Journal update from United Methodist Ecumenical Accompanier Doug
Whitmore, who is serving as an EA for the World Council of Churches in
Palestine.
Please especially note the January 20 entry.
JAN 16
It's 5:00 pm here in Ramallah. I was planning to go back to Jayyous
today but Valentina (*in the World Council of Churches Jerusalem
office) sent all EAs an email that a world-renowned Quaker lady in
Ramallah was giving a lecture at the Meeting House here at 4:30. Jean Zaru is
her name and she was to speak about opposing Domination Systems.
British EA Christopher, being a Quaker, wanted to hear her also. So we
made arrangements and I reserved a hotel room at one recommended by
Pauline of the staff. Christopher was to travel back to Janoun after
the lecture because they need 2 people there overnight.
Anyway
we arrived at the hotel at 2:30 and wanted to leave our luggage so I
checked in. Then we walked a half-mile to Arafat's Memorial, which is
quite nice, and took pictures. Then we walked back through the center
of town and down Main Street to the Quaker Meeting House where
Christopher had been to church one Sunday. There on the gate was a
notice in magic marker that the lecture was postponed until next
Wednesday. Apparently the 19 killed in Gaza yesterday caused a day of
mourning and shops closed early.
JAN 17
I´m back in
Jayyous using Tzegha´s computer as not ready to change settings on mine
tonight. Jenny´s got a bad cold and in bed. Tomorrow the office staff
is coming here for six hours.
This morning I traveled to Jit from Ramallah to help plant olive trees and my teammates were already there. Rabbi Arik Ascherman,
head of Rabbis for Human Rights, was leading the effort and brought six
or eight Israelis with him. We also had Palestinians from Jit and
altogether must have been 25. We had half a dozen Israeli soldiers
watching in case settlers came from their nearby outpost. The soldiers
made it pretty clear they were more interested in helping the settlers
than us.
We must have planted 60 twenty-inch high trees before
Arik had a long phone conversation and let us EAs go. Before I
arrived, more work had been done on the cold and very windy hilltop.
We had great misgivings that as soon as the soldiers left the settlers
would pull up the new plantings.
Back in Jayyous we were
buying some falafel when a village youth told us an Israeli jeep was in
town. Guilliam, EA from Tukarem, and I searched for the jeep and were
directed by more young men and told to go quickly as the soldiers had a
boy. We approached and found the youth seated in the back of the
vehicle being questioned by a major or colonel. That was unusual to
see a 45-year old officer on patrol because
it´s mostly young
soldiers that do that. Anyway, seems other boys had thrown stones at
the jeep but this one had been sitting on steps and watching instead of
going inside. He was being asked, I´m pretty sure, to give names of
the throwers and was not cooperating. An older Palestinian man was on
the scene and seemed to be translating or mediating. Eventually the
boy was released to a brother not very happy with him.
JAN 18
The Jerusalem staff could be showing up at any minute. Jenny feeling
less congested. Tzegha and I went this morning to Falamya gate and
then took naps.
Arik Ascherman
is one of the best people over here. Seems to be well respected by
Palestinians and EAs and Jewish peace people. I shook his hand and
greeted him yesterday as I had a couple weeks ago at a synagogue
service we attended. Told him I’d seen him in KC (*when Allan Abrams
of Kansas City Brit Tzedek brought him to speak). One of our contacts,
Zacharia, works for him.
Our landlord Abu Azzam´s son, a law
professor in Nablus, was arrested at 2 AM a couple days ago by
Israelis, of course. He is in a prison in Israel and I'm hoping they
question and release him. His wife told us he is not political. She
and the 5 children are staying here with Abu Azzam and his wife. We
are going there for lunch as are some of Abu’s Israeli friends.
JAN 18 (later)
Met with Jerusalem staff most of day and ate a big lunch at Abu
Azzam's. Tonight the soldiers came at 10:00 and we went out in the
street in our vests. A jeep stopped and a couple of armed soldiers got
out and we asked them what was going on. They said it’s an army
operation and that we had to go inside as it’s a curfew. After an hour
people began appearing back out on the street so guess the curfew is
over.
If you could see the BS these folks have to endure every
day you would be glad we are trying to help them. This village of 3500
is getting poorer and poorer as 70 per cent have lost their income
because of land and permit loss.
Don’t have to get up till 6:15 tomorrow which isn’t so bad.
JAN 19
Well, it's after 9 now and this is the night of getting up at 3:30.
Tomorrow afternoon we go to Jerusalem for Israeli Exposure Week.
