Shirabe YamadaDheisheh refugee camp, Palestine8 August 2004
It has been almost a month since Miyasar’s sleeping pattern has changed. Her back neighbor’s house was dynamited by the Israeli army in the early morning of July 13th in the densely populated West Bank refugee camp of Dheisheh. The rumor has it that the next demolition will be her next door neighbor’s house. Every night, Miyasar lays awake in her bed in the fearful anticipation of the arrival of troops. “I wait until around 2AM to fall a sleep, because if they don’t come until then, we know we are saved for the night,” says the mother of 5 children. Shirabe Yamada is back in Dheisheh refugee camp. Read more about Back in Dheisheh: Miyasar's fear
This week Palestine Report Online interviews Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, PCPSR, on the recent turmoil in the Palestinian territories. Shikaki says, “There is a very serious problem within the Palestinian political system. We have a significant component of Palestinian national activists who feel they have been marginalized during the last decade of the peace process, and that they have been marginalized by the old guard in the nationalist movement, and [this component] have exploited the last four years of the Intifada.” Read more about Elections are the only way
Take the A train to Brooklyn, the message said. Walk one block west. Meet at the basement. Call this number if you’re lost and don’t forward this message. Palestinian Activist Forum of New York (PAFNY), was planning a demonstration in Manhattan, the Big Apple turned Orange. With the Republican National Convention around the corner, the city would amputate a bridge over one suspicious package. So as PAFNY convened last Friday night to prepare banners, placards and leaflets, security precautions were necessary. Any responsible political group takes precautions into their own hands. Read more about Protest March New York, includes Jewish support for refugees' return
Responding to widespread public criticism from a number of Jewish groups, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA), has issued a statement to “clarify the actions of (the recent 216th) General Assembly” on Israel and on the PC(USA)’s commitment to dialogue with people of other faiths. Most of the criticism has concerned the Assembly’s condemnation of the “security wall” being constructed between occupied Palestinian territoriesand Israel; its call for selective divestment of stock in companies doing military and security business with Israel; and its decision not to suspend funding of a controversial “Messianic” Jewish congregation in Philadelphia Presbytery. Read more about Criticism from Jewish groups prompts ‘clarification’ of Presbyterian Church
According to Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz website Sunday evening: “Six armed Palestinians were killed by Border Police undercover troops in the West Bank town of Tul Karm on Sunday.” This Ha’aretz description bears little resemblance to what happened on the ground. Six Palestinians were assassinated 100 meters from the ISM apartment where three ISM volunteers were staying at the time. Only two of the six Palestinians assassinated were members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. According to reliable sources in Tulkarem, the other four were simply bystanders. Members of ISM-Tulkarem correct the record. Read more about Ha'aretz claims "Six Armed Palestinians Killed in Tulkarem"
Maysoon notices an odd formation of soldiers. In a row. Guns drawn. Rafael is walking towards them. There are no street lights on. He thinks he’s walking towards an empty van. She pulls him closer to her, and shots are fired. Yes. The soldiers shot into the crowd. No warning fire. No megaphone. Live bullets into a crowd of hundreds. It is so dark, my friends see the sparks fly out of the guns. They keep walking, slowly. Surely. Maysoon figures they won’t shoot in the direction of other soldiers, and she is right. They breeze through the checkpoint. No questions asked by either side. Once through, an Israeli soldier asks her where she’s from, in English. “Can you believe he wanted to have a normal conversation with me?” Read more about Palestine's people never say goodbye
Returning home to Gaza, I had to fly first to Cairo, then cross the Sinai desert by coach to reach the Rafah border crossing — a journey that takes 6 hours at least, as Palestinians are not allowed to use Ben Gurion airport which is merely an hour’s drive from Gaza). The Gaza Strip is served by a modern international airport — built during the Oslo years — but this has remained closed since late 2000, and now sports a bulldozed runway, courtesy of the Israeli army. Dr. Mona El-Farra writes about her long journey from Cairo to Gaza. Read more about The Story of the Seven Gates
The 216th General Assembly approved several measures opposing the Israeli occupation of Palestine Friday, including a call for the corporate witness office of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to begin gathering data to support a selective divestment of holdings in multinational corporations doing business in Israel/Palestine. Divestment is one of the strategies that U.S. churches used in the 1970s and ’80s in a successful campaign to end apartheid in South Africa. The vote was 431 to 62 to have the church’s Mission Responsibility Through Investment Committee (MRTI) study the matter and make recommendations to the General Assembly Council. Read more about Assembly Presbyterian Church endorses Israel divestment
A few weeks ago, Israeli scholars and activists appealed to Jewish-Israeli public opinion through a compelling document. Entitled “For Truth and Reconciliation, For Equality and Partnership” the appeal aimed at changing the political discourse in Israel, particularly “the historical dimension of the conflict and noting the structural political, ideological and cultural changes required to reach, in the future, a true reconciliation.” The Olga document is the result of a series of discussions between Israeli scholars and activists in Givat Olga, one of the largest neighborhoods in Hadera overlooking the Mediterranean coastline. Read more about The Olga Appeal: Israeli scholars and activists recognize the right of return
During the last week of our stay, we decided to visit Tel Aviv. It was Easter Monday, and many Christians from all over Palestine were gathering to celebrate that holiday in the Arab city of Yafa, now mostly depopulated and surrounded by Tel Aviv. We decided to go with a group of our friends from Ramallah, all of whom, being Christian, were able to obtain the special Easter permits to travel to Israel. This week, EI publishes daily installments of a six-part diary from March/April 2004, by Dr. Saber Zaitoun, the pseudonym of a Palestinian-American in his thirties. Dr. Zaitoun grew up under Israeli occupation and first came to the USA during the first Intifada to finish his education. He is married, and currently teaches at a University on the East Coast. Read more about A Stranger in My Own Land: An excursion to Tel Aviv (6 of 6)
