Sheep and spotlights

Left photo: The watchtower of the illegal settlement outpost monitors the daily activity of nothing in Yanoun.

The loudest noises heard in Yanoun are the sheep and goat herds baaing along in the fields. The tiny village, split into Lower and Upper Yanoun, consists of about 16 families and is set on a little hill overlooking a quiet valley dotted with olive and flowering almond trees. Few cars come and go, the nearest small city is about a one-hour walk away, and most people spend their days herding sheep and goats. However, the average villager in Yanoun lives anything but a peaceful life.

Bright spotlights and a watchtower overlook the little village from the hilltop outposts (extensions) of the settlement of Itamar which surround the village. Itamar, an Israeli colony in the West Bank established in 1984, was initiated by followers of Rabbi Meir Kahane. Kahane’s Kach party was banned in Israel in 1998 because of “inciting racism.” They believe peace will occur only if Arab people are transferred out of the occupied territories. For more info on their movement and Itamar, check out their website at www.schechem.org/itamar.

Armed settlers regularly terrorize the villagers. There are accounts of numerous attacks on people, including stoning, beating, and shooting. Sheep were injured and killed, homes damaged, water and electricity infrastructure were destroyed, and a 90 year old shepard was beat with his own cane and lost an eye. Where can Yanoun villagers register complaints and seek security? Nowhere. Yanoun is in Area C of the West Bank which, according the Oslo Accords, places the village under complete Israeli control of security affairs. The Israeli military doesn’t do much in the way of policing Israeli settlers and protecting Palestinians… most of the time, they act to protect the interests of settlers. Right-wing Israeli settlers worked hard to make the Gaza Disengagement a sad media story featuring evacuated families suffering from the evil ways of the Israeli government… however in reality, there exists a close, supportive relationship between right-wing Israeli movements and mainstream governmental policy in Israel, as the continual support for West Bank settlements demonstrates.

In October of 2002, the last of the families of Yanoun packed their things and left for the nearby city of Aqraba because of the terror they faced from settlers on a regular basis in the past years. The next day, Ta’ayush, an Israeli peace group, organized internationals and Israelis to accompany the villagers back to their homes. Since then at the request of the villagers, there has been a continual international presence in Yanoun – to document events and hopefully deter violent settlers from entering.

small scale occupation

Kids from Revava, a nearby Israeli settlement, raise an Israeli flag over the structures they've built on the former land of a Palestinian farmer from Deir Istya.

A few days ago, we were called to monitor an unfortunately not-so-uncommon situation in the neighboring village. Some youth from the Israeli settlement of Revava had constructed 2 playhouse-like buildings, a flag pole, and a blue 6-foot-high Star of David on the land right below the settlement. The owner of the land, Abdel from Deir Istya, came upon the structures a few days ago: the army says the Revava settlers have papers that leased the land to them. Abdel says this isn't true. Who is believed?

It seems like a youth movement is building in the West Bank. The children of ideological (those that believe the land belongs to Jews/Israel) settlers have taken up the cause of their parents, supporting right-wing causes and traveling in large groups to stand with the to-be-evacuated settlers in the old city of Hebron this week. Reports from Hebron describe teenage girls spitting, kicking, throwing stuff and screaming at Palestinians and human rights activists.

The kids of Revava, along with their mayor who joined them, mostly just sent us hateful glares and rude comments. Again, this entire situation is illegal, according to international UN law: citizens may not be transferred to occupied territory from the occupying country. Settlements in the West Bank require security from Israel, therefore continuing and escalating the military presence in the region.

bullets

A boy in the village of Kufr Ei-Dik holds photos of his family shot with bullet holes. Two days ago, soldiers with military dogs ran into his home (and his 2 uncles and grandfather's homes as well), demanded everyone outside in the rain, and ransacked the place, throwing sound bombs into rooms, and shooting tons of bullets into dressers, clothes, refridgerators, walls... these photos were inside his closet. While in his grandparent's home, military dogs mistakenly attacked his 78-year-old grandmother in her bed - she was taken to a hospital nearby. The soldiers were looking for his 23-year-old cousin and finally found him and took him away, on unknown charges. Different legal systems exist for people living in the occupied Palestinian territories and for those living inside Israel... it's possible for Palestinians to be held in administrative "incommunicado" detention (without being able to speak to lawyers or family or have a trial) for up to 6 months, according to an Israeli legal organization.

