1) Israeli Army Continues to Obstruct Olive Harvest _ ISM Media Office
2) PALESTINE: Economic and Social Dislocation _ Roy R.
3) Abnormality, Up-Close-and-Personal _ CJ
=============================
1)
Monday, October 20, 2003
ISRAELI ARMY CONTINUES TO OBSTRUCT OLIVE HARVEST
[Occupied West Bank] Harassment of Palestinian farmers in the West Bank
regions of Jenin, Qalqilya and Nablus took on various forms Monday.
Israeli forces denied entry to over 80 farmers trying to pass through a gate
at the Separation Wall in Anin village near Jenin. Soldiers told the
farmers that in order to enter their olive groves and agricultural land on
the north side of the Wall they needed visas permitting them to enter
Israel. The soldiers then told the farmers to try their luck on Wednesday
or to come back with visas.
In the village of Awarta, near Nablus, Israeli soldiers denied dozens of
farmers passage into their olive groves despite previous written assurances
from the District Coordination Office (DCO) that harvesting would be
permitted on this day. The DCO had informed Awarta villagers that October
20-22, they would be allowed to pick, but as farmers gathered to enter their
groves in the morning, soldiers denied them entry, stating that the
designated picking date has been changed to Friday; Farmers were told to try
back on Friday, despite the fact that Friday is a rest day for Muslims, and
then begins the Ramadan fast.
In Jayyous, near Qalqilya, only elderly farmers, women and young children
were allowed access to their farmland in the morning, men under 40 being
turned away. In the evening, sixty people, including women and children,
were detained by the Israeli military and not allowed to cross back into the
village after a day of olive harvesting on their land. The Israeli Army
claimed that they saw someone jump over the fence earlier in the day and
that until they are told the person's identity, they will continue to hold
all 60 people at the gate. Soldiers then detained one man, Khalid Abdel
Sharib, approximately 50 years old, who they suspected of being the
fence-hopper and took him initially into the nearby fields for
interrogation, then into custody. Four hours later the 60 farmers were
allowed to pass through the gate to go home. The night before, six farmers
were detained on the West side of the gate in Jayyous for over 6 hours,
released to go home at 11pm and one farmer taken by Israeli soldiers and not
released until 4am.
The ongoing denial of land access not only breaches the human rights of the
Palestinians to earn their living but such actions by the Israeli government
runs contrary to an expressed acknowledgement of the importance of
agriculture to the Palestinian economy.
http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0kwr0 .
Despite these hardships, Palestinian farmers persist and struggle to find
ways not to abandon their land. The International Solidarity Movement, in
conjunction with Palestinian farmers, invites members of the press to join
us in the villages and to witness the daily efforts of farmers to harvest,
to live.
END
====================
2)
PALESTINE: Economic and Social Dislocation
October 21, 2003
Jenin
Roy R.
That long and winding road; leads me to....?
In previous messages back home I have mentioned the terms economic and
social dislocation without describing this in detail. However, this week a
perfect example presented itself. I was attempting to travel alone (not
recommended, but I had no choice) from a village close to Ramin back to
Jerusalem. I was told I would need to get up at 5am to get a taxi from the
village. The early start was necessary because the taxi could not go
straight to the village, the road blocks prevented this. After 40 minutes we
arrived at a deep, wide ditch gouged out of the road and a pile of rubble
and concrete on the other side of it. The blockage was enough to stop a
tank, never mind the taxi. I got out and joined a group of five who going
to visit family. We had to walk a mile up another road and wait at a
cross-road. From many directions people on foot came to that point until
about 30 people were assembled. Most, smartly dressed, were obviously going
to work others to college and two, a daughter and father, were going to
Jerusalem for an appointment at the eye hospital. After another 30 minutes a
mini-bus arrived which could only take fifteen. There was much discussion
about which fifteen should go first and I was a popular choice because the
passengers and driver thought my presence would help at checkpoints. It did
not. We set off, leaving the others behind. After another half an hour the
mini-bus slowed down and stopped in the middle of nowhere. I was puzzled.
