We will give a public presentation on Thursday, July 23. in Sacramento, see below. If you live in the Sacramento area, please spread the word, come and bring friends.
And we are available to speak at house parties, in classrooms, and to groups both in and outside of Sacramento. Contact us to schedule a presentation (mcpd1234@gmail.com; pdmc1234@gmail.com 916-456-1420
Living in Palestine: Witness to Occupation. Sacramento activists Patricia Daugherty and Maggie Coulter share their recent experiences from 8 months in the Middle East including six months in the West Bank and a week in Gaza. Thursday, July 23, 2009, 7pm, Newman Center, 5900 Newman Court, Sacramento, For more information contact: 916-448-7157 or email: mcpd1234@gmail.com
Friday, July 3, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
BETHLEHEM UPDATES NUMBER 21, APRIL 18, 2009
As the sky goes back and forth between late winter and spring, it has been a busy and tragic week. We cannot understand how this grinding and brutal occupation is allowed to continue.
Please help others learn about the situation here by sharing this update with five of your friends, family, co-workers or others.
In this issue:
- Another senseless murder in Bi’lin,
- Planting olive trees as resistance in Artas
- Over our heads settlers destroy water tanks
- Easter Message from our town of Beit Sahour
- Help end the siege on Gaza, go with CodePink May/June www.codepinkalert.org/gaza.
Another senseless murder in Bi’lin
In January, we attended one of the weekly demonstrations against the Apartheid Wall in the small town of Bi’lin. We witnessed and experienced the brutality of the Israeli military in suppressing what began as a peaceful demonstration against Israel’s occupation and theft of Bi’lin’s land for its settlements and apartheid wall, both of which have been ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Yesterday, April 17, the Israel military fired a high velocity tear gas projectile that hit and killed 29-year old Basem where he stood on a hill with several journalists. This was the same weapon that hit U.S. citizen Tristan Anderson in Ni’lin on March 13; Anderson remains in critical condition. (FMI: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/04/6185)
Under the Geneva protocols, it is the right of the occupied citizens of Bi’lin to resist the Israeli occupation that has already stolen nearly 60% of their land and threatens to take even more. It is the responsibility of U.S. citizens to demand that our government stop funding the Israeli military and occupation. Join Amnesty International in demanding that the U.S. stop sending arms to Israel. Call President Obama and tell him no more U.S. aid or arms to Israel: 202-456-1111.
Planting Olive Trees in Artas
Yesterday, April 17, we went to Artas, a historic village located just south of Bethlehem. It is home to 4000 people, many of whom still make their living from agriculture. We joined local farmers and other internationals in planting olive trees on the village’s hillsides which Israel wants to steal. Since Israel began its military occupation of the West Bank in 1967, the Israelis have stolen thousands of dunams from Artas for their illegal Jewish-only settlements. The Israeli military has issued an order to confiscate all of Artas remaining agricultural lands, a total of 1700 dunams (over 400 acres). The stolen land would be used to expand the illegal settlement of Efrat for which a huge ugly road has already been ripped into the hillside.
Two years ago, Israeli Occupation Forces destroyed a fruit and nut orchard in Artas in order to put a sewage overflow for the illegal settlement (FMI: www.imemc.org/article/49986).
According to residents, when the overflow is used, untreated sewage pours into Artas’s agricultural valley, threatening its crops and water supply. Townspeople, internationals and Israeli activists had camped out in the orchard for several days to prevent its being destroyed. They were forcibly removed by the Israeli soldiers who arrested several, including Awad, one of the primary organizers.
Awad told us about his imprisonment, humiliation and torture by the Israeli soldiers. The soldiers beat him; they put their feet on his neck; they taunted him. They said he was like a dog. He did not reply. They told him to take his clothes off and when he refused, they unzipped his pants and pulled them down. He told a policy woman that he was thirsty and she said when she came back from the bathroom she would give him something to drink (meaning her urine). He was blind folded and walked around, he tripped and fell and they laughed at time. They dragged him by his collar and walked him into a wall.
As Americans have been shocked and repulsed by Guantanamo, so must we be about the Israeli occupation and human rights violations against the Palestinians. Call your Congressperson and tell them you want an end to U.S. aid to Israel: 202-224-3121.
Over our heads settlers destroy water tanks
Last Tuesday, April 14, in our effort to finally see the tourist sights, we went to Hebron to see visit the Ibrahimi Mosque. The Ibrahimi Mosque was first built in 1206 on a cave believed to hold the tombs of Abraham and his family. Inside it is very beautiful, full of mosaics and colorful marble floors and walls. Outside it is marred by presence of Israeli soldiers manning metal turnstiles.
On February 24, 1994, illegal Israeli settler Barach Goldstein entered the Mosque in his military uniform and opened fire on those praying, killing 52 Palestinians. A physician with a history of refusing to provide medical treatment to Arabs, Goldstein lived in the nearby illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba.
To get to the Mosque, one has to go through the old market of Hebron which has been vandalized and partially destroyed by illegal Jewish-Israeli settlers who have kicked out Palestinian families. The halls of the market are strung with mesh to catch the garbage and cement blocks the Israeli settlers have thrown down on the Palestinians below.
After we visited the Mosque, we returned through the market and visited with two women at a shop. Suddenly we heard a loud crash, we rushed out of the store and were told that settlers were turning over water tanks on the roof of a Palestinian home. Two chairs had been thrown from the roof into the market below.
We were directed up nearby steps to the home. As we rushed up to the roof, we stepped over broken flower pots, spilled dirt and broken glass; water was beginning to come down the stairs. We came out on the roof and water was streaming out of holes that had been punctured in six metal tanks on the roof (see photo at: www.flickr.com/photos/ismpalestine/3443049306)
(More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ismpalestine).
We talked to the mother of the family who had been standing on an outside walkway when she saw several masked settler youth come onto her roof. She was scared and went into the house. The roof is in plain view of a manned Israeli military tower, located about 30 feet away. When we got up to the roof, there were three soldiers in this tower and one young man.
After awhile two armed soldiers came onto the roof from the adjacent building (just as the settlers had done) and questioned the father of the family.
This family is under constant attack by the settlers. We had visited this same home in early December, days after rampaging settlers had set fire to their livingroom.
The Israeli government is responsible for the actions of the settlers who carry out their pogroms against the Palestinians with the protection of the Israeli army. You can take your own personal stand against this racist violence by not buying Israeli goods and asking business that you patronize not to carry products from Israel. Products that have 729 as the first three numbers in the bar code are made in Israel or in illegal Israeli settlements. FMI: www.endtheoccupation.org; www.bdsmovement.org.
Easter Message from our town of Beit Sahour
(Note that in Beit Sahour, Easter includes the Roman Catholic celebration, this year on April 12 and the Greek Orthodox Celebration, this year on April 19.)
Easter Address 2009
On behalf of the Municipality of Beit Sahour, I would like to wish the community of Beit Sahour, the International community, and all Palestinians an enjoyable Easter Holiday.
On this occasion of the Easter Season, I am honored and privileged to address all our community, business leaders, international friends and government officials.
This past year, like the others preceding it, has been filled with hardships, grief and setbacks. Many are unemployed and are having difficulty providing essentials for their families. Our communities, especially our children, are suffering. The lack of: economic and political stability; adequate medical treatment; sufficient infrastructure, such as roads and sewage systems; and resources, such as water have debilitated the fabric of our society and culture.
We have endured the confiscation of our lands, the destruction of our homes, the imprisonment of our people, and the horrendous war against our fellow Palestinians in Gaza. Additionally, the new coalition government of Israel does not bode well for the Palestinian or the Israeli people. I will not lie to you; we have lost much and gained little.
Yes, we are still here, much to the chagrin of the Israeli government. And we will continue to be here; our steadfast presence is our daily act of peaceful resistance to the Occupation and a thorn in Israel’s side. In this steadfast presence we must stand together united, as Palestinians, regardless of faith. We must reach out to one another to heal divisions that separate us for these divisions only serve the Occupier. Divided we are rendered weak, united we are strong,
I am humbled by your strength and perseverance. I am awed by your love of life, family and persistence in pursuing your happiness despite the sad situation in which you find yourselves.
I would like to thank all our international friends, here and abroad, who understand and support our plight. We appreciate the tens of thousands of volunteers around the world are actively working to end the occupation. We are indebted to our donors whose support is critical to the survival of the Palestinian people. We also recognize the sacrifices made by individual internationals along side their Palestinian brothers and sisters. Specifically, I would like to mention Tristan Anderson, an American activist who while peacefully protesting against the Apartheid Wall in Ni’lin was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier with a teargas canister. Tristan is still unconscious in Tal Hashomer Hospital near Tel Aviv. Our prayers and wishes for a speedy recovery to go out to him and his family.
In this Season of Hope and Resurrection, I implore you to sustain hope within your hearts and to believe in the resurrection of an independent State of Palestine.
Lubnah Shomali
Officer of International Relations
Municipality of Beit Sahour, Palestine
Join CODEPINK on Upcoming Trips to Gaza.
CodePink has scheduled two delegations to Gaza: May 28-June 5, 2009 through Egypt and June 5-14, through Israel. In Gaza, we will be hosted by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). We will visit schools, hospitals and areas most affected by the Israeli invasion, as well as build an International Friendship Park. If the Egyptian/Israeli governments won’t let us enter Gaza, we will set up camps on the borders with workshops, seminars and actions calling for an end to the siege. Cost for international participants: $600, not including airfare. Some scholarships are available. Can’t go? Please consider a donation to our Lift the Siege Campaign. For more information, e-mail gaza.codepink@gmail.com, call 415-558-5700, or check out www.codepinkalert.org/gaza.
Please help others learn about the situation here by sharing this update with five of your friends, family, co-workers or others.
In this issue:
- Another senseless murder in Bi’lin,
- Planting olive trees as resistance in Artas
- Over our heads settlers destroy water tanks
- Easter Message from our town of Beit Sahour
- Help end the siege on Gaza, go with CodePink May/June www.codepinkalert.org/gaza.
