Hello Friends,
Some of us Internationals got into Ramallah
two days ago. This curfew has made Ramallah into a giant prison
for its citizens.
We have been staying in a hospital for
the last couple of nights. When we arrived the Israeli troops
were blowing up cars in front of the hospital. They destroyed
a total of 15 cars without any reason other than showing their
control over the people of Palestine.
The explosions busted hospital windows
and put patients' lives in jeopardy. They have also been doing
extensive searches of every ambulance that comes into the hospital.
It is already an extremely hard process getting patients into
the hospital with the curfew.
Many roads have been blocked by the troops.
Their reasoning behind checking the ambulances is to search for
weapons. This is a lie.
It is only to terrorize the people. The
Palestinians are not terrorists. In fact, they are the most gentle,
loving people that I have ever encountered. Most of the people
are uninterested in violence, they want peace and freedom.
A group of Internationals took a 10 km
hike into the village of Diribzia yesterday. They came back tired
with tears in their eyes.
Many cried into the night over what they
had witnessed. Gigantic boulders blocked all of the entrances,
not allowing ambulances to get to the sick and wounded. They were
also upset because of the children. The children followed them
through-out the village smiling and wanting to touch them. One
International could not stop crying because of the impact that
the smiling children had on her.
"Why does Mohammad have to suffer
from this closure? He has done nothing. He needs love, not tanks
and soldiers." Today, they lifted the curfew for only a few
hours. It is the first time in five days. People are running to
the stores to stock up before the next curfew. After the curfew,
they will be shot if they are in the street.
Yesterday, a Army jeep rolled through the
street with megaphone threatening to kill any civilian saw on
the street. Today, we joined
Palestinians in a protest against the curfew and the thirty-five
years of this occupation. We have to hurry and get back to the
hospital before the curfew goes back into effect. This is state
terrorism. This is the root of the violence, not the people of
Palestine.
YOU must take your opportunity to stop
the U.S. and U.K. funding of this operation. I don't know how
much longer these people can go on suffering. Many are at their
breaking point and they are good people. They are made of the
same flesh and blood as you and me.
It is unfortunate that they were born under
these conditions.
Later,
Brandon Jourdan
NC IMC
