Hello
all,
The first
thing I wanted to say is that I mentioned the rounding up of men
at the Al-Amari refugee camp near Ramallah in my last report.
That night after I sent that message we got new information about
another incident in the camp. At noon on that day, 6/30 soldiers
entered the home of a family in the camp. They forced everyone
in the family into one room and proceeded to watch television
for several hours. Given the timing they were most likely watching
the final game of the World Cup though this is just an assumption
on my part. At about 4:00 pm they received orders to leave. In
their haste they bumped an 18-month-old girl, Munia Adel Rehan
into the stairwell. She fell down three flights of stairs.
The family
followed the soldiers out into the street begging them for help
with their injured daughter. The soldiers ignored both Munia and
the family. The family then called an ambulance. The Red Crescent
ambulance arrived within 10 minutes but the soldiers would not
let it reach Munia for another half hour. Members of the International
Solidarity Movement were at the hospital where she was finally
taken and took much of this testimony from Munia's mother. They
said she finally arrived at the hospital at 7:00 pm. She had a
large laceration visible at her hairline and she was very lethargic
and sleepy. Though they were still waiting for test results the
doctors were very concerned that she might have permanent brain
damage.
What
the fuck did an 18-month-old girl do to deserve this kind of treatment?
Stories
from Ramallah
I wanted
to give you all a few of the stories and quotes from Palestinians
in and around Ramallah since these are never reported in the media.
These
are some quotes from a worker in the hospital we stayed in for
three nights in Ramallah. I will not give his name because he
is afraid the Israelis want to arrest him.
"What
we want exactly, we want to live in peace"
"This
intifada does not come from Arafat or Hamas, it comes from all
of us, we all have intifada in our hearts"
"9
of my friends have been killed"
"I
will stay here and I will not leave and I think the same is true
of the Jews. We must make peace together but without Sharon"
"We
are human beings, not animals"
“Tell
your people the truth. We don't want you to lie. In my country
I cannot move."
"I
have not visited my family in 3 years, it is 10 minutes away by
car"
"We
will not let anyone take this country from us. The only way this
will happen is if all Palestinians are killed."
I thought
these quotes from a much larger conversation were all incredible.
And I feel like it is extremely important to relay the words of
the Palestinians in their own words.
I also
wanted to relay the stories of a few Palestinian we met in the
rehabilitation center in Ramallah.
Mahmoud:
He was
working his land near Nablus in November. At that time settlers
had already uprooted over 240 of his olive trees. 4 settlers came
and shot at him from far away. One of the bullets hit the main
nerve in his leg and severed it. He still walks with Crutches.
Arkham
(age 23):
He lived
in the Jenin refugee camp. When the Israelis attacked in March
one of his friends was shot and was lying in the street. He and
another friend got a car and drove to their injured friend. They
picked him up and put him in the car but as they tried to get
away they were fired at from behind. His friend was hit in the
shoulder. He was hit in the back of the neck and is now a total
paraplegic. Both of his other friends were arrested and remain
somewhere in the Israeli prison system despite their injuries
though he does not know where they are. He will never use his
legs again.
Hussam
(age 13):
He lived
in the village Beta near Nablus. He was standing at the gates
of his village watching 3 Israeli soldiers far away on a hilltop.
They suddenly opened fire on him, he thought for target practice.
Obviously a 13-year-old boy with no weapon presented no danger
to the soldiers. He was hit with 5 bullets. Proof that they were
extremely far away was that the two that hit him in the arm did
not even penetrate all the way through, they stayed in his arm.
One hit him in the spine. He will also be paralyzed for the rest
of his life. The main thing he wanted to tell us was "tell
the truth about what is happening here" I only hope that
I can do that in some small way.
I will
collect more stories and send them. I feel it is extremely important
to do this because so few people are doing it. Israeli dead and
wounded always have names in US media, Palestinians are almost
always just numbers.
