Schoolchildren in Hebron

Earlier this week I spent a couple of days in Hebron.  There is much to say and I will have to give greater thought to it.  I think I will begin my reflection by sharing a story.

It’s called A Palestinian Schoolboy in Hebron

“Mama, I don’t want to go to school today.”

“Why, my son?

“I don’t know…….I guess I just don’t like it anymore.”

“What…..you don’t like it?  You have always told me when you go to school, it’s very good.  What happened?”

“Well Mama….as you know….we go by the soldiers with the big guns.  I like how they look in their nice uniforms but they sometimes don’t seem to look very happy.  Sometimes I am afraid of them but my friends tell me not to worry and that they won’t hurt me.”

“Oh, I see.  Tell me more my son.”

“Yesterday as my friend and I were walking some other people came and started throwing stones at us.  You always told me that it is wrong to throw stones so we didn’t throw any back.  We just kept walking like you told us to do but I was really scared.  I wondered why the soldiers didn’t tell those people to stop throwing stones at us but they didn’t do anything to stop them.  I was very afraid and I really wanted to pick up a stone and throw it back at them.  And Mama that’s why I don’t want to go to school today.”

One of the responsibilities of the EA's in Hebron is to accompany children to school.  Israeli Zionists have occupied some buildings in Hebron.  In order to "protect" them from the Palestinians, the Israeli army has erected barriers and stationed soldiers within the overwhelmingly Palestinian city.  In order for Palestinian children to go to their schools they have to walk past settlers and soldiers.  The EA's accompany the children to and from school to provide a supportive presence to them.  These pictures I took will give you an idea of what they face on a daily basis. 

I will write more.

Susanne

Palestinian Political Prisoners

The EA flat is located close to the International Red Cross building.  Every Tuesday morning around 10:00 o’clock a.m. many people hold a Prisoners’ sit-in.  This is organized by the Prisoners’ Club.  We walked over this morning as we do each week to show solidarity with them. 

On a sunny day they also sit on chairs brought over from the Red Cross.   Since it was raining we wore our rain suits as today it meant standing out in the rain for an hour.  There is an awning by one of the buildings to shelter them from the weather.  Families of prisoners are usually holding enlarged pictures of their loved ones who are in prison. 

Every week there are members of the press who come and take video recordings and they are interviewed individually.  Today there were several members of the political party attending as well to make special appeals at the start of a new year.

It is interesting to note that during a demonstration the men take the lead and the women follow.  They do not walk together.

I was standing beside a young Palestinian woman who spoke some English.  When I asked her about the picture she was holding she said:  “this is my Father who has been in prison for 8 years.”  She went on to tell me that she was 10 years old when her Father who is a pilot was arrested and put in prison.  He is serving a life sentence.  The Red Cross has prioritized the visitation rights for families of prisoners and they provide advocacy on their behalf.  She says she feels fortunate to be able to visit him every two weeks. Then she added:  “but I would like him to be released so he can be home with his family.”  

Several times a week, the Red Cross supplies buses so that the prisoner’s families can go visit their loved one in Israeli prisons.  Those buses are waiting on the other side of the checkpoints like the one we monitor at Taybe –Irtah.  For the people visiting their family member in the prisons, it means getting up very early to stand in line at the checkpoint and  getting through that so they can get to the bus.  If someone is detained for some reason at the checkpoint the whole bus waits and that means less visiting time with their loved one when they get there.

This website is a good resource for information concerning International Law and Palestinian prisoners.   
 
 http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/pal-prisoners.html

“Since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in 1967, over 650,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel. This forms approximately 20% of the total Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).”             – Palestine Monitor

Source: Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Association (as of November 2009) and Reuters.

Susanne

Bread

One of the delights about being in Tulkarm is the accessibility of fresh food. 

As noted previously, the fruits and vegetables are fresh and grown in the area.  And the eggs are very fresh and tasty. 

The taste is far superior to those eggs back home which are often stored for months before we get them. 

One of the more pleasant experiences is to smell the aroma of fresh bread while walking down the streets of Tulkarm.  We have one particular shop where we buy our bread almost daily.

My husband and I love to make lefse.  It is a tradition in our family that is Norwegian in origin.  It is what I would describe as a “potato tortilla” made with riced potatoes, flour and butter/margarine which we put on our Bethany grill.  Of course bread made here is made with olive oil and one type is made on a hot grill which reminds me of the way we make lefse.  

