MPT News
May 7, 2003
Randy and Mike had a quiet day at the peace encampment with plenty of time to talk with other activists and Palestinians. Not everyone at the peace encampment was so lucky. A group of Israeli peace activists and one French journalist from the encampment agreed to join Palestinian farmers in thevillage of Sawiya who had been having problems with nearby settlers. A press statement from ISM and the International Women’s Peace Service gives the account.
For more Information Contact, Nadya:
The International Women's Peace Service (IWPS)
Office: 09-2516-644 Mobile: 055-854-988
IWPS@palnet.com
www.womenspeacepalestine.org
May 7, 2003
PRESS RELEASE
Internationals, Israelis and Palestinian Farmers Injured in Attack by Armed Settler/Colonists
As two Internationals, five Israelis and 10 Palestinian farmers, including 3 very elderly women, plowed the fields of theWest Bank village Sawiya this Wednesday morning, up to 20 armed settler/colonists with a German Shepherd from the illegal colony of Eli descended and began attacking them. The Israeli and international accompaniers had gone to the land to offer a protective presence to the farmers who are repeatedly attacked by settler/colonists as they peacefully farm their own land.
An elderly woman was beaten severely in the head with guns and sticks and her arm appears to be broken. Settler/colonists threw stones at least one Palestinian man while he was calling to warn other groups in the field. He was also beaten with rocks, and he is now bleeding and his shoulder may be dislocated. One international from toSouth Africa, Anna, was attacked by several settlers and a large German Shepherd, and her purse and camera were snatched from her. Another International, Ayesha, fell and injured her ankle while being chased down a rocky hillside by the settlers. Keren, Raz, Ariel, and Ilan, all Israelis, were beaten with sticks. One French journalist named Frederique was beaten and his camera stolen. Other thefts included one donkey, one horse, and plowing equipment.
One Israeli soldier witnessed the attacks but took no action to deter the settlers from their crimes. Later on, more Israeli soldiers arrived, only to physically push the farming group away and to tell the Palestinians to leave their own land that they were farming, which is at least 300 meters from the border of the illegal settlement, Eli.
The attack occurred this morning9:30 am. The settlers "seemed to appear from nowhere," according to Anna from IWPS, and began running at the groups screaming and shouting "Nazis, Nazis!"
"This attack was an attack against peace," said Anna. "We were working together to plow the fields, side by side with Israelis and Palestinians. It's obvious that the illegal settlers want to destroy peace between people and terrorize them in order to get them to leave their land. We were simply enjoying the beautiful day in this pastoral landscape, and were suddenly surrounded by violence and being attacked."
Despite the attack, the Palestinian farmers, Israelis and Internationals will remain in the field today to continue plowing their land. "Despite the risks, the land must be plowed so that the farmers can feed their families," explained Anna.
Tom
ISM Media Coordinator
Beit Sahour, OccupiedPalestine
ism-alert@palsolidarity.org
972 -2-277-4602
+972-52-360-241
+972-67-862-439
MPTNews
May 6, 2003
Randy Bond and Mike Perez have made it to the peace encampment at Mas'Ha. Randy is an experienced traveler and has made multiple trips to the West Bank, yet he reports that traveling has been "getting weird" these days. He says they spend increasing amounts of time traversing olive groves rather than highways to get around.
When the two men approached the encampment, they found that everyone was being herded into the roadway. The construction of the Wall apparently requires dynamiting large areas of the rocky hillside where the encampment is based. Those in the encampment must routinely go to wait at a safe distance for the destruction to end and then return to their site. The MPT women who visited the encampment over a week ago experienced this also.
Randy and Mike waited in the roadway with others but little activity was evident and the men were tired from their travel. Spying a shady olive tree just a few feet away, they decided to rest under its shade until the all clear sign came. Soon they could feel the ground shake with the explosions and then boulders began raining through the trees! Randy quipped that Palestinian children may throw rocks at Israeli soldiers but now the Israeli Forces were throwing boulders at internationals! Randy saw one olive tree that had been smashed in half by one such boulder. Randy and Mike dashed for the roadway and safety.