Another senseless murder in Bi’lin
In January, we attended one of the weekly demonstrations against the Apartheid Wall in the small town of Bi’lin. We witnessed and experienced the brutality of the Israeli military in suppressing what began as a peaceful demonstration against Israel’s occupation and theft of Bi’lin’s land for its settlements and apartheid wall, both of which have been ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Yesterday, April 17, the Israel military fired a high velocity tear gas projectile that hit and killed 29-year old Basem where he stood on a hill with several journalists. This was the same weapon that hit U.S. citizen Tristan Anderson in Ni’lin on March 13; Anderson remains in critical condition. (FMI: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/04/6185)
Under the Geneva protocols, it is the right of the occupied citizens of Bi’lin to resist the Israeli occupation that has already stolen nearly 60% of their land and threatens to take even more. It is the responsibility of U.S. citizens to demand that our government stop funding the Israeli military and occupation. Join Amnesty International in demanding that the U.S. stop sending arms to Israel. Call President Obama and tell him no more U.S. aid or arms to Israel: 202-456-1111.
Planting Olive Trees in Artas
Yesterday, April 17, we went to Artas, a historic village located just south of Bethlehem. It is home to 4000 people, many of whom still make their living from agriculture. We joined local farmers and other internationals in planting olive trees on the village’s hillsides which Israel wants to steal. Since Israel began its military occupation of the West Bank in 1967, the Israelis have stolen thousands of dunams from Artas for their illegal Jewish-only settlements. The Israeli military has issued an order to confiscate all of Artas remaining agricultural lands, a total of 1700 dunams (over 400 acres). The stolen land would be used to expand the illegal settlement of Efrat for which a huge ugly road has already been ripped into the hillside.
Two years ago, Israeli Occupation Forces destroyed a fruit and nut orchard in Artas in order to put a sewage overflow for the illegal settlement (FMI: www.imemc.org/article/49986).
According to residents, when the overflow is used, untreated sewage pours into Artas’s agricultural valley, threatening its crops and water supply. Townspeople, internationals and Israeli activists had camped out in the orchard for several days to prevent its being destroyed. They were forcibly removed by the Israeli soldiers who arrested several, including Awad, one of the primary organizers.
Awad told us about his imprisonment, humiliation and torture by the Israeli soldiers. The soldiers beat him; they put their feet on his neck; they taunted him. They said he was like a dog. He did not reply. They told him to take his clothes off and when he refused, they unzipped his pants and pulled them down. He told a policy woman that he was thirsty and she said when she came back from the bathroom she would give him something to drink (meaning her urine). He was blind folded and walked around, he tripped and fell and they laughed at time. They dragged him by his collar and walked him into a wall.
As Americans have been shocked and repulsed by Guantanamo, so must we be about the Israeli occupation and human rights violations against the Palestinians. Call your Congressperson and tell them you want an end to U.S. aid to Israel: 202-224-3121.
Over our heads settlers destroy water tanks
Last Tuesday, April 14, in our effort to finally see the tourist sights, we went to Hebron to see visit the Ibrahimi Mosque. The Ibrahimi Mosque was first built in 1206 on a cave believed to hold the tombs of Abraham and his family. Inside it is very beautiful, full of mosaics and colorful marble floors and walls. Outside it is marred by presence of Israeli soldiers manning metal turnstiles.
On February 24, 1994, illegal Israeli settler Barach Goldstein entered the Mosque in his military uniform and opened fire on those praying, killing 52 Palestinians. A physician with a history of refusing to provide medical treatment to Arabs, Goldstein lived in the nearby illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba.
To get to the Mosque, one has to go through the old market of Hebron which has been vandalized and partially destroyed by illegal Jewish-Israeli settlers who have kicked out Palestinian families. The halls of the market are strung with mesh to catch the garbage and cement blocks the Israeli settlers have thrown down on the Palestinians below.
After we visited the Mosque, we returned through the market and visited with two women at a shop. Suddenly we heard a loud crash, we rushed out of the store and were told that settlers were turning over water tanks on the roof of a Palestinian home. Two chairs had been thrown from the roof into the market below.
We were directed up nearby steps to the home. As we rushed up to the roof, we stepped over broken flower pots, spilled dirt and broken glass; water was beginning to come down the stairs. We came out on the roof and water was streaming out of holes that had been punctured in six metal tanks on the roof (see photo at: www.flickr.com/photos/ismpalestine/3443049306)
(More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ismpalestine).
We talked to the mother of the family who had been standing on an outside walkway when she saw several masked settler youth come onto her roof. She was scared and went into the house. The roof is in plain view of a manned Israeli military tower, located about 30 feet away. When we got up to the roof, there were three soldiers in this tower and one young man.
After awhile two armed soldiers came onto the roof from the adjacent building (just as the settlers had done) and questioned the father of the family.
This family is under constant attack by the settlers. We had visited this same home in early December, days after rampaging settlers had set fire to their livingroom.
The Israeli government is responsible for the actions of the settlers who carry out their pogroms against the Palestinians with the protection of the Israeli army. You can take your own personal stand against this racist violence by not buying Israeli goods and asking business that you patronize not to carry products from Israel. Products that have 729 as the first three numbers in the bar code are made in Israel or in illegal Israeli settlements. FMI: www.endtheoccupation.org; www.bdsmovement.org.
Easter Message from our town of Beit Sahour
(Note that in Beit Sahour, Easter includes the Roman Catholic celebration, this year on April 12 and the Greek Orthodox Celebration, this year on April 19.)
Easter Address 2009
On behalf of the Municipality of Beit Sahour, I would like to wish the community of Beit Sahour, the International community, and all Palestinians an enjoyable Easter Holiday.
On this occasion of the Easter Season, I am honored and privileged to address all our community, business leaders, international friends and government officials.
This past year, like the others preceding it, has been filled with hardships, grief and setbacks. Many are unemployed and are having difficulty providing essentials for their families. Our communities, especially our children, are suffering. The lack of: economic and political stability; adequate medical treatment; sufficient infrastructure, such as roads and sewage systems; and resources, such as water have debilitated the fabric of our society and culture.
We have endured the confiscation of our lands, the destruction of our homes, the imprisonment of our people, and the horrendous war against our fellow Palestinians in Gaza. Additionally, the new coalition government of Israel does not bode well for the Palestinian or the Israeli people. I will not lie to you; we have lost much and gained little.
Yes, we are still here, much to the chagrin of the Israeli government. And we will continue to be here; our steadfast presence is our daily act of peaceful resistance to the Occupation and a thorn in Israel’s side. In this steadfast presence we must stand together united, as Palestinians, regardless of faith. We must reach out to one another to heal divisions that separate us for these divisions only serve the Occupier. Divided we are rendered weak, united we are strong,
I am humbled by your strength and perseverance. I am awed by your love of life, family and persistence in pursuing your happiness despite the sad situation in which you find yourselves.
I would like to thank all our international friends, here and abroad, who understand and support our plight. We appreciate the tens of thousands of volunteers around the world are actively working to end the occupation. We are indebted to our donors whose support is critical to the survival of the Palestinian people. We also recognize the sacrifices made by individual internationals along side their Palestinian brothers and sisters. Specifically, I would like to mention Tristan Anderson, an American activist who while peacefully protesting against the Apartheid Wall in Ni’lin was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier with a teargas canister. Tristan is still unconscious in Tal Hashomer Hospital near Tel Aviv. Our prayers and wishes for a speedy recovery to go out to him and his family.
In this Season of Hope and Resurrection, I implore you to sustain hope within your hearts and to believe in the resurrection of an independent State of Palestine.
Lubnah Shomali
Officer of International Relations
Municipality of Beit Sahour, Palestine
Join CODEPINK on Upcoming Trips to Gaza.
CodePink has scheduled two delegations to Gaza: May 28-June 5, 2009 through Egypt and June 5-14, through Israel. In Gaza, we will be hosted by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). We will visit schools, hospitals and areas most affected by the Israeli invasion, as well as build an International Friendship Park. If the Egyptian/Israeli governments won’t let us enter Gaza, we will set up camps on the borders with workshops, seminars and actions calling for an end to the siege. Cost for international participants: $600, not including airfare. Some scholarships are available. Can’t go? Please consider a donation to our Lift the Siege Campaign. For more information, e-mail gaza.codepink@gmail.com, call 415-558-5700, or check out www.codepinkalert.org/gaza.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Bethlehem Updates #20: April 12th 2009
Oh little town of Bethlehem….
…. Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass……. (Luke 2:15)
“Ahalan”, welcome, in Arabic is the immediate greeting to foreigners who come to Bethlehem. A city sacred to Christians in an area also important to Jews and Muslims, Bethlehem, Palestine may soon become one of Sacramento’s sister cities. That is the goal of the Sacramento to Bethlehem Sister City Initiative.
“Because of its historic significance, the name “Bethlehem” is known around the world,” says Brigitte Jaensch, a member of the Initiative. “Yet many people have no idea who lives in Bethlehem, what their lives are like, or how the policies of our government affect them.”
The sister city concept grew out of a “citizen diplomacy initiative” envisioned and encouraged in the years just after the traumas of World War II. Quite simply, these visionaries held the belief that regular citizenry could actually be more effective at diplomacy and “bridge building” than their respective governments.
“Sister City relationships help people understand each other better,” says Bethlehem Mayor Dr. Victor Batarseh. “They further the goal of peace not only for the two cities but all over the world.” Bethlehem currently has sister cities in 24 countries.
"Relating to Bethlehem as a sister city gives Sacramentans a chance to connect to people in a part of the world that is too often misunderstood here, often with tragic consequences there,” says Palestinian-Sacramentan Riad Bahhur, professor of history & coordinator of the international studies program at SCC
Beginning the Connections
Like most immigrants, Palestinian-Sacramentans share their culture, foods and customs with their community. This has included bringing the Ibdaa Dance Troupe from the Dheisha refugee camp in Bethlehem to perform in Sacramento in 1999, 2003, and 2005.
Sacramento is also home to children of Bethlehem’s current mayor, Dr. Victor Batarseh. During a visit in 2000, while visiting his family Mayor Batarseh spoke at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacramento.
In 2004, a Sacramento-based scholarship fund was established to help Palestinian students study at universities in the West Bank and Gaza. More than 70 students, a number from the Bethlehem area, have been awarded scholarships.
The idea for a sister city came after a plea from Bethlehem to the international community. As the Israeli government was finishing the Apartheid (separation) Wall around Bethlehem in 2005, Bethlehem found itself completely surrounded. Declared illegal by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the 24-foot high concrete Wall snaked into Bethlehem, cutting it off from Jerusalem, and wielding a devastating impact on the city’s business district and tourist industry.
“In a strict and literal sense, it is a ghetto wall, and Bethlehem is a prison town,” said Bethlehem’s Mayor, Dr. Victor Batarseh in a November, 2005 statement to the world. “We have reached a final, tragic level of absurdity that a nation created to free the Jews from captivity has built a prison for Christians and Muslims. “
Referring to the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the mayor continued, “We are certain that the wall around our city will also fall. Until that day comes, we need to find a new energy within ourselves, to transcend our ghetto and connect to the world.”