Part of the work of IWPS is to monitor and document human rights abuses in the area in which we live, such as recording the evidence and images of the above situation. Inshallah (hopefully), someday there will compensation for war crimes and abuses in Palestine, and there will be some record of what happened...

Bil'in again

Last week's Bil'in demonstration focused on being able to walk, along with Israeli activists and internationals to the village's land (where currently an Israeli settlement is being illegally expanded). It didn't work. Sometimes I think of it like this: pretend are Canadian and you went to Sweden. Maybe you bought some land there and built some houses and sold them to your other Canadian friends. Maybe you even built a little fence around your compound. But is it okay to raise the Canadian flag, impose immigrant restrictions, have the Canadian military protect you, and announce it to be part of Canada? The same thing is happening here and some people think it's just fine.

more on bil'in

check out these journalist photos and updates from ISM:

http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/search?p=bil%27in&c=news_photos

http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2005/12/22/legal-palestinian-%e2%80%9coutpost%e2%80%9d-removed-immediately-hundreds-of-illegal-israeli-settlements-remai/

last week was pretty amazing! bil'in villagers set up a "caravan" (or trailer) on the land that legally belongs to them, but is illegally being expanded into more apartments for israeli settlers. it lasted, palestinian flag flying, with palestinians, internationals, and israeli activists spending time in the caravan, for two days. the army came in the dark at 7pm to arrest the people inside and lift the metal caravan away... no reason was given as to why the caravan or people there had to go.

voices

"They say to the people 'there is democracy here,' but no.... we're brothers, but this occupation is a problem. The soldiers are here to kill your soul. They want us to get used to this and to say to our children, 'it's a good occupation.' They are playing with our future."

Osamah, waiting to pass from Ramallah to East Jerusalem at Qalandia Checkpoint

art on walls

Stencil art on the wall next to Qalandia, the now-checkpoint, soon-to-be "border crossing" between the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Home

Hares, the village where IWPS (www.iwps.info) is based, is located close to the largest israeli settlement in the west bank (ariel) and some of the more right-wing extremist settlements as well. Here at the crossroads near our village entrace, the largest watchtower ever was just built by the army 3 days ago! you can see the bus stop awning below it for a size scale.

just the other day, 3 jeeps came into the village. after driving around a bit, soldiers jumped out with rifles pointed at various locations and videotaped the school, shops, and roads. they said it was for "intelligence gathering." army incursions into the village happens almost every other day. it definitely succeeds in frightening people on a regular basis.

Aboud

some awesome girls demonstrating against the wall in the village of aboud. the army created a razor-wire fence and prevented the people from crossing.

CPT in Iraq

here in the city of ramallah in the west bank, we stood with about 100 international activists and palestinians at a vigil for the Christian Peacemaker Team workers who are being held hostage in iraq. for more information about the CPTers, check out: http://www.cpt.org/

Bi'lin

some happy pictures to not bombard you with sadness! some of my friends in bi'lin, a village near ramallah. the villagers here have been demonstrating against the wall EVERY week on a regular basis.

also here are some photos of the demonstration at bi'lin. the israeli settlement nearby is illegally expanding, contstructing more homes and roads into the olive groves of bi'lin, without permission. here, villagers hold signs in hebrew, arabic and english reading "this land belongs to (name of a person in the village)." the peaceful demo was met with violence from the military anyway (see below as a man from bi'lin was beaten and arrested.

This photo is from last year, but I wanted to include it anyway. It's from a demonstration in the village of Saffa where the giant cement "security" wall was being built directly on Saffa's land. Here, an older man breaks down in tears as he watches his own olive trees being torn out of the ground to make way for a wall being built to "protect Israel".

please see this!