All the passengers except myself and two others were asked to alight. We
drove off leaving the others behind. Round the next bend the reason for our
unscheduled stop became clear. A temporary road block had been set up and
all vehicles were being stopped. After our passports were checked we were
allowed through, and off we went. We traveled three miles on and then
turned round and drove back along the same road. We stopped before we came
in sight of the checkpoint. Again the mini-bus reversed and drove off three
miles down the road turned round again and drove back toward the checkpoint.
This time before the checkpoint came in view all our previous passengers
were walking towards us along the edge of the road. We stopped and picked
them up. Now the usual excuse for the road blocks is to prevent terrorism,
but the real reason becomes clear in this incident. If we had all been
terrorists on that bus we would have all got through. None of us were
searched, none of our luggage was searched. If one person among us had been
a terrorist he or she would have got through. Clearly the soldiers
considered none of us terrorists in the slightest or they would have
searched us. It was just to make things difficult for those with Palestinian
passports to do normal everyday things, like travel to work, college, visit
friends, do shopping. If our driver hadn't turned back, these people would
have had a further twenty miles to walk to get to where we were going. This
event wasn't the last. After another ten minutes on the same road another
new checkpoint was encountered, and at this we were all turned back. The
driver did his best to find a way around this checkpoint but eventually had
to give up. We had to take a side road, drop the Palestinians off at a
village (also with a ditch and massive mound to climb), with the phone
number of another taxi firm for them to phone up. We went back to this
second checkpoint and were allowed through. Our ex fellow travelers now had
to clamber over the mound and round the ditch and hope to find a route to
their destination on the other side of this obstacle. For us a two hour
journey had taken five hours and with very little traffic on the road.
This entire episode was no isolated example, but typical of the economic,
social and educational dislocation that occurs daily in all parts of the
illegally occupied territories of Palestine. It's no wonder, some people
give up and emigrate, or try to. It's no wonder some give up and choose to
stay at home in their town or village. In the last village I was in you
could see the sea, from the flat roof of the house we stayed at, but none of
the children in the village could get there. Can we in Britain imagine that?
Being in sight of the sea and sandy beaches, but unable to take ourselves or
our children to play there, because a foreign army occupied and controlled
all the roads and access points to it. It's no wonder that a small minority
get frustrated and want to hit back. The real wonder is though, that
through all this provocation, through all this dislocation, every one of the
many Palestinians I met retained their composure, dignity, generosity,
humour and humanity. Why does the international community ignore the plight
of these fellow human beings whose lives are made so intolerable? If the
same thing was happening to us in Britain we would want people to speak out
for us. We should do the same. It is not good enough for us to look the
other way, or busy ourselves without a second thought. I am reminded of a
dimly remembered statement. The following are not all the exact categories
the originator used, but these will make the meaning clear.
'First they came for the trade unionists and I did nothing, for I was not a
trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I said nothing, because I was not a
Catholic.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did nothing, for I was not a Jew.
Next, they came for the Gypsies, and I did nothing for I was not a Gypsy.
Etc etc.
When they finally came for me, there was no one left to speak on my behalf.'
We are all an international community of human beings. We need to speak up
for each other. We should not let injustice and oppression occur in silence
and inaction just because it occurs mainly out of our sight. Another world
is possible from the one forced on us by the military and political bullies
in the world. We may not be able to do much but we can try to do something
and all our efforts will begin to add up.
Roy.
=====================
3)
Abnormality, Up-Close-and-Personal
October 17, 2003
Nablus
CJ
I've been traveling a lot and that puts you up-close-and-personal with the
roadblocks, the checkpoints (the guns), the tanks, the soldiers, the
horrible roads. Talking to people reminds you of how this is not a normal
life for them, that they want it to change. Walking down the street reminds
you how much this country has been economically cut off and suffocated. And
when you're at home hoping to get away from it all, you hear the tanks or
the F-16s flying over head.