In 2007, the Initiative began sending representatives to the Sacramento Sister City Council meetings. In 2008, a delegation with Sister Cities International (SCI) hand carried a letter from the Sacramento Initiative to Bethlehem’s Mayor Batarseh.
On the Ground in Bethlehem
Last fall, I came to Bethlehem with my partner, to experience life here and work towards a future sister city. With the help of the people of Bethlehem and Beit Sahour, other internationals and our fellow Sacramentans, our Initiative now includes email pen pals, a community garden and composting project, a Bethlehem artist exhibit, and an informational sign board for tourists.
Pen Pals
Pen pals, a long-used form of encouraging cultural exchange, have now become email pals. Currently, junior high school students in the Sacramento area are emailing with 7th and 8th graders in Bethlehem. This is done in the classroom with the help of their teachers.
“Having an email pal helps my students with their English,” says Jizelle Salaman, an English teacher at a local Bethlehem school. “And it gives them another reason to study hard, not just for good marks but so that they can write in understandable English to their new friends in Sacramento. You know, they have so many questions about life in America, they are curious, is life really like what they see on the TV?”
Bethlehem high school students are also very curious about life in the U.S. and would like to have American pen pals. But the Initiative is still searching for a Sacramento High School to support this activity.
When the Bethlehem high schoolers are asked what they what people in America to know about their lives they are quick to respond, “We don’t have freedom, the occupation controls our lives… If you are bored you can’t go someplace to have fun. We can’t go to Jerusalem anymore…. We can’t go to the sea…. The electricity and the water get cut off.” (Before 1967, Bethlehem got water from its own wells; now, Israel controls those wells and Bethlehem has to buy its own water back from Mekerot, the Israeli water company.)
These students are old enough to remember the 2002 Israeli siege on Bethlehem and the 40 days of military curfew.
“My cousin was killed,” says one of the students. “The Israelis told him to open one of the shops. He was very scared. They shot him and then said it was an accident.”
Another student says, “My uncle lives in America.” Searching for the name, “In Flint, Michigan. How far is that from Sacramento?”
Community Garden and Composting
In Sacramento, we are avid gardeners, so finding a way to get our hands in the dirt here was a must. Fortunately, one of our connections here was a young woman who I had met when she was studying at UC Davis. Today she works in Bethlehem at the SOS Children’s Village, a home for children coming from difficult situations.
At our first visit to the SOS, we met Abu Mahmoud who was in charge of the landscaping. On the site were old terraces which had been gardens at one time. It didn’t take much to get him interested in getting a garden going. Two young Germans, who were doing their alternative to military service by volunteering here, offered youthful muscle and energy to prepare the ground for planting.
Using Sister City Initiative donations, we funded a three-bin composting system. With the help of locals and other internationals, we did workshops for the mothers and children at the village. The village is also undergoing renovation which will include innovative water conservation and solar, funded by international donors.
Bethlehem artists included in Second Saturday
At the initiation of Sacramento artist Janice Nakishima, we solicited paintings from Bethlehem artists to be included in her show opening May 9 at the Axis Gallery, 1517 19th Street.
“The reason I want to display some work by Palestinian artists is that I have known of their isolation and some of their difficulties for years,” says Nakashima, “I invited these artists, none of whom I know, to put their artistic expression on a small card. The theme they were asked to respond artistically to was ‘My Life’. I was very pleased with the pieces I received and I hope some day to meet these artists.”
The Bethlehem artists were excited about the display. “We would like to do more of this,” said one. “We are so interested to see what she will do,” said another. “We want to see her work too.”
Tourist Display
One of the many things damaged in the 2002 Israeli invasion of Bethlehem was a large sign board in front of the Bethlehem Peace Center on Manger Square. We proposed to the Mayor and the Bethlehem Peace Center’s director that we renovate the board and install a display to educate tourists about the occupation. They agreed and after many hours of many people’s time, “A Tourist’s Guide to the Occupation” in seven different languages is now being read by tourists from around the world. The sign board and accompanying brochures were funded by donations from people in Sacramento.
Future Plans
We hope one day to bring a delegation of Sacramentans to Bethlehem. It would be great to include teachers, health care providers, lawyers and even students.
We also are excited about a future Palestinian film festival in Sacramento currently under discussion.
A message from Bethlehem
Last December, while Israel was bombing Gaza, I asked the women in my English conversation group what they would like people in Sacramento to know. They gave a response that is almost as common here as the “Ahalan” greeting: “Tell them we are not terrorists… Tell them that we want the occupation to end… Tell them we just want to live our lives and have a good future for our children.”
The Sacramento to Bethlehem Sister City Initiative is one step toward that good future.
…. Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass……. (Luke 2:15)
“Ahalan”, welcome, in Arabic is the immediate greeting to foreigners who come to Bethlehem. A city sacred to Christians in an area also important to Jews and Muslims, Bethlehem, Palestine may soon become one of Sacramento’s sister cities. That is the goal of the Sacramento to Bethlehem Sister City Initiative.
“Because of its historic significance, the name “Bethlehem” is known around the world,” says Brigitte Jaensch, a member of the Initiative. “Yet many people have no idea who lives in Bethlehem, what their lives are like, or how the policies of our government affect them.”
The sister city concept grew out of a “citizen diplomacy initiative” envisioned and encouraged in the years just after the traumas of World War II. Quite simply, these visionaries held the belief that regular citizenry could actually be more effective at diplomacy and “bridge building” than their respective governments.
“Sister City relationships help people understand each other better,” says Bethlehem Mayor Dr. Victor Batarseh. “They further the goal of peace not only for the two cities but all over the world.” Bethlehem currently has sister cities in 24 countries.
"Relating to Bethlehem as a sister city gives Sacramentans a chance to connect to people in a part of the world that is too often misunderstood here, often with tragic consequences there,” says Palestinian-Sacramentan Riad Bahhur, professor of history & coordinator of the international studies program at SCC
Beginning the Connections
Like most immigrants, Palestinian-Sacramentans share their culture, foods and customs with their community. This has included bringing the Ibdaa Dance Troupe from the Dheisha refugee camp in Bethlehem to perform in Sacramento in 1999, 2003, and 2005.
Sacramento is also home to children of Bethlehem’s current mayor, Dr. Victor Batarseh. During a visit in 2000, while visiting his family Mayor Batarseh spoke at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacramento.
In 2004, a Sacramento-based scholarship fund was established to help Palestinian students study at universities in the West Bank and Gaza. More than 70 students, a number from the Bethlehem area, have been awarded scholarships.
The idea for a sister city came after a plea from Bethlehem to the international community. As the Israeli government was finishing the Apartheid (separation) Wall around Bethlehem in 2005, Bethlehem found itself completely surrounded. Declared illegal by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the 24-foot high concrete Wall snaked into Bethlehem, cutting it off from Jerusalem, and wielding a devastating impact on the city’s business district and tourist industry.
“In a strict and literal sense, it is a ghetto wall, and Bethlehem is a prison town,” said Bethlehem’s Mayor, Dr. Victor Batarseh in a November, 2005 statement to the world. “We have reached a final, tragic level of absurdity that a nation created to free the Jews from captivity has built a prison for Christians and Muslims. “
Referring to the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the mayor continued, “We are certain that the wall around our city will also fall. Until that day comes, we need to find a new energy within ourselves, to transcend our ghetto and connect to the world.”
In 2007, the Initiative began sending representatives to the Sacramento Sister City Council meetings. In 2008, a delegation with Sister Cities International (SCI) hand carried a letter from the Sacramento Initiative to Bethlehem’s Mayor Batarseh.
On the Ground in Bethlehem
Last fall, I came to Bethlehem with my partner, to experience life here and work towards a future sister city. With the help of the people of Bethlehem and Beit Sahour, other internationals and our fellow Sacramentans, our Initiative now includes email pen pals, a community garden and composting project, a Bethlehem artist exhibit, and an informational sign board for tourists.
Pen Pals
Pen pals, a long-used form of encouraging cultural exchange, have now become email pals. Currently, junior high school students in the Sacramento area are emailing with 7th and 8th graders in Bethlehem. This is done in the classroom with the help of their teachers.
“Having an email pal helps my students with their English,” says Jizelle Salaman, an English teacher at a local Bethlehem school. “And it gives them another reason to study hard, not just for good marks but so that they can write in understandable English to their new friends in Sacramento. You know, they have so many questions about life in America, they are curious, is life really like what they see on the TV?”
Bethlehem high school students are also very curious about life in the U.S. and would like to have American pen pals. But the Initiative is still searching for a Sacramento High School to support this activity.
When the Bethlehem high schoolers are asked what they what people in America to know about their lives they are quick to respond, “We don’t have freedom, the occupation controls our lives… If you are bored you can’t go someplace to have fun. We can’t go to Jerusalem anymore…. We can’t go to the sea…. The electricity and the water get cut off.” (Before 1967, Bethlehem got water from its own wells; now, Israel controls those wells and Bethlehem has to buy its own water back from Mekerot, the Israeli water company.)
These students are old enough to remember the 2002 Israeli siege on Bethlehem and the 40 days of military curfew.
“My cousin was killed,” says one of the students. “The Israelis told him to open one of the shops. He was very scared. They shot him and then said it was an accident.”
Another student says, “My uncle lives in America.” Searching for the name, “In Flint, Michigan. How far is that from Sacramento?”
Community Garden and Composting
In Sacramento, we are avid gardeners, so finding a way to get our hands in the dirt here was a must. Fortunately, one of our connections here was a young woman who I had met when she was studying at UC Davis. Today she works in Bethlehem at the SOS Children’s Village, a home for children coming from difficult situations.
At our first visit to the SOS, we met Abu Mahmoud who was in charge of the landscaping. On the site were old terraces which had been gardens at one time. It didn’t take much to get him interested in getting a garden going. Two young Germans, who were doing their alternative to military service by volunteering here, offered youthful muscle and energy to prepare the ground for planting.
Using Sister City Initiative donations, we funded a three-bin composting system. With the help of locals and other internationals, we did workshops for the mothers and children at the village. The village is also undergoing renovation which will include innovative water conservation and solar, funded by international donors.
Bethlehem artists included in Second Saturday
At the initiation of Sacramento artist Janice Nakishima, we solicited paintings from Bethlehem artists to be included in her show opening May 9 at the Axis Gallery, 1517 19th Street.