If you are in any of the places this show is touring, please consider checking out "An Olive on the Seder Plate": a multimedia performance exploring how progressive Jews wrestle with the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It's funny and incredible and I highly recommend it: http://www.libertycabbage.org/

soldiers

Kids in army uniforms are everywhere. When you turn 18 years old as an Israeli citizen, you begin your 3 year mandatory military service. It has become part of the normal every day life in Israel to sit on a bus next to green-clad soldiers with backpacks heading home for the weekend or to see teenaged girls shopping with rifles slung across their backs. Initially it is shocking to see someone who looks like they are in middle school holding a gun, but you sort of get over it and just begin to accept it as normal.

Do they want to be there? There seem to be a lot of answers. Some Israelis I've met say: No way, this is slavery, completely forced on me, I would rather be studying/ working/ traveling/ doing anything else but giving away 3 years of my youth. Others say: I don’t like it but it is necessary for my country, or the famous “I’m just doing my job” line. Still others probably love the power it gives them.

What is it like here in Palestine when high-schoolers have guns, camo, and a walkie-talkie? I still think that lots of 18 year olds in any society are trying to get out of being treated like a kid... finally here they are able to call the shots. They can control other people’s lives now! And too often, you see it at checkpoints or demonstrations where these young people act in an unnecessarily violent or condescending manner towards Palestinians.

Why don’t the ones who hate it find some way out of it? There are some ways to do so – psychological or physical exemption, claiming you are a pacifist (but this only works if you are female!?!), etc. I asked a couple of people why more don’t find a way out if they would rather not be there, and the answer was basically that it is really looked down upon to do that... of course most people this age just want to fit in and be accepted.

What about refusing? Well, not only are you probably outcast from the mainstream youth culture, but you also might face jail time. However, the movement of “refuseniks” is growing; and it is a really exciting thing to hear. Last week at a demonstration, I met an 18 year old anarchist who told me about an action at her high school involving chaining herself to fence in protest of a visit from a military lecturer. So there is hope for changing this increasingly militarized, violence-is-normal society. Click here to read an inspiring and awesome letter written by high school students refusing to join the military: http://www.shministim.org/letterenglish.html

enclosed

Today we visited the home of Muneera, a woman living with her husband and 6 children in the village of Mas’ha. But instead of just walking into her home like any normal place, we are again reminded that this is Palestine, and people are not free to do whatever they wish.

Muneera’s home is completely, on all sides, surrounded by the Israeli “security fence.” When you look from the house, you see a giant cement wall out the door. The rest of the enclosure is made up of a tall metal fence with barbed wire curling around the top. There is one door-sized gate in the fence next to the cement wall. This is how Muneera lets us in with the key the army gave her. Her family must unlock and lock the gate each time they enter or leave.

About 50 yards behind the house is Elkana settlement, built 15 years ago. Just like having a new housing development built behind your home, right? Except this week she told us that the residents (settlers) were throwing stones at their house, making loud noises in the middle of the night and reminding the Palestinian family of their sad situation.

Muneera’s home was built 33 years ago and she has lived there for 23. So when Israel notified her that there was to be a settlement built on her land, and that she would have to relocate, she refused. Even with some compensation, it is not very acceptable in Palestinian society to sell their land to Israelis and to increase excuses for military occupation. Muneera chose to stay because it is her home and show it to the world with the hope that publicizing this ridiculous situation could bring about change.

The family lives an uncomfortable life. Her husband’s greenhouses and chicken farm were destroyed during the beginning of the second intifada, leaving little income for the family. Muneera tells us that the children are not healthy emotionally, growing up in a cage atmosphere where friends’ parents refuse to allow visits. And she leaves very infrequently, fearing that if no one is in the house, something will happen to it.

There is one beautiful thing here. With the assistance of some local organizations and a mural artist, children from the village gathered here last year and painted bright scenery of birds flying and other images of peaceful lives onto the gray cement wall. (see photos!)

stones and bullets

For the past couple of days, Ana and I have been sitting at a bus station in Qawara Bani Zeit. Well, really a covered blue cement bench next to a road. We were sitting there as it is right next to the boys’ school. In the past, there have been some pretty serious interactions with the army in the schoolyard.

