Visit to Yanun

Yanun Boy on donkey, Upper Yanun Village

International and Israeli Activists






In the northern West Bank, just south of Nablus, there are a pair of villages - Upper and Lower Yanun. Yanun became known six years ago when the entire village was driven out by settlers who had expanded in the surrounding hilltops and then attacked villagers. These were the first Palestinian villages to have been completely driven out since 1948.

In response, the UN and some liberal church groups encouraged villagers to return and offered protection. For the past several years there have been three or four volunteers from the Ecumenical Church network who live in the village to be a witness in case of assault or attack.

I went up to Yanun and spent the night there because the regular volunteers were away and they needed another volunteer.

Getting there was an adventure. The main road in the West Bank does not have signs indicating directions to the Palestinian villages. Ror the most part, road signs just point to the Jewish settlements! Directions to Yanun were vague ... volunteers had always gone there by taxi from the Nablus checkpoint. I ended up taking a rented car straight up the valley.

During the drive I received a cell phone call and was told I was on a road the settlers have claimed should not be used! Fortunately I had a rented car with yellow license plates (Israelis, settlers and others with authorization to enter Israel).

The valley is beautiful with olive and fruit orchards, hay fields, hills and the Jordan Valley to the east. Villagers live a traditional way of life - boys shepherding, families tending to the olive and fruit orchards.

Settlers have taken over the surrounding hilltops and installed industrial level chicken coops. There are now soldiers, lookout towers, night lights, security fences, etc.. It is rather eerie given the serenity and tranquility of the valley and lifestyle of the lower valley where boys ride donkeys and elderly women sit on the ground and shell walnuts.

I spent the night in Yanun with an Israeli refusenik - former soldier who refused to be part of the Occupation. We had good conversations and it was interesting to learn his viewpoints. As part of our duties we walked to Lower Yanun, maintained a visible presence and generally just were 'about'. Not a hard job in such a beautiful place.

Next day the regular team returned. It is an interesting group: Norwegian woman, Swiss guy, South African woman. They are all volunteers from organizations part of the World Council of Churches. WCC played an important role opposing South African apartheid and now is in the forefront trying to bring peace with justice in Israel-Palestine.

The volunteers have all been to Palestine previously. The slow pace at Yanun is a bit too slow for some of them. But its just a three month commitment and an internet cafe is just a ten mile donkey ride away!

The situation in Yanun exemplifies what is going on throughout the West Bank: Israeli settlers move in, take over hilltop, establish 'security' perimeter which gradually expands and takes more and more of the land needed for village shepherding and orchards. The settlers are armed with machine guns and self-righteousness. After initial assaults the conflict becomes one of slow grinding down.

The population of Yanun is about one half what it was.

Just Another Friday in Bilin

Last Friday I went to Bilin with a friend from our PSE group. We picked up a couple people in Jerusalem and drove to Ramallah, the Palestinian city just north of Jerusalem. There we picked up another person to make a group of five going to join the weekly Friday protest in the dusty little village of Bilin.

Our carload of people was a "little UN". In addition to myself (Canadian-American) there were:

* Letti (Hispanic American)

* Rann (Israeli who has lived in Botswana, Hong Kong and UK)

* Japanese guy

* Brazilian woman who is studying in Australia!

Every Friday for 2 and a half years there has been a protest at Bilin. The villagers are protesting the loss of village land which is simply being taken from them - confiscated because all land in Israel is 'owned by the state' - because the Wall is slicing through this property. Right now it is still a tall fence with a gate the villagers can still pass through to reach the other side which holds the majority of their olive orchards. In future, the threat is the Wall will replace the fence and make it impossible to reach the other side.

There are many many examples of exactly this situation. Because it is relatively close to Ramallah and Jerusalem, and because the local committee has been clear that they want non-violent resistance, this struggle has been actively supported by progressive Israelis and internationals.

It's a good thing that Rann advised the rest of us in the car to be prepared for tear gas and stun blasts. At least fifty IDF soldiers - all armed with Uzis and other artillery - barred the path toward the fence so that the marchers could not approach. The orchard and road had suddenly become a "military zone" (because they say so) and everyone is subject to being shot.
This protest has been going on so long that it is a ritual but it is a rough one which could - and sometimes does - spin out of control.

Here is what happened .....

The protest began after the Friday service in the village Mosque. There were lots of kids and men of all ages. Numerous internationals. Some of the community business people - well dressed - joined in. Some of the kids looked like kids in Pakistan with the long shirts and caps. Others were the tough kids who tried to sell us handicrafts or trinkets before the demonstration.

