Leaving Palestine for a new job as coordinator Olive Tree Campaign
and on the day of my job interview, Abed the farmer is arrested

One week left in Palestine before I will go on another journey. First I will go back to Holland for two weeks and then I will join my father and his wife on a 4 week trip to Indonesia.

And since today I know that from the end of August I will be the new coordinator for the Olive Tree Campaign in Holland!

Yesterday I had my job interview over skype. Just before we were going to start the interview, I received a message from the Palestinian coordinator for the Olive Tree Campaign.  He told me that one of the farmers where the campaign has planted a lot of trees, had been arrested in the morning. The farmer, his name is Abed, was released after a few hours, but they threatened to arrest him again if he went back to his land. The reason is that he is illegally present inside the boundaries of Jerusalem. But his land has been there for 3 generations and the boundaries of Jerusalem have expanded. They didn’t give him Jerusalem ID so now he is illegal on his own land, as he carries Westbank ID.

After my job interview I decided to join Baha to visit Abed on his field. We went with a couple of other international volunteers and when we arrived there we met with some Israeli activists who came to support Abed with their presence.

Abed told us how they had arrested him in the morning. They told him that they knew he was member of Hamas, which is complete nonsense, and that he is a threat to Israeli security as he is watching the Israeli soldiers down by the checkpoint from his land.

Since the beginning of June Abed has a demolition order for a small shelter he has on his land, to protect him from sun, wind or rain. The shelter is basically a cave inside the rock, with a small extension, two walls and a roof. He built it on his own land. It is ridiculous that they see this as a security threat. Baha already nicknamed it ‘the nuclear reactor’ !!

Baha and me took the chance of this visit to see how the olive trees that we planted here in February were doing. Abed is taking very well care of them and they all looked fine and healthy.

From Abed’s field in the valley you can see settlements on almost every hilltop. Most of these settlements are considered as neighbourhoods of greater Jerusalem. It is obvious that there is a masterplan for these settlements to be linked together through the valley where Abed’s land is.

Abed told us about his childhood, how he used to come here all the time with his grandparents. He knows every stone and every rock in this land. His grandmother is burried on the other side of what is the Green Line (the official armistice line of 1967) which is close to his field, but he cant cross to visit his grandmothers grave.

Abed loves his land. He loves his trees. He loves farming. With much patience he teaches his visitors about organic ways of growing the different trees and plants on his fields. He learnt it from Abu Saleem from Beit Jalla and now he teaches internationals and Israelis. ‘The school of life’ as he says. You can learn from each other.

With these kind of experiences and contacts I will go back to Holland and through my new job as coordinator of the Olive Tree Campaign I hope to be able to help farmers like Abed in their struggle against the injustice caused by the occupation.

My first encounter with Palestine was through participation in the Olive Picking Program, organized by the Olive Tree Campaign. I fell in love with Palestine and the Palestinians. I decided to come and live here to experience the life under occupation. Now I will go back with a lot of stories to share with people who want to know more about Palestine. And the circle is round: i will be working with the Olive Tree Campaign, the campaign that introduced me to Palestine in the first place.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24471684@N07/sets/72157604072599879/

About forty settlers came to the old military base at Oush Grab on Friday 30th May
(see for story about Oush Grab my previous posting!)

We were about 10 people playing some Paidia games when the settlers appeared on the top of the hill of the old military base. Some of them came down and started making graffitix92s over our murals. Some of them came down to talk with us and they were very confused about what we were doing there. There were a couple of them wearing guns. Most of them were Americans, middle aged, now living in the settlements of Kiryat Arba and Gush Etzion.

What do they want? According to them they want to create a settler outpost to prevent the Municipality of Beit Sahour from building a childrenx92s hospital cause they are afraid for a new Arab neighborhood!

See:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/147463

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/126162

http://womeningreen.org/?s=shdema

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zieRkqkZLHc

In the week after the settlers ruined our beautiful wall paintings, we went back to Oush Grab and with a group of about 15 people we re-painted the place and made it look more beautiful than before! You can see us at work on: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24471684@N07/sets/72157604072599879/

Last Friday we organized a Bingo at Oush Grab!

