I neglected to add one anecdote from my tour of the ruins of Police City on Tuesday night. One of the officers who walked with me most of the time, and proceeded to go on in Arabic as I just nodded and smiled, came across some papers lying in the rubble. He picked them out, slapped them with the back of his hand and went off ranting about something that I couldn’t understand. Read more about Missiles Fall Like Rain - March 8-12, 2002
The fears arose on Monday night. Through my contact Jose, I had been introduced to two other Americans working at different NGO’s here, Darryl and Nathan. Both had strong academic, dare I say nerdy backgrounds (they began talking about Voltron cartoons after not too long), yet it had enabled them to pick up Arabic in a relatively short time. They also had been here for much longer. Read more about Gaza - Bombing begins - March 4-7, 2002
My mom just sent me an email, asking what is happening in Nablus. My parents have been trying call my family in Nablus, but to no avail. Telephone lines are cut. Information, I just received from Nablus, indicates that the old city, my favorite place in the town, where I used to walk to and from work, where I did my groceries, and knew a lot of people, is being shelled by Israeli tanks and helicopters. Read more about 'Nablus, Nablus'
I set out to Rafah with Mahmud from work on mid-Thursday. The route to Rafah crosses two roads used exclusively by Israeli settlers, which for us Palestinian kinfolk entails long waits at military checkpoints. On this day we managed to only spend about 30-45 minutes waiting in the sun, as once a few scheduled Eged busses full of Israeli settlers passed, we were free to cross in our taxi. Read more about Life in Rafah - March 2, 2002
So far Gaza life has been rather uneventful. The entry was still intimidating, as passing through the Erez Checkpoint is like entering a maximum security jail. I was a little shaken as I walked up to the Israeli guardpost, noticing at my feet one of the telltale ‘Sarajevo Roses’ - a shell hit that peels pavement in the shape of a flower. Read more about Life in Gaza, Week 1, Feb 28, 2002
There was an announcement on Al-Jazeera (news station based in Qatar) that foreign governments were evacuating their essential personnel in Ramallah. The Israeli government warned them that they were planning another incursion into the West Bank towns, beginning with Ramallah. Several friends asked me if I wanted to leave, but I decided against it. I just moved here and I’m tired of going back and forth between Ramallah and Jerusalem. Read more about Diary of the Invasion of Ramallah
I came back after a visit to the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Tel Aviv. We went with eight Dutch citizens, to present a petition, signed by twenty-six Dutch nationals, who are working in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel, most of them with humanitarian and human rights organizations, to pressure the Dutch government to end the humanitarian disaster in Palestine. Read more about Another day, just another day
Evidence is mounting that the Israeli Army is stealing people’s belongings as they search homes. Even the very precious stores of foods that remain in Ramallah are being plundered. We have been hearing about this since the begining of this occupation on Friday the 29th of March, 2002. Read more about Plunder in Ramallah
Andrea BeckerEast Jerusalem, Palestine5 April 2002
Alarm, wake up. beepbeepbeep. My hand hits an unfamiliar bedside table, no alarm. My mobile phone. Groggy with not having slept properly in days, feels like weeks. But alert - the exhaustion of adrenaline pushing through my veins, coffee and wine dried on my lips. I can hardly remember what my own bed feels like. Read more about Words
The water issue is still outstanding in Ramallah. This morning the water crew was able to visit the pumping station after a lot of coordination with Israeli DCO (district coordinating office), even though most times even this coordination does not guarantee protection from Israeli soldiers and tanks. But the situation is so tense they tried to get some assurances that the Palestinian repair crew would not be injured. Read more about Ramallah, without water