“The reason I want to display some work by Palestinian artists is that I have known of their isolation and some of their difficulties for years,” says Nakashima, “I invited these artists, none of whom I know, to put their artistic expression on a small card. The theme they were asked to respond artistically to was ‘My Life’. I was very pleased with the pieces I received and I hope some day to meet these artists.”
The Bethlehem artists were excited about the display. “We would like to do more of this,” said one. “We are so interested to see what she will do,” said another. “We want to see her work too.”
Tourist Display
One of the many things damaged in the 2002 Israeli invasion of Bethlehem was a large sign board in front of the Bethlehem Peace Center on Manger Square. We proposed to the Mayor and the Bethlehem Peace Center’s director that we renovate the board and install a display to educate tourists about the occupation. They agreed and after many hours of many people’s time, “A Tourist’s Guide to the Occupation” in seven different languages is now being read by tourists from around the world. The sign board and accompanying brochures were funded by donations from people in Sacramento.
Future Plans
We hope one day to bring a delegation of Sacramentans to Bethlehem. It would be great to include teachers, health care providers, lawyers and even students.
We also are excited about a future Palestinian film festival in Sacramento currently under discussion.
A message from Bethlehem
Last December, while Israel was bombing Gaza, I asked the women in my English conversation group what they would like people in Sacramento to know. They gave a response that is almost as common here as the “Ahalan” greeting: “Tell them we are not terrorists… Tell them that we want the occupation to end… Tell them we just want to live our lives and have a good future for our children.”
The Sacramento to Bethlehem Sister City Initiative is one step toward that good future.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Bethlehem Updates Number 19, April 9, 2009
On Tuesday night we heard Ziad, a man in his early 30s speak about his experiences being imprisoned and tortured by the Israelis. His first arrest was in 1995 when he was a student activist at Bethlehem University. As he said, “I was opposed to the occupation and I expressed my feelings against the occupation in peaceful demonstrations”.
He was taken in for “interrogation”, which meant “torture”. “They would try to get you to confess to something”, he explained. “They had various methods, the same as in Guantanamo. Strapping you to a small chair for hours. Tightly handcuffing your hands and then jumping on them. Clamping you into a bent over position that felt like it would break your back. Keeping you awake for days on end with no sleep and one song of hard rock playing over and over again in your ear. They take pleasure in torturing you.”
Torture is used to break your spirit he said and to get people to say anything to get it to stop. They also torture young kids, 11 – 14 who break down easier. Palestinians can be “tried” and “sentenced” as adults at 14; Jewish Israelis are considered adults at 18.
Ziad was held under what is called “administrative detention”, no charges and no specified time limit, although typically a person is held between 3 – 6 months and then the time is renewed. He described going to court with his lawyer, sitting silently watching the military judge and military lawyer talk back and forth, then deciding between themselves what would happen to him. All evidence is secret.
After about 3 months they released him. Ziad continued his activism and was arrested again in 1996, this time he was tortured for two months day and night. Once they did not let him sleep for a week. It was the worst experience of his life. They wanted him to confess to being a terrorist, he was not a terrorist and he refused to say he was. A year later he was arrested again and held for 8 days.
In 2000 after finishing his studies, he went to work for the human rights organization, Al Haq, taking the testimonies and reporting on human rights abuses in the West Bank and Gaza. In 2005 he was “arrested again” and tortured again. This time he was in prison for 2 years. Al Haq initiated a campaign to get him out.
He described going to the Israeli high court and the judge saying he was very dangerous, they could not let him out. A month later he went to the high court again and they released him. “How can I be the very dangerous and then suddenly free to go?” he said. “Their charges are so clearly false.”
He talked about getting out of prison after two years and spending a year to get his daughter to accept him. It was very hard for him, very hard to describe. At times while speaking, he seemed on the verge of tears. He said he is deeply angry – who would not be?
The Israeli system is bad, he said, right now it is very hard on the Palestinians, but eventually it will also destroy Israeli society. They are experts at torture; they have physical and psychological techniques.
There are between nine and eleven thousand Palestinian political prisoners. Their “crime” is resisting the occupation. Under international law, they have committed no crime as the Geneva protocols state that occupied people have a right to resist, including through armed struggle.
The Israeli army arrested 300 people in the West Bank last week. That is 300 more people who will be tortured.
He noted that a group of doctors for human rights had said, the problem with international law and human rights is that one cannot stop genocide or major human rights violations with a group of doctors. It has to involve governments.
Life in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza:
Eleven shot, one in critical condition after settler rampage in Saffa
8 April 2009
Saffa, a village sandwiched between Sourif and Beit Ommar and home to just over 2000 residents, has been the site of overwhelming Israeli military and now settler violence in the last week. Using the death of a teenaged settler on April 2 as a precursor (there has been no evidence that he was killed by someone from Saffa or the nearby villages) the Israeli military has been invading Saffa, declaring curfews, searching homes and otherwise harassing the residents of the entire village in acts of blatant collective punishment for several days. Roadblocks were erected in several different places on April 3 and three homes were taken over by Israeli soldiers, allegedly to ‘protect’ the Palestinian residents from anticipated violence from right-wing extremist settlers from nearby Beit ‘Ayn.
More: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/04/6077
Israel created ‘terror without mercy’ in Gaza
Rory McCarthy | The Guardian
7 April 2009
The Israeli military attacked civilians and medics and delayed - sometimes for hours - the evacuation of the injured during the January war in Gaza, according to an independent fact-finding mission commissioned by Israeli and Palestinian medical human rights groups.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and the Palestinian Medical Relief Society yesterday said their findings showed Israel’s military committed serious violations of international humanitarian law. In their 92-page report, compiled by five senior health experts from across the world, they documented several specific attacks, with interviews from 44 separate witnesses.
More: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/04/6008
900 dunums of Palestinian land confiscated in Qaryut village
7 April 2009
Israeli forces have started the construction of three new [illegal] roads around the village of Qaryut, located in the Nablus district of the northern West Bank. Qaryut is already surrounded on three sides by illegal Israeli settlements, and the new roads are being built to connect these settlements together and to nearby road 60. Road 60 has been closed to Palestinians since 2000, but has remained open to settlers and the army. The closure of this road has prevented access by farmers to a large amount of agricultural land which, according to Qaryut’s mayor, is now being used by Israeli settlers. Israeli authorities have recently confiscated an additional 900 dunums [225 acres] of agricultural land to build the three new roads. This land belongs to around 150 Palestinian families in Qaryut.
More: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/04/6006
A harsh reality for Palestinians
Ahmad Tibi | The New York Times
6 April 2009
JERUSALEM — The right-wing coalition of the new Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, does not bode well for Palestinians in Israel. With the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as foreign minister, the extremists are going after the indigenous population and threatening us with loyalty tests and the possibility of “transfer” into an area nominally controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
Netanyahu’s intransigence vis-à-vis Palestinians in the occupied territories is certainly cause for concern. No less concerning is what the Netanyahu-Lieberman combination may mean to Palestinian citizens of Israel.
More: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/04/6004
Al-Fakhouri home demolished in East Jerusalem
6 April 2009
On the morning of 6 April, about 150 Israeli soldiers, police & border police came and woke up the 22 members of the Al-Fakhouri family in the Burj Al-Laqlaq neighborhood. The Israeli forces blocked all the entrance roads to the house and occupied three rooftops threatening to arrest anyone who got near the house being demolished.
Around 30 workers destroyed the house in a process taking about 5 hours. The workers left concrete rubble and other debris in the surrounding street. The family was told that for everyday the rubble was left in the streets, the family would be charged 600 shekels on top of paying for the demolition itself.
More: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/04/6044
Lost in the Buffer Zone
Eva Bartlett | Inter Press Service
6 April 2009
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza - “They’re always shooting at us. Every day they shoot at us,” says Alaa Samour (19), pulling aside his shirt to show a scar on his shoulder. Samour said he was shot on Dec. 28 last year by Israeli soldiers positioned along the border fence near New Abassan village, east of Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip.
More: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/04/5891
He was taken in for “interrogation”, which meant “torture”. “They would try to get you to confess to something”, he explained. “They had various methods, the same as in Guantanamo. Strapping you to a small chair for hours. Tightly handcuffing your hands and then jumping on them. Clamping you into a bent over position that felt like it would break your back. Keeping you awake for days on end with no sleep and one song of hard rock playing over and over again in your ear. They take pleasure in torturing you.”
Torture is used to break your spirit he said and to get people to say anything to get it to stop. They also torture young kids, 11 – 14 who break down easier. Palestinians can be “tried” and “sentenced” as adults at 14; Jewish Israelis are considered adults at 18.
Ziad was held under what is called “administrative detention”, no charges and no specified time limit, although typically a person is held between 3 – 6 months and then the time is renewed. He described going to court with his lawyer, sitting silently watching the military judge and military lawyer talk back and forth, then deciding between themselves what would happen to him. All evidence is secret.
After about 3 months they released him. Ziad continued his activism and was arrested again in 1996, this time he was tortured for two months day and night. Once they did not let him sleep for a week. It was the worst experience of his life. They wanted him to confess to being a terrorist, he was not a terrorist and he refused to say he was. A year later he was arrested again and held for 8 days.
In 2000 after finishing his studies, he went to work for the human rights organization, Al Haq, taking the testimonies and reporting on human rights abuses in the West Bank and Gaza. In 2005 he was “arrested again” and tortured again. This time he was in prison for 2 years. Al Haq initiated a campaign to get him out.
He described going to the Israeli high court and the judge saying he was very dangerous, they could not let him out. A month later he went to the high court again and they released him. “How can I be the very dangerous and then suddenly free to go?” he said. “Their charges are so clearly false.”
He talked about getting out of prison after two years and spending a year to get his daughter to accept him. It was very hard for him, very hard to describe. At times while speaking, he seemed on the verge of tears. He said he is deeply angry – who would not be?
The Israeli system is bad, he said, right now it is very hard on the Palestinians, but eventually it will also destroy Israeli society. They are experts at torture; they have physical and psychological techniques.
There are between nine and eleven thousand Palestinian political prisoners. Their “crime” is resisting the occupation. Under international law, they have committed no crime as the Geneva protocols state that occupied people have a right to resist, including through armed struggle.
The Israeli army arrested 300 people in the West Bank last week. That is 300 more people who will be tortured.
He noted that a group of doctors for human rights had said, the problem with international law and human rights is that one cannot stop genocide or major human rights violations with a group of doctors. It has to involve governments.