Often, military jeeps will pass through the town. You know it because the whole community starts this whistling to alert everyone else at the other end. The armored trucks seem to slow down at the boys’ school, (some will say) provoking youth to respond by throwing stones. The soldiers can retaliate as they see fit... tossing loud sound bombs or tear gas into the schoolyard, shooting rubber bullets, or perhaps live ammunition as they did in 2003, killing 2 kids. Another time, some students were chased out to a nearby hillside where 16-year-old Rafat was seriously injured from gunshots. Kids are harassed on their way to school, sometimes prevented from arriving, and in general, seem to be targeted for little games by soldiers.

You will often see photos of Palestinian shebab (young boys and men) hurling stones at protests towards soldiers. I’ve seen it at demonstrations, too. Stone throwing is a complicated issue. People debate whether or not it is a nonviolent act. Tossing stones at bulletproof tanks will not likely cause harm, but I think it can be argued that it intends to... rendering it, in my opinion, as NOT a nonviolent act of resistance. What it definitely DOES do is encourage soldiers to respond with crowd-dispersing or deathly weapons, that is for sure. Why do they do it in the first place? At the most recent protest, I asked an 18-year-old what he thought about it... he replied that the soldiers have guns, Israel has bulldozers, what else do these kids have... nothing but the ground they are standing on.

the other palestine

The other day, a friend of one of the organization’s members invited us all to his home for a meal in the village of Yassouf. After stuffing us full of amazing Palestinian food, he brought us to a nearby garden. In fact, it was a community garden! And it was really, really old and so green. Lots of lemon and orange trees with tons growing, budding pomegranate and fig trees, a natural spring running through it... really awesome. He brought us to his spot, gave us lemons and told us to come back when the vegetables are growing and the occupation is over so we can see what a lovely country this really is.

roadblocks and flying checkpoints

As I said before, things are just so ridiculous. Maybe an example to describe what I mean:

Yesterday in the late afternoon, the house received a phone call from a Palestinian friend, a woman who was on her way to our home for a women’s group workshop on using the internet. Apparently she had been waiting over an hour at a checkpoint not too far away in Azzawiye. Could we help move it along at all?

Renee and I left for the ride over. It took two taxis to get there because you have to change at Qawara as there are 5 giant cement blocks in the middle of the road. This is called a “roadblock.” It prevents people from moving their vehicles (and whatever they may be carrying in them: furniture, oranges, old people...) on their own roads.

We arrived at the checkpoint and found about 30 cars lined up and about 60 people waiting in line on each side. A “checkpoint” is usually a permanent spot with a few Israeli soldiers checking everyone’s ID card and inspecting cars. This one was a “flying checkpoint,” or a temporary one set up for the afternoon, day, week, year, who knows.

The checkpoint was guarded by 4 bored teenagers dressed in army fatigues. I have to say, these were the most obnoxious soldiers I had come across yet. One stood off to the side on a grassy hill smoking, presumably on some sort of break, a sunglassed commander strolled around doing nothing, while the other two slowly SLOWLY checked people and cars through one or two at a time, mostly in an impatient and rude manner. For some reason it seemed like our presence of somebody watching from the sidelines (taking photos and writing pretend notes) encouraged the soldiers to move a little quicker.

At one point, people were not lined up appropriately, and the soldier sent the ones he called forward back into the line and made everyone stand behind an imaginary line in the road and start over. After he called the next young man forward, the soldier had him empty his bags and pockets and lift his shirt and pant legs to check for whoknowswhat. It made me so angry... the Palestinian people have immense patience to deal with this on a daily basis.

A waiting Palestinian man called us over and pointed behind him, “These older women have been here for 2 hours. One is diabetic and shaking and needs to get through.” It is a human rights violation to not allow sick people to pass. After forcefully letting the soldiers know this info, the very ill woman walked across with the assistance of two people. The soldier almost didn’t let the people accompanying her cross over as well...

