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Part I: (ISM activists notes and reports)
Jenin, June 27th, 2002 Dear friends, I have been in Jenin for over a week now and it has taken me this time to find Internet connection, and also to absorb the devastation around me so I may write. In Jenin we are under a total curfew, which gets lifted every day for a few hours like now - though shortly the Israeli tanks and jeeps will come rolling through the city center. During curfew the streets are completely deserted, houses and storefronts are shuttered. Nobody goes outside for fear of being shot. This is the reality here. In April of this year, Jenin suffered two weeks of bombing by Israeli F16 and Apache Attack helicopters. The devastation of the camp from this bombing stretches about the length of three football fields. Where there used to be streets and houses, there is now only rubble that stretches about 30 feet high - resembling New York1s ground zero before the clean up. But unlike New York there will be no clean up here and instead the Israeli soldiers with their tanks and jeeps have moved back in to reoccupy the town. The Israeli military has systematically ripped up all water pipes and sewage mains and have shot down water tanks. There is a shortage of water, and there are pools of sewage everywhere. During the few hours that curfew is lifted, children desperate just to play after having been locked inside for so long, play here amongst the rubble and the sewage. We don't know how many bodies may be underneath the huge pile of rubble, nor do we know if there are any un-exploded devices. When I first arrived in Jenin, the Israeli soldiers had already rounded up and taken away all of Jenin's men between the ages of 15 and 55 that they could find. There are only women, children, and old men left, but still the Israeli soldiers insist on continuing their house-to-house searches, with dogs. They are in the habit of entering the houses, harassing residents and wrecking and vandalising their homes. As an example of the constant harassment to residents, in one case, a family I know was left with no water after soldiers had taken the last of their water supply and given it to their dogs. Last night I walked by as soldiers were just leaving a house that they had succeeded in basically gutting. With them they were taking the 70-year-old father who has a heart problem. By arresting the old father they hope that the son that they are looking for will come out of hiding and turn himself in. I am staying in the house of a wonderful woman (whose name I shall not mention) and her family in the Jenin Camp. In April, Israeli soldiers shot her brother in the back and killed him. Her mother was also shot by soldiers and died two days later in her house because all ambulances were refused entry into the camp. Missiles then demolished her house. Now she is staying at her brother1s house. The very morning that I arrived her husband and her two brothers were taken away by the Israeli soldiers and the house was subsequently surrounded by tanks. Her husband and one of her brothers have since been returned. The other brother still remains " disappeared. " People in the camp are terrified. This story is not special. It is a typical experience in almost every household throughout the camp. My second day in Jenin at about ten in the morning, all the tanks withdrew to the periphery of the town. Thinking this as a sign that curfew had temporarily been lifted, people ran out of their homes to the market to get badly needed food and water. The tanks automatically moved in and opened fire into the civilian crowd at the market, wounding many and killing three children and one old man. Remember, all men had previously been arrested and taken out of Jenin. I am here with a group of members of the International Solidarity Movement, helping to get food and medicine to people where needed under curfew and following the Israeli solders as they go from house to house trying our best to make them at least moderate their behavior and not vandalize people's homes. In one such case, the soldiers decided to put on a show for us and told us that they were in fact very kind to people. As we were standing outside being told this, other solders went into the house and vandalized it. The solder then told us the Palestinian family who lived in the house had vandalized it themselves before the soldiers had arrived. Ambulances here are being stopped at checkpoints and often are refused to proceed further even though they may be carrying wounded or women giving birth. During the two-week missile attacks in April, all ambulances were grounded for the two weeks. Yesterday I was outside the hospital when an ambulance arrived carrying the body of a seven year old child shot in the back with live ammunition and killed for having thrown a stone at a tank. Fifteen minutes later another ambulance sped up being chased by two tanks. While one tank had its guns trained on the ambulance and the hospital (and me), the