It was a very warm morning, the start of a very hot day! We arrived by 8am and prepared for the arrival of our guests who were asked to pay 2 shekels to join the Bingo event. In case the settlers would arrive we would cordially invite them to our bingo game, if they would be willing to pay the two shekel. Otherwise they would be welcome to watch, but not join our eventx85

Around 9am we had a group of 40 international and Palestinian participants and we started our first round of bingo! It took a while before the first winner shouted "BINGO"  and from the table of presents he chose the DVD with dabka music !

By this time three Israeli soldier had arrived. They didnx92t come down the hill, but they spoke with the guys who were selling the tickets at the entrance of the site. One of them (who was wearing a mushroom shaped hat over his helmet!!) could see the humor of it all, but  the other one kept repeating that x91this is not funnyx92 and x91we will see how we will make an end to this circusx92.

We kept on playing bingo for another hour, til we received a message from the mayor of Beit Sahour that we should leave Oush Grab as he had received a phone call from the military, probably with some threats or promises towards what would happen if we stayed there.

The settlers didnx92t show up the rest of the day, hamdullilah ! so we will not have to paint again next week! We will, however, continue our activities at Oush Grab and get more and more people involved and acquainted with this beautiful place on the outskirts of Beit Sahour!

See for pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24471684@N07/sets/72157604072599879/

Settlers are trying to move to Oush Grab

On the day we commemorated Nakba in Beit Sahour (see my previous story) a group of about 50 settlers came to Beit Sahour, as they said themselves, to prepare the old military base that has been abandonned by the Israeli army in 2006, for a new settler outpost.

As soon as local Palestinians and internationals knew about the settlers, they went to the place, known as Oush Grab, but they were kept away by the Israeli army. The settlers left after a few hours of making racist graffitis inside the old military base. The next day on Friday and also on Saturday some settlers returned to prepare the place for a couple of Jewish families to move there (see this article on their own news website:  http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/126195

And from the Palestinian IMEMC: http://www.imemc.org/article/54865

Saturday night, after the AICafe event in the Alternative Information Center, we gathered with a group of locals and internationals to discuss what we can do about this situation. A group of internationals has been working in the vicinity of the old military base over the past year, organizing activities for Palestinian youth. They built a climbing tower there and the Municipality has started the works on a public parc. I have written about the Paidia games and activities before on my weblog and in my online photo album you can see our youth group from Lighting Candles in the Paidia program!

We dont want any violent confrontations with settlers, nor do we want to get arrested. But we do want the settlers to know that this space is not available for them. This place is in use with the local community of Beit Sahour.

We have organized a couple of activities over the past week, to show our presence on that site. A picknick, a day of painting over the ugly racist graffitis, an AICafe event on location and last Friday a Paidia games program.

As we arrived Friday at 9.30am we saw four settlers, one with a big gun and one with a shofar (a ram’s horn) that she was blowing couple of times. Wecontinued our way towards the military base and passed by them, saying’good morning’ and ignoring them for the rest. They were very confusedand asked each other (in American English!) if we were maybe tourists.When they figured out we weren’t tourists, they started telling eachother ‘they are taking over the place! they are taking over the place!!’

The settlers then called the army and soon soldiers appeared on the top of the military base. We continued playing games while more soldiers arrived. Finally we decided to move to the climbing tower to do some climbing activities. The soldiers were quite confused about our presence there and the fact that we were not protesting, but just having our activities at the old military base.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&Do=&ID=29461

The Municipality of Beit Sahour has now called for an official meeting with all NGO’s, schools, churches and active individuals of the town, to set up a stirring committee and to organize ourselves for the near and far future.

See some photos in my online album: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24471684@N07/sets/72157604072599879/

And read more about the history of Oush Grab and our intentions with that site:

Oush Grab is a new public park built on land owned by the Beit Sahour Municipality. The site is a former Israeli military camp, left by the occupation forces in April, 2006. Before 1967 it was used by the Jordanian army as a military base. The Jordanians bought the land from Palestinian owners; the land  within this original border is now under the jurisdiction of the Beit Shaour municipality. When the Israeli army took over the camp, they expanded the borders to include some private land neighboring the camp. This private land has now been returned to the Palestinian landowners and is not reflected in the municipal master plan. The top of the hill, where the old military buildings are still located, is the only part of the area still under Israeli military order. This means the municipality is not allowed to build or develop the space, though it lies within the original Jordanian border and is public land. The Beit Sahour Municipality, the NGO Paidia and other local NGOS, were able to lift the military order on the remainder of the camp. The development as a public garden and recreation area is vital for the social, economic and physical wellbeing of the community. As we know, the Bethlehem area suffers from a lack of open spaces where children can safely play and picnic. 

