International Solidarity Movement
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Foreign human shields stay in Palestinian towns Published by Reuters by Michael Rose August 01, 2001 BEIT JALA, West Bank International peace activists volunteering as "human shields" in Palestinian areas, where Israeli forces are continuing to target Palestinian civilians, said on Wednesday they would step up their efforts despite the dangers. The International Solidarity Movement has ended the first phase of its program, in which Western volunteers stayed as guests in Palestinian towns under attack. It plans to expand its activities this month by helping Palestinians to dismantle roadblocks and challenge village closures by Israeli forces. A group of 18 Americans stayed in the Palestinian village of Beit Jala on Tuesday night as it came under bombardment from Israeli tanks stationed in the Jewish settlement of Gilo, which is one of many Jewish settlements on Arab land deemed illegal by the international community.
	Palestinian couple looks Wednesday August 1, 2001, at the damaged buildings hit Tuesday night during the shelling of Beit Jala
Since the Palestinian Intifada (uprising) against Israeli occupation of Arab land began 10 months ago, there have been frequent, sometimes heavy, fire by Israeli soldiers positioned in Gilo targeting Palestinians in Beit Jala. "It was unreal," said Bill Durland, a university professor from Colorado. "It was something you sometimes see on a screen but you are never actually that close to the sound of mortars going off and shells coming in." Durland, and other American volunteers from the Christian Peacemakers group who arrived last week to meet Palestinians and prepare for nights as human shields, said they had hoped their presence might prevent bombardments or at least reduce the intensity. They said even though they did not achieve that in Beit Jala on Tuesday, the exercise would allow them to describe in detail to others in the United States what many Palestinians experience under fire. More volunteers are expected in August from the United States, Britain, France and Italy to take the place of the current group, International Solidarity Movement spokeswoman Heidi Arraf said.
"We realize that we are putting ourselves in danger, but we will continue to organize in the hope that our actions will draw international attention to the plight of the Palestinian people," Arraf said. Hassan Abed Rabbo, a Palestinian leader in Beit Jala, said locals appreciated the efforts being made by the international volunteers but did not expect Israeli forces to change policy just because foreigners might be staying in flashpoints. Kathryn Kingsbury, from Madison, Wisconsin, said she took shelter in the Beit Jala's Lutheran Church until there was a lull in the shelling on Tuesday and then ran to a house to spend the rest of the night with a local family.	A Beit Jala family members inspect their home after an earlier shelling by Israel
"Our host was completely concerned about whether we were OK and comfortable, and whether we needed sandwiches or anything else," Kingsbury said. "He and his family have got so used to the shelling and gunfire that they've decided normal life has got to just go on. Kathryn Kingsbury, from Madison, Wisconsin, said she took shelter in the Beit Jala's Lutheran Church until there was a lull in the shelling on Tuesday and then ran to a house to spend the rest of the night with a local family. "Our host was completely concerned about whether we were OK and comfortable, and whether we needed sandwiches or anything else," Kingsbury said. "He and his family have got so used to the shelling and gunfire that they've decided normal life has got to just go on."