other tank managed to rip up the electricity lines to the hospital causing black outs at all three of Jenin's hospitals. They are now running off generators. Last Wednesday the Israeli soldiers blew up the offices of the Al-Razi hospital, claming that guns were being hidden in the hospital office safe. After they blew it up there was money everywhere but no guns. The Aman-Cairo bank suffered the same fate. After its safes were blown up, no guns were found there either. Today I spent my morning at the boys school where they are taking the end of year exams. Although the schools have been closed, the Israeli military allowed the exams to take place. In Bethlehem and in Ramallah, the Israeli soldiers rounded up all the teenage boys sitting exams and arrested them. We were afraid the same would be true in Jenin, but the students completed the exams and went home. What is most disturbing to me about the past few weeks being here is the scarcity of journalists and relief organizations. There are virtually no outside witness to the horrible destruction of Jenin and its residents. Everything lies untold and untouched. This fills me with so much sadness, especially when the people of Jenin have welcomed me here so warmly. They take great pains to make sure that I understand that they do not harbor resentment against the American people but rather the American government for financing what is a war of terror against them. And truly I have witnessed nothing but a brutal war that is being waged by the Israeli military against an unarmed civilian population whose spirit the solders are systematically trying to break. As one man said to me: " The tanks have broken the roads, they have broken the fields, they have broken the buildings, and now the tanks are trying to break me. " To all of my friends in the United States, please help do something to wake up the American people to the terrible war crimes that are being played out here as I am writing to you. We must take responsibility and not sit quietly while it is our tax dollars that are making this dirty war possible. Israel must be made to withdraw it1s military immediately from Gaza and the West Bank. Israel must dismantle all it1s illegal settlements and implement a two state solution where a Palestinian State will exist alongside an Israeli state. Palestinians must be allowed to live as people as we do. They must be given the opportunity for hope, rights, freedom, dignity, water, and a future worth living! Here are two cell phone numbers where I can be reached. Calling from the United States you dial 011 972 53 869 307 or 011 972 55 558 954. Rebecca A note from Penny: 6/28 just to let you know i made it through customs! whew.....in case this is useful to others, what i said was that i was a doctoral student coming to work on my dissertation with a member of my committee who lives here (which is true) and to do research at hebrew u. in jerusalem -- i wore my glasses, etc..... have connected with george rishmawi and adam shapiro, plans aren't final yet but i am hoping to connect with ISM on saturday. If so, i may not be back on email for a week....Unfortunately, the human chain for peace, along the Green Line (one of the main reasons i pushed to get here right now, along with many others!) is not happening (and you should spread this around) because the Israeli partner, Peace Now, decided that after months of work mostly by the Palestinian groups, this wasn't the 'right time'....sigh. Again the Palestinians are abandoned by the israeli mainstream peace movement.... spent a good day with israeli peace activist friends terry greenblatt and haya shalom, tomorrow will go to women in black and see Palestinian friends Suha and Zakaria....tonight haya drove me around the city, to a place i love with a great view, above the 'forest of peace' -- haya's sweet little dog befriended a palestinian family, and it was just good to see the little boys trusting enough to come over, at our beckoning, and play and talk to us. My guess is that these moments are more precious than ever these days... also, here's my cell phone: try this one first to reach me, since it's cheaper than the other one (and feel free to give this out as well): 011-972-5-639-4802... take care! love penny A note from Jim: 6/27 Hey folks, Cathy M and I (Jim Harris) have made it here to Faisal Youth Hostel after spending an interesting evening in W.Jerusalem. Cathy had no problem going thru airport security, Jim had several security people have ask why he was there. The tour book helped, having things marked (or a written list of things to see) helped. In Jerusalem met this Jewish woman from Indiana who had just migrated. She was friendly, saying she had been waiting to do this for a long time. The question comes up, why does this woman have a right to migrate to this land, and folks who have been uprooted not? That is my thought for the day, gotta go we are off to eat breakfast. Peace and all that, Jim A note from Rae's support: 6/28 From Eric's friend in Connecticut (Eric is Rae's son). She says Rae and Eric are safe. Please excuse duplicate postings. Original Message Friday, June 28, 2002 7:09 AM [Pacific] Subject: Call from Eric (2) Eric, Rae and Susan (from International Solidarity Movement) successfully pulled off a peaceful demonstration in the town of Nablus today. With the help of twenty ISM'ers they safely marched in protest of the ongoing curfew. I did not ask whether or not they were joined by locals. Hopefully some media attention will come of this. Keep a watch out for CNN coverage and such. A note from Mary E's support: 6/27 I spoke with Mary today at around 10 pm Palestine time, and scribbled furiously while she told me stories... First off, I should say that Mary sounds really well. Tired, with an ever-deepening, ever-more-personalized understanding of just what life is like under the siege of military occupation, but well. Her spirit is strong, and her humor is very much alive! Today Mary and her group of 18 ISM folx are in Ramallah at a hospital (the same hospital that famously had to bury 18-20 people in the parking lot because the Israeli army wouldn't let the bodies be taken to a cemetary). They came in through the Qalandia (sp?) checkpoint this morning. The checkpoints are " blasted out, dusty places, filled with lots of people with guns and anti-vehicle barriers. " Wendy was taking pictures of the checkpoint, and one of the soldiers was trying to look tough, posing with his gun, asking her if he looked good before she took the picture. She gave him a thumbs up. She started taking pictures of the snipers overlooking the checkpoint until one of them started screaming at her in Hebrew to stop. Their taxi driver who had taken them to the checkpoint (legally) had his ID confiscated by the Army. Sometimes they just take people's papers and hold them for many hours, sometimes they arrest them, all completely capriciously. The ISMers tried to get the Israelis to give it back to him, apparently to no avail. There is a curfew in effect in Ramallah, and has been since they arrived. They were met at the checkpoint leading into Ramallah by Huweida (one of the ISM coordinators in Palestine). When they made it in, she said " Wow - I had no idea that you were going to get through " . They then were driven (all 18 of them in two taxis), through the rubble-filled back alleys of Ramallah. Since there is a curfew in effect, the drivers are taking a real risk. They use these little wiggly dirt lanes that wind around the rubble of blown up houses. Every fifth house is rubble, and there are burnt out cars everywhere. The Israelis find out which houses don't have permits, and blow them up - citing the importance of following the law. All of the people in Mary's group are really tired and a bit delerious. They had a system where Wendy was acting as the one who brought up the rear and made sure that everyone made it to Huweida's house. While she was doing that, everyone else forgot to check on her, and she and a friend got left behind. She tried to call them, but called them on their passport numbers instead of their cellphone numbers. It turns out that she was just outside, and once she got inside, she got locked inside the bathroom - everyone was just laughing hysterically, nervous, relieved, overwhelmed. At one point during their training Jon (big guy) was reading from a manual that said " when the bullets come, get down... " So everyone started doing these James Brown imitations. When they got there, the Israelis were busy blowing up cars in the hospital parking lot, so they waited at Huweida's " until [the Israelis] got their aggression out " . As they were walking the half-block to the hospital, 18 somewhat bedraggled peace activists, dragging their luggage and supplies with them, little kids would pop out of yards and windows and excitedly yell at them, and give them peace signs. One woman looked over her fence, and said " oh, you are so lucky to be outside " . The kids defy the curfew all the time - " they have an incredibly high level of fuck-with-it " . There is a " casual level of disregardedness, it's treated like and endless game " . There is a " profound level of fuck-with-you harassment, utterly pointless " . The Palestinians are " pissed, hopeless, sweet " . Once they got to the hospital, a doctor talked with them for a while, telling them his story, and his understanding of the conflict. He said " I will not forgive " - his father had been killed when he was a boy, nine of his friends had been killed, and of course he saw the devastation wrought on other people who came to the hospital. He told them a story: One day the Israelis set a 6:00 pm curfew and told them that anyone who left after 6:00 would be killed. One of the hospital staff left at 5:30 to go home, and the Israelis promptly killed him. The hospital staff, enraged, asked why, and the Israelis told them " Oh, we know him, it takes him an hour to get home " . The hospital staff then brought out a photo album that they had put together of the effects