eye witness report from palestine

national | miscellaneous | news report

Thursday November 21, 2002 09:02

by tracey - gluaiseacht

bobssista at yahoo dot co dot uk

eye witness report from palestine

i've been in palestine for 2 weeks now and i have so much to report that i could write a book.but i'll try to give a brief report.
i spent the last 6 days living in a village called yanoun with 7 other internationals. yanoun was deserted by all its palestinian inhabitants due to severe attacks from the very nearby jewish settlement of itamar. 2 men were shot dead during last months olive harvest including a 23 year man from the nearby town of aqraba. a 70 year old man lost an eye after he was beaten by a rifle butt. during the night settlers came to the village and burned the generator, destroyed water tanks, they smashed windows and doors terrifying the villagers. other cowardly attacks included poisoning almost 150 sheep and bathing themselves and their dogs in the villages water source. however due to the presence of internationals 7 families have moved back. we patrolled the village at night time and harvested olives during the day. these settlers are so dangerous that we must call the army when they try to approach the village. internationals have also been attacked during the olive harvest here including an elderly american coulpe and a young irish man. the reason for these attacks....god has given this land to them so they are justified to beat up elderly people, kill young men and terrify children. it is hoped to have a permenant presence in this village, the villagers have told us that as soon as internationals leave then they must also leave.
the town of jayyous will loose 70% of its land due to the building of the 'wall'. the israeli gov. say this is for security reasons but this is a complete lie because it differs from the original "green line". most of the population of jayyous are dependant on the land. last thursday 50 internationals and almost all the villagers broke curfew to form a human chain protecting olive trees due to be bulldozed to make way for this huge wall. after a very short time the army and the bulldozers turned away and we celebrated a symbollic victory. a palestinian, israeli peace activist and an american planted an olive tree. we paraded through the streets singing and chanting. things were very different the next day. the non violent protest was met with tear gas rubber bullets and arrests. one spanish woman was tortured, after been teargased a solider held her down and poured water all over her face. internationals have been deported including one irish and one from northern ireland. another protest is planned this friday.
i could write forever about all the things i've seen and heard. every day the palestinians are humiliated and tortured in every possible way. checkpoints, curfews, shootings. houses been demolished or occupied by soliders. although i utterly oppose suicide bombings i understand what can drive a person to do such a thing. i understand why boys throw stones at soliders and tanks. its the only way they see to resist what is happening to themselves and their families.
today i'm travelling to gaza where i'm sure to witness more devastation. but at least we can help in some small way by just being here and witnessing. our presence often reminds the soliders to monitor their behaviour. the rest of my stay will be spent in jenin refugee camp.
i urge you to write to the israeli embassy, chain yourself to the doors, anything to highlight the injusticies that are happening in palestine on a daily basis. the palestinian people feel alone in this, its like the whole world has their eyes closed or are blinded by propaganda. i'm returning on the 30th november and i would like to do eye witnes reports and show photos. if you could organise this in your area please contact me. i'm also returning in febuary if your interested in seeing the situation wih your own eyes contact me or ireland palestine solida\rity.
peace,
tracey

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Comments (8 of 8)

Gaza

by publo

Thu Nov 21, 2002 10:31

I'm just back in the West Bank after a couple of days in Gaza. Spent a night in Khan Yunis. While there we visited Molase Checkpoint. This checkpoint looks right onto the beach. On one side theirs a large israeli military base and on the other a huge concrete wall to keep the palestinians out. Although the checkpoint is an entrance to a settlement several thousand palestinians still live inside the area. Most of these work in khan yunis or rafah however and though they're allowed to leave they re severely restricted from returning to their homes. Sometimes theyre kept waiting for a month before the checkpoint opens. To add to this the soldiers frequently take shots at the buildings near the checkpoint. In fact, the entire area is comletely destroyed. Everywhere there are demolished houses and ruined neighbourhoods.
Although it looks like there was a massive battle here, its the result of constant shooting and shelling from the israeli base. we were in a house where a woman and her two children lived directly in front of the base. One of the kids needs a wheel chair to move. The top two levels of the house are shells. the walls are gaping with bullet holes and everything is smashed and blown apart.
Rafah was even worse, entire streets have been demolished by tanks and bulldozers. Open sewers, terrible poverty, no future. APCs tanks and bulldozers driving around shifting the rubble of the last nights demolished houses. Caught a ride back to gaza but the checkpoint closed. we were 5 1/2 hours waiting with about 600 palestinians and many more on the other side. The soldiers were constantly firing shots and periodically throwing sound bombs. About a kilometere away tanks were shelling and we could see rockets being fired. There were constantly f-16s roaring overhead.

After 10 weeks here i understand less and less what it must feel like to live like this with no idea of whats going to happen next. One of the most disturbing things was on the road from erez checkpoint gaza to jerusalem. Every busstop on either side of the road had young israelis waiting around in uniform, either going or coming from military service. Theirs remains such a militarised society. Its depressing seeing the new conscripts being broken in at the checkpoints. 18 yr old girls and lads with m-16s being taught to harass and intimidate.

.......................................

by Clare - Gluaiseacht

Thu Nov 21, 2002 11:01

Lads that sounds horrendous. You're definitely invited to Galway to give a talk on your experience.Can't wait to see you Tracey when you get back and please look after yourself!

Love Clare

Limerick Invite

by Joe Sheehan

Thu Nov 21, 2002 11:33

Tracey, please take care of yourself, When you get back we in Limerick would love to hear you talk of you experiences too.

Tracey look after yourself

by Eoin Dubsky

Thu Nov 21, 2002 13:48

Sheesh! Sounds rough out there. Stay safe. You're doing great work... keep us informed!

Hope to see you soon.

From your namesake in America

by Tracey Snyder

Thu Nov 21, 2002 15:22

Tracey, your strength and courage is admirable. You are doing a great thing by telling the world what you have seen. Get back to Ireland safely.
Love and peace,
Tracey

Hi T - take care of yrself -

by eamonn

Thu Nov 21, 2002 16:24

Tracey

by Susie Miller

Fri Nov 22, 2002 23:16

starseed20 at hotmail dot com

Ballintarmon, Annascaul, Kerry

087 202 2775

Lovely Tracey,

I have a beautiful photograph of you in the Ecotopia kitchen that you so magnificently ran, come home safely to see it. I'll arrange an evening for you to show your stories, look forward to seeing you.

Love, Susie

hey we know you!!

by mark and nancy in mexico - planet earth

Sat Nov 30, 2002 19:16

go girl!

where´s orson and saoirse and puppies ?

mind yerself

m + n

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eye witness report from palestine

Comments (8 of 8)