As per my last report we had been kicked out of the West Bank and were in
Jerusalem. A group of us decided to go to Nablus in order to help with the
Olive Harvest activities there. On our "tour" of Nablus we were greeted by
rubber bullets and tear gas. There was no demonstration or anything going
on, but some jeeps and a hummer showed up at an intersection, and the street
quickly cleared of people. Some say they were trying to 'smoke out' the
armed resistance (not that there is much of one), but it sure seemed like
terrorism to me - there was no return fire. Tear gas is so nasty. We hung
around and took video and pictures, luckily no one was hurt. By the way,
they don't announce if they are using rubber bullets or live ammunition.
The crack of it going by your head sounds the same and is just as
terrifying.
On Friday morning we got up early to go to the village of Beit Furik where we accompanied farmers out to their olive groves. Beit Furik is next to a couple settlements, and the farmers were often harassed by settlers while they were picking their olives. There is much fear because not only is the harassment near constant, but in the past many farmers have been injured. An older man (over 70) who was picking olives was killed - he wasn't shot in the head, or the back: the settlers had beaten him, tied his hands together, cut them off, and he was left to bleed to death in the field. This is not made up; I met this man's nephew.
According to the Oslo agreement, Israel was to halt settlement growth but
the opposite has happened. Israel has encouraged the growth of settlements.
It is a direct violation of international law, and is considered a war crime
to settle occupied land. It is important to know that most of the people
who live in the settlements are their for economic reasons and would happily
return to the other side of the Green Line (delineation of the West Bank). I've heard estimates of 70 - 90 percent of the settlers would return. Unfortunately, some of those who belong to the small percentage of
ideologues that believe that this is their land under god's will also happen
to believe that taking the land back through violence is acceptable. They'
ve not only given the settlers and the Israelis a bad rap, but they've
effectively terrorized many of the Palestinians who have olive trees and
family with olive trees near the settlements.
While we were there on the first day, a white truck showed up on the ridge
above us, and fired shots. I assume into the sky because I couldn't hear
the crack of the bullet over my head. Later, some more settlers showed up
on the ridge and from what we could tell were checking us out, effectively
scaring some of the farmers away. Luckily they didn't come down the
mountain to confront us. We have no way of knowing what the settlers would
have done if we weren't there, but we do know that some of the farmers felt
confident enough to continue picking and not loose an entire day of harvest.
The next day, Saturday, we went out into the fields again. After spotting a
settler with an M-16, binoculars, and a cell phone on the top of the ridge,
we soon saw an Israeli jeep pull into the field. From what we could tell
the settler called the army, or someone from the settlement saw us and
called them. After making us erase all of our camera footage we were told
that this area, again, was a closed military zone, and we were not allowed
there. We asked which area was a closed military zone and he said that 2 km
from the settlement was closed. This is a ridiculous amount of land- it
includes the village of Beit Furik where we were staying. We decided to
leave the area for the day and we went to pick somewhere else where the
farmers felt comfortable.
Declaring the area a closed military zone makes the trees useless to the
Palestinians. Without the presence of international witnesses they are too
scared to go and pick. They loose not only the land that the settlement is
on, but the land within eyesight of the settlement as well.
Beit Furik is a village of about 12,000 that since the occupation has been
prohibited from growth. There are 'lines' of that surround the village that
no one can build on. It is estimated that the town would now have the
population of about 20,000, but new factories, new housing, new buildings
are not allowed outside of the current boundaries. In a further attempt to
keep people from living like people, it is necessary for one to have a
'residency' card for the village that you live in so that you can get
through the checkpoints. Tell me, how many people do you know in your
country would put up with that? "Oh, sorry, you can't go to Chicago, you
don't live there! No, of course you can't go see your mother in San
Francisco; you have no official reason to be there!" I've seen a woman
carrying a sick child - pale and unconscious, being turned away at a
checkpoint because she wasn't in an ambulance. Ambulances wait at
checkpoints for hours. A pregnant woman couldn't get through a checkpoint
to Nablus (one of the cities in the area with a hospital), because she
didn't have a letter stating that she had an appointment.
What would you do if that was you? Do you think this is necessary for
"security"?
Please share these reports with your family and friends. Every Palestinian
who I have met, when I ask them what they want me to do, they respond, 'give
a voice to the Palestinians.'