At the camp, Randy reported he had seen the MPT banner still hanging proudly. (This elicited a great cheer from returned team member and banner hanger Sheri Wander, who was working in our office as the report came in.) Randy and Mike plan to spend a couple days here learning more about the terrible Wall and its ramifications for Palestine and the peace process and meeting the many Israelis, Palestinians and internationals who come to this camp to envision a different future for themselves with fewer walls and more understanding.
MPTNews
May 4, 2003
Today Randy and Mike visited with schoolchildren and teachers in Yanun who serenaded them with many songs. There has not been any settler activity in the last day. Randy reports that most settler intimidation has been limited to the drives through town that Mike and he experienced yesterday. Prior to the arrival of internationals, settlers would march through the village with guns and dogs in a display of force. The local people have repeated that if it were not for the presence of the internationals, they would be forced to leave their homes. So the role of our MPT members is simply to be there and remain a visible presence in the village.
Randy provides this background about Yanun:
Yanun is actually two very small farming villages, upper and lower Yanun. Each village has nine or ten families. They are about a quarter mile apart. They are so remote that they have not had electricity. They only source of power is a generator provided for them by the United Nations. This generator is run only from7pm to midnight. As with all Palestinian farms, the people live in the village surrounded by their land. This is a very rich valley. There are wheat fields and olive groves. On the higher mountains surrounding Yanun are several Israeli settlements. From this village I can see the guard towers and barbed wire a few out buildings and the yard lights. The feeling is as if Yanun is a prison. The farmers say they can only use about a third of their normal grazing land for the sheep. If they go anymore than a third of the way up the mountain, they are shot at by settlers. This area is in zone c under the Oslo Agreement. It is under the control of Israel. The Israeli government does nothing to protect the farmers from the aggression and antagonizing of the settlers according to the farmers. [Note: Israeli soldiers were briefly stationed near Yanun in the fall of 2002 after the Palestinian exodus from Yanun made international news and non-governmental internationals aided their return.]
Readers interested in learning more about the history and future of Israeli settlements in theOccupied Territories can visit the Foundation for Middle East Peace at http://www.fmep.org. The website contains a wealth of material, including maps and population charts.
MPTNews
May 3, 2003
Randy Bond has joined Mike Perez in the town of Yanun (pronounced Ya-Noon). Mike reports that the situation has been calm but hardly ideal, as the close presence of settlers means that events could escalate quickly at any time. Mike has used his time in the village to build an understanding of the local politics and history and how the village has been affected by the Occupation. Locals live with the daily fear of harassment and violence from settlers. Today was of particular concern. The settlers observe Saturday as a rest day. In the past settlers have used this "day off" as an extra opportunity to come to Yanun. Mike reported that settlers came through the center of Yanun today in vehicles. The internationals' presence was made obvious to them. The settlers left without incident. Mike looks forward to spending the next several days with Yanun's "wonderful people."
MPTNews
April 30, 2003
Seven of our team have now returned safely home to be welcomed by friends and family. Randy Bond and Mike Perez have now taken residence in the Balata Refugee Camp outside of Nablus.
The two men spent the day at the checkpoint of Beit Furik. Randy described the day as frustrating but a good day in the end for the team. The village of Beit Furik was placed under curfew and soldiers at the checkpoint refused to let anyone through the checkpoint (and into the village) for this reason. The sense of frustration and tension among the stranded travelers and the soldiers was palpable and grew as the long day went on with no movement. At the urging of international observers, the human rights organization HoMoked worked their lines of communication with the Israeli Forces and eventually the checkpoint was opened.
Randy reports a highlight of the day was the appearance of the sun after several days of cold and rain. Tonight Mike and Randy will stay in the ISM Headquarters where Randy has stayed previously. The office is above the home of a family whose home is scheduled for demolition as retribution for their son’s suicide action.