Someone told me that if you want to get someplace on time in Palestine, you need to leave a day early. It is so true! You never know when you will be waiting in line for two hours at a checkpoint, whether one day a new roadblock will appear on your way to work, or if you will simply be refused entry through a passage for some reason. It is obvious that it is not a very strategic way to ensure “security” as Israel would have us believe... it seems a lot more like it is a way to keep Palestinians from moving freely, reminding them who is “in charge” of this land, and basically wearing down spirit and energy to struggle against this occupation.

What would you do if you were forced to be completely submissive to some kid with a gun to somehow protect his people from yours, practically every single day?

settlers, outposts, plowing, and pruning

I was surprised when i first saw Magid pruning his olive trees. He was sawing off huge branches instead of the small pieces one usually prunes off of trees to keep them growing in a suitable shape. Turns out it was the first time Muhammad and Magid (brothers) had been out to maintain their fields in four years (since the the second intifada).

Today I went with an Israeli activist group called rabbis for human rights on a seasonal outing: accompanying Palestinian farmers in plowing their fields and pruning in their olive groves. I went along with a few other international observers, Magid, Muhammad, his little son Jamal, and their mother to their land near the small village of Awarta near the Palestinian city of Nablus. The brothers spent all morning plowing with the help of their mule and pruning back the surrounding trees. It was tough work as it had not been tended to in four years...

It sounds like a nice afternoon and it was... until the 8 young Israeli settlers came by with guns strapped across their backs. You see, the brothers’ agricultural land is located in a fertile valley surrounded by low hills. Up on these hills, you can see a number of trailer house type things, with some electric lines protruding from the rocky landscape. If you squint your eyes, you can make out a tall wire fence with barbed wire encasing these trailers. These spots are called “outposts.” They are Israeli “pioneers” (at least that is what they usually see themselves as) who often believe they are claiming their biblical right to the land of the West Bank. Many are sure that once they create temporary housing (trailers), and start to create an infrastructure around it (electricity, water lines, roads, etc.) then the next logical step is permanent buildings and the development of an “Israeli” town. Which is what tends to happen. The only problem is that it is really in Palestinian land! And they have settled there illegally! The settlers really are the scariest people here, to me. They answer to no one (as opposed to the Israeli military) and are often violent and destructive in their efforts at keeping the Palestinians away from their land near the outposts. There are accounts of them cutting down ancient olive trees, dumping sewage into water sources, and just generally walking around with weapons and terrorizing Palestinians who are just trying to live in Palestine.

As for today, the settlers just came and went without any problems. Well no problems besides a continuous threatening presence for Palestinians. And a frightening reminder of the deep mistrust and hatred that needs to be changed to get anywhere...

*****

Just an example of the extreme kindness of the Palestinian people:
My friend left her camera in a taxi... I am pretty sure that in most places, you would have lost it for good. But she tracked it down, through a complicated network of friends, uncles, taxi drivers, etc. and found it! The three of us went to a nearby village to pick it up from the original taxi driver. But we couldn’t leave that easily. First we were invited to tea at his home, then to have coffee and meet the family of another friend, and we had to plea to get back as it was getting late.

A friend of mine describes it as “hos(tage)pitality.” And there are people who are convinced that Palestinians want nothing more than to kill others... if only they would sit down to tea and talk.

hitchhiking and racism

The other day, a friend and I were forced to catch a ride on a settler highway. Palestinians are forbidden to travel on these roads (belonging to Israel but in the West Bank??) without special permits. (Also, don’t worry, hitching rides is way normal here). The driver pulled over, let my friend in, and then stopped to ask me where I was from... I replied and he answered, “Well I’m sorry but you looked Arab and you just can’t be too sure these days...”

The word “Arab” is used at all times by many people referring to the situation here... not only is it a word to generalize huge numbers of people in the world, but it is also in place of “Palestinians,” robbing them of their own nationality, even in speech. Ah, the racism is so obvious and permitted! Feeling anger about it doesn’t seem to get you anywhere here.