The Killing of Rachel Corrie - The Photographic Evidence
| Rachel Corrie placed her body between a bulldozer driver intent on razing a small Palestinian home for the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon, wanted in Europe for War Crimes. When the driver proceded, Rachel and others lay in front of the bulldozer which crushed her and then backed up over her for good measure, exactly as had been done to Bruce Klunder (left). The Sharon government would later claim that Rachel tripped and the driver hadn't seen her, a claim patently absurd as is evident below, in the picture of Rachel with the megaphone and the photo of her deliberately kneeling with others before the bulldozer. The same claim was made in Bruce Klunder's case. Another American student, Brian Avery, has since been deliberately shot in the face by a Sharon machine gunner (see below). |
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LETTER FROM PALESTINE
By Rachel Corrie
I have been in Palestine for two weeks and one hour now, and I still have very few words to describe what I see. It is most difficult for me to think about what’s going on here when I sit down to write back to the United States—something about the virtual portal into luxury. I don’t know if many of the children here have ever existed without tank-shell holes in their walls and the towers of an occupying army surveying them constantly from the near horizons. I think, although I’m not entirely sure, that even the smallest of these children understand that life is not like this everywhere. An eight-year-old was shot and killed by an Israeli tank two days before I got here, and many of the children murmur his name to me, Bali—or point at the posters of him on the walls. The children also love to get me to practice my limited Arabic by asking me “Kaif Sharon?” “Kaif Bush?” and they laugh when I say “Bush Majnoon” “Sharon Majnoon” back in my limited Arabic. (How is Sharon? How is Bush? Bush is crazy. Sharon is crazy.) Of course this isn’t quite what I believe, and some of the adults who have the English correct me: Bush mish Majnoon... Bush is a businessman. Today I tried to learn to say “Bush is a tool”, but I don’t think it translated quite right. But anyway, there are eight-year-olds here much more aware of the workings of the global power structure than I was just a few years ago—at least regarding Israel.
Nevertheless, I think about the fact that no amount of reading, attendance at conferences, documentary viewing and word of mouth could have prepared me for the reality of the situation here. You just can’t imagine it unless you see it, and even then you are always well aware that your experience is not at all the reality: what with the difficulties the Israeli Army would face if they shot an unarmed US citizen, and with the fact that I have money to buy water when the army destroys wells, and, of course, the fact that I have the option of leaving. Nobody in my family has been shot, driving in their car, by a rocket launcher from a tower at the end of a major street in my hometown. I have a home. I am allowed to go see the ocean. Ostensibly it is still quite difficult for me to be held for months or years on end without a trial (this because I am a white US citizen, as opposed to so many others). When I leave for school or work I can be relatively certain that there will not be a heavily armed soldier waiting half way between Mud Bay and downtown Olympia at a checkpoint—a soldier with the power to decide whether I can go about my business, and whether I can get home again when I’m done. So, if I feel outrage at arriving and entering briefly and incompletely into the world in which these children exist, I wonder conversely about how it would be for them to arrive in my world.
They know that children in the United States don’t usually have their parents shot and they know they sometimes get to see the ocean. But once you have seen the ocean and lived in a silent place, where water is taken for granted and not stolen in the night by bulldozers, and once you have spent an evening when you haven’t wondered if the walls of your home might suddenly fall inward waking you from your sleep, and once you’ve met people who have never lost anyone—once you have experienced the reality of a world that isn’t surrounded by murderous towers, tanks, armed “settlements” and now a giant metal wall, I wonder if you can forgive the world for all the years of your childhood spent existing—just existing—in resistance to the constant stranglehold of the world’s fourth largest military—backed by the world’s only superpower—in it’s attempt to erase you from your home. That is something I wonder about these children. I wonder what would happen if they really knew.
As an afterthought to all this rambling, I am in Rafah, a city of about 140,000 people, approximately 60 percent of whom are refugees—many of whom are twice or three times refugees. Rafah existed prior to 1948, but most of the people here are themselves or are descendants of people who were relocated here from their homes in historic Palestine—now Israel. Rafah was split in half when the Sinai returned to Egypt. Currently, the Israeli army is building a fourteen-meter-high wall between Rafah in Palestine and the border, carving a no-mans land from the houses along the border. Six hundred and two homes have been completely bulldozed according to the Rafah Popular Refugee Committee. The number of homes that have been partially destroyed is greater.