The march continued until the road was blocked by rolls of razor wire. After chanting for some time, a few photographers and protestors started inching around the barrier. Suddenly there were tear gas and stun gun cannisters landing all around us. People were being hit by the tear gas bombs which look like rubber hand grenades. Tear gas and smoke was everywhere. People were fleeing the bombardment. Breathing in the tear gas hurts the lungs and one has to resist panic because suddenly you cannot breathe.

When my own coughing had ceased I turned around to see who was behind. Just a Palestinian in wheel chair enveloped in smoke and gas! It was much worse than it looks in the photo above.

Pretty soon the military was amidst us and forcibly pushing everybody back. This was happening on village land a quarter mile before the "security" fence! Some of the soldiers were disciplined and not keen to beat people up .... others looked nasty.

Two villagers got arrested - I have no clue why - and numerous tussles broke out.

Two Israeli activists were arguing forcibly in Hebrew with some of the soldiers. It looked like one of the soldiers wanted to beat the guy up.

Just then several military jeeps came barreling down the road, past us and heading toward the village. We soon heard the sound of tear gas and stun guns coming from the village. For unknown reasons the IDF was making an assault on the village, scaring everybody left in the village off the street and into cover.

Skirmishes at the protest lines died down and most soldiers returned to their initial position up the hill. Now village boys started hurling rocks at the soldiers with slings. The soldiers were generally too far away but one boy got off a super shot and hit one of the soldiers. Rumors said that the soldier took it in the eye but later reports indicated just a hand injury. Never-the-less he was carted off on a stretcher.

Meanwhile the soldiers and jeeps that invaded the town were now heading back. There was just one jeep left in town. Seeing it coming, an Israeli guy quickly started putting large boulders in the road. One of the boulders was about two fee high. I thought to myself "This is getting dangerous. This is something they might start shooting real bullets over." But the Israeli was still piling the boulders. The jeep rounded the bend kicking up a cloud of dust as protestors scattered off the road. The jeep driver saw the boulders in the road from 40 yards away as we also were scattering away from the road. I assumed the Jeep would stop and the soldiers be even more violent and trigger happy. But the Jeep driver did not stop .... he accelerated! I thought for sure he is going to impale the jeep's oil pan and transmission on the tallest boulder .... but with huge crash he somehow got over it! I looked to see oil dripping but did not see it.

The boys continued to sling rocks and the IDF soldiers spread out and lobbed tear gas and smoke bombs at them. Fires started in the dry grass amidst the olive trees. People from the village rushed to put out the fires.

After half an hour the boys headed back to the village. Then the soldiers headed back to wherever they came from. There were hundreds of smoke bomb and tear gas canisters littering the road and roadside. I wondered how much each cost and whether this is subsidized by US tax dollars.

Later I talked with Abdullah, the villager who heads the local popular resistance committee. He is about 40, looks like some kind of professional. He has the nicest house in Bilin which serves as the demonstration meeting place. He says they have not really had much success or seen positive change despite the years of protest. He thinks it may take a long time .... "like it did for Ghandi and Martin Luther King".

One of the two arrested villagers was released. The other was taken to jail. The guy in the wheelchair was taken away by medics but recovered and returned to the demonstration.

Just another Friday in Bilin.

Every Palestinian ....

I met Khader working at Radio Isis in Beit Sahour. Khader dresses carefully and his hair is nicely groomed. Like others at the station he is Christian. I did not inquire which type but he seemed devout. In fact the people at the station were somewhat shocked when I said I am not religious. "How can that be?" was their response.

In one of our conversations Khader mentioned that he had spent some time in prison. I inquired and found out the following story which .... I have the impression ..... has been experienced by a high percentage of young Palestinian males. Many have faced and endure much worse.

It happened during the 2nd Intifada when Israeli troops laid siege to the Church of Nativity where some Palestinian fighters had sought refuge. For 72 hours there was a complete curfew in Bethlehem. Israelis surrounded and periodically shelled the cathedral for many weeks. Snipers were looking to shoot to kill.

During this period (April 2001) Israeli troops were going door to door at night in Bethlehem rounding up youth and 'suspects'. They banged on the door of Khader's parents house at 2 am.. Khader says his mother was crying; his father was angry but eventually also crying as the IDF found Khader in his room, checked his ID and took him away. He spent the next two days blindfolded with hands tied in a large holding area with many other people whom he could hear.
After two days his name was called and he was taken for interrogation by Captain Housne of the IDF. Housne is infamous in Bethlehem. Fluent in Arabic, he offered Khader coffee. Khader declined. Housne offered again, suggesting he accept and Khader said OK.

The interrogator then showed Khader a photo of some young men throwing rocks at a tank near the grounds of Al Quds University. Khader was in the photo. It was obviously him, and Khader saw no point in denying it. Housne said this is a serious offense but that he could help. The interrogator then went through a laundry list of things which could turn Khader into informant. Different things motivate different people.

