Palestine: Yallah bye.
I'm starting this blog a month since I left the West Bank with no real idea of how to summarise, conclude or make sense of my time in Palestine. Once more, I have been humbled by the steadfastness and solidity of the Palestinian people. Once more, I have felt helpless and angry in the face of the atrocities that the Israeli army, government and settlers commit on a daily basis.
And yet, and yet...somehow I feel more resilient and more prepared to face these injustices. In difficult situations I still compare and contrast with Israeli jail and count my blessings that I'm no longer there (despite being told that this feeling of relief would fade!)
More than anything, despite the hardships, I wish I was still in Palestine, standing with my friends and colleagues from Palestine, from Israel, from everywhere - habibis, I miss you all.
People still there tell me the situation is intensifying - attacks and kidnapping by settlers (naturally, backed up by the army), a boy killed on his 17th birthday - while I was still there, there were whispers (and some shouts) of 'intifada'.
An uprising by the Palestinian people is a difficult thing. They have little power. Every time they react against the Israeli occupation, it is they who are branded as the terrorists, rather than their occupiers with their guns, their political power, their propaganda machine. But, inshallah, Palestine's freedom will come, and soon. (I realise that my excessive use of 'inshallah' (god willing) is ridiculous considering that I am a godless heathen :p )
Now it is christmas eve. I am in Thailand, feeling guilty and useless (though the fact that it's raining a LOT assuages my guilt a little...)
I feel for Majd Obeid, who was arrested with me back in September and is still in prison. I feel for his family, and all the other families who have someone in prison.I feel for the hungerstrikers. I feel for all the Christian Palestinians in Gaza who didn't receive permission to travel to Bethlehem for Christmas (no one between the ages of 16 and 35 is even allowed to apply). I feel for all the families who will have to start 2013 learning to live without a loved one, because this was the year that they became a shaheed (martyr) of the occupation. I feel for those who are cold because their house was demolished or their electricity is controlled and limited by the Israelis. I feel for those whose neighbours are settlers who attack their young children. I feel for Palestine.
Palestine needs people of conscience, who will stand up for justice alongside the Palestinian people in their struggle. Find out more here.
Yallah bye Falasteen, and merry christmas.
P.S. I will most certainly be back.
Monday, 24 December 2012
Thursday, 22 November 2012
Palestine: "It's not my problem"
On Saturday, Rushdi Tamimi was shot in the village of Nabi Saleh. He was on a hillside in the village, taking part in a demonstration against the massacre in Gaza (which was escalating massively at that point).
He was shot with live ammunition by an Israeli soldier. He was 31 years old.
After he was shot, he lay on the hillside, surrounded by soldiers. They did not try to help him. Having shot him again and shoved him with their guns, they shot at anyone who tried to come near to help him.
This video below was filmed by someone trying to approach - you can hear being shot at as she shouts "Ana B'tselem" - "I am B´tselem" - B'tselem is a human rights organisation who film abuses by the Israeli authorities.
You can also hear the soldiers, as Rushdi's sister pleads with them to let her take him to a hospital, saying "I don't care". And "it's not my problem". The lack of humanity is chilling.
Rushdi's family eventually managed to take him to get medical help. He died 3 days later in hospital - they couldn't stop him from bleeding. Could earlier medical attention have saved him? Who knows.
Rushdi is the second person from Nabi Saleh who has died fighting the occupation. I was at the demonstration when the first, Mustafa Tamimi, was killed when a soldier shot a tear gas canister directly at his face, making Tuesday my second Nabi Saleh funeral.
There were tears, followed by anger, followed by tear gas.
Because in true bastard form, the soldiers attacked the funeral demonstration with live ammunition, tear gas, rubber bullets and skunk water. You can see pictures from the funeral taken by my comrade Alberto, on his blog here. They demonstrate a complete lack of respect for Palestinian life and a complete lack of remorse for having caused Rushdi's death.
In other news:
On Saturday, Rushdi Tamimi was shot in the village of Nabi Saleh. He was on a hillside in the village, taking part in a demonstration against the massacre in Gaza (which was escalating massively at that point).