MPTNews
Tuesday, April 29, 2003
It’s a day of comings and goings. Mike Perez joins Randy Bond inJerusalem today. The rest of group has traveled to Tel Aviv. They hope to connect with another Israeli peace organization, Gush Shalom and then head to the airport. Randy and Mike will return to the West Bank tomorrow.
Photos of the Asira and Azmut checkpoints that Randy wrote about in yesterday’s report can now be seen at http://www.nrec.org/randy/index.html.
Pictures from the demonstration thatSheri Wander, Catrina Stackpoole, Joan McCoy and Karen Donahue attended can be found at http://indymedia.org.il/imc/webcast/54978.html courtesy of the Israel Indy Media Center.
Both the demonstration and the peace encampment focus their attention on “the Apartheid Wall.” The wall is designed to separate Palestinians from Israeli by completely enclosing communities. Construction on the wall began in June 2002. Currently the wall is being constructed in the Qalqilya, Tulkarm, Jenin,Jerusalem and Bethlehem areas. Plans call for the Wall to surround the entire West Bank. It is expected to be 360 kms (224 miles) long or up to 700 kms ( 435 miles)long if it is to completely surround the West Bank. It is twice as high as the Berlin Wall. A buffer zone of 30-100 meters is established along the wall, leading to more destruction and large scale demolition. An additional 10% of the West Bank will be confiscated by and for Israel because of the route of the Wall, which extends as much as 6 kms inside the Green Line at points. The peace encampment to oppose the Wall is organized by PENGON (Palestinian Enviromental Non-Governmental Organizations Network). Their website http://www.pengon.org/wall/wall.html contains a wealth of information.
MPTNews
Wednesday, April 25, 2003
I. Osama Qashoo Released
II. Tulkarm Children Adopt Nonviolent Tactic
III. MPT Action ContinuesNablus Tulkarm Seida
I. Osama Qashoo Released
A great thanks to the many of you who called or emailed the jail and/or the Israeli embassies regarding Osama’s detention. Sheri and Catrina tell me that Osama has been released and is “where he wants to be.” Osama was repeatedly kicked and beaten on his back and denied sleep during his time in Israeli military custody. Osama and the ISM firmly believe that it was the international community’s quick response which led to his release. You are the proof that our international solidarity is strong and effective. Thank you.
II. Tulkarm Children Adopt Nonviolent Tactic
Today in Tulkarm the city already under curfew endured increased Israeli military presence. The Israeli military claims that the recent suicide bomber in Kfar Saba may have had ties in the Tulkarm area and the military is using this opportunity to impose greater restrictions on movement. (The Israeli government has also identified the bomber asAhmed Khaled Khatib, from Balata Refugee Camp nearNablus. TheNablusteam said people there were also expecting reprisals.) In past reports Sheri and Catrina have noted the persistence of the children, often as young as six, in meeting Israeli military displays with shows of resistance. Most frequently the children may throw stones or Molotov cocktails at military vehicles. Today however a different tactic was explored. As Israeli tanks moved through the city groups of children gathered as well, equipped with the usual assortment of stones and miscellany. An ISM activist asked them what their goal was when they interacted with the soldiers this way. The children replied that they wish to take back the streets. A conversation then developed among the children about what tactics were effective. Out of their own group process this particular group of six to twelve year old children decided they would sit nonviolently across the street. Older youth felt that this action would be too dangerous if they participated as they were known to the Israeli forces but pledged to remain on the side of the road in support and solidarity. ISM members agreed to sit in the street with the children provided that no stones or Molotov cocktails were thrown and the action remained nonviolent. The effectiveness of this tactic was not tested today as occupation forces had moved on in the city and did not return to the street. When Sheri left the gathering, the youth and ISM were beginning a larger discussion of the uses of nonviolence as a tool of resistance.
III. MPT Action Continues -- Nablus Tulkarm Seida
Yesterday Sheri and Catrina were able to travel from Tulkarm toNablus. Their stated purpose was to participate in a series of meetings regarding the recent threats and attacks on ISM workers and to make some practical plans regarding our current team’s activities. The hugs and shared connection with the Nablus based team was a bonus.