Today as I walked on top of the rubble where homes once stood, Egyptian soldiers called to me from the other side of the border, “Go! Go!” because a tank was coming. Followed by waving and “what’s your name?” There is something disturbing about this friendly curiosity. It reminded me of how much, to some degree, we are all kids curious about other kids: Egyptian kids shouting at strange women wandering into the path of tanks. Palestinian kids shot from the tanks when they peak out from behind walls to see what’s going on. International kids standing in front of tanks with banners. Israeli kids in the tanks anonymously, occasionally shouting—and also occasionally waving—many forced to be here, many just aggressive, shooting into the houses as we wander away.
In addition to the constant presence of tanks along the border and in the western region between Rafah and settlements along the coast, there are more IDF towers here than I can count—along the horizon, at the end of streets. Some just army green metal. Others these strange spiral staircases draped in some kind of netting to make the activity within anonymous. Some hidden, just beneath the horizon of buildings. A new one went up the other day in the time it took us to do laundry and to cross town twice to hang banners. Despite the fact that some of the areas nearest the border are the original Rafah with families who have lived on this land for at least a century, only the 1948 camps in the center of the city are Palestinian-controlled areas under Oslo. But as far as I can tell, there are few if any places that are not within the sights of some tower or another. Certainly there is no place invulnerable to apache helicopters or to the cameras of invisible drones we hear buzzing over the city for hours at a time.
I’ve been having trouble accessing news about the outside world here, but I hear an escalation of war on Iraq is inevitable. There is a great deal of concern here about the “reoccupation of Gaza.” Gaza is reoccupied every day to various extents, but I think the fear is that the tanks will enter all the streets and remain here, instead of entering some of the streets and then withdrawing after some hours or days to observe and shoot from the edges of the communities. If people aren’t already thinking about the consequences of this war for the people of the entire region then I hope they will start.
I also hope you’ll come here. We’ve been wavering between five and six internationals. The neighborhoods that have asked us for some form of presence are Yibna, Tel El Sultan, Hi Salam, Brazil, Block J, Zorob, and Block O. There is also need for constant night-time presence at a well on the outskirts of Rafah since the Israeli army destroyed the two largest wells. According to the municipal water office the wells destroyed last week provided half of Rafah’s water supply. Many of the communities have requested internationals to be present at night to attempt to shield houses from further demolition. After about ten p.m. it is very difficult to move at night because the Israeli army treats anyone in the streets as resistance and shoots at them. So clearly we are too few.
I continue to believe that my home, Olympia, could gain a lot and offer a lot by deciding to make a commitment to Rafah in the form of a sister-community relationship. Some teachers and children’s groups have expressed interest in e-mail exchanges, but this is only the tip of the iceberg of solidarity work that might be done. Many people want their voices to be heard, and I think we need to use some of our privilege as internationals to get those voices heard directly in the US, rather than through the filter of well-meaning internationals such as myself. I am just beginning to learn, from what I expect to be a very intense tutelage, about the ability of people to organize against all odds, and to resist against all odds.
TOM DALE EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT
British Citizen from Lichfield, Birmingham, born 17 August 1984.
Many of you will of heard varying accounts of
the death of Rachel Corrie, maybe others will have heard nothing of it.
Regardless, I was 10 metres away when it happened 2 days ago, and this is the
way it went.
We'd been monitoring and occasionally obstructing the 2 bulldozers for about 2
hours when 1 of them turned toward a house we knew to be threatened with
demolition. Rachel knelt down in its way. She was 10-20 metres in front of the
bulldozer, clearly visible, the only object for many metres, directly in its
view. They were in radio contact with a tank that had a profile view of the
situation. There is no way she could not have been seen by them in their
elevated cabin. They knew where she was, there is no doubt.