He was shot with live ammunition by an Israeli soldier. He was 31 years old.
After he was shot, he lay on the hillside, surrounded by soldiers. They did not try to help him. Having shot him again and shoved him with their guns, they shot at anyone who tried to come near to help him.
This video below was filmed by someone trying to approach - you can hear being shot at as she shouts "Ana B'tselem" - "I am B´tselem" - B'tselem is a human rights organisation who film abuses by the Israeli authorities.
You can also hear the soldiers, as Rushdi's sister pleads with them to let her take him to a hospital, saying "I don't care". And "it's not my problem". The lack of humanity is chilling.
Rushdi's family eventually managed to take him to get medical help. He died 3 days later in hospital - they couldn't stop him from bleeding. Could earlier medical attention have saved him? Who knows.
Rushdi is the second person from Nabi Saleh who has died fighting the occupation. I was at the demonstration when the first, Mustafa Tamimi, was killed when a soldier shot a tear gas canister directly at his face, making Tuesday my second Nabi Saleh funeral.
There were tears, followed by anger, followed by tear gas.
Because in true bastard form, the soldiers attacked the funeral demonstration with live ammunition, tear gas, rubber bullets and skunk water. You can see pictures from the funeral taken by my comrade Alberto, on his blog here. They demonstrate a complete lack of respect for Palestinian life and a complete lack of remorse for having caused Rushdi's death.
In other news:
- There is now a ceasfire in Gaza. Inshallah it will last, and no more will be added to the 162 people who were murdered by Israel since operation 'Pillar of Cloud' began.
- 22 year old Hamdi al Falah was killed in Hebron, demonstrating against the attack on Gaza. He was shot four times, once in the head, twice in the body and once in the leg. Friends of mine were at the funeral and said that thousand of people came to protest his death, the occupation and murder in Gaza. They were (surprise surprise) violently repressed by the Israeli army.
- A 20 month old baby died in Qalandia after soldier fired a tear gas canister into his bedroom. It ignited and he died of the burns.
- Activists helped to remove a section of the Apartheid Wall (the Wall is in both concrete and metal fence form - the 15 metres we removed was from the wire part). The army didn't even arrive in time to stop us. Hah!
- Activists blocked a settler road and for a second time, a settler drove a car into one of my comrades on purpose - this time it was Palestinian popular struggle organiser Abdullah Abu Rahmeh. He is fine now.
Saturday, 17 November 2012
Palestine: “Shut your fucking mouth.”
I thought I’d seen a lot of Zionist tourists when I wrote about the settler tour last
Saturday. That was until I realised that this week was Abraham Day, a Jewish religious holiday. Because of this, thousands (I do genuinely mean THOUUUUUUUSANDS) of fundamentalists religious people turned up, with the belief that the whole of Hebron should be part of Israel (COUGH, green line, COUGH, international law). Oh, sorry, silly me, as I was told many times over the course of the day, these people do have the deeds to the land. They store them all in this book called the Torah apparently. *eye roll*
The majority were just a rowdy mob, rampaging through the Palestinian market, surrounded by 50 or so soldiers. They went through the market for HOURS, hassling shopkeepers, pushing over food and stuff for sale and even attacking some people who were trying to record their bad behaviour. They punched and kicked one Palestinian man who was filming for B'tselem and tried to steal his camera. They grabbed cameras of other international observers. I asked some of them if they knew what effect their 'tourism' had on the Palestinian population (soldiers on their roofs at night, sweeps of the market by 30 soldiers three times in the morning, fear, harassment, abuse) - their response? "Shut up"or "why does that matter?" or silence.
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| Settlers and soldiers overlooked by Palestinian kids on the roof. |
Or a new one today, "hope to see you in Gaza."