Housne suggested that in exchange for information, he could settle the criminal charges agains Khader. No thanks.

Then there was money. "How are you paying for university? We could help you."

Then a car.

Then women. "We can get any girl for you .... Palestinian or Israeli..... wouldn't that be nice?"

Khader says he declined all of this. He knew what would be expected in return.

The interrogator next tried the religions angle. "How does it feel to be one of the few Christians at Al Quds University?" Khader responded, "No problem. We are Palestinian first of all. Plus we all believe in one God."

Following the interview Khader was taken to a prison near Hebron. His parents hired an attorney to contest the charges against him (for throwing a rock at tank). Khader says the attorney did a good job and got his sentence reduced from one year to six months.

He went to prison in Jerusalem. His cell mates were ages 18 and 31, from Nablus and Jenin in northern West Bank. Because Palestinians cannot enter Jerusalem without a special and very hard-to-get pass, his parents were only able to visit him once. His cellmates' families were never able to visit.

Khader says that the experience was very bad. He lost 15 pounds (he is thin) and says he got gray hairs because of the experience. He prayed to God and that helped.

After being released from prison in the Fall, he found that he had lost his university placement.

He worked to save money and re-enter the university. That finally happened in March of 2003. He completed his graduation requirements in January this year and is now working at Radio Isis.

This is an Every Palestinian story. What happened to Khader has happened (and worse) to hundreds of thousands of his brothers.

This is a success story. For every Khader there are many young men whose lives never get back on track.

Five Miles from Gaza Strip

I drove south to take a look at the Gaza Strip from the outside.
Its not possible to get inside - Israel has closed the borders -
but I thought it would be interesting to see the crossing points
and what it is like around there.

I saw the three crossing points. Raffa in the south is completely
closed and barred. Karni has no traffic and is apparently closed.
There is a lot of military around there including dozens of tanks
and monster bulldozers. Eretz had a few vehicles - TV and Red Cross
crews - but otherwise was completely dead. There was zero movement of commodities or people in or out of Gaza.

What was really interesting was what is outside beyond the vision
of people who live in Gaza. What a difference a wall makes. On one side is one of the most
densely pieces of land on earth. On the other side it looks like
the Canadian prairies! Grass and wheat fields stretching to the
horizon. Who could have imagined?

There are numerous Israeli settlements in the area. I drove around
one close to Eretz. Nice dwellings, lots of space, nice playground,
green grass on a soccer field. I wonder if they ever wonder what
life is like for those in Gaza. (I wonder if the people inside Gaza
realize what a different world lies on the other side of the wall.)
Why are one and a quarter million people jammed into the tiny Gaza
Strip with so much land surrounding them?

One can see justification for Israel controlling who enters their
space. But why are they controlling who can enter the Palestinian
Territories including Gaza?

Israel made a highly publicized pullout from Gaza. Yet they still
control its borders. why? Why does Israel prevent Palestinians from
freely moving between Gaza and the West Bank?

The contrast between the dense controlled open air prison inside
the Gaza Strip and the rolling fields stretching to the horizon on
the Israeli side of the wall is shocking.

As writers have recently said, Gaza is not just a prison, it is a
laboratory. The minders monitor behaviour as they reduce available
food and medicine, prevent movement and apply more or less pressure
and violence. This is what is happening today in Gaza while the
"civilized world" looks the other way.

Tel Aviv Against the Occupation

A bunch of us went to Tel Aviv on Sunday June 10 for a
demonstration marking the 40th anniversary of the start of the
Occupation.

It was fun and great to be there! We did not understand many of the
signs, banners and chants ... but the spirit and basic message were
clear. There are lots of young and old Israelis against the
occupation! With drummers, dancers, clowns and high spirits the
march reminded me of some demonstrations in San Francisco. Lots of
kids. The long procession - many thousands strong - was led by an
elderly lady carrying a large poster photograph of a Palestinian
child crying in front of a demolished building.

Gush shalom was there in force.... distributing posters with the
Israeli and Palestinian flags side by side.

During the rally at the beginning and before the march began, a
friend and I each carried one of the posters with Israeli and
Palestinian flags. We went across the street to a sandwhich shop to
buy a snack. As we waited at the street corner, one of the cars
waiting at the red light 10 feet away, honked. We looked over, half
expecting to see a sign of greeting. Unfortunately it was an old
man shaking his fist at us. A moment later we had another reality
check on the Israeli population. There were two sexy young Israeli
woman right in front of us as we waited to cross the street. They
turned and asked in broken English "Why are you carrying that
sign??! There is no room here for Arabs!"

Across the street, at the cafe we ordered sandwhiches to go. The
Israeli who took the order helped us since we spoke no Hebrew. As
we went to pay I noticed the bill was much less than it should have
been and I asked for clarification. He responded that we were
getting a discount. Why? A nod to the poster.