of the invasion. Apparently the Israelis kill anyone who is any kind of activist - peace activist, nonviolent, etc. One man was targeted, and the Israelis killed his wife and children when they blew up his car trying to kill him - Mary's group were shown pictures. There were plenty of horrifying images, people with every kind of bullet wound, houses being bombed by Apache helicopters, and so on. At the hospital where Mary is staying, the same man always takes the garbage out. Every time that he does this, the Israelis take his papers away, and make him wait for a long time. The Palestinian hospital staff live there for a week at at time since it takes 6 or more hours to travel what should be a 7 minute walk - it's just not worth it to try to go home every night. Several times while we were talking gunfire could be heard. The Israelis were shooting at someone. The hospital guys who were sitting outside smoking just ignored them. The US media (including the " alternative " media) has done little reporting on how many non-violent protests are held regularly by Palestinians throughout the occupied territories. Frequently, when the curfew lifts, people will hold a protest. Mary Samson had a really hard time in Cairo (she flew in there on her way to Palestine) - her plane was reported to have a bomb on board. She looked outside, and there were lots of incredibly bright arc lights, and the place was swarming with soldiers. Mary looks like she might be Palestinian (though she is entirely of northern European heritage), and apparently she was heavily interrogated. Her things were taken and not returned. She had a very difficult time. A note from Tracie about Mary S: 6/28 Mary S. called at 7am 6/28 to report of a successful action in Nablus that had just finished (about 5pm Palestine time). About 50 local and 50 ISM volunteers had a peaceful march to the center of Nablus to demand an end the curfew. The only IDF presence during the demonstration/ march were snipers on rooftops. There were no tanks or weapons- very peaceful. 0no weapons on march... very peaceful. Mary noted that more Palestinians felt comfortable and came out on the streets at the end of the march. The streets of Nablus have been much like a ghost town, as Nablus has been under lockdown curfew for the past 8 days. Reuters and AP were there to cover the successful action. There was a note added that somebody died in an ambulence that Rae was escorting. From CPT Hebron June 28, 2002 After a day of relative calm, several helicopters began hovering over the city at 11:15pm. Within ten minutes, a massive explosion occurred towards the center of H1. The force of the explosion caused the windows on the team apartment to swing open and the building to shake. CPTers observing from the roof of the team apartment saw a large plume of smoke rising from the area of the Muqata'a, or headquarters of the Palestinian Authority in Hebron. Israeli forces have held the headquarters and surrounding civilian neighborhood under siege since Tuesday morning. Fifteen people are believed to have been inside the building, according to various news sources. June 29 2002 International Solidarity Movement Report from Nablus Currently there are more than six villages around the West bank city of Nablus that have been cut off completely by the Israeli Occupation Forces.Tanks, armored personnel carriers (APC's) and bulldozers have created barriers four to five feet in width from dirt and concrete. At many of these barriers the soldiers have created ad hoc checkpoints where they harass, humiliate and prevent the movement of the local Palestinian population. Some villages have been put under curfew, equivalent to house arrest, and all are suffering from the lack of commerce and food deliveries. This morning the main road exiting from Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus has been bulldozed, but locals have resisted and filled in a small path for cars to pass. Due to the deep cuts of the bulldozers a sewage line was severed. Raw sewage is running down the street almost reaching nearby Askar Refugee Camp. Curfew in Nablus has prevented any substantive work from being done to fix this awful and risky situation. This afternoon internationals witnessed the closure of Boreen, a small Palestinian village. Susan Barclay, Eric and Rae Levine were on ambulance duty with the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees. From the ambulance they watched and photographed Israeli bulldozers, protected by an APC, dig a trench across the only road linking Boreen with the rest of the world. The dirt has been piled high and the internationals have been instructed by the occupation forces that all of the villages are inaccessible but are not closed military zones. Later, still in the ambulance, they met a group of students who told the internationals that they had been picked up by soldiers. The men were separated out, blindfolded, tied and taken to an unknown detention area. They were later released but some without their identity