The bulldozer drove toward Rachel slowly, gathering earth in its scoop as it
went. She knelt there, she did not move. The bulldozer reached her and she began
to stand up, climbing onto the mound of earth. She appeared to be looking into
the cockpit. The bulldozer continued to push Rachel, so she slipped down the
mound of earth, turning as she went. Her faced showed she was panicking and it
was clear she was in danger of being overwhelmed.
All the activists were screaming at the bulldozer to stop and gesturing to the
crew about Rachel's presence. We were in clear view as Rachel had been, they
continued. They pushed Rachel, first beneath the scoop, then beneath the blade,
then continued till her body was beneath the cockpit. They waited over her for a
few seconds, before reversing. They reversed with the blade pressed down, so it
scraped over her body a second time. Every second I believed they would stop but
they never did.
I ran for an ambulance, she was gasping and her face was covered in blood from a
gash cutting her face from lip to cheek. She was showing signs of brain
hemorrhaging. She died in the ambulance a few minutes later of massive internal
injuries. She was a brilliant, bright and amazing person, immensely brave and
committed. She is gone and I cannot believe it.
The group here in Rafah has decided that we will stay here and continue to
oppose human rights abuses as best we can. I want to add that more than 10
Palestinians have died in the Gaza Strip since Rachel.
Please: forward this message. Boycott Caterpillar. Take direct action against
the Caterpillar Corporation - please do not let this be without cost to them.
Legally, I shouldn't ask you to do anything destructive or against the law.
If you're wondering about Rachel: her writings, photos of her and statements on
her death are available on the website below. More photos: go to yahoo news
section, search for photos by 'rachel'.
If you're wondering about the International Solidarity Movement: www.palsolidarity.org
If you're wondering about the bulldozers: They're American, Caterpillar-made
armoured D9 Bulldozers. I estimate the blade is maybe 8 ft high, 15 ft wide and
the bulldozer more than 9 tons. They're purchased from America using the $12
billion per annum military aid package that America gives to Israel. [Report
on their previous usage, well worth reading -- especially if you didn't
believe anyone would be crazy enough to do this].
If you're wondering about Rafah: in the southern Gaza Strip, next to the
Egyptian border. Apart from suffering in excess from the problems all over
Palestine: Israeli manipulation of the water supply, economic strangulation,
regular shootings and army operations, Rafah is afflicted by the building of an
extra border wall. It has caused hundreds of homes to be destroyed.
The house in question, that of a doctor, like dozens of others in the area is
not set to be demolished because of any supposed link to militants. Only because
it lies within 100 metres of the new border wall, currently in construction.
Families receive no compensation from Israel, and are frequently given just a
few minutes warning in the form of live ammunition being shot through the walls
of their house.
Tom Dale
18 March 2003
RICHARD PURSSELL EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT
British citizen from Brighton, England. A Construction Worker born on 12
October 1971.
I am Richard Purssell of the United Kingdom. I am here in Rafah to demonstrate
solidarity with the Palestinian people and take non-violent direct action to
confront the illegal Israeli occupation. I am making this statement at 11:30 on
the night after the incident.
On 16 March 2003 I, Rachel Corrie, and Greg were acting as human shields at the
well in Tel al Sultan. We received a call at 2.30 from other ISM activists who
were working in the Hyy es Salaam area that bulldozers had been spotted. We
arrived ten minutes later at the area, which was near both to houses we were
protecting and houses which had been destroyed in the previous week. Using a
megaphone and banners to identify ourselves as international nonviolent
activists we moved forward to confront the bulldozers.
For two hours we attempted at great risk to ourselves to obstruct and frustrate
the bulldozers in their work. One activist from the U.S was trapped underneath
barbed wire. The bulldozers seemed to be concentrating on ploughing up the land
in front of the buildings whilst making occasional runs at houses. There were
two bulldozers one marked 94 serial number 949623 the other 95 serial no.
949645. There was one tank but I do not recall its number. I noted these numbers
prior to the incident.
At approximately 16:45 a bulldozer began making a straight run at a house which
I now know to belong to a doctor Izmir [sic: Dr. Samir]. At this point the
majority of the group were positioned around a wrecked building. We were all
within 70 metres of each other. I was to the left of the ruined building and to
the right of Dr. [Samir]'s house. Rachel was approximately 15 metres in front of
me.