The Nablus team continues in their efforts at checkpoints. Barb Beesley writes “[Today] will be my 3rd time and I'm understanding the dynamics and the communication opportunities we internationals have…There is a clear racism here in which Palestinians are not respected as human beings and internationals are... We will be at the checkpoint from 1:30 for about 3 hours, mostly just watching, considering when to intervene. The very fact that we're there is a prevention of violence.” The team is also working with others to plan a party and some recreational activities for the children.
After their brief stay inNablus, Sheri and Catrina returned to Tulkarm. They joined teams on the street to monitor the movement of tanks through the city. Now they have joined Joni and Karen in the village of Seida to stay with families facing threats of home demolition.
Team members were thrilled to receive the messages of encouragement that readers of this list have been sending to michpeacteam@igc.org. Access to email can be somewhat irregular, but we will continue to pass them along. Thank you for your support and love!
MPTNews
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
MPTNews put out an Urgent Action Alert earlier today for the safety of Osama Qashoo. At this time, no further information is available. Please keep calling the prison and requesting his immediate release. Please continue to direct your calls to the Ariel police station. +972-3-906-5530 (Prisoner information) +972-3-903-5444 (General information) +972-50-374-237 (Ariel police spokesman) Osama Qashoo’s ID# is 906848627.
This report will focus on the activities of the Michigan Peace Team members in theWest Bank. Sheri Wander’s update will provide details of the situation leading up the arrest of Osama Qashoo and the Italian journalist.
Liz Walters, IHM serves as member of the MPT Support Team and was able to check-in personally with Joan Kusak inNablus. Liz reports that Joan continues to accompany Palestinians and to appeal to Israeli soldiers. Joan knows that she will have many new friends, both Palestinian and Israeli when she departs for home next week!
Patrick, a Swedish International Solidarity Movement member, and Joan spent last night with a family living on the opposite side of Nablus from the Balata Camp. In the family there is a mother and dad, three sons, an older daughter and her husband and their two month old baby. Another son in the family died ten days ago. So the family was grieving the loss of their son and dealing each day with the pressures of the military occupation.
This morning Joan and Patrick went to an Israeli checkpoint. Once there they experienced one example of the Israeli military occupation of Palestine. The soldiers at the checkpoint detained over 100 people for over two hours. Most of the group was made up of women and children. Joan says the harassment and disrespect for the Palestinian people and the length of time they were delayed was overwhelming.
Joan and Patrick stayed throughout the day at the checkpoint. Then Joan returned to the Balata Camp (oldest refugee camp inNablus) where she had stayed on Monday night. During the evening Joan plans to walk through the camp and meet some of the people.
Joni McCoy and Karen Donahue send this message from thevillage of Seida (northeast of Tulkarm) where they are staying.
Hi everybody,
Special greetings from theWest Bank ... Joni McCoy and I are in the small village of Seida which is near the city of Tulkarm. Seida is located on a hill and we can see the Mediterranean in the distance.
We are here with four other internationals (three fromItaly and three from the USA) and our work has been to stay with families whose homes are in danger of being demolished by the Israeli military. Families are told that they must turn over their young men to the Israelis or their homes will be demolished. Joni and I are staying with a widow who has six children, two girls and four boys, who range in age from 21 to about 10. The 20 year old son is wanted by the authorities and is in hiding.
The home was supposed to be destroyed Monday night, but fortunately nothing happened. Last night, however the military came into the village in the middle of the night and harassed people. We could hear the sound bombs in the distance but no armored personnel carriers or tanks came near where we were staying. It was a tense night though, with helicopters hovering overhead.
The suffering of the women is overwhelming. Just about every woman we have met has had a son killed, imprisoned or on the wanted list. The stress is very obvious. We were with a family yesterday and one woman who we thought was at least 75 turned out to be only 50! They suffer so much…It is hard to describe what our presence means to the people. Even though we do very little, they are so happy to have us with them. The presence of internationals does make a difference and lifts their spirits. However, I think we are more inspired by their courage and incredible patience in the face of terrible oppression…Today is a beautiful, warm and sunny. We will probably spend most of our time visiting with families in the village. It is a beautiful place and we are very privileged to be here.