Life in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza:
Eleven shot, one in critical condition after settler rampage in Saffa
8 April 2009
Saffa, a village sandwiched between Sourif and Beit Ommar and home to just over 2000 residents, has been the site of overwhelming Israeli military and now settler violence in the last week. Using the death of a teenaged settler on April 2 as a precursor (there has been no evidence that he was killed by someone from Saffa or the nearby villages) the Israeli military has been invading Saffa, declaring curfews, searching homes and otherwise harassing the residents of the entire village in acts of blatant collective punishment for several days. Roadblocks were erected in several different places on April 3 and three homes were taken over by Israeli soldiers, allegedly to ‘protect’ the Palestinian residents from anticipated violence from right-wing extremist settlers from nearby Beit ‘Ayn.
More: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/04/6077
Israel created ‘terror without mercy’ in Gaza
Rory McCarthy | The Guardian
7 April 2009
The Israeli military attacked civilians and medics and delayed - sometimes for hours - the evacuation of the injured during the January war in Gaza, according to an independent fact-finding mission commissioned by Israeli and Palestinian medical human rights groups.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and the Palestinian Medical Relief Society yesterday said their findings showed Israel’s military committed serious violations of international humanitarian law. In their 92-page report, compiled by five senior health experts from across the world, they documented several specific attacks, with interviews from 44 separate witnesses.
More: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/04/6008
900 dunums of Palestinian land confiscated in Qaryut village
7 April 2009
Israeli forces have started the construction of three new [illegal] roads around the village of Qaryut, located in the Nablus district of the northern West Bank. Qaryut is already surrounded on three sides by illegal Israeli settlements, and the new roads are being built to connect these settlements together and to nearby road 60. Road 60 has been closed to Palestinians since 2000, but has remained open to settlers and the army. The closure of this road has prevented access by farmers to a large amount of agricultural land which, according to Qaryut’s mayor, is now being used by Israeli settlers. Israeli authorities have recently confiscated an additional 900 dunums [225 acres] of agricultural land to build the three new roads. This land belongs to around 150 Palestinian families in Qaryut.
More: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/04/6006
A harsh reality for Palestinians
Ahmad Tibi | The New York Times
6 April 2009
JERUSALEM — The right-wing coalition of the new Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, does not bode well for Palestinians in Israel. With the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as foreign minister, the extremists are going after the indigenous population and threatening us with loyalty tests and the possibility of “transfer” into an area nominally controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
Netanyahu’s intransigence vis-à-vis Palestinians in the occupied territories is certainly cause for concern. No less concerning is what the Netanyahu-Lieberman combination may mean to Palestinian citizens of Israel.
More: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/04/6004
Al-Fakhouri home demolished in East Jerusalem
6 April 2009
On the morning of 6 April, about 150 Israeli soldiers, police & border police came and woke up the 22 members of the Al-Fakhouri family in the Burj Al-Laqlaq neighborhood. The Israeli forces blocked all the entrance roads to the house and occupied three rooftops threatening to arrest anyone who got near the house being demolished.
Around 30 workers destroyed the house in a process taking about 5 hours. The workers left concrete rubble and other debris in the surrounding street. The family was told that for everyday the rubble was left in the streets, the family would be charged 600 shekels on top of paying for the demolition itself.
More: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/04/6044
Lost in the Buffer Zone
Eva Bartlett | Inter Press Service
6 April 2009
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza - “They’re always shooting at us. Every day they shoot at us,” says Alaa Samour (19), pulling aside his shirt to show a scar on his shoulder. Samour said he was shot on Dec. 28 last year by Israeli soldiers positioned along the border fence near New Abassan village, east of Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip.
More: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/04/5891
Monday, April 6, 2009
Bethlehem News Updates March 29, 2009
Tomorrow is Land Day, the 33rd anniversary of Israel’s killing of six young Palestinians who were protesting Israel’s confiscation of Palestinian land in the Galilee. It has also been called as a Global Day of Action for Palestine and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israeli apartheid and occupation. BDS is gaining momentum around the world as effective tool to end the Israeli occupation and apartheid as it did in South Africa. Learn more: www.bdsmovement.org, www.endtheoccupation.org, www.breakthesiege.net, www.bigcampaign.org, www.boycottisraeligoods.org
Weekly Review
It has been a busy couple of weeks for us, with article deadlines, work with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, and finishing our Tourists Guide to the Occupation, now in 7 languages, drawing on translators from three continents! As soon as it is posted on line, we will send you the link. And then there are always the articles and reports by our Palestinians friends that need editing – in fact if any of you is willing to do some editing, let us know!
Our daily lives are full of work of course, but also visiting with new friends here and conversing with the shop keepers and others in our little town of Beit Sahour (right next to the not-so-little town of Bethlehem.
Check out the March 26 issue of Sacramento News and Review for our article, “Right of refusal: For some Israelis, compulsory military service is not an option” http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=932511
In this update, we’d like to give you just some snippets of life here as well as remind you to keep calling Congress 202-224-3121 and the President 202-456-1111
On the Bus to Bethlehem
Taking the bus up to Bethlehem the other day (and I mean up – we normally take the bus there and then walk back – downhill all the way), I chatted with the bus driver. He was probably my age, though looked older (who knows, maybe he was thinking the same about me!) It was the middle of the day and he pointed to the money tray and said, “Six hours for 40 shekels (about $10), that is nothing.”
I nodded and he went on: “You live your life, but it is like you died. You can’t do out, even go to Jerusalem. My father, my grandfather had something but now there is nothing, nothing.”
He started the bus, closed the door and I imagined, as it is painful to do, what it would be like to be him. His family goes back generations and generations here, living through one set of invaders after another. But until the Zionist colonists came, his family was allowed to continue their lives, to get their drinking water from their own well, to own and farm and build on their lands, to have their businesses, to travel, to walk into Jerusalem, to swim in the Dead Sea or visit Nazareth. Now the Israelis prevent or severely restrict all of this.
On the Shared Taxi to Ramallah
The way to Ramallah is long, winding, and steep because the Israelis won’t let Palestinians take the direct route through Jerusalem. It is also over narrow roads, many with large potholes. As any normal driver would, the service (shared-taxi) drivers go around the potholes when they can safely do so, saving their shocks and tires and making the trek less bumpy for their passengers.
So it was when I went to Ramallah this past week. There are two permanent checkpoints, both of which have been fortified since we have been here. We were stopped at the first and asked for our IDs, it went fairly quickly. At the second checkpoint we were motioned off to the side by a soldier and an Israeli police officer approached the driver. The cop was relatively young, I think Russian, probably an immigrant. There was much discussion in what sounded like Hebrew and handing of papers back and forth. Our driver got out, then back in. After at least 15 minutes the Israeli cop handed our driver a piece of paper and we left.
I asked what had happened and then learned that this cop had fined the driver 500 shekels ($125) because he drove around a pothole! This driver was only getting $32 in fares for his now nearly two-hour drive to Ramallah.
This particular cop may have been on a power trip, I have heard many Palestinians say that the soldiers they encounter who are Russian, Druze or Bedouin tend to be the most brutal. However, clearly the Israeli system gives him the leeway to engage in literal highway robbery if he chooses.
On another ride
It is easy to strike up conversations on the service and bus rides. On another recent ride, we struck up a conversation with a young woman who was studying at Al Quds University in the town of Abu Dis. Al Quds, which is Arabic for Jerusalem, used to be a viable part of Jerusalem until the Israelis built the illegal Apartheid wall to cut Al Quds and several small towns off. These villages, whose traditional trade routes were to and from Jerusalem, are now languishing, many businesses have closed.
As we drove along, the young woman chatted about her school and helped Patricia with her Arabic.
One drives quite close to the wall approaching Abu Dis; it is looming, huge, ugly, concrete. We all look over at it and the young woman says quietly, “I hate it.”
And a sample of the week …
Palestinian shepherds resist settler violence and disruption
(29 March 2009) In three recent incidents Palestinian shepherds asserted their right to graze their sheep on their own land, despite Israeli settlers’ attempts to intimidate the Palestinians and disrupt their agricultural work. Palestinians in the South Hebron hills have responded to recent violence and incursions on their lands with a law suit and a nonviolent grazing
action.
For rest of article: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/03/5654
Army incursion in Haris, over 150 minors and youths arrested
(26, March, 2009) A major military operation took place today in Haris between 2am and 5pm. Around 15 jeeps, 2 border police jeeps and vans belonging to Israeli Intelligence Shabak entered Haris and arrested around 150 people including large number of minors.
For rest of article: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/03/5599
Twilight Zone / Live fire By Gideon Levy, Haaretz
(26 March 2009) Young Mahdi Abu Ayash lies in the intensive care unit of Al Ahli Hospital in Hebron, with no chance of a meaningful recovery. Look at the picture and understand - or not. Why was this teenager - who maybe, or maybe not, threw rocks at soldiers who had arrested and beaten two of his friends - shot with live ammunition?
For rest of article: http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2009/03/25/haaretz-the-twilight-zonelive-fire
Another two children killed by Israeli explosive in the Gaza Strip
(21 March 2009) Mohammed Hiji and Ahmed Ishnayawra, both 14 years old according to medical sources, were killed in Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza city, on Saturday 21st of March by what is suspected to be Israeli ordinance, left unexploded after January’s invasion. Mohammed was in the store, where he was working to support his family, as his father is handicapped as a result of an accident that caused him the loss of his right hand.
For rest of article: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/03/5572
Upcoming article on Beit Ommar
On Sunday, March 22, we visited the village of Beit Ommar near Hebron. The May/June issue of BPM will include an article by us about the grim situation there with the army making continual incursions, like this one on March 11:
40 Arrested, Scores Beaten, Dozens of Homes Invaded in Beit Ommar
(11 March 2009) In the early hours on Wednesday, March 11, approximately 15 Israeli military vehicles entered the village of Beit Ommar and began a day-long operation of harassment, violence, and destruction. Scores of soldiers, many with faces painted or ski masks on, began breaking into homes at approximately 1am, tearing rooms apart, breaking furniture, computers, and other electronics, and arresting men aged 11-80.
For rest of article: http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2009/03/13/40-arrested-scores-beaten-dozens-of-homes-invaded-in-beit-ommar
Weekly Review
It has been a busy couple of weeks for us, with article deadlines, work with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, and finishing our Tourists Guide to the Occupation, now in 7 languages, drawing on translators from three continents! As soon as it is posted on line, we will send you the link. And then there are always the articles and reports by our Palestinians friends that need editing – in fact if any of you is willing to do some editing, let us know!