The ground was level and the light was good, I had a good view of everything
which happened. Rachel was wearing an orange fluorescent jacket with reflective
strips (the type worn by construction workers for high visibility and the
avoidance of accidents). Rachel stood to confront the bulldozer and it
approached her at about five or six miles an hour. The blade on the bulldozer
was dipped into the ground and was scooping up soil.
As the bulldozer came nearer the pile mounted up. Rachel climbed up the pile and
at the one stage was looking into the cabin window. There is no way that the
driver could not have known she was there. The bulldozer continued driving
forwards and Rachel turned round to face in my direction.
She began to slide down the pile, however as soon as her feet touched the ground
for some reason she fell forward. Maybe her foot was caught or the weight of the
soil pushed her forward. At this point the panic on her face was obvious.
We were all shouting, screaming and gesturing by this stage. The earth was
totally pushed over her, engulfing her. She was lost to my sight. I noticed that
the driver had not lifted the blade. The machine rolled straight over her and
continued for a little way. It then reversed over her and retreated about twenty
metres. Rachel was left in its tracks, bleeding from her mouth and twisted.
The tank came over to where she was briefly and then retreated to the border
fence with the two bulldozers. At no point did any member of the Israeli forces
enquire as to Rachel's well-being or offer any assistance.
Eventually we were able to call an ambulance and one arrived shortly. Rachel was
taken to hospital in Rafah, where I heard she had died.
I certify that this is a true account to the best of my recollection.
R.J.A. Purssell
16 March 2003
JOE SMITH EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT
United States citizen from Kansas City, MO, USA, born 25 April 1981.
I have never experienced anything like this in my life. I've never had someone
close to me die before, let alone be brutally murdered right in front of my
eyes. I don't even know how to react. I went through stages of dumbfounded shock
and serious crying fits. I had no chance to be alone at all, I was either
surrounded by Palestinians or on the phone with media. I chose the latter. I was
doing interviews non-stop starting 30 min. after her death, all the way until
midnight, and then starting again at 6am and continuing all day today. I
literally would never hang up the phone, just switch to an incoming call on call
waiting. When I did finnally get a second to breath, I'd have like 30 missed
calls.
Anyway, it was a bit therapeutic I think, telling the story over and over, and
interviews make me feel [as if I was doing something] important [in the
aftermath]. All this thing is is a media event now, so we must continue a
campaign as hard as possible before the new and bigger tragedy, the Iraq war,
begins. The few hours I had off interviews last night between midnight and 4am,
was spent organizing today's events, press conferences, live TV/radio
interviews, a demonstration and the begginings of the traditional Palestinian
3-day ceremony. Now we're preparing for a serious influx of people from the West
Bank and Israel, as well as some people from abroad, possibly including her
family.
The stress is really getting to me. I couldn't sleep for the 2 hours I was
allowed because my body won't relax. My heart is racing and shake a lot, and
even have trouble breathing. My jaw is the worst though. It won't losen to save
my life, and it hurts like hell, especially when I chew (when i get time to grab
a falafel sandwhich). I've never experienced physical stress and tension like
this.
We thought this might happen eventually. We often spoke in the abstract that
eventually one of us would get killed, but we always figured they'd shoot us, or
it'd be an "accident", like in a house that is missiled or a stray
bullet gets an unlucky activist. I never dreamed it'd be like this, the
intentional crushing of a human being.
I do believe it was intentional. I saw it, and I know he saw her, I know he did,
and I know he knew she was still under the bulldozer when it backed up without
raising its blade. I don't know if he wanted to kill her, or if he was just
focused on doing his work and didn't care if he killed her or not, I don't know
which is scarier. I don't feel like telling the whole detailed story right now.
I promise that for the record I will tell it in detail, but give me a few days.
I just want to quickly dispel a few myths you may have heard in the media. She
did not "trip and fall" in front of the bulldozer. She sat down in
front of it, well in advance, wearing one of the orange flouro jackets I got in
Amsterdam. (By the way, I took the pictures you may have seen of her, standing
with the megaphone in front of the bulldozer, and the ones of her friends
helping her.)
