Zeina Mogarbel-VallèsNablus, Palestine28 October 2003
It’s ten o’clock in the morning. The 10 members of the UNRWA distribution team watch Ahmed as he slowly walks the 100 metres that separate him from the armed soldier. A few moments later all can they see is the back of a blue UN vest confronting a green uniform. The men do not speak. They have been waiting at the Beit Iba checkpoint, five kilometres north-west of Nablus, for more than two hours, and still have a long way to go before they reach their destination. Read more about Checkpoints and dust: A day with the Nablus distribution team
I just had the hardest day of my life. Let me start off by telling you that yesterday i had to get into Nablus while it was under curfew. I was with three Palestinians. I had a hard time getting here and, once in Nablus, I had to walk up to a tank and another armored vehicle and negotiate with them to let us through and they didn’t let the one male go past so he walked around. We eventually got around. Read more about Terror in Nablus
Today no-one is being allowed to leave Nablus, not internationals (who the Israeli military are usually happy to see the back of), or the family with five small children who Freda saw while at the checkpoint this morning, waiting in the overpowering sunshine. This is a small example of how the Roadtrap to Peace is going nowhere for the people on the street. Jenny Gaiawyn writes from Nablus. Read more about Tragedy and inspiration in Nablus
This week I visited family and friends in Nablus. We celebrated the wedding of my cousin Ghadir and a year after the Israeli invasions I went back to the old city to talk to people and smell my roots. Read more about Nablus: People live or rather survive
While I sat there I was remembering “A Million Suns in my blood”, a poem by Tawfiq Zeyad. “They stripped me of water and oil / And the salt of bread, the shining sun
the warm sea, the taste of knowledge / And a loved one who - twenty years ago - went off / Whom I wish (if only for an instant) to embrace”. Read more about My way to Ras al-Ain
“My father passed away last week. I took Nawal, my two month old daughter, and attempted to go to Tel Aviv to attend the funeral and grieve with my family. Nablus, the city I live in, was besieged and completely sealed off. This has been the case for most of the last two years. Israeli soldiers threatened to shoot anyone approaching the checkpoint.” Neta Golan writes from Nablus. Read more about The long journey from Nablus to Tel Aviv
The wheel chairs took place at the front line. Wheel chairs carrying previously butchered victims of the Israeli brutality in the long occupation years. Angry protestors strolled along trying to control their anger by shouting loudly and screaming revenge at the continuing Israeli aggressions against Palestinians. The victim this time is Nazih Darwazeh. A cameraman working with Palestine TV and freelancing for Associated Press. Read more about Attempting to murder the truth
Yesterday I went to the old city accompanying a reporter. The first place we went to was the Yasmina quarter. The first martyr in this latest invasion was from this neighbourhood. He was shot in his legs and died waiting for medical aid. Israeli occupation soldiers prevented medical personnel from reaching him. Read more about Nablus: History under rubble
Due to the fact that the world is busy with the American war against the Middle East for no other reason other than to dominate the area, I thought I should enlighten those who have been making one excuse after another for Israel, which is lead by the so-called “a man of peace” by US President George Bush. “Do you hear me?” asks Amer Abdelhadi. Read more about Nablus: "Do you hear me?"
For everything that we do, there is a reason. For every aggression there should be a reason but what possible reason there could be for attacking Nablus the way it is being targeted now is totally puzzling. Amer Abdelhadi ponders recent Israeli violence in Nablus. Read more about Nablus: "What are the reasons?"
