We are
in a town called Qalqilya, which is roughly the size of the town
I grew up in (30,000 people). Qalqilya is on the border of the
"green line" - between what is now Israel & the
occupied Palestinian territories. The town has been completely
sealed off. All roads, except one, have been blocked by roadblocks
and soldiers, who will shoot anyone who tries to pass. The one
entrance is guarded by a checkpoint. No one from Qalqilya is allowed
to leave the town. If you are from here & you go to the checkpoint
to say I want to go visit family in another town, I want to go
to the doctor in another town, I want to leave for any reason,
no - you cannot. Think about how many times you went out of town
in the last two years. This town is like a prison.
Most people in Qalqilya have been out of
work for 2 years. Before this intifada (which began in September
2000), many people in the town worked in Israel, since the town
is on the border. Now they can't leave to go to work. The other
main economy of the town is agriculture. The soldiers will shoot
any farmer that tries to go to his field. Also, soldiers will
not let any shipments out of the town. So poultry farmers, vegetable
farmers, goods makers cannot get their products out of Qalqilya.
Most used to be sold in Israel, so now the price has fallen by
half and local farmers and merchants can't make a living. Since
no one has worked for 2 years, no one has any money to buy food
for their families. Most are quite poor.
Last week, there was a curfew for 3 days,
in which no one could leave their houses for any reason. Last
Friday, during the curfew, a man was shot in his kitchen while
making coffee. His wife and children were in the house with him.
This week, while we have been here, there
has been no curfew (it's totally random when the curfew happens).
We have gone to the checkpoint every day to observe (last week,
soldiers were beating Palestinians at the checkpoint) and also
to intervene. We convinced the soldiers to let some sick people
come into Qalqilya to go to the doctor. The rule is you have to
come in an ambulance if you want to pass a checkpoint to go to
the doctor. As the town has only 4 ambulances & taking an
ambulance costs money, this makes it difficult for people with
non-life-threatening conditions to make it to the doctor.
We have also been riding in ambulances.
Yesterday, I went to Ramallah with an ambulance. There are anywhere
from 5-15 checkpoints (they set them up randomly) and I think
it's maybe 30 miles away (not far at all in any case) from Qalqilya.
But it took us from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. to get there & back with
all the checkpoints. So at every checkpoint, the soldiers will
make the driver get out of the ambulance, check his i.d., check
the i.d.'s of the patients, and make the driver open all the compartments
in the ambulance (or search it more thoroughly if they feel like
it, including a couple days ago when they unscrewed all the equipment
in the back of the ambulance & then just left it that way
for the driver to put back together). All this while the patient
waits, regardless of how serious their injuries are. Sometimes,
patients die while waiting at a checkpoint.
Last night, I was visiting with the sweetest
family and the mother told me that she was riding in an ambulance
with her aunt & because of all the checkpoints, by the time
they got to the hospital, her aunt had died. Then they drove back
to Qalqilya to bury her, and she had to sit there through every
checkpoint with her aunt lying dead beside her in the ambulance.
I can't imagine how difficult that was.
Today Alma & others in our group went
to the fields with some farmers. Soldiers shot over their heads
and told them to leave, so eventually they did. 26 farmers have
been killed in their fields during this intifada. Tomorrow, we
are planning an action to remove a roadblock where the farmers
need the road to get to their fields.
Several people have told me that they hate
their lives, and that they hate themselves when they feel so powerless
and can't help the people they love from being killed. That breaks
my heart because these conditions, which are designed to destroy
the Palestinian people and break them down psychologically, are
making them turn on themselves.
There is so much to say, I'm sorry this
is so long. This is what your money is currently paying for, what
my money is paying for, to support the suffering of the amazing
people I have met here. I will be looking forward to talking with
you all soon.