In Love and Peace,
CJ
Read other reports at:
http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/journals_reports_main.php
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
http://www.palsolidarity.org
2) PALESTINE: Economic and Social Dislocation _ Roy R.
3) Abnormality, Up-Close-and-Personal _ CJ
=============================
1)
Monday, October 20, 2003
ISRAELI ARMY CONTINUES TO OBSTRUCT OLIVE HARVEST
[Occupied West Bank] Harassment of Palestinian farmers in the West Bank
regions of Jenin, Qalqilya and Nablus took on various forms Monday.
Israeli forces denied entry to over 80 farmers trying to pass through a gate
at the Separation Wall in Anin village near Jenin. Soldiers told the
farmers that in order to enter their olive groves and agricultural land on
the north side of the Wall they needed visas permitting them to enter
Israel. The soldiers then told the farmers to try their luck on Wednesday
or to come back with visas.
In the village of Awarta, near Nablus, Israeli soldiers denied dozens of
farmers passage into their olive groves despite previous written assurances
from the District Coordination Office (DCO) that harvesting would be
permitted on this day. The DCO had informed Awarta villagers that October
20-22, they would be allowed to pick, but as farmers gathered to enter their
groves in the morning, soldiers denied them entry, stating that the
designated picking date has been changed to Friday; Farmers were told to try
back on Friday, despite the fact that Friday is a rest day for Muslims, and
then begins the Ramadan fast.
In Jayyous, near Qalqilya, only elderly farmers, women and young children
were allowed access to their farmland in the morning, men under 40 being
turned away. In the evening, sixty people, including women and children,
were detained by the Israeli military and not allowed to cross back into the
village after a day of olive harvesting on their land. The Israeli Army
claimed that they saw someone jump over the fence earlier in the day and
that until they are told the person's identity, they will continue to hold
all 60 people at the gate. Soldiers then detained one man, Khalid Abdel
Sharib, approximately 50 years old, who they suspected of being the
fence-hopper and took him initially into the nearby fields for
interrogation, then into custody. Four hours later the 60 farmers were
allowed to pass through the gate to go home. The night before, six farmers
were detained on the West side of the gate in Jayyous for over 6 hours,
released to go home at 11pm and one farmer taken by Israeli soldiers and not
released until 4am.
The ongoing denial of land access not only breaches the human rights of the
Palestinians to earn their living but such actions by the Israeli government
runs contrary to an expressed acknowledgement of the importance of
agriculture to the Palestinian economy.
http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0kwr0 .
Despite these hardships, Palestinian farmers persist and struggle to find
ways not to abandon their land. The International Solidarity Movement, in
conjunction with Palestinian farmers, invites members of the press to join
us in the villages and to witness the daily efforts of farmers to harvest,
to live.
END
====================
2)
PALESTINE: Economic and Social Dislocation
October 21, 2003
Jenin
Roy R.
That long and winding road; leads me to....?
In previous messages back home I have mentioned the terms economic and
social dislocation without describing this in detail. However, this week a
perfect example presented itself. I was attempting to travel alone (not
recommended, but I had no choice) from a village close to Ramin back to
Jerusalem. I was told I would need to get up at 5am to get a taxi from the
village. The early start was necessary because the taxi could not go
straight to the village, the road blocks prevented this. After 40 minutes we
arrived at a deep, wide ditch gouged out of the road and a pile of rubble
and concrete on the other side of it. The blockage was enough to stop a
tank, never mind the taxi. I got out and joined a group of five who going
to visit family. We had to walk a mile up another road and wait at a
cross-road. From many directions people on foot came to that point until
about 30 people were assembled. Most, smartly dressed, were obviously going
to work others to college and two, a daughter and father, were going to
Jerusalem for an appointment at the eye hospital. After another 30 minutes a
mini-bus arrived which could only take fifteen. There was much discussion
about which fifteen should go first and I was a popular choice because the
passengers and driver thought my presence would help at checkpoints. It did
not. We set off, leaving the others behind. After another half an hour the
mini-bus slowed down and stopped in the middle of nowhere. I was puzzled.
