Hello
Everyone,
I have so much to say, but so little time. So here's a few brief
notes. We arrived here about a week ago. The first two days were
legal training, nonviolence training, consensus training, jail
solidarity training. All preparations for our two weeks of direct
action. We can expect to be tear gassed, fired at with rubber
bullets, attacked by Settlers, arrested, and more...but, actually,
as a group of pretty high-profile international observers, we're
quite safe. Really.
Then
it began.
Day One was the tank. A brief explanation: In Palestinian cities
and villages, the Israeli military regularly declares areas closed
military zones. One day, without warning, a tank rolls into your
neighborhood, and you're not allowed to leave your home. It could
be for hours, it could be for weeks.
In Ramallah,
we confronted a tank that was parked a couple blocks from Arafat's
compound. We walked towards it, a group of sixty internationals.
They fired above our heads, we dropped to the ground in a "die-in".
Media swarmed around. USA Today (strange, right?), Al Jazeera
TV, BBC radio, and many others. The next day, we saw ourselves
on the front page of the
papers.
After
the action, we went to Arafat's compound. He shook all of our
hands, welcomed us, several of us made statements, he made a statement,
we asked a couple questions, he answered, gave us warm thanks
for coming, and asked us to stay for lunch.
The food
just kept coming. Chicken and lamb curry, sandwiches, pizza, strawberries,
juice, more fruit, dessert pastries. Then, the sixty of us stayed
sitting on the floor of the large meeting room in the middle of
President Arafat's compound for another hour or so having affinity
group meetings.
I hope
that last sentence was as surreal to read as it was to type.
Day Two,
we went to several Palestinian villages to hear first-hand stories
from the occupation. I feel a heavy obligation to try to convey
effectively what we saw and heard. But it's so much, I feel I
can barely scratch the surface.
The first
thing that struck me was the lack of fredom of movement. At all
of these villages, they have roadblocks just outside of town.
These are huge mounds of dirt put there by Israeli bulldozers
to keep people from driving out of their homes. So people must
take a taxi, get out and walk, get another taxi, etc. Then, at
various places, are the checkpoints. The Israeli military blocks
off the roads and checks ID of anyone wishing to pass. They regularly,
and arbitrarily, refuse to let Palestinians pass,
harass them, and beat them. And there's nothing they can do, no
law to turn to.
Next
to the blocked off Palestinian roads are the new, unobstructed
highways for Israelis only. No Palestinians allowed. Israeli cars
have different colored license plates, so it's easy to enforce.
Obviously, with movement this restricted comes so many other problems.
No ambulances can reach these villages. And when they can get
someone to an ambulance, they often
die inside, waiting for hours at a military checkpoint. Jobs are
nearly impossible to commute to. Those that can get work, and
can get past the roadblocks and checkpoint, regularly spend hours
to commute a few miles.On the hills above the villages we saw
are Israeli Settlements. These are built on land confiscated from
Palestinians. From their homes on the hills, the Israelis regularly
shoot down at the Palestinians. They go onto Palestinian farmland
and destroy their crops, uproot their olive trees, dump waste
in their water supply. Again, for the Palestinians, there is no
law to turn to. No justice.
We brought
them 500 olive trees, and plan to help them plant them. We met
students at Bir Zeit University, now closed by the Israeli's for
the past three weeks. Many students must stay there, because if
they go home, they wont be allowed to come back again. They wont
be allowed through the checkpoints.
The students,
as with everyone we've met, have been extremely kind. All that
they ask is that we try to get their story out. To let the outside
world know what they must live with.
love,
jordan
Complete updates published at BlackKat.org
under the topic 'Letters from Palestine'.