Since I started writing this blog, several days ago, much has changed here. Operation 'Pillar of Cloud' has begun, or as it would be better known, murder. Gazan Palestinians are essentially trapped in the largest open air prison in the world - blockaded from land, sea and air. In the last 3 days, children have been killed (including an 11month old baby), the majority of deaths are civilian, yet still Gazans who fight back against the occupation are the terrorists. Israeli authorities - wearing a uniform does not legitimise murder or siege or occupation. At 360 km² (about the same area as the UK city of Sheffield, but with a population 3 times the size*) Gaza is one of the world's most densely populated areas, making targeted attacks on 'militants' incredibly difficult. Add to this the fact that half of the population are children - Israeli leaders KNOW that they will kill children and they will kill civilians.Yet they continue. And yes, the besieged people of Gaza continue to resist. I don't advocate killing of anyone, but I do know that the Palestinians have a right to resist the numerous and continuing human rights abuses committed against them by the hugely more powerful (and US backed) Israeli forces. Nothing so far has worked.
On the same day that the attack on Gaza began, we had a demonstration, or several demonstrations really. Hundreds of Palestinian, Israeli and international activists blocked roads to illegal settlements, urging settlers to leave. The regular Friday demonstrations in the Palestinian villages of Nabi Saleh, in Kufr Qaddoum, Bilin etc are amazing and inspiring, but the people that they most inconvenience are often the villagers themselves - this new tactic of demonstrating on settler roads, or in settler supermarkets will remind these settlers and the Israeli forces that their actions are not without consequence. To block the roads, we used chains, we used ourselves - each time, the soldiers arrived and the settlers arrived, attacking with gas, batons as well as with their plain old hands and feet. Our non-violent demonstrations are always met with this type of aggression.
At the last roadblock that we staged, a friend of mine was standing in front of a stopped settler car. Then the car accelerated - directly into him. He was thrown over the bonnet, as the settler sped into the distance and we all stood gaping. An ambulance was called and he was taken to the hospital in Ramallah for x-rays and tests. He was not badly hurt thankfully. Also, none of us were arrested, which was surprising considering the amount of de-arresting that we had to do.
Still, I can't keep away from the news of Gaza - another death, another air strike, the possibility of a ground strike is looming. Israeli reserve forces have been called up. We are so near in the West Bank, and yet so far - life here is a million miles away from life in Gaza. I run out of words to say what I mean, but I do know we're not gonna "shut our fucking mouths", whatever you do. Palestine is not that easily shut up.
Love and solidarity to Gaza - see demonstrations that you could join around the world here.
On the same day that the attack on Gaza began, we had a demonstration, or several demonstrations really. Hundreds of Palestinian, Israeli and international activists blocked roads to illegal settlements, urging settlers to leave. The regular Friday demonstrations in the Palestinian villages of Nabi Saleh, in Kufr Qaddoum, Bilin etc are amazing and inspiring, but the people that they most inconvenience are often the villagers themselves - this new tactic of demonstrating on settler roads, or in settler supermarkets will remind these settlers and the Israeli forces that their actions are not without consequence. To block the roads, we used chains, we used ourselves - each time, the soldiers arrived and the settlers arrived, attacking with gas, batons as well as with their plain old hands and feet. Our non-violent demonstrations are always met with this type of aggression.
At the last roadblock that we staged, a friend of mine was standing in front of a stopped settler car. Then the car accelerated - directly into him. He was thrown over the bonnet, as the settler sped into the distance and we all stood gaping. An ambulance was called and he was taken to the hospital in Ramallah for x-rays and tests. He was not badly hurt thankfully. Also, none of us were arrested, which was surprising considering the amount of de-arresting that we had to do.
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| Activestills pic of us de-arresting Mohammed Khatib, protest organiser. |
Love and solidarity to Gaza - see demonstrations that you could join around the world here.
*Sheffield/Gaza population comparison in honour of Amy Man.
Sunday, 4 November 2012
Palestine: Tourism - settler style
When I visit a new city, personally I prefer to explore it on my own - I find it the best way to engage with a new place, wandering the streets at my leisure, finding the city's secrets myself. Despite this, I do understand that some people prefer guided-tour style tourism, where you can really learn some history and interesting titbits of information about a new area.
