West Bank

Amir, ten years old, abducted by Israeli soldiers from his bed



Amir smiled when I asked him to tell me his favorite color. Sitting in his family’s living room last Thursday afternoon in the Old City of Hebron, the ten-year-old softly replied, “green.” Hours after our interview Israeli soldiers would break into the house and snatch Amir from his bed. The Electronic Intifada contributor Nora Barrows-Friedman writes from the occupied West Bank. 

"I can't live without this place"



“The Israeli police used a bullhorn and shouted ‘death to Arabs!’ toward me once,” Abed Rabbeh remembers, his hands wrapped around a small ceramic cup of tea. “Another time, they tried to tell me that my grandfather was born in Dheisheh refugee camp and that I have no roots in this land.” Nora Barrows-Friedman reports on one man’s struggle to stay on his West Bank land. 

Hebron's living hell



Our sobering taste of life in Hebron included other devastating stories and the presence of Israeli guard towers, camouflage netting, checkpoints, a wall spray painted with graffiti that included a tribute to the Golani brigade, one of the Israeli army’s most aggressively violent units, and to Betar, a right-wing youth organization. I passed a concrete block obstructing the road, spray painted with an arrow and the words “This is apartheid.” Alice Rothchild writes from Hebron. 

"At least there's food in prison!"



“This morning,” my neighbor Mona explained to me, “I told my husband that since the kids are out of school and he didn’t need to go into town, I would cook something special and we would have a party.” Mona has a wry sense of humor and I started to wonder what the punch line would be. Joy Ellison writes from al-Tuwani, occupied West Bank. 

Nablus executions: Shoot first, ask questions later



The brutal killing of three Palestinian men by Israeli military forces in Nablus last week on 26 December 2009 sparked grief and outrage across Palestine and brought the northern West Bank city to a standstill as thousands mourned the lethal attack. However, their voices are drowned out yet again by a well-played hand of Israel’s propaganda machine and repeated by the mainstream media. Bridget Chappell writes from Nablus. 

Interview: Disabled activist continues struggle in Bilin



The Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre interviews disabled Palestinian grassroots activist Rani Bornat: “These are peaceful protests; if we don’t fight for our land, then who can? If we don’t fight for the truth, then who can? If we don’t stand side by side and resist this occupation together, then who can? Peaceful demonstrations don’t hurt or kill anybody; they are only there to serve the oppressed. We must tear down this wall, so that we can live with peace … and freedom.” 

"I hope that I die on my land"



Fatima Mohammed Yassin, 49, is a farmer from the Palestinian village of Bilin in the occupied West Bank. In spite of Israel’s occupation and construction of its wall in the West Bank, including on Bilin’s farm land, Yassin and her husband continue to work their land on a daily basis. Jody McIntyre spoke to her for The Electronic Intifada. 

Villages challenge occupation on human rights day



As tortuous as the occupation is for the people of al-Tuwani, on 10 December — International Human Rights Day — they decided to offer support to other Palestinians by highlighting the discrimination faced by schoolchildren from the neighboring villages. The focus of Human Rights Day 2009 was on non-discrimination, a topic that is particularly appropriate in occupied Palestine where Palestinians face daily discrimination by Israel. Jo Ehrlich writes for The Electronic Intifada. 

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