23 October 2004 - Tulkarm
I visited three public schools in the town of Tulkarm. Students and teachers shared their stories with me. As you might imagine by now, these were very sad stories. Classmates have been killed by the Israeli army. Others have been wounded. Some have had their homes bulldozed or shelled. All have been terrorized. In the face of such terror, the teachers have trouble just keeping their own selves under control let alone classes of 40 kids. The situation has calmed down over the past few months, but kids still have nightmares or can't sleep at all. The occupation has been economically devasting, too. Many parents are out of work and can hardly feed their families even with aid. So, kids are coming to school scared and hungry. There is a silver lining, though. Despite the crushing aspects of occupation, their spirits have not been crushed. The kids giggle and dream of peace. Ramadan has started and there is a noticeable tension in east Jerusalem (the Palestinian side). People are fasting (no food/no drink/no smoke) during sunlight. As the sun goes down, people are closing shops and trying to get home to eat/drink/smoke with family. And the army delays them. Lots of people are getting detained close to dusk while their ids are "checked". Soldiers are setting up informal checkpoints - checking ids of drivers thereby blocking traffic. Earlier in the week, 3 soldiers didn't even bother with the pretense of checking ids and just stood in the middle of the road to block cars. This seems pretty stupid for the soldiers to do - standing in front of the cars/trucks of hungry, thirsty, nicotine-deprived people. The army is unwittingly helping teach one of the lessons of Ramadan - patience. Olive harvest is about midway through. Olives are the main source of income for many families. Whole villages get together to harvest olives from their trees. Farmers who are unlucky enough to have their trees next to Israeli settlements or on the other side of the "security" barrier have a very difficult time trying to harvest these trees. I was hoping to help out these farmers, but I could not find an arrangement that felt right to me: body, mind, and spirit. As a result, I will be coming home next week. If I had done olive harvest, most likely I would have been in Nablus last week. If I needed any confirmation that I made the right decision for myself, I got it. The soldiers beat up all of the people in the group I was planning to join. Settlements are basically groups of houses that are built for Israelis on Palestinian land. They are illegal according to international law just like the "security" barrier. They are built by army engineers so they are functional, but not the most architecturally pleasing buildings. They are also highly subsidized by the Israeli government. The Israelis that choose to live in settlements are called settlers. They are typically some of the most fervently nationalistic people. There are many reports of settlers attacking farmers as well as children walking to school. For more information about what is going on in Palestine, check out www.palsolidarity.org. Peace, Joe _________________________________________________________________ Is your PC infected? Get a FREE online computer virus scan from McAfee� Security. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/MknplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VTJP/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
