On this, the final day of Ramadan 2002, Israel continues its decades old illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinians in the West Bank city of Khalil (Hebron), under effective curfew for years. Apache helicopter missiles fired into Gaza City. Israeli bulldozers continued to raze houses in the Gaza Strip and thousands of Palestinians were held under another day of curfew throughout the occupied West Bank and parts of the Gaza Strip. Kristen Ess writes from Occupied Gaza. Read more about The end of Ramadan
While walking up into the main Madbasseh street, Mary saw a toshe (quarrel) at a falafel place; about nothing she later heard, but the atmosphere and people’s faces were so threatening that she decided not to do shopping and return home. The tension is also palpable in the refugee camps which are crowded and bear a large share of the arrests. Toine van Teeffelen writes from Bethlehem. Read more about Curfew tensions in Bethlehem
We found ourselves in the midst of a crowd of over 300 cheering Palestinians. Between us and another group of a few dozen Palestinian youth were two United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representatives. The two representatives were clearly American, in looks and accents. A few of the Palestinians standing behind the UNDP representatives slowly walked up behind them and one pulled from a bag what looked like a one-meter wooden bat. Read more about Palestinian Children in the Night
Caoimhe Butterly and Annie HigginsJenin refugee camp22 November 2002
“Iain Hook came out of the UN compound waving a blue UN flag, and the Israeli soldiers’ only response was to broadcast with their microphone in English, ‘We don’t care if you are the United Nations or who you are. Fuck off and go home!’ They were trying to go home. Iain said that things were not going well.” Caoimhe Butterly reports from Jenin. Read more about Israel's killing of British citizen Iain Hook, UNRWA's Project Manager in Jenin
Caoimhe ButterlyJenin refugee camp16 November 2002
As we tried to wrench open the locked door we could hear the beating that lasted all night as his mother wept outside and a group of adults put a hood over the head of a skinny 12-year old and beat him savagely. The same “lesson”: to fear and comply or risk subjugation by force they tried to beat into the memory of ten other children between the ages of eight and thirteen on the same night in different occupied houses. Caoimhe Butterly writes from Jenin Refugee Camp. Read more about Report on the full-scale reinvasion of Jenin
On the occasion of Independence day, November 15, some 60 school and university students and teachers leave together for a fieldtrip to the village of Taybeh north-east of Ramallah. Toine van Teeffelen writes from Bethlehem. Read more about Field trip to Taybeh
The city and the Refugee Camp breathed more easily when the Israeli Army withdrew from its two-week invasion about a week ago, but everyone knew that the Army would maintain its presence, if slightly less visibly. Annie Higgins writes from Jenin. Read more about Update from Jenin
Gaza City did not sleep last night. 35 Israeli tanks plowed into the Tal Al-Hawa area in the south of the city. Apache missiles were fired from the sky. The explosions lasted throughout the night. A man called out that the international community must wake up. He said, “They are killing our children but we are here to stay. The world must listen to the truth.” Another said quietly, “No one heard you.” Kristen Ess writes from Gaza, where the reality of international apathy is measured by the daily tank and helicopter attacks. Read more about Every day is a major invasion in Gaza
No one writes about the checkpoints nowadays. They have become a permanent, almost “normal”, fixture of Palestine. So it is alright. It is no longer worthy of attention. It is no longer an affront to human dignity. Giulia El Dardiry writes from Ramallah, occupied Palestine. Read more about Checkpoints
Israeli soldiers targeted a two year-old boy yesterday. Even they could not come up with an excuse for shooting him in the head. At his funeral today Fatah Youth flags flew in the breeze, the baby’s body covered in purple-pink flowers. He was carried on a stretcher along side another small boy, 9 years old, who died from two day old injuries. Kristen Ess writes from occupied Gaza. Read more about More reports from Block O in Rafah