Our daily lives are full of work of course, but also visiting with new friends here and conversing with the shop keepers and others in our little town of Beit Sahour (right next to the not-so-little town of Bethlehem.
Check out the March 26 issue of Sacramento News and Review for our article, “Right of refusal: For some Israelis, compulsory military service is not an option” http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=932511
In this update, we’d like to give you just some snippets of life here as well as remind you to keep calling Congress 202-224-3121 and the President 202-456-1111
On the Bus to Bethlehem
Taking the bus up to Bethlehem the other day (and I mean up – we normally take the bus there and then walk back – downhill all the way), I chatted with the bus driver. He was probably my age, though looked older (who knows, maybe he was thinking the same about me!) It was the middle of the day and he pointed to the money tray and said, “Six hours for 40 shekels (about $10), that is nothing.”
I nodded and he went on: “You live your life, but it is like you died. You can’t do out, even go to Jerusalem. My father, my grandfather had something but now there is nothing, nothing.”
He started the bus, closed the door and I imagined, as it is painful to do, what it would be like to be him. His family goes back generations and generations here, living through one set of invaders after another. But until the Zionist colonists came, his family was allowed to continue their lives, to get their drinking water from their own well, to own and farm and build on their lands, to have their businesses, to travel, to walk into Jerusalem, to swim in the Dead Sea or visit Nazareth. Now the Israelis prevent or severely restrict all of this.
On the Shared Taxi to Ramallah
The way to Ramallah is long, winding, and steep because the Israelis won’t let Palestinians take the direct route through Jerusalem. It is also over narrow roads, many with large potholes. As any normal driver would, the service (shared-taxi) drivers go around the potholes when they can safely do so, saving their shocks and tires and making the trek less bumpy for their passengers.
So it was when I went to Ramallah this past week. There are two permanent checkpoints, both of which have been fortified since we have been here. We were stopped at the first and asked for our IDs, it went fairly quickly. At the second checkpoint we were motioned off to the side by a soldier and an Israeli police officer approached the driver. The cop was relatively young, I think Russian, probably an immigrant. There was much discussion in what sounded like Hebrew and handing of papers back and forth. Our driver got out, then back in. After at least 15 minutes the Israeli cop handed our driver a piece of paper and we left.
I asked what had happened and then learned that this cop had fined the driver 500 shekels ($125) because he drove around a pothole! This driver was only getting $32 in fares for his now nearly two-hour drive to Ramallah.
This particular cop may have been on a power trip, I have heard many Palestinians say that the soldiers they encounter who are Russian, Druze or Bedouin tend to be the most brutal. However, clearly the Israeli system gives him the leeway to engage in literal highway robbery if he chooses.
On another ride
It is easy to strike up conversations on the service and bus rides. On another recent ride, we struck up a conversation with a young woman who was studying at Al Quds University in the town of Abu Dis. Al Quds, which is Arabic for Jerusalem, used to be a viable part of Jerusalem until the Israelis built the illegal Apartheid wall to cut Al Quds and several small towns off. These villages, whose traditional trade routes were to and from Jerusalem, are now languishing, many businesses have closed.
As we drove along, the young woman chatted about her school and helped Patricia with her Arabic.
One drives quite close to the wall approaching Abu Dis; it is looming, huge, ugly, concrete. We all look over at it and the young woman says quietly, “I hate it.”
And a sample of the week …
Palestinian shepherds resist settler violence and disruption
(29 March 2009) In three recent incidents Palestinian shepherds asserted their right to graze their sheep on their own land, despite Israeli settlers’ attempts to intimidate the Palestinians and disrupt their agricultural work. Palestinians in the South Hebron hills have responded to recent violence and incursions on their lands with a law suit and a nonviolent grazing
action.
For rest of article: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/03/5654
Army incursion in Haris, over 150 minors and youths arrested
(26, March, 2009) A major military operation took place today in Haris between 2am and 5pm. Around 15 jeeps, 2 border police jeeps and vans belonging to Israeli Intelligence Shabak entered Haris and arrested around 150 people including large number of minors.
For rest of article: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/03/5599
Twilight Zone / Live fire By Gideon Levy, Haaretz
(26 March 2009) Young Mahdi Abu Ayash lies in the intensive care unit of Al Ahli Hospital in Hebron, with no chance of a meaningful recovery. Look at the picture and understand - or not. Why was this teenager - who maybe, or maybe not, threw rocks at soldiers who had arrested and beaten two of his friends - shot with live ammunition?
For rest of article: http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2009/03/25/haaretz-the-twilight-zonelive-fire
Another two children killed by Israeli explosive in the Gaza Strip
(21 March 2009) Mohammed Hiji and Ahmed Ishnayawra, both 14 years old according to medical sources, were killed in Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza city, on Saturday 21st of March by what is suspected to be Israeli ordinance, left unexploded after January’s invasion. Mohammed was in the store, where he was working to support his family, as his father is handicapped as a result of an accident that caused him the loss of his right hand.
For rest of article: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/03/5572
Upcoming article on Beit Ommar
On Sunday, March 22, we visited the village of Beit Ommar near Hebron. The May/June issue of BPM will include an article by us about the grim situation there with the army making continual incursions, like this one on March 11:
40 Arrested, Scores Beaten, Dozens of Homes Invaded in Beit Ommar
(11 March 2009) In the early hours on Wednesday, March 11, approximately 15 Israeli military vehicles entered the village of Beit Ommar and began a day-long operation of harassment, violence, and destruction. Scores of soldiers, many with faces painted or ski masks on, began breaking into homes at approximately 1am, tearing rooms apart, breaking furniture, computers, and other electronics, and arresting men aged 11-80.
For rest of article: http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2009/03/13/40-arrested-scores-beaten-dozens-of-homes-invaded-in-beit-ommar
BETHLEHEM UPDATES NUMBER 17, MARCH 15, 2009
In this update:
- Rachel Corrie and Tristan Anderson
- Demonstrations on Monday, March 16 in Sacramento & San Francisco
- Take action: The U.S. should go to Durban 2
- Quote from Joel Kovel
- Example of creative resistance
Rachel Corrie and Tristan Anderson
On Friday, three days before the sixth anniversary of the murder of Rachel Corrie by an Israeli soldier in Gaza, U.S. activist Tristan Anderson was shot by an Israeli soldier in the West Bank. Corrie and Anderson are among the many internationals and Palestinians who have protested the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine. Since 2000, the Israelis have killed over 6,000 Palestinians and a few of their many international supporters.
Corrie was trying to prevent the destruction of a Palestinian home when an Israeli soldier killed her with a bulldozer. Anderson was an international observer at a demonstration against the Apartheid wall in Ni’lin when an Israeli soldier fired a tear gas canister directly at his head using an extended range weapon. The canister smashed into Anderson’s forehead; Israeli soldiers delayed and then finally allowed in the ambulance trying to reach him. Unconscious and bleeding profusely, Anderson was taken to the hospital where he remains in critical condition; we understand he has had significant damage to his frontal lobe. We join others who are very concerned about his survival and whether he will be permanently disabled.
We have seen first hand the aggressiveness of the U.S.-supported Israeli army when we attended a demonstration in Bi’lin where sound bombs and tear gas were followed by rubber coated steel bullets. We were, however, luckier than Tristan.
One of the announcements for demonstrations called in TelAviv today by Israeli activists, exposes the deliberate Israeli Army policy of using lethal weapons: “The ordinary excuses about an unfortunate accident and an investigation in progress will satisfy only those who are willing to lie to themselves.”
Ni'lin is slated to lose approximately 2500 dunums of agricultural land when the construction of the apartheid Wall is completed. (The Wall has been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice.) Ni'lin was 57,000 dunums in 1948, reduced to 33,000 dunums in 1967, currently is 10,000 dunums and will be 7,500 dunums after the construction of the Wall. In the past year, four Ni’lin residents have been killed by the Israeli military demonstrating against the confiscation of their land.
Ahmed Mousa (10) was shot in the forehead with live ammunition on 29th July 2008. The following day, Yousef Amira (17) was shot twice with rubber-coated steel bullets, leaving him brain dead. He died a week later on 4 August 2008. Arafat Rateb Khawaje (22), was the third Ni’lin resident to be killed by Israeli forces. He was shot in the back with live ammunition on 28 December 2008. That same day, Mohammed Khawaje (20), was shot in the head with live ammunition, leaving him brain dead. He died three days in a Ramallah hospital.
Demonstrations against the occupation for Rachel and Tristan
On Monday March 16th at 4pm there will be a protest in solidarity with Tristan Anderson (see below) in San Francisco in front of the Israeli Consulate (456 Montgomery St.)
Also on Monday, March 16, 4 - 6pm, there will be a demonstration at the Federal building, 501 I St., Sac, to memorialize Rachel Corrie, killed on this date in 2003 by Israeli forces as she sought to protect Palestinian homes from demolition. Info: Jews Against Zionism, 916-263-9961, j_colbe@yahoo.com
The U.S. Must go to Durban 2: Take Action
Call the White House and tell President Obama that you want the U.S. to participate in the Durban 2 World Conference Against Racism scheduled to be held in Geneva next month (April, 2009).
The U.S. and Israel walked out of the Durban 1 Conference held in Durban, South Africa in 2001, angry that the world was once again linking Zionism and racism. Showing hopeful signs that the Obama presidency would have the courage to stand against racism in all of its forms, the U.S. attended preliminary meetings for Durban 2 last month. As a result of pressure from the Israeli lobby, it is now signaling it will boycott the conference.
Tell President Obama it is critical that the U.S. stop pandering to the Israeli regime, which is killing the Palestinian people while it destroys their communities and livelihoods.
Zionism is a bad idea that has become a racist political ideology; Zionism is not a religion. Speaking against Zionism is speaking against apartheid. Speaking against Zionism is speaking for justice.
White House Comments: 202-456-1111; Switchboard: 202-456-1414
Email through: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Quote:
“Though the anti-bellum south, Nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa were full of people who saw the loss of their regime as an annihilation, the vast majority came to eventually approve of the transformation.”
-- Joel Kovel in Overcoming Zionism: Creating A Single Democratic State in Israel/Palestine
Creative Resistance
Anti-apartheid activists in Los Angeles set up mock checkpoint
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News
http://www.ime mc.org/article/59313
Friday, March 13, 2009. Dozens of Los Angeles-area Jews, Palestinians and other activists erected a mock checkpoint at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) annual Valley Fundraiser.