cards, making it impossible for them to go home. Denial of Water The village of Beit Farik has a population of 12,000 and Beit Dajan has 3,500. Only one road leads to these two villages and that road is flanked on each side by Israeli colonies. Palestinians say that they cannot walk this road because of the heavy military presence and the fear of being shot by colonists. The intensity of the situation increased recently when Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a home in the colony of Itamar earlier this month. Every year there is a water shortage in the villages and normally water is purchased and trucked in. Currently there are two water trucks sitting at an Israeli military checkpoint and are being denied entry. Internationals investigated this situation and report that the checkpoint consists of six cement blocks and five pillars of concrete that form a small occupation forces camp with tanks and APC's. The villages have received no water and are desperate for the deliveries. As a general principle, in both internal and international armed conflict it is lawful to attack only military objectives. From this derives the rule stated in Article 54 of the first of the two 1977 Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions that starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited. Denying the civilian population water is just as illegal as denying them food. (Crimes of War p.377) We represent the United States, Canada, Israel, UK and call on our governments and peoples to condemn these acts of barbarism. For more information: Rae Levine 972 (0) 56 382 317 Eric Levine 972 (0) 57 380 414 Susan Barclay can be reached at either of the above numbers. Dear CNN: Things have changed. Used to be that we had no other access to news than newspapers and TV. But now we know people who are e-mailing us directly from places like Palestine and Afghanistan and Belgium -- people who have actually watched the news as it was being made. Their stories are a lot different from what we get on CNN and from the New York Times. In the future, will you please try to make the gap between what we know is actually going on and what we see on the news -- a little more realistic. Thank you. Best regards, Jane Stillwater, Berkeley, CA Update and Appeal on the Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in Light of President Bush Speech Palestinian Church Related Organizations Jerusalem, June 28, 2002 With the reoccupation of Hebron on the morning of June 25th, practically all towns and cities in the Palestinian Territories, with the exception of Jericho, have come under direct Israeli army occupation. Well over two million inhabitants live under Israeli army imposed curfew for most of the time. In some localities, the Israeli army allows the inhabitants a couple of hours every two to three days in order to stock up on food and other basic commodities. Reports from all parts of the West Bank and Gaza indicate increased and abject poverty among the population and one friend who visited Nablus recently told us that he had never seen such poverty among the population... Another friend informed us that in Bethlehem there are families who practically beg for a loaf of bread for their children.... President Bush in his speech of June 24th 2002 put the entire burden on the Palestinian side in order to get out of the present impasse. By so doing, he absolved the Sharon-led Israeli government from its responsibilities of presenting a political program that would spell out or at least indicate its plans to end occupation not simply that which started in September 2000 but the original occupation of June 1967. While all of us would like to see an end to suicide bombings, achieving this could not be simply a one-sided affair, as it needs to be paralleled by Israeli expressed willingness to end occupation and live as good neighbors, and not as hegemonic occupiers and oppressors, to Palestinians.... Granted, we Palestinians are in dire need of genuine reform. But such reform cannot be undertaken under the barrels of Israeli guns and tanks. The impromptu discussions that Palestinians engage in on side streets and in sitting rooms all indicate an overwhelming consensus that things need to change, not to please Mr. Bush or anybody else, but in order to spell out our own vision for our society and its future. Unfortunately, this is something we have not done since the Oslo accords and we should have....But as important we need to decide ourselves on our own program and political agenda whether as they relate to issues and concerns internal to Palestinian society or whether as they deal with the thorny relationships with the Israelis. The Israelis cannot escape their responsibilities either. The absence of a clear political program by the Israeli government is tantamount to saying that military occupation would continue. The Israeli policy of destroying the Palestinian governmental and civil society infrastructure is accompanied by continued settlement activity on Palestinian