On Thursday May 15th, about 50 settlers attempted to take over the site of Oush Grab. According to the many settlers anxious to speak to the press, they are hoping to build a new settlement outpost in the old military buildings at the top of the hill. On Friday morning they returned to mark the buildings with graffiti and to hang flags. According to the settlersx92 website, they intend to come to Oush Grab frequently this week. 

The possibility of a new settlement outpost, or any kind of sustained military presence at Oush Grab poses more than an immediate security threat to the community. It threatens the existence of the new public park as well as the access of private landowners to their farms. It threatens to destroy the safe, open and public space many organizations have worked so diligently to create.

So, what can we do?  The goal is to further integrate Oush Grab, specifically the top of the hill, into the local community by holding weekly events and barbeques at the site.  In this sense our actions are not simply a reaction against the settlement, but an expression of the different possible uses for the site.  Movies, concerts, art projects, hiking and dance parties are all part of the opportunity. By approaching local organizations and the Popular Committes we can build a groundswell of support. We have to do things the settlers and the army will not expect, things that they donx92t know how to react to.

As we move forward we have to remember that this proposed settlement/outpost is not only an act of injustice, it is also illegal.  And while the settlers donx92t have much of a sense of humor, they certainly can be dangerous.

An impression of Nakba day in Bethlehem area and some personal thoughts about Independence Day and the Right to Return

See for my photos of the Nakba activities: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24471684@N07/sets/72157604072599879/

Six tents with photos, paintings, music and story tellers are put up on the playground of the boys school in Beit Sahour. Ala and me arrive just in time, when children and youth from 8 different schools in Beit Sahour and from the Eastern villages gather in the middle of the playground to commemorate the Nakba. It is the first time in the history of Beit Sahour that such a big event is organized on Nakba day.

A few weeks ago I was talking with my colleague of Jadal Center and I suggested her to organize a big event for all the youth of Beit Sahour on Nakba day. Since then the different NGOx92s, the Municipality and the schools of Beit Sahour have been working together to set up a program for commemoration. A lot of young volunteers were involved in the preparations.

Later, Ala and me continue to Aida Refugee Camp where last week a huge key (the symbol of the right of return for the Palestinian refugees) was placed on an enormous gate in the shape of a key hole. Many of the refugees still have the keys to the front door of the houses that they left in 1948 when they fled for the Jewish attacks on their villages.

At exactly 2pm 21.915 black balloons are released from three different places, besides Aida also from Ramallah and from East Jerusalem. Each balloon equals 1 day of occupation and exile since 1948. Every balloon has attached to it a small paper written by a Palestinian child with a message of hope for a better future. Children from different refugee camps give a dabka dance show and even though the Nakba was a catastrophe that we commemorate this day, the atmosphere in the camp is positive and full of strength to resist the unequal and injustice situation.

At 5pm we join the march in Beit Sahour that is led by the boys scout group and that ends on the playground where a festival takes place with lots of dabka dance, poetry reading and political rap!

I meet the family that hosted me the first time when I was in Palestine and they tell me they are very happy to see so many people, as this is the first time that such an event is organized. It is very important for the new generation of Palestinians to realize there history and not to forget where they came from. Many zionist leaders have said that new generations will accept the new facts on the ground and they will forget about the villages of their grandparents. But really, they will not. The connection of the Palestinians with their land is so much stronger than we as Western people can imagine. We do not plough our lands, we do not pick olives, lemons or nuts from our own trees, we do not build our houses with our own hands. We cannot imagine how connected the Palestinians were and still are to their land.

Today we commemorate the catastrophe of losing land and homes.

On the other side of the wall they celebrated 60 years of Independence!

This year it is 60 years ago that Israel declared its independence, on May 14th 1948. Over the past two weeks this has been celebrated all over Israel with festivals of music and dance, fire works, air shows and lots and lots of Israeli flags.

