurt or killed . One day hopefully these particular Jewish settlers here will be removed from Hebron. God knows where they will move - most Jews in Israel are not particuarly keen to have them living next door and Palestinians even less so!
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Some good news
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.
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.
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)