Love to all,
Karen and Joni
Finally, we return to Sheri Wander and Catrina Stackpoole, living in Tulkarm.
Yesterday’s MPTNews reported Sheri and Catrina’s intervention in a conflict between Israeli military and school children which involved the temporary detention of Palestinians, much tear gas, rock throwing, rubber bullets and other violence. At one point, Catrina placed herself in front of an Israeli Humvee while Sheri negotiated the return of vital ID papers back to their Palestinian owners. (Inability to produce the Israeli issued ID documents can result in imprisonment for Palestinians.) Sheri writes, “Unknown to me my entire conversation with [the Israeli officer] was filmed by a Palestinian news station. All over town last night and today the kids will point at me and giggle "TV, TV..." Several people have stopped to invite me to coffee and tea and said thank you. Even when Catrina and I went to the post office today we ended up sitting and drinking tea with people who were all happy having seen us on TV.”
As Sheri and I said good evening after her daily report to the Support Team, she planned to eat something and get some much needed rest. Instead, the ISM office almost immediately received a call that the military had detained a 14 or 15 year old boy and were beating him and that several women were also detained. Sheri, along with another ISM volunteer, ISM Coordinator Osama Qashoo and an Italian journalist named Thomaso Besavi went off to see if they could intervene and learn what was happening. The ISM activists and the journalist approached the scene and began a dialogue with the soldiers involved. They were not permitted to come close to the military jeeps and scene of the arrest, but continued to dialogue from a distance. Israeli military repeated that they were in a closed military area and could be arrested. Inquiries as to what authority had authorized closing the civilian area were not answered. The women being detained were eventually allowed to leave. When soldiers forced the handcuffed boy to walk in front of them and call out for a second youth the soldiers were seeking, the ISM team felt that this was an illegal use of a civilian as a human shield (in violation of the Geneva Conventions) and readied their camera equipment to document the violation. After a verbal exchange between the soldiers and the ISM team, the soldiers arrested Osama and Thomaso (who both had video cameras), ultimately holding them at the jail in the Israeli settlement of Arial. Thomaso has subsequently been released after he signed an agreement that he will no longer report in theWest Bank. Osama is still in custody and, as a Palestinian, faces long-term arrest, prison and possible physical abuse, including torture.
Sheri and Catrina are now working to mobilize support for Osama’s release as well as fulfill the needs of the ISM office in his absence. Both women continue to spend their nights with their host family.
MPTNews
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
Our team is now divided between two cities, Nablus and Tulkarm. In Nablus, the team has been spending its nights in the homes of Palestinians likely to be harassed or whose homes are threatened with demolition. Barb Beesley describes some of their activity this morning:
After a peaceful (?) night, Joan Kusak, 3 other women and myself went to visit a family in an occupied house. The military have taken over most of the house and sort of camouflaged it. The family of ten live in the basement. They are permitted to come and go for work and school, etc, but they have problems--inadequate sanitation (no toilet facility) and no telephone. We had quite an interesting session of negotiating with the soldiers. . . After some questioning (ours), we agreed to go onto the road and it was agreed that someone would come speak to us. A nice soldier came out and I showed him the chocolate eggs we had for the family (they are Christian and have 2 young children). At first he said he would take them to them, then agreed to send someone out and we could directly give them. A young woman in secondary school came out and we had a nice conversation. Joan and I agreed to come back and visit on Sunday. It's a way of checking on people, making sure they're all right, and letting the military know we are doing this regularly for the safety of the family.
This afternoon (in a short while) we will go to a military check point and learn how to interact to make the situation a little safer for the Palestinians trying to get somewhere.