It is wonderful when people can celebrate their independence!

The question, however, is if Israel is really independent, seeing the fact that they receive 2,5 billion dollars a year from the United States, for military support only.

A couple of nights ago there was a lot of fireworks from Har Homa, a settlement built on the hill top on the opposite side of the valley where I live. They celebrated their independence. The hill top where they live used to have a forest and the land was owned by Palestinians from Beit Sahour, the village where I live, and by villagers from Umm Tuba. Their lands have been confiscated by Israel in order to build an illegal settlement.

In 1948 Israel declared its independence. The zionist movement had persuaded many Jews to come to live in what they said was x91a land without people, for a people without landx92. They claimed the right of return for the Jews who left from there more than 1800 years before.

But the land wasnx92t without people. There were hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in villages and towns all over the place. So in order to create an independent State of Israel for the Jewish inhabitants, these Palestinians had to move. But they didnx92t want to leave, cause they had lived there for all of their lives and they were working on the fields that their parents and grandparents and generations before had been working on. So the new Jewish immigrants moved the Palestinians out by force, a fact that many Israelis are trying to deny or forget, but that has been researched and documented very well by the historian Ilan Pappe in his book x91The ethnic cleansing of Palestinex92.

So Israel became independent and started to build its State, while the Palestinians were waiting in refugee camps for the moment that the war would be over and they could return to their villages. They kept the keys to their houses, meanwhile living in caves or in tents, donated by the United Nations. They waited and waited, weeks became months and months became years and they were still waiting. They started to understand that their houses had been either destroyed or taken by Jewish families and that there was not much hope to return.

Last week the Palestinians commemorated what they call the x91Nakbax92, the catastrophe. The loss of their lands and their houses. Sixty years ago they were expelled from their villages and now they live in the Westbank, in Gaza, in neighboring countries and in countries all over the world. And still they dream that one day they can return to where they came from and where they belong to. It seems like a dream that can never come true. There are other people now living in their houses, on their destroyed villages and they donx92t feel comfortable sharing the land with the people they once expelled from there.
It seems like a dream. Just like the zionists were dreaming of their return to the land of Judea, more than 1800 years after they had left it. And they managed! After almost two centuries.

So Palestinian refugees all over the world:

Donx92t give up dreaming, donx92t give up your claim of your right to return!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24471684@N07/sets/72157604072599879/

I would like to ask you for financial support for a small but very active youth organization in Bethlehem!

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24471684@N07/sets/72157604072599879/

If you have any money or time to spare for a very positive initiative in the Westbank city of Bethlehem, then please act now!

Lighting Candles is a small organization that focusses on youth development. I have worked with them over the past year and I am very positive about the youth group and the coordination by Hamdan Abd, who became a good friend of mine. Hamdan is physcially handicapped and can’t walk without his crotches. He has faced a lot of hardship in his life, caused by his handicap, but he has learnt how to deal with the situation and he has taken all opportunities to learn and develop himself. Now he is running a community based organization that works to develop children and youth.

I am particularly involved with the youth group that we are training in leadership qualities and communication skills. We spoke about setting up new projects and we are working on starting a small project in the garden of the Lighting Candles Organization where the youth group will renovate the garden in order to use it for educational activities. We invited some professionals to teach the youth about environment, gardening, composting and rainwater collection and we will recycle old car tires to make the garden furniture.

This garden can then be used for educational games and as one of the few open green spaces for children to come and spend their free time! Most children in that area are from Deheisha refugee camp and they dont have much place to play outside!

Besides that we are fundraising for a small library with some computers and facilities to organize workshops and watch educational films and documentary films. 

If you feel like organizing a benefit diner, music night, picknick or other way for money collection, then please contact me! We want to collect 3000 euro by the end of May. The money should be wired to the Fund of the Wilde Ganzen and they then will add 70%

The money should go to: giro 40.000 van Wilde Ganzen te Utrecht, ovv ST. WIJDE WERELD 2008

(It is very important to mention ST. Wijde Wereld 2008, otherwise we will not receive it!)