lands. The Israeli government claims that it is fighting potential suicide bombers when it places hundreds of thousands of innocent civilian Palestinians all over the West Bank and Gaza under house arrest for days on end. Even relief and emergency efforts are hindered by the Israeli military from reaching the besieged population, despite claims by the Israeli government that it facilitates and does not obstruct such efforts. The trigger-happy Israeli soldiers often demolish personal and public property, cause injury and death and prohibit ordinary people as well as the sick and elderly from crossing from one locality to another within the West Bank and Gaza Strip. By blaming the National Authority for all the ills of the current situation, the Israeli government lifts off the responsibility that lies squarely on the shoulders of its Prime Minister and other Ministers for the human rights infractions that are committed on a daily and continuous basis against innocent Palestinian civilians by the Israeli occupying army. President Bush by putting the entire burden on the Palestinians to find a way out of the present deadlock mirrors the Israeli blame of the Palestinian Authority and Palestinians, in general. Given the current situation and in light of President Bush speech, we the undersigned call on our partners and friends worldwide to: Address your governments and various constituencies on the need for the Israeli government to come up with a clear plan that specifies its intention to vacate the occupied territories not simply those occupied since September 2000 but also those occupied since June 1967. Ask your governments, particularly the EU governments, to adopt one stand that would insist on the need to have an Israeli commitment to ending the occupation, and to an immediate pullout from the occupied Palestinian cities and towns, as part of the process and deliberations that would lead to the creation of a democratic and pluralistic Palestinian state, in accordance with all UN relevant resolutions. Stress on the Israeli government and/or its representatives abroad that the infractions that its army is carrying out in the occupied Palestinian territories and at the military checkpoints throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip go contrary to basic human rights as reflected in international declarations and conventions. The Palestinian people, in light of these continuous infractions, are in need of an international force of protection. Ask the Israeli government and its representatives abroad to honor its own claims that it does not hinder relief and emergency efforts by local and international aid organizations to the besieged and curfewed Palestinian population. Note that Israel's actual behavior on the ground on this matter is contrary to the Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response and the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief based on International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Convention to which a majority of countries were signatories, including Israel. Emphasize to the Israeli government and its representatives abroad that continued curfews and closures imposed on the Palestinian population not only affect adversely the economic and social welfare of the population but also contribute to psychological and pedagogical damage that would obstruct tremendously the prospects for eventual peace making between Palestinians and Israelis. Address your governments and the various media on the need for the American Administration to adopt a balanced and even-handed policy towards the two parties in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and especially to emphasize that its present policy is causing extreme human suffering to the whole Palestinian people, and is engendering ever-lasting hatred between East and West. Indicate to Palestinians your willingness to support them as they contemplate the important questions pertaining to their society and the challenges of transformations they are likely to experience in the coming couple of years. Continue your support to your Palestinian partners as they strive to serve their people amidst most difficult circumstances. Join hands with all those willing to work for an immediate end of Israeli occupation. Only then can an environment conducive to the eventual resumption of negotiations between the two sides be created.We aspire for your prayers, good thoughts and action, as our country appears destined to continue experiencing the vicious cycle of occupation and counter occupation. One inspiring thought to those who not only do not see the light at the end of the tunnel but also do not see the tunnel itself in our present tragic situation: there is always light to those who care to see it and work to make it shine on the lives of the oppressed, occupied, besieged and all those who suffer because of the injustice of our situation. May all our efforts add up to end injustice!
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