But, I do rather reject the idea of visiting in a group of more soldiers than tourists. Especially when the city you are visiting is part of the occupied West Bank and you are an Israeli settler. This is what happens every week in the city of Hebron. For the last two weeks, I have had the pleasure of tagging along on the tour, because in the past, there have been attacks and harassment of Palestinians by the 'tourists' and by the soldiers 'protecting them'.
Before the settlers have even arrived, the soldiers 'secure the area'. This area that desperately needs to be secured is where Palestinians are getting on with their lives. It's their market, it's their homes, it's their shops. The 'securing of the area' often consists of breaking into houses, pointing guns into doorways and around corners and climbing onto Palestinian roofs. GB and I followed three soldiers who had climbed onto someone's roof - just as the soldiers were walking past, a little girl opened the door of her apartment. Not who I would like to find walking down my stairwell - unsurprisingly, she speedily shut the door again.
Just hypothesising, but I suspect that if that had been a young man who had shut the door, the soldiers would immediately have suspected wrongdoing and taken some action against it. The past few days, I have seen innumerable Palestinian 20-something men stopped and detained by soldiers. I ask why these men are being stopped - the soldiers admit they aren't looking for anything, they are just following orders. This is so often the case of these soldiers, pawns in the Israeli occupation. They don't know what they are doing, nor why. (Not that this excuses them of their actions. We've heard the line 'I was just following orders' before.)
So after the soldiers have finished invading people's houses and harassing people before the tour, it's time for the settlers to arrive. They come out of the illegal settlement right in the middle of Hebron city centre. Then they go directly to a Palestinian playground. Imagine 40 soldiers and a tour group arriving into a playground where you played as a kid. Imagine all the soldiers are heavily armed. Imagine that they do not care what happens to you, they care only for the tourists that they are 'protecting'.
In Hebron, some of the kids are so used to it that they try to carry on with their game of marbles. The soldiers clear them out of the way. Other kids stop and stare, or run away. The group of smartly dressed settlers wander through the park, hearing Zionist version of the history of Hebron - at one point, the Christian Peace Team and B'tselem (other observers watching the tour) get a mention by the tour-guide as busybodies who want to stop them enjoying their day out. (Benefit of ISM not having uniforms - we don't get name dropped by settlers as much!) Many of those on the tour are women younger than me. Their glares at me are piercing.
Continuing the tour, the soldiers shove their guns around corners as the tour group enter the winding paths of the souq. They stop Palestinians from walking past the settlers, only occasionally letting them edge by, squashed between the soldiers' guns and the walls. They are required to wait until the tourists have passed them - anyone who tries to pass on their own streets is liable to be pushed back by the soldiers.
Eventually, they retreat back into the settlement and lock the gates behind them.
Recently Israeli television channel referred to Palestine solidarity activists as 'hate tourists'. That label would be more correctly applied to these settlers.
P.S. finally, a tribute to my fallen comrade GB who will no longer feature, due to his yallah-bye-ing outta Palestine. Sad day.
When I visit a new city, personally I prefer to explore it on my own - I find it the best way to engage with a new place, wandering the streets at my leisure, finding the city's secrets myself. Despite this, I do understand that some people prefer guided-tour style tourism, where you can really learn some history and interesting titbits of information about a new area.
Just hypothesising, but I suspect that if that had been a young man who had shut the door, the soldiers would immediately have suspected wrongdoing and taken some action against it. The past few days, I have seen innumerable Palestinian 20-something men stopped and detained by soldiers. I ask why these men are being stopped - the soldiers admit they aren't looking for anything, they are just following orders. This is so often the case of these soldiers, pawns in the Israeli occupation. They don't know what they are doing, nor why. (Not that this excuses them of their actions. We've heard the line 'I was just following orders' before.)
In Hebron, some of the kids are so used to it that they try to carry on with their game of marbles. The soldiers clear them out of the way. Other kids stop and stare, or run away. The group of smartly dressed settlers wander through the park, hearing Zionist version of the history of Hebron - at one point, the Christian Peace Team and B'tselem (other observers watching the tour) get a mention by the tour-guide as busybodies who want to stop them enjoying their day out. (Benefit of ISM not having uniforms - we don't get name dropped by settlers as much!) Many of those on the tour are women younger than me. Their glares at me are piercing.