He clearly saw her, and continued to drive until she was forced onto the top of
the dirt he was pushing, elevating her so much that she was at eye level with
the bulldozer's cab, he could see right into her eyes. He continued forward,
pulling her underneath the dirt, and out of his vision. He continued forward,
crushing her underneath the weight of the blade. He continued forward, until she
was well underneath the bulldozer. It was then quite clear that she was nowhere
but underneath him, but he proceded to back up, without lifting the blade,
crushing her again.
I believe that it was the combination of these two crushings together that
caused her death. She was defending the house of a physician. We've all stayed
in the house, we know that there are no weapons of any kind there. Just a middle
aged doctor and his lovely family. They want to demolish it because it happens
to lie near the border, and they're systematically demolishing all the houses
near the border. It has nothing to do with retaliatory or preventative
operations. They were not searching for tunnels or bombs either. We know what
this looks like, they do it a lot. It involves armored drills and bomb dogs and
shooting at the ground, none of which was present here.
It's just a further example of the Israeli military's blatant lies. There was
never any gunfire from any Palestinians, the only gunfire came from the tank,
when it shot at the ground a few times in order to scare us. But even this was
extremely minimal. The Palestinian that was killed was in a totally seperate
area of Rafah, and was killed by blanket fire into the area, not in a gun
battle. It is quite unfortunate that his death probably wouldn't even be
reported anywhere if it weren't for [what happened to] Rachel. The Palestinians
have been incredible. They are quite used to this, as thousands of their people
have died. Indeed, I now know how every Palestinian family feels, as many of
them have lost multiple freinds and family to this occupation.
Their support has been invaluable, however; they've gone to full lengths to give
her a proper demonstration and ceremony, like they give every other Shahid
(martyr). They've made a nice poster of her as well, which will be posted in all
of the places she has been, and there's going to be a big march and
demonstration this afternoon. We're planning actions for the comming days as
well. We're planning to occupy the murder sight, and line the whole area with
flowers, and erect a nice visible memorial as well. I don't know what this means
for us now.
It could go one of two ways. It could make us more effective, because now they
know that we are not going to move, and that we will risk our safety to oppose
them. Thus they will be forced to be more careful, and withdraw sooner. Or, it
could mean that they no longer care, and will willfully kill and injure us
without hesitation. This would render us useless as human shields, and our work
would be impossible. So we'll have to see.
I know we'll be much more careful, and have long talks about tactics, and what
people are still comfortable with. I have a lot of thinking and considering to
do. But we're not leaving, that's for sure. We're dedicated to staying here,
especially with the Iraq war and the risk of a full invasion of Gaza. If any of
you heard anything else and have questions, I'd gladly respond to them.
[...] I'm sure you'll keep me in your thoughts, I need all the energy I can get
as I deal with this trauma. My close friends and family have been wonderful, and
haven't freaked out on me like I thought they would. But I share their concern.
Ok, I must go to the press conference.