Thank you very much for your support! Any questions, dont hesitate to contact me: kristelinpalestine@gmail.com

photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24471684@N07/sets/72157604072599879/

The summer has started early in Palestine. Today we reach a temperature of 30c and it is really warm!

Last weekend I made a trip to the north, with four friends. Three of them are Palestinians from the Westbank who had a permission from the Israeli army to go to Israel. Usually Palestinians from the Westbank are not allowed to pass the checkpoints to Israel, unless they have a special permissions for which they have to apply at a special office and they need a good reason! My friends got their permission through the church for the Eastern and it is valid until end of April.

We rented a car and went up to the north of what we call the ’48 lands (what is now the State of Israel)We visited mainly Palestinian cities and villages. The Palestinians who live there did either not escape during the 1948 war or they returned or they are internal refugees, coming from other villages and escaped to a safer place that is now inside Israel.The Palestinians in Israel are usually called Arab Israelis. They have Israeli ID card and should therefore have the same rights as any other Israeli, but in practice it makes a big difference if you are a Jewish Israeli or an Arab Israeli. The Arab towns (such as Akko, Nazareth, Saknin, Deir Hanna, Arraba) get less services from the Israeli government, even though they pay a lot of taxes. A city like Nazareth has an old city with mainly Palestinians, but close to it is Nazareth Illit (upper Nazareth) with luxurious villas and big houses for Jewish Israelis. This policy, to make sure that there isn’t a big majority of Arabs, can be found troughout the whole of Israel and the Westbank.

We met several Palestinian youth from the ’48 lands and had interesting talks with them about their situation. As they live in a more Western environment, they behave and dress differently from the Palestinians in the Westbank.In Nazareth we coincidentally arrived during the Palm Procession for the Eastern of the Orthodox church (which is this weekend) and we couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw how mini the skirts of the Palestinian women in Nazareth were! As if they were going to the disco or a wedding, but this was a church procession!

In Tiberias we rented a boat and made a tour on the Sea of Galilee where according to the Bible Jesus walked on water.

In the Golan Heights we saw some destroyed villages and a big destroyed mosque. These are the only remains of Palestinian villages from before 1967 when Israel occupied the Golan Heights. The army destroyed almost all the villages and on many sites National Parks were established so to cover up completely the atrocities of that time. If you look well you can still find the fundaments of the houses and piles of stones between the trees and bushes.

We were hosted by the Dutch-Palestinian family in Saknin where I was a few weeks ago and we had a nice barbecue and spent time in the Freedom and Culture Tent, talking with local youth.I wish one day every Palestinian can travel around like this, to enjoy the beauty of the Galilee and the Golan and to visit the seaside. But at the moment most Palestinians can’t visit any sea, neither the Mediterranean, nor the Dead Sea. They are still stuck between walls and checkpoints.

For me this trip was very worthwile for another reason as well: As my friends spoke Arabic most of the time I have been able to really improve my understanding of Arabic and I even noticed that I was laughing about jokes they were telling in Arabic, without a lot of effort to understand!

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24471684@N07/sets/72157604704859798/

After I received the call for urgent action to save the Hebron orphanages and schools, I invited some friends to join me for a trip to Hebron to see and hear what was going on.

The Israeli army is threatening to close 14 schools and orphanages in the Hebron district. Eight of these schools and orphanages belong to the Islamic Charitable Society, while the remaining six belong to the Muslim Youth Society.

The Israeli army forces raided several buildings of the Islamic Charitable Society in Hebron on the 26th of February and handed over military orders of closure and confiscations for two bakeries, administrative buildings, the warehouse, three schools and two orphanages. All of these owned by the ICS.

I saw a copy of the military orders and besides informing the ICS that the military will close the buildings after the 3rd of April (later this was postponed with a week) there are no reasons given for the closures. As usual these orders fall under the category of x91security reasonsx92.

If the schools and orphanages will be closed down, and the military can come literally any minute to do that, then 7000 children will be without school and 4500 orphans will be without homes.

We were received in one of the schools that is under the Islamic Charitable Society and the principal of the school explained us that the school is not a religious school. It follows the curriculum of the Palestinian Authority, like any other public school. The money for the school comes through the Islamic Charitable Society and they get there money through local donations, local investment (they have their own businesses in Hebron) and from donors abroad, both from Arab and Western countries.