All the passengers except myself and two others were asked to alight. We
drove off leaving the others behind. Round the next bend the reason for our
unscheduled stop became clear. A temporary road block had been set up and
all vehicles were being stopped. After our passports were checked we were
allowed through, and off we went. We traveled three miles on and then
turned round and drove back along the same road. We stopped before we came
in sight of the checkpoint. Again the mini-bus reversed and drove off three
miles down the road turned round again and drove back toward the checkpoint.
This time before the checkpoint came in view all our previous passengers
were walking towards us along the edge of the road. We stopped and picked
them up. Now the usual excuse for the road blocks is to prevent terrorism,
but the real reason becomes clear in this incident. If we had all been
terrorists on that bus we would have all got through. None of us were
searched, none of our luggage was searched. If one person among us had been
a terrorist he or she would have got through. Clearly the soldiers
considered none of us terrorists in the slightest or they would have
searched us. It was just to make things difficult for those with Palestinian
passports to do normal everyday things, like travel to work, college, visit
friends, do shopping. If our driver hadn't turned back, these people would
have had a further twenty miles to walk to get to where we were going. This
event wasn't the last. After another ten minutes on the same road another
new checkpoint was encountered, and at this we were all turned back. The
driver did his best to find a way around this checkpoint but eventually had
to give up. We had to take a side road, drop the Palestinians off at a
village (also with a ditch and massive mound to climb), with the phone
number of another taxi firm for them to phone up. We went back to this
second checkpoint and were allowed through. Our ex fellow travelers now had
to clamber over the mound and round the ditch and hope to find a route to
their destination on the other side of this obstacle. For us a two hour
journey had taken five hours and with very little traffic on the road.
This entire episode was no isolated example, but typical of the economic,
social and educational dislocation that occurs daily in all parts of the
illegally occupied territories of Palestine. It's no wonder, some people
give up and emigrate, or try to. It's no wonder some give up and choose to
stay at home in their town or village. In the last village I was in you
could see the sea, from the flat roof of the house we stayed at, but none of
the children in the village could get there. Can we in Britain imagine that?
Being in sight of the sea and sandy beaches, but unable to take ourselves or
our children to play there, because a foreign army occupied and controlled
all the roads and access points to it. It's no wonder that a small minority
get frustrated and want to hit back. The real wonder is though, that
through all this provocation, through all this dislocation, every one of the
many Palestinians I met retained their composure, dignity, generosity,
humour and humanity. Why does the international community ignore the plight
of these fellow human beings whose lives are made so intolerable? If the
same thing was happening to us in Britain we would want people to speak out
for us. We should do the same. It is not good enough for us to look the
other way, or busy ourselves without a second thought. I am reminded of a
dimly remembered statement. The following are not all the exact categories
the originator used, but these will make the meaning clear.
'First they came for the trade unionists and I did nothing, for I was not a
trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I said nothing, because I was not a
Catholic.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did nothing, for I was not a Jew.
Next, they came for the Gypsies, and I did nothing for I was not a Gypsy.
Etc etc.
When they finally came for me, there was no one left to speak on my behalf.'
We are all an international community of human beings. We need to speak up
for each other. We should not let injustice and oppression occur in silence
and inaction just because it occurs mainly out of our sight. Another world
is possible from the one forced on us by the military and political bullies
in the world. We may not be able to do much but we can try to do something
and all our efforts will begin to add up.
Roy.
=====================
3)
Abnormality, Up-Close-and-Personal
October 17, 2003
Nablus
CJ
I've been traveling a lot and that puts you up-close-and-personal with the
roadblocks, the checkpoints (the guns), the tanks, the soldiers, the
horrible roads. Talking to people reminds you of how this is not a normal
life for them, that they want it to change. Walking down the street reminds
you how much this country has been economically cut off and suffocated. And
when you're at home hoping to get away from it all, you hear the tanks or
the F-16s flying over head.
As per my last report we had been kicked out of the West Bank and were in
Jerusalem. A group of us decided to go to Nablus in order to help with the
Olive Harvest activities there. On our "tour" of Nablus we were greeted by
rubber bullets and tear gas. There was no demonstration or anything going
on, but some jeeps and a hummer showed up at an intersection, and the street
quickly cleared of people. Some say they were trying to 'smoke out' the
armed resistance (not that there is much of one), but it sure seemed like
terrorism to me - there was no return fire. Tear gas is so nasty. We hung
around and took video and pictures, luckily no one was hurt. By the way,
they don't announce if they are using rubber bullets or live ammunition.