The men who “grill” it use only their fingers and are very deft at shaping and cooking it.  It looks a lot like pizza dough and it is very popular here.  This bread is  put on a very hot grill for only a few seconds on each side.   

Palestinians fold into this bread all sorts of food.  I like it with humus or with avocado.  

Susanne   

Conversation Classes / Tulkarm Prisoner's Club

Today we had two interesting meetings.  The students at the Khaddouri University (also spelled Kaddori) had exams and then a break until Jan 29^th.  However, the group that regularly meets with us wanted to hold conversation classes even though they were on break.  One student named Bassma assists us in coordinating with the others about when we are coming.  It was quiet on the campus today so she also gave us a tour of the campus before we met with the conversation class.  A large mural in one of the hallways caught my eye. 

It showed a couple with an infant gazing up at the sky.  All around them was ash and beyond that was the barb wire fence that is everywhere in Palestine.

The conversation class consisted mainly of young women today.   We shared about feelings and what we do when we are sad or angry.  Many of the women said they either keep to themselves or sleep.    The expectations for women are to be home and they are restricted in what they are allowed to do.    They said:  “boys can go anyplace they want…girls only can be at home.  A woman’s life is very boring.”  Another woman added:  “I love my life….I love my parents.”  She went on to say she could talk to them and that they weren’t too strict. 

However, when it was almost finished a young man who has been there also showed up.  When he arrived he talked about how men have complete freedom to do what they want when they want. He added:  “men are not allowed to cry.”

Later in the day, Abdulkarim Sadi, our contact in Tulkarm, met us at a familiar restaurant from where we walked to the office of Halima Irmilot, the director of the Prisoner's Club in Tulkarm.  We introduced ourselves and shared our backgrounds.  Sadi said that Halima is like a sister to him and that they have worked together on many projects.   

Halima grew up in Palestine in a family of 5 brothers and 4 sisters.  Their land was where the Ben Gurian Airport is now located.  In 1948 they were forced to flee from their homes and like many other Palestinians ended up in other areas.  Several members of her family including four brothers, her father, and Halima herself have been in prisons in Israel.  Halima commented that all the years since 1948 have been difficult but the years between 1950 and 1972 “were horrible.”  One of her brothers was arrested and sentenced for life imprisonment because “he was an activist.”  She remembers that there was a great deal of pressure put upon her father to get him to cooperate and reveal the activities of his sons.  Consequently the whole family lived in fear and uncertainty.  Another brother was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison in Jordan. 

She said:  “in 1990 at the age of 64 my father was imprisoned and sentenced to 15 years.  Another brother was imprisoned and in 1991 Halima was incarcerated for 6 months in an Israeli prison as well.  She was 37 years old at the time of her arrest.  The reason for her imprisonment was because she was assisting other Palestinians.  She said:  “it was a very bad time for me to be in an Israeli prison.  I had little ones at home who needed me.  They were pressuring me to sign papers and cooperate with them.”

We asked her how she was able to survive the prison experience.  She said:  “I believed in my God and I believed that justice would come to our people.”  Her coping mechanism was to try to ignor the reality of her situation and to look beyond the pain to the time when she would be reunited with her family.

After she was released from prison she decided to form an organization to help the Palestinian prisoners.  On Sept. 27, 1997 the first Prisoner’s Club became official in Ramallah.  It has been operational since that time throughout Palestine.  She was instrumental is raising necessary funds by going to local merchants, farmers and individuals and pleading her cause.  The money came in and they were able to provide support and service to prisoners and their families.

Halima said she’s worked with many families of prisoners.  She added:  “when you enter their home you feel the sadness.”  A secretary came in and Sadi and Halima signed another letter on behalf of one of the prisoners.  He said about Halima:  “she is known as the Mother of the Prisoners.”  Helima added:  “I am all the time optimistic but like a mother, I worry about my family.”   Slowly there have been improvements made in the prisons.  Because of the work of the Prisoner’s Club each prison has a library.  She said prisons used to be like tombs but she credited Arafat for his assistance in helping the libraries became a reality.

