Today we were asked to go to Rafidia hospital and witness the damage done to three young boys who were killed by a heavy army vehicle, which crashed into the car they were travelling in with their father, who is seriously ill in a hospital in Jerusalem. The coroner was examining their bodies as I arrived and he showed me the horrifying head injuries, which they died from.
In the early hours of this morning we heard the tanks leaving town. A
welcome sound and reason to celebrate. But my heart is heavy as people say
they will return. A military base outside the town is full of soldiers and
Apache helicopters fly overhead to let us know they are not completely
gone.
I visited the ruins of the Police station which was thoroughly bombed a few
days ago, pieces of the exploding historic building landed in houses half a
mile away! Operation Defensive Shield as the Israelis call this invasion is
more about destroying Palestinian society . How can the army justify
destroying the civic, cultural and administrative infrastructure? Computers
were taken apart, hard disks destroyed, telephones crushed, all records
destroyed. This has happened to virtually all the Palestinian government
offices including the departments of health and education. Only empty shells
remain of their premises. Everything pertaining to administering Palestinian
society has been destroyed. I quote from one of the most intelligent jewish
journalists, Uri Avnery. 'The lists of terrorists were not hidden in the land
registration books, the inventory of bombs was not tucked away amoung the list
of kindergarten teachers. The real aim is obvious; to destroy not only the
Palestinian authority, but Palestinian society itself; to push it back with
one stroke from the stage of a modern state-in-the-making to the primitive
society of Turkish times'.
I visited Belata, one of the Refugee camps where 16,000 people live having been displaced from their land by the occupying army. I was able to see first hand the damage done by the soldiers, when they entered the houses. Walls full of holes, smashed furniture, bullet holes in many houses and some homes levelled to the ground. 9 people were living in one room in one house I visited.
I worked with the medical relief team delivering mattresses and food. The
people desperately need the protection of the international community and
the UN protection force, but they feel its impossible to get this. Belata
is reputed to have been the home of some of the fighters and one of the
suicide bombers. If Sharon wanted to seriously 'Destroy the infrastructure
of terrorism' he would have radically supported and improved the conditions
and economy in the Palestinian territories.
Incredible to see the streets full of people talking to their neighbours, cleaning up, buying food; no tanks, no soldiers. In fact there were traffic jams! The youth of the city help directing traffic. In the Old I worked with a large group of teenage medical volunteers. We had gloves, masks and shovels. Working alongside heavy diggers and dumpers we shifted mountains of rubble and metal from bombed shops and homes. We cleared some of the streets and put down metal doors and sheets of corrugated tin for people to walk on. It was a fantastic effort on everyone’s behalf; spirits were very high as people supported each other, determined to restore their beloved historic city.
In another part of town I was shown where 8 members of a family had been killed
when army machinery had bulldozed their house to the ground. At another site 2
elderly people were rescued from under the rubble after many days of being
trapped.
A very sad day leaving Nablus and saying goodbye to all my friends. I attended a demonstration just before I left, a huge procession of people, with banners and placards asserting their right to live peacefully in Palestine. We finished up at the graveside where those killed during the invasion were recently buried.
I am stunned at the people's resilience and determination to rebuild and keep going, even in this uncertain atmosphere, when the army could return and reoccupy the town.
I left with 4 other internationals , and was delighted to meet 8 new people
coming in just as we were leaving, who will continue to support the people
and help distribute aid. We have been told that our presence gives great
support, some protection and hope to many people. One of our dearest friend's,
an ambulance driver drove us to a nearby village. We then walked over the
mountains and took a taxi to Jerusalem, a very long journey as we were held up
for hours unnecessarily at a checkpoint near an Israeli settlement. Along with
many other Palestinians we had to wait until the soldiers felt like letting us
pass. Meanwhile settlers drove past freely in their cars.
Today I joined a demonstration at a central location in Jerusalem surrounded by 4 streets of busy traffic. The first people I met were from a counter demo, an extremist group of Israelis who had placards saying 'Destroy all refugee camps'. Next I met a large group of refuseniks, the men who are bravely refusing to serve in the Israeli army, which is forcing them to serve in the occupied territories. There are over 430 of them and 40 currently serving prison sentences for their right disagree with the Israeli Occupation Force, (IOF). I was in tears to meet them and congratulated them on their brave stance. They were ashamed when I recounted the destruction done by the army on the population of Nablus.
One of them was a Major in the army and also a Doctor. I asked him why he left the army? he said, 'what we are asked to do is against humanity and against the Geneva Convention'. Many drivers shouted abuse at them, like, 'Hope you get blown up by the suicide bombers!'
There were many women at the demo who refuse to support the war, all of them Jewish, militantly opposed to the violence being done in their name on the Palestinian people.
Another hopeful meeting was with a man who has been involved in setting up
a school for Arab and Israeli children called 'Hand in Hand'. Last night
I stayed with an elderly Jewish woman who is disabled and has to use a
wheelchair. She is incredibly active and involved in many peace groups,
including one that actively supports the soldiers who do not want to serve
in the army. She is a fluent Hebrew speaker and extracted the following
from the Isareli army's website;
1.. Only 30 kilos of explosives were found in the territories as opposed
to the declarations by the Minister of Defence that 'hundreds of tons'
were found.
2.. According to Palestinian intelligence documents there were only 63
fighters in the whole of the Jenin area.
3.. The documents clearly show that they were not funded by the Palestinian
Authority and that there is no proof that Arafat funded any of these fighters.
For further information on this please contact
http://www.newprofile.org
I am back in Bethlehem, ready to join a group of activists in another attempt to take food and medicines into manger square, which has been totally cut off since the siege on the nativity Church. The army have occupied the Bethlehem star hotel where I once stayed. They have a huge surveillance balloon over the church, and constant noise bombards the people in Manger square and the Church.
Early this morning snipers wounded yet another person in the Church. Today there was a huge funeral of one of the men who came out of the church wounded. He was immediately arrested, and then he was released by the army, dead. The people inside the Church are dying of hunger, drinking water from a disused underground well. The Vatican has clearly stated the no one inside is being held hostage and that all inside are under their protection. There is a great need for brave religious leaders to come here and reclaim the birth place of Jesus and show the soldiers that they will not tolerate violence in this place.
People are very depressed and dispirited and despairing at the international community which watches all of this in silence.