Eventually, they retreat back into the settlement and lock the gates behind them.
Recently Israeli television channel referred to Palestine solidarity activists as 'hate tourists'. That label would be more correctly applied to these settlers.
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| yallah bye settlers |
Friday, 26 October 2012
Palestine: Arresting
Good news first - Abed from Kufr Qaddoum was released on the 24th October. Boom! The judge hasn't yet let us know exactly why he was released, but it seems likely that it was because GB and I were released - despite having the same evidence against us. Today marks the start of Eid, the biggest Muslim festival, so he has been released just in time to celebrate with his family.
We had a demonstration the next day calling for a boycott of Israel, until they end their apartheid strategy and occupation of Palestine - where better to have this but in a settlement supermarket? We arrived with a group of Palestinians, Israeli and international activists in the carpark of the Rami Levi superstore, which is in the illegal Israeli settlement of Sheer Binyamin, just north of the Palestinian city of Ramallah. Bearing our flags and 'boycott occupation and its products' placards, we marched down the aisles chanting "1234 occupation no more, 5678 Palestine will be a state", between the cereals and sweets. Surreal - the shoppers were shocked.
The army inevitably arrived, as we were leaving peacefully. The whole group left the supermarket and started walking to the exit of the settlement. Soldiers at this point decided that they wanted to stop us, cutting off the exit - they essentially wanted to arrest us for being a part of a flashmob. No one had committed any crimes, not even going so far as to knock down a pyramid of tins or steal a penny sweet.
However, we were forced to spend the next half an hour or so trying to prevent arrests from occurring. To stop this, we were 'de-arresting'. This is just as 'sophisticated' as it sounds - if the soldiers are trying to take someone, we try to take them back. It's not a violent way of resisting, but often provokes violence from the Israeli forces. The police were grabbing anyone and everyone - I can't count how many we prevented being arrested. A man who was passed out on the ground had a sound grenade thrown metres from his head.
The police pounced on us, grabbing my friend Elyana from next to me, while we were stopping another ISMer from being arrested. Four of them dragged her away while another group immediately shoved me back, preventing me from getting past. They were brutal, dragging at her clothes, yanking her in different directions and hitting her, while I could do nothing but watch, shell-shocked (every day here just adds to the anger that's piling up in me).
Another activist from Poland was arrested under similar circumstances, while trying to de-arrest Bassem Tamimi. Bassem was only released from an Israeli prison in April, having spent 13 months there, accused of 'taking part in illegal gatherings'. He is an organiser of the resistance against the Israeli occupation in the village of Nabi Saleh. The Israelis HATE him - as demonstrated by them breaking his ribs as they did successfully arrest him. Another Palestinian man was arrested - but in a happy reversal, was released the next day.
The Palestinians were separated from the international activists after their arrest. I spoke to Elyana today and she told me that a judge ruled that she and the other activist should be released (well duh, they didn't do anything) - but the police didn't much like this decision and decided to go rogue. Instead of setting them free, they decided it would be much better to threaten them with pepper spray and bundle them into the waiting immigration authority vehicle (circling like vultures). The Israeli authorities use this tactic to try to bypass their own (albeit often atrocious) legal system and deport activists without trial. Elyana was denied contact with her lawyer. Hearing how easily the police bypassed the system makes me realise genuinely how lucky GB and I were not to be deported.
So, for Eid celebrations today - Abdelateef is at home, reunited with his family and new wife. So is the other Palestinian who was released yesterday. Elyana and the other activist are currently in a dirty cell near Ben Gurion airport, awaiting a trial. Bassem is in another cell, nursing his broken ribs. Majd from Kufr Qaddoum is separated from his freed brother, in yet another cell. And this is just a glimpse - hundreds more Palestinian political prisoners are being held in Israel for their actions against the occupation.
So overall, it feels pretty hard to say Eid Saeed (happy Eid).
