What do you want to be when you grow up?

This is a blog from July 2nd that I never ended up posting because of slow internet connection:

On Sunday our group from HLT went to Nablus. First stop: one of the refugee camps that houses over 35,000 refugees. Perhaps pictures are better than words to describe the living conditions of the people in the camp, yet pictures cannot attest to the smell, the nauseating heat and the constant violence that permeates the life of these Palestinians.
The refugees are not permitted to expand their houses outward, though their numbers increase: they must build up and in between. As the sun goes down everyone must return home as the Israeli soldiers stage frequent raids, assassinations and arrests throughout the night. During the raids of 2002 and 2004, the people could not even stand near their own windows or they would be shot.
As we slid sideways between the houses children seemed to pop out of every corner and crevice: they joined the parade eager to see this funny group of internationals touring their home. The children of Nablus, especially of the camps, become very psychologically disturbed as a result of their living conditions and the constant violence. Most have seen someone be killed- often members of their family such as their father or brother.
We were told that if you ask many of the kids what they want to be when they grow up, they will not tell you they want to be a doctor or a teacher or a singer: they will want to be a martyr, a freedom fighter.
It makes my heart weep to think of these beautiful little children growing up into such a life, where martyr memorials posted on every corner proclaim "we will never forgive, we will not forget."
We visited a center for the arts nearby that is working to give these children a better outlet for their pain and suffering: art, music and traditional dance (Debkah). I was truly glad to visit such a place that hopes that there can be some kind of redemption for these children from this life...

occupation no more?

Friday morning I went with some friends to protest against the wall in Bil'in Village. We woke up early and caught a service from Bethlehem to Ramallah and then caught another shared taxi to Bil'in. We wound our way down Wadi Nar (literally "hell road" or "road of fire") and were questioned at the illegal checkpoint about where we were headed and what we are doing here in Palestine: "We're just touring around," we said- my friend and I slouched in the back seat to conceal our Nakba t-shirts and Palestinian flag bracelets...

The residents of Bil'in have been struggling to protect their land and livelihood from confiscation and destruction for years. Bil'in was the first village in which the persistent protests and non-violent actions against the building of the wall through the village produced some results:

"In a high-profile ruling of 4th September 2007, the Israeli Supreme Court concluded that the already built Separation Barrier in the West Bank village of Bil’in is illegal. The Court noted that the existing route was designed to accommodate plans for the future expansion of the settlement of Modi’in Illit and for the construction of a new 3,000 housing-units neighborhood therein, despite the fact that some of these plans require further approval before they can be realized. The judges ordered the State to redraw the barrier, so that the new route shall not take into account planning schemes not yet finally approved. In the ruling, the Court emphasized that “in light of the continuous harm to the residents of Bil’in… the respondents should consider, within reasonable time, an alternative route”. (underline added)"

Unfortunately, this "alternate route" has not been realized and villagers continue to endure attacks from settlers on their land. Just the night before we arrived in Bil'in, some settlers from the nearby settlement invaded a Palestinian's house and burnt several rooms of the house. These settlers will go unpunished for their actions. Bil'in villagers are still struggling to resist the confiscation of their land that is under continued threat as Israel continues to expand the nearby illegal settlement.
When we arrived in Bil'in we gathered with internationals, Israeli activists and Palestinians as Friday prayer let out. We began the march down the hill by the olive trees to the fence the soldiers set up to block the protesters from reaching the wall. We turned away from the road and marched among the olive trees, our hands in the air, shouting"1,2,3,4 Occupation NO More!!" We had barely started marching (and were no where near the fence) when the tear gas canisters started flying in every direction. We kept our hands in the air to show we were not armed- but the soldiers kept firing, some even straight at head level. When you see the tear gas rockets coming at you, the first instinct is to run, but I learned quickly that the key is to keep your eyes up to see where it will land so you can decide were to run. I am thankful for my sunglasses and scarf that I tied around my nose and mouth. But still there is only so much tear gas that one can take before it becomes unbearable to keep your eyes open and to even breathe.
Choking and sputtering we tried to re-group and that is when they started firing rubber bullets and sound grenades.
The protest wound to an end as some were injured by excessive tear gas and rubber bullets. We gathered by the large olive tree at the top of the hill and the man who has been a leader in the protests every week for the past few years thanked us internationals and Israelis for coming to join in solidarity with the villagers of Bil'in.
What we experienced at this protest was nothing to what these villagers have endured. They are continually harassed, their land is taken and destroyed and when they try to protest, they have been shot with live ammunition.
Click here for the article about the protest