Tonight I will go with Twyla to a family house in theOld City (Nablus). Twyla enjoyed her stay there last night--there's a grandmother/grandfather, a baby, and maybe one or more of the grandparents' children. Without your loving support, I could not be your eyes/ears/heart here with people under occupation. Thank you again and always! Love, Barb
Meanwhile, in Tulkarm, the team has paired off. Joni McCoy and Karen Donahue remain in the refugee camp today, where they have spent time listening to people’s stories and familiarizing themselves with the camp.
Sheri and Catrina spent last night in a family home. Sheri writes, “We spent the night with a wonderful, amazing family. I was told the home had been scheduled for demolition, but upon arriving and spending time with the family found out this is not the case. We are there because the brother is "wanted" so the police and the Israeli Occupation Army continue to come into the house to "search" it meaning break things and trash it. The brother that has made the contact w/ ISM has been arrested several times and they think he will be again when the IOF return. The wanted brother is not in the home; no one has seen or heard from him in over a year. "G" the one that has been arrested told us his story. He is amazing! An actor who uses his art to help people find their hope. He even organized theater workshops to do this in the prison when he was there. The youngest sister in the family is 15 or16. There is one other sister there with her 2 year old daughter. The cutest thing you've ever seen. Her husband was arrested and is in jail just because he is a relative of the "wanted" guy.”
In the morning, Sheri and Catrina attended a commemoration rally held for the AP reporter killed inNablus last week. The procession marched silently to a government building where there were various speakers. News came that the Israeli army had entered the city and curfew was declared. In two locations, Israeli soldiers took Palestinians’ papers (documents needed for movement between areas and for general “security” checks by Israeli forces) and ordered drivers to move their cars into blockades of the streets. Israeli soldiers kept the car keys.
School children were in the street as the schools had been closed for the curfew. Middle school age youth went to the rooftops to throw rocks and Molotov cocktails at the Israeli Forces. The military responded with rubber bullets, sound grenades and tear gas. In the middle of this mayhem, there were younger children and others who needed to cross the area to safety. Sheri, Catrina and others led them safely through the chaos. Catrina quips, “Well, we wanted to work with children!” Sheri and Catrina remained to observe the situation and hopefully deter the army from using live ammunition with the youths, as they did last week when a 12 year old was killed. Sheri expressed her frustration, “The soldiers are just young, and bored so they are [antagonizing] the kids. They drive by, let off a few sound grenades, race around areas where there are many kids in order to provoke them. The kids, bored with no school and nothing open (curfew) are easily provoked and angry at the occupation army in their streets. This stand off lasted for the better part of the day (on and off).”
Sheri spent a good portion of the long afternoon negotiating with an Israeli officer to return the important documentation papers to their Palestinian owners. At last, the papers were returned. Some Palestinians could them leave the scene, though car owners remained in the hope of saving their vehicles.
Finally, Sheri and Catrina were able to return to the ISM offices for some rest and food before they rejoin the family they are staying with again this evening. Both anticipate a very long night.
MPT will continue to send daily reports while our team is in the region. Messages of support can be passed to the team by emailing michpeacteam@igc.org.
MPT News
Monday, April 21, 2003
Two of our team (Mary Ellen Gondek and Jean Gump) are now in flight returning to theUnited States as planned. The remaining eight team members have split into two teams. Four have gone to Nablus (Randy Bond, Joan Kusak, Barb Beasley and Twyla Meyer). Upon arriving in Nablus, the team connected with other members of the International Solidarity Movement and soon had assignments for the night. Twyla has gone with another ISM volunteer to stay the night in a family’s home. Randy, Joan and Barb are spending the night in the ISM headquarters. Barb describes “It's a flat on the second floor of the Titi family place in the oldest refugee camp in the city. Titi is a refugee family from Yafa and one of their sons made a suicide operation ... near Tel Aviv. It is a house slated for demolition, a form of collective punishment strictly prohibited by the 4th Geneva Convention, though because of the ISM presence doesn't get a lot of Army harassment. We've decided to sleep in our clothes tonight just in case this is a test case! The sleeping arrangements mean a lot to the Palestinians ...”