According the the Geneva convention prisons are supposed to provide adequate food for the prisoners.  Halima remembers “the food was unfit for human consumption.”  Has the situation improved?  She answered:  “now the prisoners have to buy their own food so families send money to the prisoners.  They pay a high price for food products sold by Israeli companies.”  How about their medical needs?  That also is often neglected.  She told us about one prisoner who needed surgery.  But instead of getting the medical care he needed he was just transferred from one prison to the other before any surgery could be scheduled.

She outlined three major tasks of the prisoner’s club.  1)  providing assistance including legal support for the prisoners and their families and arranging regular visits.  2)  providing support for educational opportunities while they are in prison, 3) providing support, educational opportunities, counseling and job opportunities upon their release from prison.  Halima is a guest speaker at many schools to increase their awareness of the prison situation.  Of the current 8,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons, 550 are from the Tulkarm area.  Nearly every family in the area has or had a relative in prison. 

Susanne and "Mother of the Prisoners"--Halima

As we were saying our good-byes,  Halima told me I was the first American EA she had met in this area.  She wanted me to tell people back home “that we are not terrorists and we just want a peaceful end to the occupation.” 

Please add Halima and her 8,000 "children" to your prayer list.  Thanks.

Susanne

The Experiences of Mr. D

One of our contacts in Tulkarm is Mr. D.  I choose not to use his full name.  He is a freelance journalist involved in many community activities.  He also works with the UN Committee to register the disruption and damage the separation barrier is causing the Palestinian people.  He has graciously worked with every EA team since EAPPI first started maintaining a presence in the Tulkarm area.  He and his wife live in the Tulkarm area with their 5 children. 

Besides being aware of the pulse of the community he travels to the Jordan Valley and other places when necessary.  Our team was invited to his home the other day to share food and wonderful hospitality.  His home is built partway up the hill so they have a nice view of Tulkarm.  Their land has been in the family for a number of years and they live next to his mother who is in her 80’s.

Mr. D has been married over 20 years.  Their engagement and wedding pictures were willingly shown to us and the story of their life evolved.  Both had been born and raised in Tulkarm.  They were introduced through Mr. D’s sister.  Right after the engagement party he was arrested and put in prison.  He didn’t go into the reasons why he was imprisoned but he was one of the 20% of Palestinian men who have been in prison.  There are many people arrested for political reasons alone.  Since he was well educated and able to speak his mind about things, that may have been enough of a reason for imprisonment. 

In his life, he has spent a total of 5 years in prisons.  The first time he was arrested was right after his engagement party.  When he started describing the conditions he endured while in prison it is quite remarkable that he survived at all.  Many times there were 10-20 men in a very small cell with one toilet for everyone.  Other times when there wasn’t a building to house the prisoners in they were put in tents.  Palestine is generally a moderate climate but in the winter it is cold and rainy.  It’s pretty miserable on some days even though the temperature may still be above freezing.

I have read stories about how someone survives a harsh situation by their ability to consciously  ignore what is happening and  reach a higher level of consciousness completely removed from the reality they are facing.   Mr. D did that in two ways….by writing and by etching on small pieces of limestone.   He wrote  letters to his beloved and the rest of his family whenever possible.  The Red Cross supplies a blank postcard for prisoners to send notes home.  Looking at the small space allowed on a postcard, he decided to try it his way.  All this had to be done secretly when he wasn’t on work duty and when the guards weren’t watching.  In beautiful Arabic script, he wrote pages and pages in as small and beautiful  handwriting  as I have ever seen.  The paper was very thin like airmail stationary.  Whenever a prisoner that he knew was released,  a very small letter  would be given to the man and smuggled through.  The friend in turn delivered the precious letter to Mr. D's family and his future bride.  All those letters were saved and cherished over the years.

He took out a small leather pouch that is kept in a cabinet in their living room and showed them to us.  Several  folded papers with tiny but perfectly crafted handwriting tumbled out.  There were also 3 beautiful necklaces that he had made for his future wife.  When asked how he etched the designs and the lettering on each one he said:  “I used either my fingernails or another scrap of stone and just worked away.”  He also said of everything he has in his possession this is by far the most valuable.

I will write more about prisoners next time.

Susanne

Meeting With the Mayor of Tulkarm

Today at noon we were escorted by Abdulkarim Sadi, who is a field researcher and a contact for us in Tulkarm, to the office of the Mayor of Tulkarm.  His name is Mahmoud al-Jallad and he has been the mayor of Tulkarm for 1 year. 