JAN 20
This morning we went to Qalqilya North. Same thing that between 5:00
and 6:30 the system of security checks gets the line of workers backed
way up. Then between 6:30 and 7 it works down as fewer Palestinians
come. We go home with cold feet and tired.
Don't seem to be catching cold but nose drips a bit from cool conditions.
B'Tselem folks (*Israeli peace group) due here now for a meeting before we head off to Al Quds (Jerusalem).
Need
to tell you about threats the army has made to mayor and people about
what will happen if kids continue to throw rocks and things at the
separation fences nearby. Like cut off water, electricity, shoot water
tanks on houses, bring bulldozers to tear down, dig hole in road at
entrance to village, etc. There, I told you. We'll pass this on to
B'Tselem and you can pass it on to lists. Also threatening to shoot to
kill instead of at the legs of youths. Real cheery stuff. When the
army drives their vehicles around town it is as if they are
intentionally provoking youths to throw stones at them.
JAN 20
(*later, from Jerusalem) Re your question, at Jayyous we have a three
layer wire fence setup. One layer has enough electricity to send a
message if disturbed. That may be the source of annoyance that rocks
are setting off signals to some army control point, but this is a guess
on my part. Will try to verify.
It's quarter to seven here so
may head to hotel dining room for supper. You should be returning from
church pretty soon. I miss BUMC (*our church, Broadway United
Methodist) on Sundays and Wednesdays. Too bad we have to be away from
people and places to really appreciate what we have at home. Sunday is
by necessity a workday here.
JAN 20 (more)
Had a good
dinner with my teammates who are sharing a room down the hall. We like
each other which is pretty remarkable considering the gaps in age,
gender, nationality and communication technology ability. These two
are whizzes on computers and complicated cell phones.
Luckily
they don't seem to mind helping the old fart. Tell Molly (*our
daughter) I enjoyed sharing the fancy chocolate bars with teammates and
the office staff. Every one of them likes nice chocolate.
JAN 21
Try to find John Dugard's recent statement on Israel and gaza on line
. If it hasn't been in national newspapers please forward to all the
lists receiving our emails.(*summary in Britain's Guardian newspaper
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2019547,00.html)
We
just had our first session of Israeli Exposure Week. Met with about 8
Israeli young men mostly in their mid to late 20s. Well educated and
of various politics. One was hard right and some were pretty
reasonable and some in between. Had a two hour discussion divided into
two groups, then half an hour back together, then all ate together at a
nice restaurant. More discussion after dinner but don't think it
changed anybody's mind.
Tomorrow we'll go to the Holocaust
Museum and have lunch at their cafeteria. Of course you saw it on your
IFPB (*Interfaith Peace Builders) tour.
JAN 22
Kind of a grim day here. We all bussed to Efrat settlement and
listened to Bob Lang first thing this morning. He's a settler who
lived his first 18 years in a suburb of New York City and his next 33
years establishing settlements around Bethlehem. His current residence
is in a town of 9,000 in the Palestinian Territories {Occupied} within
sight of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. He told us Jewish people lived there
before 1948 and came back after the 1967 War when the Israeli Military
took control of the area. He failed to mention that any Palestinians
that had lived there are now kept behind sophisticated wire fences
while settlements have greatly expanded. Actually he gave us all the
rightwing settler spiel about Biblical claims and all the needed
security which just happen to aid the taking of more and more
Palestinian areas. Of course the settlers in the area have their own
modern highways to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
In the afternoon we
had lunch at the cafeteria of the Holocaust Museum and a worthwhile
tour by Tamar Avraham, a peace activist and active member in Zochrot
www.nakbainhebrew.org That was a very sobering 2 hours of how
Hitler and the Nazis persecuted and killed around 6,000,000 European
Jews between 1938 and 1945. This Yad Vashem Museum has actually
collected about 3,000,000 names of victims and is trying to get more.
Many young Israeli military men and women were also taking tours as
part of their training, helping motivate them to carry out their duties
in the occupied territories.
Adding to the grimness was a rainy and foggy day.
I'm trying to send you a document with this about what's going on in
Jayyous re Israeli military activities. Please tell me if you are able
to read it.
Tomorrow we tour Kibbutz Mishmar Ha'emek and go on to stay at the St. Charles Guest House in Haifa.
(* additional information to which Doug refers about the situation in Jayyous at http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/1592.shtml )
(*commentary
from Israeli peace group the Israeli Committee Against House
Demolitions on the general situation “Don’t Say We Did Not Know”
http://www.icahd.org/eng/articles.asp?menu=6&submenu=2&article=332)