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| Protesters in the supermarket |
We had a demonstration the next day calling for a boycott of Israel, until they end their apartheid strategy and occupation of Palestine - where better to have this but in a settlement supermarket? We arrived with a group of Palestinians, Israeli and international activists in the carpark of the Rami Levi superstore, which is in the illegal Israeli settlement of Sheer Binyamin, just north of the Palestinian city of Ramallah. Bearing our flags and 'boycott occupation and its products' placards, we marched down the aisles chanting "1234 occupation no more, 5678 Palestine will be a state", between the cereals and sweets. Surreal - the shoppers were shocked.
The army inevitably arrived, as we were leaving peacefully. The whole group left the supermarket and started walking to the exit of the settlement. Soldiers at this point decided that they wanted to stop us, cutting off the exit - they essentially wanted to arrest us for being a part of a flashmob. No one had committed any crimes, not even going so far as to knock down a pyramid of tins or steal a penny sweet.
However, we were forced to spend the next half an hour or so trying to prevent arrests from occurring. To stop this, we were 'de-arresting'. This is just as 'sophisticated' as it sounds - if the soldiers are trying to take someone, we try to take them back. It's not a violent way of resisting, but often provokes violence from the Israeli forces. The police were grabbing anyone and everyone - I can't count how many we prevented being arrested. A man who was passed out on the ground had a sound grenade thrown metres from his head.
The police pounced on us, grabbing my friend Elyana from next to me, while we were stopping another ISMer from being arrested. Four of them dragged her away while another group immediately shoved me back, preventing me from getting past. They were brutal, dragging at her clothes, yanking her in different directions and hitting her, while I could do nothing but watch, shell-shocked (every day here just adds to the anger that's piling up in me).
Another activist from Poland was arrested under similar circumstances, while trying to de-arrest Bassem Tamimi. Bassem was only released from an Israeli prison in April, having spent 13 months there, accused of 'taking part in illegal gatherings'. He is an organiser of the resistance against the Israeli occupation in the village of Nabi Saleh. The Israelis HATE him - as demonstrated by them breaking his ribs as they did successfully arrest him. Another Palestinian man was arrested - but in a happy reversal, was released the next day.
The Palestinians were separated from the international activists after their arrest. I spoke to Elyana today and she told me that a judge ruled that she and the other activist should be released (well duh, they didn't do anything) - but the police didn't much like this decision and decided to go rogue. Instead of setting them free, they decided it would be much better to threaten them with pepper spray and bundle them into the waiting immigration authority vehicle (circling like vultures). The Israeli authorities use this tactic to try to bypass their own (albeit often atrocious) legal system and deport activists without trial. Elyana was denied contact with her lawyer. Hearing how easily the police bypassed the system makes me realise genuinely how lucky GB and I were not to be deported.
So, for Eid celebrations today - Abdelateef is at home, reunited with his family and new wife. So is the other Palestinian who was released yesterday. Elyana and the other activist are currently in a dirty cell near Ben Gurion airport, awaiting a trial. Bassem is in another cell, nursing his broken ribs. Majd from Kufr Qaddoum is separated from his freed brother, in yet another cell. And this is just a glimpse - hundreds more Palestinian political prisoners are being held in Israel for their actions against the occupation.
So overall, it feels pretty hard to say Eid Saeed (happy Eid).
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Palestine: The essence of discrimination
Yesterday I was described as a foreign troublemaker and hooligan - someone who had come to Palestine to throw stones at demonstrations. Not by an extremist settler, an Israeli soldier or the Daily Mail, but in fact by the very lawyer who got me freed after I was arrested at Kufr Qaddoum. Why on earth would he be so mean?
Well. It was all for the acceptably important aim of freedom for Abdelateef Obeid, who had a court hearing to determine whether his detention could continue or whether Israel should set him free. His brother Majd's case is still pending. The hearing was at Ofer military court, where we spent hours being told that we had to wait, and then were shouted at at the last minute because this had made us late for the hearing.*eye roll*
Having eventually made it into the court, we found Neri, the Israeli lawyer who had represented us in the civilian court in the middle of the night four weeks ago, managing to get us released without conditions after our house arrest. This time, rather than defending us, he was telling the court that we were foreign agitators, and that in their eyes, our "crimes" were infinitely worse than Abed and Majd's.