As is the custom when meeting with public officials, we first met with an assistant.  Turkish coffee was served to us.  About 15 minutes later we were escorted into a much larger and extravagant space to meet with the major.  The meeting was held around a large beautiful desk with 12 elegant and comfortable leather office chairs.  We were first served some more Turkish coffee.  As we were introducing ourselves to the Mayor we were also each served a plate load of fruit.

Abdulkarim Sadi & the rest of our team

On each plate was a banana, a persimmons, an apple, a pear and a cucumber.  A blunt knife is also provided.  Then a container of mango juice was also given to each of us followed by a cup of tea.

Mr. Jallad is a very personable gentleman who spoke to us in English.  He also spoke to Sadi in Arabic and Sadi would translate what he said to us.  He said:  “I am very proud of this area.  I do what I do for the good of the people and you are most welcome here.”  He explained that he had an economic background and has been the mayor for about 1 year.  He outlined a plan to improve the economy of Tulkarm.  The plan also includes the building of a hotel/ restaurant complex in the downtown area.  This would be the first of it’s kind and he said they are about 7 months away from completion of the project.  He said they hope to attract more tourists to this area and by having accomodations for them it would be desirable to spend a few days in the area.  They also plan to employ local people for constructing and operating the facility.  Another projected plan is to attracted more small business owners into the Tulkarm area.  The mayor also described a new sewage disposal project sponsored by a German company to offset sewage that is coming from Nablus.

Village of Shufa

January 11

Today, after Esther and I monitored the agriculture gate at Deir al-Ghusun in the early a.m., we journeyed to Shufa.  Our regular taxi driver, Muawya, drove us to the roadblock where we started our trek up the hill. 

Shufa is a little Palestinian village that has a rich history.  It was originally spelled Shoufeh and it is built on the rocky ridges of a high hill.  The name actually means “from here one can watch all the others.”  It is strategically placed on a hill midway between Nablus and the Mediterranean Sea.  A castle was built in Shufa in the 17^th century by the Barqawis family who controlled the countryside at that time.  The castle was almost totally destroyed in a battle two centuries later but the descendants of the Barqawis clan continued to live in their fortress home until the 1980’s.

The purpose of our visit to Shufa was to facilitate the women’s conversation class.  These classes were started when other EA groups were in this area and have continued on a weekly basis with each Tulkarm team.  There are two women in the community who are the leaders of ongoing women’s groups and they coordinate our visits to the village. 

Susanne, Suzan and Feeda

 Suzan and Feeda are very helpful and welcome us each time we come.  We passed the new High School newly completed in 2009 on the way to one of the women’s centers.  Feeda told us there are about 170 students currently attending this school.  There was a sign on the school in recognition of funds received from USAID for the building of the school.

After our meeting with the women we started our walk back through Shufa. 

Conversation Group in Shufa

A family beckoned us to come and share some coffee with them and we accepted their invitation.  As we walked around their yard and sat in the sun they shared some of their history.  Maryan, Awad, Sara and Sawsan Odeh have lived in Shufa all of their lives. 

Odeh Family

Awad said his mother who is 87 years old lives on the property right next door.  Maryan has her own kindergarten in the house and she proudly showed us her classroom and the materials she uses to teach the children. 

There are many flowering bushes and trees in the yard and a covered greenhouse by the side of the house.  They also have goats and chickens. Awad showed me an olive tree in his yard that is hundreds of years old.

As we walked down the road back to where our taxi driver would be waiting, we were mindful of the illegally built Israeli settlement closeby.   

Avne Hefez settlement

  

The Avne Hefez settlement has been expanding and the Israeli military provides support services to them.  Two large military vehicles passed us on their way to the Settlement as we were walking on the road.  The village of Shufa has been deliberately cut into two parts by an earth mound as well as road block made out of concrete. 

There was a main road linking upper Shufa to Lower Shufa and this same road linked both village parts to the city centre of Tulkarm.  Now the villagers are forced to take an alternative route and they are not allowed on the road used by the settlers and the Israeli military.  One of the men in Shufa told us that his brother’s farmland is on the other side of the barrier.  What used to be a 1 kilometer walk over to visit his brother now takes much longer due to the 50 kilometer route he is forced to take.  He said:  “I can see the place from where I live but I can’t get to it.”  When I asked him how it affects his life, he said:  “it is very difficult.”