The Islamic Charitable Society was established in 1962 (long time before Hamas existed!) and it has always had legal permission for their buildings and their work, first during the Jordanian control and after under the Israeli occupation. All of their financial dealings and accounting are completely transparent. They have contacts and relations with official organizations and banks.

One of the students, 12 year old Mohamad Abu Snineh, spoke with us in English. He lived in Houston Texas until he was 8 years old and then moved back with his parents to Hebron. Mohamad told us that the Israeli soldiers came and stole the computers, printers, phones and even some school busses. Mohamad showed us the big mess that they made in the administration offices of the school.

We asked Mohamad about his experiences in this school compared to what he was used to in the United States. He told us this: x91Maybe the American schools have more money and more facilities, but here the teachers really help you and they are very friendly and motivated.x92

He told us that he is very happy in the school. They have a lot of different subjects and he finds the quality of the lessons and the level of the school better than what he had in the United States. I asked him about the history classes and he said that they get a general overview of the history but they do not teach them hatred against the jews. Neither do they get trainings in using weapons, nor do they get radicalized in Islam.

Mohamad is a very friendly and smart kid who has lived more than half of his life in the West. He cannot understand why the Israeli army has to close down his school. He doesnx92t know what he should do or where he should go if the school was closed. He wants to finish his school and continue studying as engineer, cause he really likes math!

We left the school and visited the Al-Sharx92iya girls orphanage where a press conference was given, organized by the Popular Committee for Supporting the Orphanages. During the press conference a rabbi from Rabbis for Human Rights showed his support for the orphans and children through a phone call in which he condemned the action of the Israeli army that will create a lot of suffering for the children.

Members of The Christian Peacemaker Team have spent the past week in the orphanages and will continue doing so. If the Israeli military forces come, they will not be able to stop them from evicting the schools and orphanages, but hopefully their presence will reduce the amount of violence used and the children will feel some kind of protection.See for more detailed information: http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2008/04/05/hebron-urgent-action-save-hebron-orphanages-and-schools http://www.alternativenews.org/news/_english/_israel-attempting-to-close-hebron-area-schools-orphanages-serving-7000-palestinian-children-20080407.html Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24471684@N07/

Saturday night, half past ten. My dear friend Doctor David, in his seventies and still super active in Palestine, gives me a ride to Jerusalem so that I can catch the bus to Sakhnin. At the bus station I meet with Dina and Aouda, the daughters of Trees Kosterman, a Dutch lady who is married to a Palestinian man and lives in Sakhnin.

I met Trees last week for the first time when she came to speak in our political cafe about the situation for Palestinians who live in the x9248 lands (in what is now Israel). They suffer a lot from land confiscation, racism and inequality compared to the Jewish citizens of Israel.

On the bus I meet with Milena, from Italy, who is also on her way to Sakhnin, for her work. She is a psychologist who works with creative therapy and has been training psychologists in the Westbank. Her stories about the children of Jenin refugee camp are very touching. We talk almost all the way up to the north about her and my experiences in Palestine and we have to conclude that even though it is sometimes very tough and emotional to be here, it is also very rewarding to work in Palestine and Palestine never leaves you once youx92ve been here.

We arrive in Sakhnin after midnight and Ali Zbidat, the father of Dina and Aouda comes to pick us up and take us home. Milena is supposed to stay with a friend of a friend that she has never met, but Ali doesnx92t trust it much and we decide to bring Milena with us and she spends the rest of the weekend with the family as well!

For me it is amazing. To be in a family with a Dutch mother and a Palestinian father. To hear Dina and Aouda speaking in Arabic together, in Hebrew to the bus driver, in Dutch to their mother and in English with Milena. To watch Dutch television on satellite (Rayman is laat!!) and to eat leaks (prei) and potatoes with a cheese sauce from the oven! To see a shell full of books in both Dutch, Arabic and English. I really feel at home in this house in this family.

Sunday is a busy day, as it is Palestinian Land Day (Yom Al-Ard) Ali shows me around Sakhnin and tells me about this Palestinian town inside Israel.