He argued that:
All the prosecutor could come up with to counter this was clutching at a straws - he said that the three internationals sitting in the court (GB, Lauren and I) might in fact be other IMPOSTER internationals, and that maybe actually the real internationals had been given life imprisonment or some other appropriate punishment, considering the weight of the evidence against us.
The judge looked sceptical but decided to give the prosecution another day to investigate this possibility...the court was supposed to deliver a judgement today at 5pm, but of course, they did not.
More limbo for the Obeid family - it's now another day since the hearing and there has still been no verdict.
*I can't be bothered to say this every time...I didn't throw stones. I've been doing a lot of olive picking, but it still hasn't increased my arm strength so that I could throw more than about a metre.
Yesterday I was described as a foreign troublemaker and hooligan - someone who had come to Palestine to throw stones at demonstrations. Not by an extremist settler, an Israeli soldier or the Daily Mail, but in fact by the very lawyer who got me freed after I was arrested at Kufr Qaddoum. Why on earth would he be so mean?
Well. It was all for the acceptably important aim of freedom for Abdelateef Obeid, who had a court hearing to determine whether his detention could continue or whether Israel should set him free. His brother Majd's case is still pending. The hearing was at Ofer military court, where we spent hours being told that we had to wait, and then were shouted at at the last minute because this had made us late for the hearing.*eye roll*
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| Queues at Ofer |
He argued that:
- We had gone to great lengths to come to Palestine to cause trouble - flying from our home countries, paying out of our own pockets, travelling to the village etc.
- They had been in their home village - they don't have a choice but to live here.
- We had stronger evidence against us - two soldiers "saw" us throw stones* and then arrested us.
- They had allegedly been seen by one soldier, from the top of a hill, through binoculars. This soldier then sent some other guys to arrest Majd and Abed. They went into a house and pulled them out. The soldier who "saw" them through the binoculars IDed them HOURS later as the same men he had glimpsed. Yeahhh, sounds plausible.
- We had no alibi. I was totally at the demonstration, wooh!
- They have a full alibi - their father says that he won't allow them to attend the Friday demonstrations because it is too dangerous. Their whoooole family say that Majd and Abed were at home, Majd asleep and Abed eating lunch.
- We are not involved directly in this struggle. Our lives are not affected - so throwing stones would be baseless.
- They have VERY legitimate grievances against the Israelis - so throwing stones is part of their right to resist.
All the prosecutor could come up with to counter this was clutching at a straws - he said that the three internationals sitting in the court (GB, Lauren and I) might in fact be other IMPOSTER internationals, and that maybe actually the real internationals had been given life imprisonment or some other appropriate punishment, considering the weight of the evidence against us.
The judge looked sceptical but decided to give the prosecution another day to investigate this possibility...the court was supposed to deliver a judgement today at 5pm, but of course, they did not.
More limbo for the Obeid family - it's now another day since the hearing and there has still been no verdict.
*I can't be bothered to say this every time...I didn't throw stones. I've been doing a lot of olive picking, but it still hasn't increased my arm strength so that I could throw more than about a metre.
Saturday, 20 October 2012
Palestine: 'You are not the same as them'
Majd and Abdelateef had a second hearing on Monday. Having spoken to the lawyer, we knew that he was planning to argue that as GB, Lauren, Aimee and I had been freed, Majd and Abdelateef should be also. Because naturally, if the evidence is questionable enough to set us free, then the same evidence should also be questionable enough to set them free.
We arrived at the court bright and early, but found Majd and Abdelateef's family already inside, already waiting. They spent the (many) hours that followed in the burning sun, standing next to the gate, craning their necks for a glimpse of Majd and Abdelateef. Abdelateef's wife (they were married one week before he was arrested) was there, nervous but hopeful.