Whither Gaza?

The above photo shows Gaza City skyline in the distance from Karni Crossing overflow parking lot. It was easy to take this photo because there are no trucks in the overflow parking lot. There are no trucks anywhere since Israel has closed this crossing as well as the other two.

We don't know what is going to happen but it could be grim.

The poor people of Gaza: first there was the economic assault - restricting imports and exports, stopping the inflow of money. Then there was the diabolically named 'summer rains' campaign where Israel bombarded the tiny enclave last Summer/Fall, destroying its one power plant killing many people and generally sowing terror. When that failed to topple the Hamas government the Israeli armed Fateh assaults began last winter.

Over the Spring 2007 there were repeated attempts to forge a unity government. US and Israeli governments plus a small fraction of quisling Fateh leadership never wanted this to succeed. Even prominent Fateh allied members of the community here - like the head of Al Quds University - say that Fateh never reconciled to losing the election.

Finally there was the latest attempt at a military defeat of Hamas ... with the opposite results.
Now we see the money getting ready to gush into the Fateh/Abbas government in Ramallah. Now we see the looming danger of ever greater attacks on the people and elected government in Gaza.

Where will it go and where will it end? Money talks and it can probably buy quite a lot of adherence. But will it not eventually undermine the credibility of Abbas and his new 'government' to be seen so clearly as agents of the US and Israel?

The pundits have been quick to say West Bank is Fateh and Gaza is Hamas. But in the free and fair election, Hamas won a majority in much of the West Bank also. If Israel invades Gaza or completely closes down the water and food shipments, putting the population under ever greater assault, how long will the West Bank tolerate this before it erupts in outrage?
Will popular pressure force the new government to make accommodations and somehow overcome the rift between the different factions and thereby prevent the complete strangulation of Gaza? Lets hope so.

Meanwhile, the Gaza coast is patrolled by Israeli Navy. The air is controlled by Israeli Air Force. The land borders are patrolled by Israeli Army. Gaza is entirely walled in except for a few
crossing/checkpoints. It is something like a closet in your house. You get to live in the closet but someone outside the door decides whether you can leave or someone else can enter, when to allow fresh air in, etc..

Following are some interesting and good analyses .....

From Yuri Avnery and Gush Shalom:
PRESS RELEASE FROM GUSH SHALOM
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/he/channels/press_releases/1181945
929/

GOOD OVERVIEW FROM PROGRESSIVE ISRAELIS
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/he/channels/avnery/1181993439/

From Naomi Klein, sharp Canadian writer
"Gaza - Not just a prison, a laboratory"
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/15/1901/

Websites to keep up
News Source based in Bethlehem:http://www.imemc.org/
Analysis:http://electronicintifada.net/new.shtml

Conflict in Gaza

Here in Bethlehem the situation is normal but people are upset, sad and angry about events in Gaza. There seems to be universal denunciation of the fighting and civilian deaths.

On the other side, powerful forces have worked toward and are happy to see the Palestinian division. Consider the following acts of foreign intervention and meddling which have contributed to the current crisis:

* Europe, US and Canada stopped economic aid to the Hamas government after their free and fair election.

* Israel withholds tax and tariff money owed to the Palestinian government and tries to prevent any money from getting into Gaza to allow government to operate.

* Israel has kidnapped numerous members of the legitimately elected government and cabinet.

* Israel controls the Gaza border and makes it difficult or impossible to enter and exit.

* Israel attacks Gaza from the air, killing hundreds of people, knocking out a major electric power plant and other key domestic services.

* The US has selectively funded the Fatah linked military forces

* Israel allowed these same Fatah forces to enter Gaza and attack Hamas soldiers and stations.

* Israel has been actively attacking 'targets' in Gaza creating general terror and mayhem.
See the blog below for a glimpse ..... http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/ (See May 24 entry)

In the last 24 hours Hamas has over-run the US financed Fatah forces and now has assumed sole control in Gaza. Having lost the military showdown, President Abbas has responded by dismissing Prime Minister Haniyeh and the government. In effect the President has done a unilateral take-over of the elected parliament and administration.

To nobody's surprise, the Bush Administration has rushed to support Abbas in this take-over. They have even suggested it may be time to end the economic restrictions!

What will the coming days bring?
Increased Israeli attacks on Gaza? Tightened strangulation of Gaza? Both seem likely.

Ali Abunimah has a more positive perspective in his analysis:
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article7030.shtml


I think Ali makes many good points but the situation is bad and full of tragedy. At this point we don't know where things will end up, but it is hard to see this 'defeat' for the Bush doctrine as a victory for the Palestinians. If one of the US/Israeli objectives was to divide the Palestinians they have succeeded (for the time being) in that.