Sakhnin is surrounded by 31 settlements and 16000 settlers, governed by the regional council of Misgav. Misgav has already taken over the control of half of the 25000 inhabitants of Saknin. The other half of the population has nowhere to go. They are not allowed to build any new houses and there is no chance to start new businesses or industry. The inhabitants go to the Jewish cities and towns to find work.

Trees and Ali live in the family house on the land that Ali inherited from his father. They did not get permission to build a house, but as one has to live, they had to decide, as many Palestinians, to build it illegally. The Israelis are threatening to come and bulldozer the house and every year Trees and Ali receive fines or Ali goes to prison because of the ‘illegal construction’ of their house.

The 30th of March is Palestinian Land Day. Yom Al-Ard has been commemorated world-wide yearly since the killing on March 30, 1976 of six Palestinians in the Galilee region of Palestine by Israeli occupation troops during peaceful protests over the confiscation of Palestinian lands Land Day is a commemoration and tribute to those who are forced to struggle to hold onto their land and identity. It is a day for the expression of political discontent in solidarity with the Palestinian citizens of Israel. In Israel the Absenteesx92 Property Law of March 1950 is used to confiscate the lands of Palestinian citizens in Israel who are classified by law as x91absentx92.

We join the demonstration in the afternoon with about 6.000 Palestinians from all over the Galilee. They continuously chant slogans against the occupation and the confiscation of Palestinians lands. It is a very powerful and strong demonstration. We walk from Sakhnin to the village Arraba where we join a manifestation.

On the way back we pass by the Statue of Liberty of Arraba, built by a Palestinian businessman.

Ali likes to receive visitors and show them around Sakhnin and the Galilee. They have already received a couple of groups and individual guests whom they host in their own house and in friendx92s places.

In the garden Ali has made a Freedom and Culture Tent that can be used for activities and events. For our future plans with Tulips & Olives network, we are planning to organize tours to Palestine in which we definitely want to include a visit to the Palestinian villages in the Galilee and an encounter with this wonderful Dutch-Palestinian family!

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24471684@N07/sets/72157604342168013/

Here in Palestine we get to experience a lot of holidays and feasts! Muslims, jews and christians all have their own special days and rituals and living here between these three religions gives us more insight in the different holidays!

Last Thursday was the Birthday of the prophet Muhammad, Friday was Good Friday for the christians (and Mothers’ Day in Palestine!) and this weekend the Jews celebrate Purim, to commemorate the deliverance of the Jewish people of the ancient  Persian empire from Haman’s plot to annihilate them, as recorded in the Biblical book of Esther. Many Jews get really drunk during this feast!

My Palestinian friend Rana received a permission for one month to pass the checkpoint to go to ‘Israel’. Especially christian Palestinians get permissions through the church more easily during Christmas and Eastern. Rana and me took the opportunity and went to Jerusalem together last Wednesday. She told me she has a permission until 30th of April and I wondered why they give it for the whole month, while Eastern is only one weekend. She explained me that many Palestinians from Bethlehem area who receive the permission take the chance to go shopping in Jerusalem and this way the economy of Jerusalem benefits a lot!

On Friday there was the procession on the Way of Sorrows (Via Dolorosa) with many tourists and Christians taking the same road that Jesus walked to be crucifixed on the hill of Calvary.

I decided not to go there, as it is so crowded in the narrow streets of Jerusalem. Instead I spent a really nice day, celebrating the first birthday of Mohamad (not the prophet!) the nephew of my friends Ala and Baha. There was lots of visitors, presents and birthday cakes and from their house a beautiful view over Bethlehem city, that looks so nice in this sunny spring weather!

Later in the afternoon we went to Deheisha Refugee Camp where we saw a traditional music performance in Ibdaa Cultural Center because of Mothers Day.

Saturday morning we left early to go to Nablus. We were prepared for problems at the checkpoints, because of the Jewish holidays, but in fact the checkpoints were rather easy. Unfortunately we passed through Huwara village, just at the moment of a big riot. Because the Israeli military wasn’t in town this day, the Palestinian Authorities chose to go and arrest a man from a family that had made problems with another family. Lots of people from the village got involved and started to put up blockades with car tyres that were set to fire on the street and there was a lot of stone and bottle throwing! As we got out of the taxi (the driver wanted to return to Bethlehem) we heard shooting and decided to wait a bit and call our friend from Nablus. He arrived from another side with a taxi to pick us up. We then drove past all the smoking tyres and the villagers who were still upset and we realized it was only 11am, a crazy start of the day!