Hopeful, because the family told us excitedly that they were expecting Abdelateef to be able to go home with them. This is what the lawyer had expected as well. When Majd and Abed arrived in court, I saw Majd gesture at himself resignedly, as if he was staying put, but then grin and point at Abed and point outside. They all expected that with the international comparison, that Abed at least would certainly be free.
As it is Majd's second 'offence' (hahahaha) he was resigned to spending some time in jail, although I had hope that as the evidence was so clearly flawed, the charges might be dismissed and that we could all go skipping into the sunset together, while the Wall crumbled in the background and Israelis and Palestinians (riding on the backs of unicorns, natch) hugged, creating rainbows and magic pixie dust, which destroyed racism, and created world peace.
Turns out we were all disappointed. Or to choose a better word in the case of Abed's wife; devastated.
The hearing was in Hebrew. It lasted for about an hour and a half. Majd and Abed's grins of the first minutes turned slowly to confusion and then frowns - this was our only gauge of what was happening. At the end, the lawyer asked the court translator to speak to us and explain what had happened. With the hugest grin on his face, the soldier (in a military court, everyone's a soldier) explained that Abed would not be freed and that Majd was likely to get at least 6 months- more than the expected worst case scenario.
To explain these decisions, he went on to say that "the judge says that you are not the same as them". Still grinning. He found terribly amusing that the fact that I was born British and they were born Palestinian is enough for them to be still in prison while I am free.
Majd and Abed's hearing was the last of the day - as we were leaving, a load of soldiers walked past us, carrying human shaped shooting targets, and we waited for our lift with the sound of shooting ringing in our ears.
Tomorrow is the brother's next hearing, so we're going to a different court. We're going to try to live tweet any progress (language/soldier issues aside...) on the ISM twitter account, so follow @ISMPalestine here: www.twitter.com/ismpalestine
Majd and Abdelateef had a second hearing on Monday. Having spoken to the lawyer, we knew that he was planning to argue that as GB, Lauren, Aimee and I had been freed, Majd and Abdelateef should be also. Because naturally, if the evidence is questionable enough to set us free, then the same evidence should also be questionable enough to set them free.
We arrived at the court bright and early, but found Majd and Abdelateef's family already inside, already waiting. They spent the (many) hours that followed in the burning sun, standing next to the gate, craning their necks for a glimpse of Majd and Abdelateef. Abdelateef's wife (they were married one week before he was arrested) was there, nervous but hopeful.
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| Abed's wife and his and Majd's family, desperate for a glimpse of the brothers. |
As it is Majd's second 'offence' (hahahaha) he was resigned to spending some time in jail, although I had hope that as the evidence was so clearly flawed, the charges might be dismissed and that we could all go skipping into the sunset together, while the Wall crumbled in the background and Israelis and Palestinians (riding on the backs of unicorns, natch) hugged, creating rainbows and magic pixie dust, which destroyed racism, and created world peace.
Turns out we were all disappointed. Or to choose a better word in the case of Abed's wife; devastated.
The hearing was in Hebrew. It lasted for about an hour and a half. Majd and Abed's grins of the first minutes turned slowly to confusion and then frowns - this was our only gauge of what was happening. At the end, the lawyer asked the court translator to speak to us and explain what had happened. With the hugest grin on his face, the soldier (in a military court, everyone's a soldier) explained that Abed would not be freed and that Majd was likely to get at least 6 months- more than the expected worst case scenario.
To explain these decisions, he went on to say that "the judge says that you are not the same as them". Still grinning. He found terribly amusing that the fact that I was born British and they were born Palestinian is enough for them to be still in prison while I am free.
Majd and Abed's hearing was the last of the day - as we were leaving, a load of soldiers walked past us, carrying human shaped shooting targets, and we waited for our lift with the sound of shooting ringing in our ears.
Tomorrow is the brother's next hearing, so we're going to a different court. We're going to try to live tweet any progress (language/soldier issues aside...) on the ISM twitter account, so follow @ISMPalestine here: www.twitter.com/ismpalestine
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