Today in the evening we received some very distressing and sad news. There was an attack in Al Buweyre last night, on a family living close to the outpost. They were the family we stayed with on Wednesday night.
Masked settlers came from the outpost at night and forced their way into the house. They had sticks and began swinging them at the people inside. They hurt one of the men in the house. He was severely beaten, and one of his knees was broken.
This kind of news is horrific. It is not only due to the vicious nature of the attack. It is because this kind of thing happens on an almost weekly, sometimes daily basis. Broken windows. Burned fields. Burned houses. Broken bones. The Palestinian villagers in Al Buweyre and At Tuwani and other places near Hebron and other parts of the West Bank, who are close to the settlers are victims of regular terrorism.
Please pray for the injured man and his family. Pray that justice come down like a river to this land that has seen so much oppression and bloodshed.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Miscelaneous pictures
Soldier observing us from the watchtower.
A musical moment. John, a visitor from New Zealand, began playing violin and Paulette from CPT began singing. They drew quite a crowd.
Palestinian children making bread. Many Palestinian kids work from a very young age. In restaurants, you often see kids serving food and taking orders. They also can be seen cleaning the street and watching over stores. On one hand I am very impressed with the hard work ethic and family values that are instilled from a very young age. On the other it is sad for me to see children working, many of them are not teenagers yet. Families need to make ends meet, and often this means that kids are working from a very young age.
More Hebron demo pictures
At times, it was very crowded.
More shopkeepers who have received certificates.
Kids who we ran into on the way.
Hebron action
Today was another Hebron demo, and unfortunately my last one. It was the first one I have been to where there has been no violence from the army. In fact, they more or less kept away from the entire affair.
During the last few weeks, the Israeli army really stepped up its level of harassment and intimidation and violence against the Palestinians living in their area of Hebron. In addition to the three shops being closed down and the brutal arrests of peaceful demonstrators, the leaders have been threatened with ten years in prison if the protests continued.
Agents have been sent to threaten and intimidate the shopkeepers, threatening them that their shops too will close if the protests go on.
Today, several hundred Palestinian, international and Israeli activists walked through the markets in a musical procession. Certificates were handed out to every shopkeeper, thanking him or her for their steadfastness and support of the resistance. I saw many of the shopkeepers’ faces after they received these, some looked like they were trying to hold back tears.
Some soldiers positioned themselves on rooftops and snapped pictures of us, I decided to snap their pictures too. I was in the middle of the procession, but was told that six soldiers followed us from the back for a while before going back to their base. Thank God they didn’t do anything this time.
I think the action was a great idea. It showed gratefulness to people who are victims of collective punishment and have been made to sacrifice, and a resilience of the community and refusal to bow in the face of injustice. The protest leaders announced that next week they will be going on a “buying campaign” and purchasing goods from the shops.
CPTers gathering at the demo. Some of them are new to the country.
Showing the certificate and explaining what will happen.
The procession goes through the Old City.
During the last few weeks, the Israeli army really stepped up its level of harassment and intimidation and violence against the Palestinians living in their area of Hebron. In addition to the three shops being closed down and the brutal arrests of peaceful demonstrators, the leaders have been threatened with ten years in prison if the protests continued.
Agents have been sent to threaten and intimidate the shopkeepers, threatening them that their shops too will close if the protests go on.
Today, several hundred Palestinian, international and Israeli activists walked through the markets in a musical procession. Certificates were handed out to every shopkeeper, thanking him or her for their steadfastness and support of the resistance. I saw many of the shopkeepers’ faces after they received these, some looked like they were trying to hold back tears.
Some soldiers positioned themselves on rooftops and snapped pictures of us, I decided to snap their pictures too. I was in the middle of the procession, but was told that six soldiers followed us from the back for a while before going back to their base. Thank God they didn’t do anything this time.
I think the action was a great idea. It showed gratefulness to people who are victims of collective punishment and have been made to sacrifice, and a resilience of the community and refusal to bow in the face of injustice. The protest leaders announced that next week they will be going on a “buying campaign” and purchasing goods from the shops.
CPTers gathering at the demo. Some of them are new to the country.
Showing the certificate and explaining what will happen.
The procession goes through the Old City.
Shiksha adventures
Don't do this at home. Just kidding. There are no drugs involved, or most of the other chemicals that are in cigarettes.
There is tobacco, which is not healthy. There is also natural apple flavour, charcoal and water. We did not smoke argila (another word for shiksha) on a daily basis, it was usually among Palestinian friends.
It was a cultural aspect, I have no intention of smoking argila (or anything else) back in Canada.
There is tobacco, which is not healthy. There is also natural apple flavour, charcoal and water. We did not smoke argila (another word for shiksha) on a daily basis, it was usually among Palestinian friends.
It was a cultural aspect, I have no intention of smoking argila (or anything else) back in Canada.
Settler drive thru
Yesterday, some ISMers and CPTers went to Al Buweyre again. The settlers decided they were going to go through the village to a hill where it is claimed a settler was killed many years ago. They go to pray there and are planning to start an outpost that will hopefully become a settlement.
Nothing wrong with people praying, but in the past when going through the village the settlers have picked fights with villagers and stolen grapes. Also, the fact that they are going through a Palestinian village is also an act of provocation- any Palestinian who enters a settlement risks being shot or beaten or arrested.