They said the checkpoint was meant to protest AIPAC's attempt to steer US policy makers to ignore recent Israeli war crimes in Gaza and the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.
Cars were confronted by people dressed as Israeli soldiers and those attending the event were "allowed to pass through" after receiving a new program for the event
that activists say exposes AIPAC support for Israeli policies which contravene international law. A boisterous crowd also chanted "Angelenos choose a side, human rights or Apartheid!" at AIPAC donors as they approached the hotel entrance.
"At a time when President Obama's administration seeks to restart peace talks with Palestinians and Israelis, AIPAC advocates a one-sided US policy of supporting Israel at any cost," said Julie Hey, a graduate student. "As a Jewish American, I am particularly appalled that my tax dollars are funding Israel's apartheid policies."
AIPAC is self-described as "America's leading pro-Israel lobby," and as such has supported Israel's occupation of Palestinian land, including the use of military checkpoints and the construction of a 450-mile-long wall that has encircled entire communities, leaving Palestinians prisoners in their own land.
- Rachel Corrie and Tristan Anderson
- Demonstrations on Monday, March 16 in Sacramento & San Francisco
- Take action: The U.S. should go to Durban 2
- Quote from Joel Kovel
- Example of creative resistance
Rachel Corrie and Tristan Anderson
On Friday, three days before the sixth anniversary of the murder of Rachel Corrie by an Israeli soldier in Gaza, U.S. activist Tristan Anderson was shot by an Israeli soldier in the West Bank. Corrie and Anderson are among the many internationals and Palestinians who have protested the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine. Since 2000, the Israelis have killed over 6,000 Palestinians and a few of their many international supporters.
Corrie was trying to prevent the destruction of a Palestinian home when an Israeli soldier killed her with a bulldozer. Anderson was an international observer at a demonstration against the Apartheid wall in Ni’lin when an Israeli soldier fired a tear gas canister directly at his head using an extended range weapon. The canister smashed into Anderson’s forehead; Israeli soldiers delayed and then finally allowed in the ambulance trying to reach him. Unconscious and bleeding profusely, Anderson was taken to the hospital where he remains in critical condition; we understand he has had significant damage to his frontal lobe. We join others who are very concerned about his survival and whether he will be permanently disabled.
We have seen first hand the aggressiveness of the U.S.-supported Israeli army when we attended a demonstration in Bi’lin where sound bombs and tear gas were followed by rubber coated steel bullets. We were, however, luckier than Tristan.
One of the announcements for demonstrations called in TelAviv today by Israeli activists, exposes the deliberate Israeli Army policy of using lethal weapons: “The ordinary excuses about an unfortunate accident and an investigation in progress will satisfy only those who are willing to lie to themselves.”
Ni'lin is slated to lose approximately 2500 dunums of agricultural land when the construction of the apartheid Wall is completed. (The Wall has been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice.) Ni'lin was 57,000 dunums in 1948, reduced to 33,000 dunums in 1967, currently is 10,000 dunums and will be 7,500 dunums after the construction of the Wall. In the past year, four Ni’lin residents have been killed by the Israeli military demonstrating against the confiscation of their land.
Ahmed Mousa (10) was shot in the forehead with live ammunition on 29th July 2008. The following day, Yousef Amira (17) was shot twice with rubber-coated steel bullets, leaving him brain dead. He died a week later on 4 August 2008. Arafat Rateb Khawaje (22), was the third Ni’lin resident to be killed by Israeli forces. He was shot in the back with live ammunition on 28 December 2008. That same day, Mohammed Khawaje (20), was shot in the head with live ammunition, leaving him brain dead. He died three days in a Ramallah hospital.
Demonstrations against the occupation for Rachel and Tristan
On Monday March 16th at 4pm there will be a protest in solidarity with Tristan Anderson (see below) in San Francisco in front of the Israeli Consulate (456 Montgomery St.)
Also on Monday, March 16, 4 - 6pm, there will be a demonstration at the Federal building, 501 I St., Sac, to memorialize Rachel Corrie, killed on this date in 2003 by Israeli forces as she sought to protect Palestinian homes from demolition. Info: Jews Against Zionism, 916-263-9961, j_colbe@yahoo.com
The U.S. Must go to Durban 2: Take Action
Call the White House and tell President Obama that you want the U.S. to participate in the Durban 2 World Conference Against Racism scheduled to be held in Geneva next month (April, 2009).
The U.S. and Israel walked out of the Durban 1 Conference held in Durban, South Africa in 2001, angry that the world was once again linking Zionism and racism. Showing hopeful signs that the Obama presidency would have the courage to stand against racism in all of its forms, the U.S. attended preliminary meetings for Durban 2 last month. As a result of pressure from the Israeli lobby, it is now signaling it will boycott the conference.
Tell President Obama it is critical that the U.S. stop pandering to the Israeli regime, which is killing the Palestinian people while it destroys their communities and livelihoods.
Zionism is a bad idea that has become a racist political ideology; Zionism is not a religion. Speaking against Zionism is speaking against apartheid. Speaking against Zionism is speaking for justice.
White House Comments: 202-456-1111; Switchboard: 202-456-1414
Email through: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Quote:
“Though the anti-bellum south, Nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa were full of people who saw the loss of their regime as an annihilation, the vast majority came to eventually approve of the transformation.”
-- Joel Kovel in Overcoming Zionism: Creating A Single Democratic State in Israel/Palestine
Creative Resistance
Anti-apartheid activists in Los Angeles set up mock checkpoint
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News
http://www.ime mc.org/article/59313
Friday, March 13, 2009. Dozens of Los Angeles-area Jews, Palestinians and other activists erected a mock checkpoint at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) annual Valley Fundraiser.
They said the checkpoint was meant to protest AIPAC's attempt to steer US policy makers to ignore recent Israeli war crimes in Gaza and the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.
Cars were confronted by people dressed as Israeli soldiers and those attending the event were "allowed to pass through" after receiving a new program for the event
that activists say exposes AIPAC support for Israeli policies which contravene international law. A boisterous crowd also chanted "Angelenos choose a side, human rights or Apartheid!" at AIPAC donors as they approached the hotel entrance.
"At a time when President Obama's administration seeks to restart peace talks with Palestinians and Israelis, AIPAC advocates a one-sided US policy of supporting Israel at any cost," said Julie Hey, a graduate student. "As a Jewish American, I am particularly appalled that my tax dollars are funding Israel's apartheid policies."
AIPAC is self-described as "America's leading pro-Israel lobby," and as such has supported Israel's occupation of Palestinian land, including the use of military checkpoints and the construction of a 450-mile-long wall that has encircled entire communities, leaving Palestinians prisoners in their own land.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Bethlehem News Update Number 16, March 8, 2009
Bethlehem News Update Number 16, March 8, 2009
In this update:
- A reminder to call
- Endorsing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Efforts
- Families send messages to their loved ones who are political prisoners of Israel
- A farmer watches the Israeli’s kill his olive trees
It seems to have turned almost overnight from winter to spring. It is much warmer and there are wildflowers popping up on green patches. We wish the change in seasons would also bring a change in the news from Gaza, where the U.S.-funded Israeli military continues to kill and terrorize the population and the Israelis are still delaying supplies from getting in.
Yesterday we went to Jenin to meet students at the university there who are receiving scholarships through the Middle East Children’s Alliance. Like most of the West Bank, the distances are not huge, but the driving time is long because of checkpoints, road closures, and poor roads. (The Israeli occupation keeps the roads its illegal settlers and military use in good repair, while it restricts Palestinian’s from repairing their roads.) Jenin is in the north of the West Bank; surrounded by beautiful farm land and hills that this time of the year are very green. One can even travel some distance without seeing any menacing illegal settlements.
A colleague of ours here, Mazin Qumsiyeh also took a drive yesterday,and listened to a radio program that aired Palestinian families sending messages to their loved ones who are being held as political prisoners by the Israelis. Below we have included his moving account. It is followed by this morning’s sad report of farmer whose trees are killed before his eyes.
A Reminder: Call Congress: 202-224-3121; call Obama: 202-456-1414
During this past week, there were Apartheid Week activities on many college campuses in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and other countries (http://www.apartheidweek.org). The organizers were successful at educating many of their fellow students and others about the reality of the Israeli occupation and apartheid. In your message to Congress and Obama this week, you can tell them (once again) that you want all U.S. aid to Israel ended until Israel ends its apartheid, occupation and violation of the human rights of the Palestinians. You can also ask if they were able to attend any Apartheid Week activities and refer them to the website (www.apartheidweek.org) if they weren’t!
Endorsing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Efforts
The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, to end the disastrous era of Israel’s apartheid and occupation, builds on the successful strategy that helped end apartheid in South African. In the wake of the brutal Israeli assault on Gaza, the BDS campaign has gained new momentum. March 30 has been called as a Global Day of Action on BDS by last month’s World Social Forum
Please encourage the organizations you belong to and work with to endorse the BDS campaign: http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/52. You can also sign on as an individual endorser.
Families talk to their loved ones: political prisoners of Israel
Driving from Beit Sahour to Birzeit yesterday, I was listening to a program on radio Falastin titled “Wala Budda LilQayd An Yankasir”. The term is a verse from a poem that roughly translates to “the chain is destined to be broken”. The program is a lifeline for the nearly 13,000 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails, [allowing them] to hear from their families outside the prison walls.
Since visitation rights are routinely denied or highly restricted, family members call in and have three minutes to say something on air. For those prisoners who have access to radio, it is a way to [at least] hear their loved ones. I listened for nearly one hour to impassioned messages and harrowing stories. All the voices I heard were of women.
One woman started her message by saluting women prisoners on International women’s day.
Another woman started with questions [to her husband] that will get no answers perhaps until the next personal encounter: “How is your health?” “How is your spirit?” “How are they treating you?” “Are you eating well?” She then put her five-year-old child on the phone who said “I miss you daddy,” and “don’t worry, mom puts on her seat belt and drives slowly.”
[And then a woman said]: “How are you my son? Inshallah [God Willing] your health is good. Inshallah your spirit is good. Inshallah you will be returned to us safe and sound. Your father’s funeral went well. Everyone in town came. He died 15 minutes before I arrived home from visiting you. (She breaks down crying and the announcer gently encourages her and then she continues). Everyone was there everyone took care of him. I pray to God every day to bring you back to me. I had your father and I had you. I need you my son. I miss you my son….”