The crack of it going by your head sounds the same and is just as
terrifying.
On Friday morning we got up early to go to the village of Beit Furik where we accompanied farmers out to their olive groves. Beit Furik is next to a couple settlements, and the farmers were often harassed by settlers while they were picking their olives. There is much fear because not only is the harassment near constant, but in the past many farmers have been injured. An older man (over 70) who was picking olives was killed - he wasn't shot in the head, or the back: the settlers had beaten him, tied his hands together, cut them off, and he was left to bleed to death in the field. This is not made up; I met this man's nephew.
According to the Oslo agreement, Israel was to halt settlement growth but
the opposite has happened. Israel has encouraged the growth of settlements.
It is a direct violation of international law, and is considered a war crime
to settle occupied land. It is important to know that most of the people
who live in the settlements are their for economic reasons and would happily
return to the other side of the Green Line (delineation of the West Bank). I've heard estimates of 70 - 90 percent of the settlers would return. Unfortunately, some of those who belong to the small percentage of
ideologues that believe that this is their land under god's will also happen
to believe that taking the land back through violence is acceptable. They'
ve not only given the settlers and the Israelis a bad rap, but they've
effectively terrorized many of the Palestinians who have olive trees and
family with olive trees near the settlements.
While we were there on the first day, a white truck showed up on the ridge
above us, and fired shots. I assume into the sky because I couldn't hear
the crack of the bullet over my head. Later, some more settlers showed up
on the ridge and from what we could tell were checking us out, effectively
scaring some of the farmers away. Luckily they didn't come down the
mountain to confront us. We have no way of knowing what the settlers would
have done if we weren't there, but we do know that some of the farmers felt
confident enough to continue picking and not loose an entire day of harvest.
The next day, Saturday, we went out into the fields again. After spotting a
settler with an M-16, binoculars, and a cell phone on the top of the ridge,
we soon saw an Israeli jeep pull into the field. From what we could tell
the settler called the army, or someone from the settlement saw us and
called them. After making us erase all of our camera footage we were told
that this area, again, was a closed military zone, and we were not allowed
there. We asked which area was a closed military zone and he said that 2 km
from the settlement was closed. This is a ridiculous amount of land- it
includes the village of Beit Furik where we were staying. We decided to
leave the area for the day and we went to pick somewhere else where the
farmers felt comfortable.
Declaring the area a closed military zone makes the trees useless to the
Palestinians. Without the presence of international witnesses they are too
scared to go and pick. They loose not only the land that the settlement is
on, but the land within eyesight of the settlement as well.
Beit Furik is a village of about 12,000 that since the occupation has been
prohibited from growth. There are 'lines' of that surround the village that
no one can build on. It is estimated that the town would now have the
population of about 20,000, but new factories, new housing, new buildings
are not allowed outside of the current boundaries. In a further attempt to
keep people from living like people, it is necessary for one to have a
'residency' card for the village that you live in so that you can get
through the checkpoints. Tell me, how many people do you know in your
country would put up with that? "Oh, sorry, you can't go to Chicago, you
don't live there! No, of course you can't go see your mother in San
Francisco; you have no official reason to be there!" I've seen a woman
carrying a sick child - pale and unconscious, being turned away at a
checkpoint because she wasn't in an ambulance. Ambulances wait at
checkpoints for hours. A pregnant woman couldn't get through a checkpoint
to Nablus (one of the cities in the area with a hospital), because she
didn't have a letter stating that she had an appointment.
What would you do if that was you? Do you think this is necessary for
"security"?
Please share these reports with your family and friends. Every Palestinian
who I have met, when I ask them what they want me to do, they respond, 'give
a voice to the Palestinians.'
In Love and Peace,
CJ
Read other reports at:
http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/journals_reports_main.php
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
http://www.palsolidarity.org