Anyways, thankfully nothing terrible happened. It was a very hot day (in the forties) and I guess they decided it would be nicer to drive than parade through. Compared to Wednesday's parade, this one was relatively small. It only involved 4 settler cars, driving in procession led by one army jeep and followed at the end by another. They drove up the hill, spent approximately 30 minutes up there, and drove back.
Later that day, we hung out at the apartment and smoked some shiksha. I am not a smoker but here in the West Bank it is literally a craze and whenever you hang out with people in the evening it is offered. The ingredients are tobacco and apple. Whenever you take a puff, water at the bottom starts to bubble. Charcoal is put on the top.
I was seriously considering buying one, but if I did I would become addicted and I am sure if you do it often enough you will probably damage your lungs. So only for travels to the middle east.
Walking into Al Buweyre
One of the settler cars driving through.
Army jeep at the back.
One of the boys who hung out with us and stayed by us during the drive through.
Nothing wrong with people praying, but in the past when going through the village the settlers have picked fights with villagers and stolen grapes. Also, the fact that they are going through a Palestinian village is also an act of provocation- any Palestinian who enters a settlement risks being shot or beaten or arrested.
Anyways, thankfully nothing terrible happened. It was a very hot day (in the forties) and I guess they decided it would be nicer to drive than parade through. Compared to Wednesday's parade, this one was relatively small. It only involved 4 settler cars, driving in procession led by one army jeep and followed at the end by another. They drove up the hill, spent approximately 30 minutes up there, and drove back.
Later that day, we hung out at the apartment and smoked some shiksha. I am not a smoker but here in the West Bank it is literally a craze and whenever you hang out with people in the evening it is offered. The ingredients are tobacco and apple. Whenever you take a puff, water at the bottom starts to bubble. Charcoal is put on the top.
I was seriously considering buying one, but if I did I would become addicted and I am sure if you do it often enough you will probably damage your lungs. So only for travels to the middle east.
Walking into Al Buweyre
One of the settler cars driving through.
Army jeep at the back.
One of the boys who hung out with us and stayed by us during the drive through.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Video of soldiers closing down the shops
I did not make this video, someone else did. My "link" button is not working, so you will have to copy and paste it into the URL.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rrU0AI5CvE&feature=player_embedded#!">
The video is good but it shows only part of the story. Before being dragged away by the army, the people you are about to see were grabbed, thrown to the ground, tackled. No one was offering any resistance. The worst treatment was reserved for the Palestinians, at least one of whom was later beaten in prison.
The man being carried away by ambulance I now know is one of the shopkeepers who suffered a heart attack during the "operation". Fortunately, he has recovered and is alright.
You can see the soldiers welding down the shops. They have since not been reopened.
I can be seen in the video being pushed away by the commander. He was initially very gentle with me, later when we met face to face he began yelling and the shoves were much harder. Still, this is nothing in comparison to what the people who were arrested went through.
Some of the people who were arrested were charged with "assaulting soldiers". That is a complete and despicable lie. The only people who were assaulting anyone that day were the IDF.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rrU0AI5CvE&feature=player_embedded#!">
The video is good but it shows only part of the story. Before being dragged away by the army, the people you are about to see were grabbed, thrown to the ground, tackled. No one was offering any resistance. The worst treatment was reserved for the Palestinians, at least one of whom was later beaten in prison.
The man being carried away by ambulance I now know is one of the shopkeepers who suffered a heart attack during the "operation". Fortunately, he has recovered and is alright.
You can see the soldiers welding down the shops. They have since not been reopened.
I can be seen in the video being pushed away by the commander. He was initially very gentle with me, later when we met face to face he began yelling and the shoves were much harder. Still, this is nothing in comparison to what the people who were arrested went through.
Some of the people who were arrested were charged with "assaulting soldiers". That is a complete and despicable lie. The only people who were assaulting anyone that day were the IDF.
Rally on the hills (reposted)
The pictures didn't load the first time again.
Initially a few of the settlers walked up the hill very far, and unfurled their signs close to the top. The houses nearby are Palestinian.
Shortly after this picture was taken, these guys began hurling rocks at sheep that were on their way to graze. I have it on tape, will post it when I can.
Eventually they moved down the hill, close to highway 60.
Settler truck close to the demonstration.
Initially a few of the settlers walked up the hill very far, and unfurled their signs close to the top. The houses nearby are Palestinian.
Shortly after this picture was taken, these guys began hurling rocks at sheep that were on their way to graze. I have it on tape, will post it when I can.
Eventually they moved down the hill, close to highway 60.
Settler truck close to the demonstration.
The law takes action
Instead of doing anything to stop the settlers, the army and police began to stop cars with Palestinian drivers. Some were asked for documents. Others had their cars searched.
The man whose insightful question became the title of my post.
Soldiers following us around after dark. They stopped only after we moved away from the highway.
The law shows up
As soon as we approached the highway, we saw it packed with police cars and army trucks. Perhaps they were going to take action against the settlers for invading land that does not belong to them. The next set of pictures shows the law enforcement officers on the road. Behind them, in some of the pictures you can see the settlers celebrating. There is a picture of some of the guys walking by and looking at us through the cordons.
Settlers walking to the outpost
These guys came first.
A few minutes later, the girls and young women followed.
Some came by bus. The terrain can be quite rocky and it isn't always easy to walk, even if it is on land that you are stealing from other people.
More settlers.
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