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
After sleeping at 2am we were startled at 4:45am to an Israeli tank which positioned in front of the National Insurance Building on Jerusalem Road. The Israeli soldiers opened fire on god only knows what. It continued for over 30 minutes then we could hear the Israeli soldiers laughing and giggling while banging or tearing down street signs and the like…a lot of metal was being banged. Read more about 'Goodmorning'
Like if it is just another day, I arrive at the office in East Jerusalem. The a-Ram checkpoint was calm this morning after the demonstration of yesterday, ‘only’ about 45 cars were waiting to be checked. My identity was checked like every other pedestrian crossing the checkpoint on foot. Read more about Just another day
Yesterday, late afternoon, just before I left the office, a colleague in Beit Jala informed me that the children, who lost their mom, 64 years old Sumaya, and her son Khaled yesterday, and the bodies have been evacuated. The children have been in the bathroom of their home in the old city of Bethlehem for two days, since Ambulances and medical personnel, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have been prevented access by the Israeli forces, despite the desperate humanitarian crisis. Read more about These children, again
Today, between 5,000 and 6,000 people — Israeli peace activists, Palestinians in Israel and Palestinian MK’s in the Israeli Knesset — marched to the Kalandia checkpoint. Read more about At Qalandia checkpoint
As you have already heard and seen on television, scores of people have been arrested over the past few days, and many homes were invaded. This catastrophe did not spare the Birzeit University community, be it the students, the faculty or the staff. Due to the curfew and the disconnection of phone lines and electricity, the below information is all we were able to get concerning our staff, faculty and students. Read more about Faculty, staff and students of Birzeit University
