The day before Ramadan starts, the quiet West Bank village of Jayyus (3,000 people) experienced another Israeli Defense Force incursion of four Army vehicles, including one police vehicle. Some 20 soldiers guarded sites where houses were entered and people interrogated.
See video footage of this incursion on 31 July 2011 on You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blnbnhOOMfI
"For security", said the one in charge, when we EAs (Ecumenical Accompaniment Program for Palestine and Israel) asked why the soldier visit. I silently gasped as this Commander gently touched my shoulder and pointed, as though seeking our understanding. "You see those boys on top [or the houses]? They throw stones at us." He left us....before I could gasp back, "Well of course they would. Your presence is causing any violent backlash, ding bat!" We followed the vehicles on foot, taking photos, and in constant vision of the soldiers. They stopped at four family homes. Seemingly, no arrests were made, just alot of unnecessary initimidation which merely incited the young boys to throw their stones. Even, one policeman tried to protect us from these flying objects - another uncanny twist to the bizarre, yet real, playground the IDF has chosen to use in this illegally occupied land. A vender selling chick peas weaves defiantly along the main road of Jayyus, barely avoiding the parked army jeeps. We call him 'birthday man' as his vending music ironically chimes out 'Happy Birthday to You"!! Just another crazy, bizarre twist.
(Video footage courtesy of EA Marvin Domoguen)
Sunday 31 July 2011
Friday 29 July 2011
The Logic of Illogic
There is a pastime spent during these hot West Bank days, trying not-so-desperately-anymore to understand any form of rational argumentation or logic about cause and effect, or logistics….of anything! Which deteriorates my use of language (not to mention the art of thinking) even further as words defy meaning! I’m grasping for some logic…..
For instance: A Palestinian family can get (if they’re lucky) a permit to visit their incarcerated son in an Israeli jail, but probably would have difficulty getting a permit, or even funds, to travel the roads between Palestine and Israel to go to Tel Aviv court hearings, or to the jail.
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| Happy Israeli Soldiers at Agriculture Gate-Jayyus/West Bank |
Let me try another scenario: A farmer has a permit to enter his own agricultural lands, but when it expires, it may take him months to renew the permit….which means he might miss the harvest time of his olives…..which means he cannot reap the fruits from his lands or hard-won labour….which means……his lands may deteriorate, and thus become absorbed under an archaic Ottoman Empire law that says any unkept land for three years reverts back to the State (in this contemporary case, of Israel). Actually, there’s logic in all that.
Let me try another…..: Palestinian medical patients cannot get a permit to see their doctors for follow-up treatment in Tel Aviv (Israel) because the doctors are boycotting the authorities’ delays (and some reductions) of monthly salary payments (due to the Israeli government delaying regular funds from taxes to the Palestinian Authority). So the innocent suffer…..
Well, there’s some logic in that……
Thursday 21 July 2011
Soldiers Incursion into Jayyus, midnight of 21 July 2011
Just after midnight on Thursday, 21 July, five Israeli Defence Force jeeps were heard and seen patrolling the main street of Jayyus. Several soldiers were captured on video camera by EA Marvin, from our house rooftop.
Locals reported that tear gas canisters were thrown into some homes, and guns were fired into the air. One young man was injured in the forehead by a tear gas canister and was evacuated by ambulance to Tulkarm hospital.
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| Injured by a tear gas canister in Jayyus |
It happened that I slept through all this happening!
Wednesday 20 July 2011
Borders…..and more Borders…..
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| Qalqiliya Checkpoint at Separation Wall - 4am waiting for gates to open |
After counter-clicking 4,215 people (70 women) through the Qalqiliya checkpoint at the ‘Green Line’ Separation Wall, on their way to work in Israel for the day, I was already dreaming about Tel Aviv’s sea I would enjoy that afternoon. I watched these sullen faces between 4-6:30am go through 2 turnstiles leading onto a long passage to magnetic card machines which allow workers out of what looks like a temporary barbed wired prison.
Tensions flared, as men pushed through the extra narrow turnstiles (60 cm compared to an international standard of 90cm wide). “Kadima, kadima, Kadima” chanted the Israeli security lady hidden in her booth. “Forward, forward, forward” – like herding cattle, as though workers could rush in their congested line. My EA co-worker, Sandra, telephoned the ‘Humanitarian Hotline’ to report the ‘go-slow’.
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| Qalqiliya checkpoint barbed fences and gates |
“Lady”, shrilled the guard, “Don’t walk around over there. You will delay the people!” as she shut down the turnstiles. Sandra was only 15 meters from our gate post monitoring the go-slow, oblivious that she could pose any threat to workers’ movements.
Jayyus is a 10 minute ride to Jaljoulia ‘border post’ through which only those with permits to Israel can pass. It’s actually on occupied Palestinian territory so that (illegal) settlements have access to Israel (which is on the west side of the Green Line). My Palestinian taxi dropped me 50 metres from the gate; only Israeli cars can get near. As I walked to the gate to hitch a ride on the other side, an apprehensive soldier left his post and quickly approached me (a grey-haired lady with a small rucksack) with rifle ready. Another young soldier glanced at my passport (I had to point out where the Israeli visa was), smiled (as though he was chalking up another new experience), and wished me a nice trip.
I hadn’t hitch-hiked for decades! A kind Israeli man gave me a lift to Tel Aviv, only 20 minutes away. The sea at sunset washed my tensions and sadness away, as did some cold beers. Now, I have another dream……
But I can’t rave to my Palestinian contacts about the wonderful sea – they don’t have permits to enjoy that Israeli side of life……
Tuesday 12 July 2011
Silwan, East Jerusalem; Izbat Tabib fence protests
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| Silwan expanding settlements, East Jerusalem |
More walls...............more detoured roads............. to Israeli settlements which illegally have grabbed and occupied others’ lands. More irrigated manicured gardens of settlements which now use 10 times more water than that allowed for the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem. This is the part of Jerusalem which was designated, in 1967 boundaries, to be for Palestinians. West Jerusalem for Israelis. Demography has now changed....
East Jerusalem is becoming uglier as Palestinian lands show past demolitions and snaking fences to enclose them from new settlement developments.
IZBAT TABIB PROTESTS:
On July 11, back in Izbat Tabib, a village near Jayyus, international protest activists from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) attempt to remove barbed wire fences along a road where Israelis have tried to demarcate areas ‘grabbed’ from Palestinians to expand building of more settlements. Fences snake through the villages as more and more lands are designated by 'court orders' as Israeli lands for new outside Settlers who build their havens as holiday homes; few actually reside in their settlements.
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| ISM activists trying to remove barbed wire fence in Izbat Tabib village |
It really was more of a media event, than a real challenge to the Israeli Army soldiers (since few Palestinians, other than the leaders, participated in the march) who watched and took photos from their vehicles….as the rest of us were doing.
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| Israeli soldiers taking photos & surrounded by activists taking photos; fire alerts |
The fires were set – using old tyres - by Palestinians to alert the neighborhood that the Israelis were in town.
Maybe we should all get together on Picasa and ‘share photos’ !!
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