Catrina Stackpoole, Sheri Wander, Joni McCoy and Karen Donahue are in Tulkarm. The trip fromJerusalem was long due to the many roadblocks and new checkpoints that have been erected. Upon arrival in Tulkarm, Joni and Karen went almost immediately to the home in the Tulkarm Refugee Camp where they will spend the night. Sheri and Catrina went to the ISM headquarters and busied themselves with the needs of the office. Tonight, Sheri and Catrina will stay in a home in the city.
The homes they are being asked to stay in are all threatened with demolition because one member of the family is identified as “wanted” but that person does not live in the home. Rather, the threat of destruction of the family home is used as a way to pressure families to turn in their relatives. Both threats and demolition most often occurs during the night. Sheri and Catrina will be staying in the home of a mother and her 15 year old daughter. The mother is ill and it is up to the daughter to care for her and now deal with this new pressure.
Each team will regroup in the morning and take on new assignments for the day. We will keep them in our thoughts as they pass the night.
MPTNews
Sunday, April 20, 2003
We only have a brief report for you today. Many of the team members celebrated mass at one of the numerous services held in Jerusalem today for the Christian holiday of Easter. MPT was also able to share a luncheon with eight members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams. The remainder of the day was devoted to rest, saying goodbye to Jean and Mary Ellen who depart shortly and planning for the team's work with the International Solidarity Movement in the West Bank.
MPTNews
Saturday, April 19, 2003
A photo from yesterday's vigil with Women in Black is posted at http://www.nrec.org/randy/wib.html. Thanks to everyone in Randy Bond's home community for the excellent support and website!
Yesterday evening, a few members of the group went into neighboring Bethlehem.Their intention was only to do some sightseeing, but their timing proved providential. On their return to Jerusalem, Jean, Karen and Joni passed through the Damascus gate and noticed several IDF soldiers detaining 2 young Palestinian boys.The soldiers had the boys up against a wall and were kicking them and being rough while questioning them. The three women stood close enough by to make their presence known and observed. The women asked the soldiers what was going on and were told the boys did not have the right papers and should not be in Jerusalem. During the time the women observed the situation, the harassment lessened and the boys were eventually let go. A couple who had been close enough to see what happened came up and thanked them. The women feel confident that their presence contributed to the boys' release.
This morning, the group divided their efforts. One contingent returned to Ramallah to continue meeting with local people and organizations there, while the rest of the team stayed in Jerusalem and focused on gaining more understanding of individual perspectives on the conflict from residents.
The Ramallah group began their day at Birzeit University where they met with students, faculty and staff . Next, they met with a group known as the "Prisoners Club" that provides support for Palestinian prisoners and their families. Later in the day, the group met with teachers and workers at the Al-Jalazon Refugee Camp Youth Center where discussion focused on the challenges of education under occupation. Finally, the team connected with GIPP (Grassroots International for the Protection of Palestinians). Sheri Wander had initially met GIPP organizers at the international convening event of the Nonviolent Peaceforce (http://www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org) in India this past November.
MPTNews
Saturday, April 17, 2003
Michigan Peace Team is pleased to report that all ten of our Spring 2003 team members have arrived in Israel. The group assembled over three days (due in part to flight delays) and is now together.
The group is making excellent use of their time. Mary Ellen Gondek and Jean Gump used their early arrival to reconnect with Israeli and Palestinian friends and activists. Together withJoan McCoy and Barb Beesley, they toured Nablus, particularly the destruction in the Old City. We hope to share a report about their impressions in future updates.
The remaining six members of the team (Sheri Wander, Randy Bond, Catrina Stackpoole, Twyla Meyer, Joan Kusak and Karen Donahue) adjusted quickly from the jetlag and met with the International Solidarity Movement’s Huwaida Arraf. Huwaida briefed them on the current projects of the ISM and the general atmosphere in Israel and the Occupied Territories. Team members expect to meet with representatives from several other peace and justice oriented groups in the next week.