See: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=28414

and: http://www.imemc.org/article/53632

At the checkpoint before Nablus the soldiers gave us a hard time, asking us many questions about the reason for our visit to the city and about our stay in Israel, but they had to let us pass.

We met with our friends from the Katakeet Theater group and we spent a lovely day in the beautiful old city of Nablus, situated between two hills (and cut off from the rest of the Westbank by two checkpoints that control all the movements in and out of the city!) The city is very nice during the day, with lots of little shops and markets. During the night Nablus is terrible, with a lot of invasions by the Israeli soldiers, arrests, shooting… You can see bullet holes everywhere and posters in commemmoration of martyrs. (Here every person killed by the army is referred to as a martyr!)

We had a nice lunch and of course we ate a plate of knefe, the famous pastry from Nablus!

We were invited to have diner with the family of Hasan in Qalqiliya. His father is a professional cook and he had done an excellent job and made us an amazing diner! As the table in the livingroom was too small for all the dishes, we had diner in the traditional way, on the floor!

Then we went to the village Kufar Laqif where we met with the family of Ala. I had been there twice before and it was lovely to see them again! After coffee we went around the village and walked into the nature that is so beautiful here! We spent some hours in the fields, looking at the full moon, the stars and discussing new ideas and projects for bringing children from refugee camps to spend a few days out camping in the nature of Kufar Laqif!

This morning we left really early so that we returned to Beit Sahour at 9am! This afternoon we are going to have an Easter egg hunt at a friends place!

Happy Easter!

It was the first time in my life that I saw dead bodies on the street. A small car full of bullet holes. People crying and shouting. Many using their mobile phones to tell their relatives and friends that Mohamad Shehadeh and three other men had been assassinated by the Israelis. The Israelis came in civilian clothes in a civilian car and opened fire on the four Palestinians who were driving in a small car near the center of Bethlehem.

My friend and me were only 50 metres away from the place when it happened. We heard the machineguns and we asked each other if it was fireworks or gunfire. Soon we found out that it was in fact gunfire and we became part of a horrific scene.

The four men were between 27 and 45 years old and one of them had recently escaped from an operation by the Israelis to try and arrest him at his house, after which the Israelis demolished the house where his wife and children lived. That was a few nights ago, another one of those restless nights in Bethlehem, where the whole neighborhood of a wanted Palestinian lives in fear of the Israeli jeeps and bulldozers that take over the area.

After the ambulances reached the place of the murder and took the bodies to the hospital in Beit Jalla, we followed the Palestinians who went down to the hospital. It was a big chaos. Traffic jams, people crying and shouting and a spontaneous protest of youth to show their anger about the murder of these men.

Of course in the western media it is emphasized how these men were members of Islamic Jihad and military wings of Fatah, as if that would justify the assassination of four men in the middle of a street, in front of the eyes of everybody, including lots of children. Is this operation carried out by an army that serves a democratic State? A State that claims to be more civilized than its Arabic neighbours?

If they knew exactly where these men were, why didn’t they arrest them and trial them in court? If they have a good case against them, why to take these drastic measures and kill them without any process?

I was shocked. I was just walking up to the International Center to take my Arabic course and there I was, confronted with the horror of occupation. This time not through stories from others, not from a television screen or an internet website. There it was. Right in front of my eyes.

Since that moment I have gone through lots of different emotions. Shock, anger, fear, frustration, deep sadness and emptiness. But one of my Palestinian friends told me that: "At least you still have feelings and emotions. We grew up with this and we are numb for any kind of emotions."

And you know what, this is a heartbreaking result of the occupation, to leave a whole nation without emotions, without hope for a better future. Life has become a day to day survival, a constant humiliation where you have nothing to decide for yourself. The Israelis will decide for you.

Short video (I was standing near the big yellow taxi) : http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7290000/newsid_7293100/7293198.stm?bw=nb&mp=wm&news=1&ms3=2&ms_javascript=true&nol_storyid=7293198&bbcws=2

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=28274 

http://www.imemc.org/article/53442