[excerpted from email by Mazin Qumsiyeh]
A farmer watches the Israelis kill his olive trees
March 8, 2009, Ras 'Atiya, Qalqilya region: A Palestinian farmer has had a heart attack while Israeli forces cut down olive trees on his and other farmers' lands in the village of Ras Tira, Qalqilya region. He was immediately taken to hospital.
Two Israeli and three international Human Rights Workers (HRWs), from the US, Denmark and Sweden, have also been arrested and taken to an Israeli police station in the settlement of Qedumim after they joined villagers from Ras at Tira, Wadi Ar-Rasha and Dhab'a in protest over the Israeli destruction of the region's olive trees.
Residents from the area, joined by Israeli and international HRWs, were protesting the cutting down of olive trees due to the Israeli plans to change the route of the Apartheid Wall in the area. As the trees were being cut, villagers and HRWs demonstrated, while Israeli forces fired tear-gas into the crowds.
"The Israeli forces are chaining up the trees and cutting them down,” [reports activist Tom Patterson, a U.S. activist with the International Solidarity Movement.] “Just before, they gave everyone five minutes to leave the area, but then straight away went and took the Israelis and internationals. Women from the village have just come out to the fields and are throwing shoes at the soldiers. Israel is destroying more of the village's land for the settlements."
The villages of Ras at Tira, Wadi Ar-Rasha and Dhab'a are completely surrounded by both Israel's Apartheid Wall and the illegal Israeli settlements of Alfe Menashe.
[From www.palsolidarity.org]
In this update:
- A reminder to call
- Endorsing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Efforts
- Families send messages to their loved ones who are political prisoners of Israel
- A farmer watches the Israeli’s kill his olive trees
It seems to have turned almost overnight from winter to spring. It is much warmer and there are wildflowers popping up on green patches. We wish the change in seasons would also bring a change in the news from Gaza, where the U.S.-funded Israeli military continues to kill and terrorize the population and the Israelis are still delaying supplies from getting in.
Yesterday we went to Jenin to meet students at the university there who are receiving scholarships through the Middle East Children’s Alliance. Like most of the West Bank, the distances are not huge, but the driving time is long because of checkpoints, road closures, and poor roads. (The Israeli occupation keeps the roads its illegal settlers and military use in good repair, while it restricts Palestinian’s from repairing their roads.) Jenin is in the north of the West Bank; surrounded by beautiful farm land and hills that this time of the year are very green. One can even travel some distance without seeing any menacing illegal settlements.
A colleague of ours here, Mazin Qumsiyeh also took a drive yesterday,and listened to a radio program that aired Palestinian families sending messages to their loved ones who are being held as political prisoners by the Israelis. Below we have included his moving account. It is followed by this morning’s sad report of farmer whose trees are killed before his eyes.
A Reminder: Call Congress: 202-224-3121; call Obama: 202-456-1414
During this past week, there were Apartheid Week activities on many college campuses in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and other countries (http://www.apartheidweek.org). The organizers were successful at educating many of their fellow students and others about the reality of the Israeli occupation and apartheid. In your message to Congress and Obama this week, you can tell them (once again) that you want all U.S. aid to Israel ended until Israel ends its apartheid, occupation and violation of the human rights of the Palestinians. You can also ask if they were able to attend any Apartheid Week activities and refer them to the website (www.apartheidweek.org) if they weren’t!
Endorsing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Efforts
The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, to end the disastrous era of Israel’s apartheid and occupation, builds on the successful strategy that helped end apartheid in South African. In the wake of the brutal Israeli assault on Gaza, the BDS campaign has gained new momentum. March 30 has been called as a Global Day of Action on BDS by last month’s World Social Forum
Please encourage the organizations you belong to and work with to endorse the BDS campaign: http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/52. You can also sign on as an individual endorser.
Families talk to their loved ones: political prisoners of Israel
Driving from Beit Sahour to Birzeit yesterday, I was listening to a program on radio Falastin titled “Wala Budda LilQayd An Yankasir”. The term is a verse from a poem that roughly translates to “the chain is destined to be broken”. The program is a lifeline for the nearly 13,000 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails, [allowing them] to hear from their families outside the prison walls.
Since visitation rights are routinely denied or highly restricted, family members call in and have three minutes to say something on air. For those prisoners who have access to radio, it is a way to [at least] hear their loved ones. I listened for nearly one hour to impassioned messages and harrowing stories. All the voices I heard were of women.
One woman started her message by saluting women prisoners on International women’s day.
Another woman started with questions [to her husband] that will get no answers perhaps until the next personal encounter: “How is your health?” “How is your spirit?” “How are they treating you?” “Are you eating well?” She then put her five-year-old child on the phone who said “I miss you daddy,” and “don’t worry, mom puts on her seat belt and drives slowly.”
[And then a woman said]: “How are you my son? Inshallah [God Willing] your health is good. Inshallah your spirit is good. Inshallah you will be returned to us safe and sound. Your father’s funeral went well. Everyone in town came. He died 15 minutes before I arrived home from visiting you. (She breaks down crying and the announcer gently encourages her and then she continues). Everyone was there everyone took care of him. I pray to God every day to bring you back to me. I had your father and I had you. I need you my son. I miss you my son….”
[excerpted from email by Mazin Qumsiyeh]
A farmer watches the Israelis kill his olive trees
March 8, 2009, Ras 'Atiya, Qalqilya region: A Palestinian farmer has had a heart attack while Israeli forces cut down olive trees on his and other farmers' lands in the village of Ras Tira, Qalqilya region. He was immediately taken to hospital.
Two Israeli and three international Human Rights Workers (HRWs), from the US, Denmark and Sweden, have also been arrested and taken to an Israeli police station in the settlement of Qedumim after they joined villagers from Ras at Tira, Wadi Ar-Rasha and Dhab'a in protest over the Israeli destruction of the region's olive trees.
Residents from the area, joined by Israeli and international HRWs, were protesting the cutting down of olive trees due to the Israeli plans to change the route of the Apartheid Wall in the area. As the trees were being cut, villagers and HRWs demonstrated, while Israeli forces fired tear-gas into the crowds.
"The Israeli forces are chaining up the trees and cutting them down,” [reports activist Tom Patterson, a U.S. activist with the International Solidarity Movement.] “Just before, they gave everyone five minutes to leave the area, but then straight away went and took the Israelis and internationals. Women from the village have just come out to the fields and are throwing shoes at the soldiers. Israel is destroying more of the village's land for the settlements."
The villages of Ras at Tira, Wadi Ar-Rasha and Dhab'a are completely surrounded by both Israel's Apartheid Wall and the illegal Israeli settlements of Alfe Menashe.
[From www.palsolidarity.org]
Monday, March 2, 2009
Three Actions for Peace & Justice - February 27, 2009
1) URGENT ACTION: Stop the Ethnic Cleansing of Jerusalem & Repression
These threatened home demolitions could take place this weekend, so please call now!
The Israeli military is poised to demolish 88 Palestinian homes in Jerusalem as part of Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign, a violation of human rights and international law. Nearly 2000 people would be made homeless by these demolitions. FMI: http://www.icahd.org/eng/news.asp?menu=5&submenu=1&item=675
The demolitions are part of stepped-up repression by Israel, now led by an extreme right wing government. In Gaza, Israel is refusing entry to human rights monitors while its military is continuing to kill and wound civilians. In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers are shooting unarmed demonstrators and abducting children and adults from their homes. Those abducted are held under administrative detention, with no charges; some report being tortured.
FMI: http://www.palsolidarity.org; http://www.btselem.org/English
Please call immediately and demand an end to Israel's demolishing of homes, ethnic cleansing, attacks on civilians, and abductions.
Congress: Also, tell your Congress person you want NO more U.S. aid to Israel.
Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121
District offices: Matsui: 916-498-5600; Thompson: (707) 226-9898
President Obama: Also tell him you want NO more U.S. military or economic aid to Israel.
Comments: 202-456-1111; Switchboard: 202-456-1414;
Email: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Israeli Consulate: 456 Montgomery St # 2100, San Francisco, CA 94104;
(415) 844-7500; Consul General Akiva Tor: concal.sec@sanfrancisco.mfa.gov.il
2) TAKE ACTION: Call for International Investigation of Israeli War Crimes
Tell Amnesty International you support their call for “a comprehensive international investigation that looks at all alleged violations of international law”.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/time-accountability-human-rights-abuses-gaza-and-southern-israel
3) TAKE ACTION: Support Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Campaign
Like South Africa, Israeli apartheid and occupation can be ended by collective world action through boycott, divestment and sanctions. Learn more about this international effort, become an endorser and encourage the organizations to which to you belong to endorse. See: http://www.bdsmovement.net
These threatened home demolitions could take place this weekend, so please call now!
The Israeli military is poised to demolish 88 Palestinian homes in Jerusalem as part of Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign, a violation of human rights and international law. Nearly 2000 people would be made homeless by these demolitions. FMI: http://www.icahd.org/eng/news.asp?menu=5&submenu=1&item=675
The demolitions are part of stepped-up repression by Israel, now led by an extreme right wing government. In Gaza, Israel is refusing entry to human rights monitors while its military is continuing to kill and wound civilians. In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers are shooting unarmed demonstrators and abducting children and adults from their homes. Those abducted are held under administrative detention, with no charges; some report being tortured.
FMI: http://www.palsolidarity.org; http://www.btselem.org/English
Please call immediately and demand an end to Israel's demolishing of homes, ethnic cleansing, attacks on civilians, and abductions.
Congress: Also, tell your Congress person you want NO more U.S. aid to Israel.
Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121
District offices: Matsui: 916-498-5600; Thompson: (707) 226-9898
President Obama: Also tell him you want NO more U.S. military or economic aid to Israel.
Comments: 202-456-1111; Switchboard: 202-456-1414;
Email: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Israeli Consulate: 456 Montgomery St # 2100, San Francisco, CA 94104;
(415) 844-7500; Consul General Akiva Tor: concal.sec@sanfrancisco.mfa.gov.il
2) TAKE ACTION: Call for International Investigation of Israeli War Crimes
Tell Amnesty International you support their call for “a comprehensive international investigation that looks at all alleged violations of international law”.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/time-accountability-human-rights-abuses-gaza-and-southern-israel
3) TAKE ACTION: Support Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Campaign
Like South Africa, Israeli apartheid and occupation can be ended by collective world action through boycott, divestment and sanctions. Learn more about this international effort, become an endorser and encourage the organizations to which to you belong to endorse. See: http://www.bdsmovement.net
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