Joe Smith
17 March 2003
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| Palestinian medics atten to Brian Avery after he was shot in the face. |
Brian was wearing a flourescent red vest identifying him as an International medic. From the moment Brian saw the Israeli tanks coming around the corner to when he was shot was 15 seconds. Brian stood still under a streetlight and raised his hands from the moment he heard the tanks coming before he saw the tanks. He had his hands up for 60 seconds. This was not an accident. The Israeli army of occupation operating in the Jenin area imposed its second day of curfew on the people of the city. Groups of young men and boys continued their resistance to the curfew by venturing out onto the streets to throw stones at tanks and other military vehicles. Brian and another ISM activist were at the ISM's Jenin headquarters when they heard the sound of gunfire coming from the centre of the city, about two blocks away. They left the apartment to investigate and had traveled about a hundred metres when saw two armoured personnel carriers advancing towards them at low speed. There were no Palestinians on the streets in the area, armed or otherwise. At the sight of the armoured vehicles both activists stood still and raised their hands above their heads. When the first armoured personnel carrier was 50 metres from them it fired a burst of machine gun fire (an estimated 15 rounds) at the ground in front of them so that they were sprayed by a shower of broken bullets and stones. Tobias, Brian's companion, leapt aside. He had fled about three steps when he looked back to see Brian lying face down on the road in a pool of blood. Tobias and Brian were then joined by four other ISM activists who had arrived at the scene of the shooting by a different route. All six of them rushed to help him as the two armoured vehicles rolled past without stopping. He was conscious but when he raised himself from the ground they saw that his left cheek has been almost totally shot off. The activists then performed first aid on him and phoned for an ambulance which took him to the Martyr Doctor Khalil Suleiman Hospital in Jenin where he was treated for shrapnel wounds to his face including bone fractures below the eyes, lacerations of the tongue and lacerations of his left cheek. A specialist was called in to examine his injuries and recommended that he be transferred immediately to a hospital in Afula in Israel but his departure was delayed because the Israeli military refused to grant his ambulance safe passage for more than an hour. From Afula Brian was transported to a hospital in Haifa by helicopter. Under the Israeli Army's own rules of engagement soldiers are not permitted to fire warning shots with mounted weapons. They may fire warning shots with light hand-held weapons and must aim away from the people they are warning. When he was shot Brian was wearing a fluorescent red vest with a reflective white cross on its back and front.--Michael Shaik, the International Solidarity Movement's Media Coordinator in Beit Sahour. (April 5, 2003) For further information contact: Tobias Karlsson: 057 836 527 or 067 437 690 or Lasse on: 059 386 896
Brian Avery, Albuquerque member of International Solidarity Movement, shot in head by Israel Defense Forces in Jenin Refuge Camp. On Friday at about 5:30 p.m. in the Jenin refuge camp, the Israeli defense forces fired on a group of members of the International Solidarity Movement, seriously wounding Brian in the head. Treated in govt hospital in jenin. Tobias Karnsson, a Swedish member of the ISM was with Avery during the shooting. Karnsson described the situation by phone to Melinda Smith, member of the Arab Jewish Peace Alliance of Albuquerque, who helped sponsor Avery's stay in the West Bank, as Karnsson was accompanying Avery y ambulance to a hospital in Haifa. "Around 5:30 pm, April 5, Brian, a Palestinian friend and medical volunteer Jamal, and I were sitting on roof of an apartment, taking a rest when we heard three bursts of gun fire from armed personnel carriers. There was a curfew, but today there wasn't a lot of army presence. We decided to go outside to investigate. Brian was wearing a red florescent vest with reflective marks that say doctor that he used for security. We were identified as internationals. I was carrying a first aid bag. We were waiting in a corner, waiting for rest of the international group coming down the street to join us. The armed personnel carrier approached from the other direction. Jamal walked away from the tanks. Brian and I stood under a streetlight. Two vehicles approached. Brian and I put our hands in the air. The armed personnel vehicles were visible for 10-15 seconds. When they reached 50 meters they opened fired from the main machine gun. This gun is not designed to fire upon people." Karnsson said Avery's face was badly damaged by the shooting. Avery was not in danger of dying, but there is no word on his condition. He was initially treated in the government hospital on the West Bank and is being transferred to Haifa. Karnsson spoke from a cell phone from the ambulance at a checkpoint to get through to Haifa.
Brian Avery is in a stable condition at the Rambam Hospital in Haifa. He is conscious, has suffered no brain injuries and is able to communicate through sign language and writing. Following 4 hours of surgery on April 5, he is expected to undergo several more sessions of facial reconstruction surgery. Although Brian has explicitly requested information on his condition, the doctors at the hospital are withholding information as to the nature of his injuries, apart from admitting that he is suffering from extensive facial fractures. In spite of his injuries, his friends report that Brian's naturally cheerful character remains unaffected and he is in good spirits. On April 10, Brian Avery will have his 25th birthday. His friends have opened an email account in which well-wishers may send him messages of support. His ISM companions in Haifa have undertaken to print out and read to him every message he receives and to stick them to the walls of his hospital room. If you want to wish Brian a happy birthday and a swift and full recovery you can send your message to: brianjenin@yahoo.com
For further information contact: * Eva on +972 67 361 679 or * Bilha on +972 51 638 568
from Brian Avery in Nablus, West Bank. Posted 31 Jan 2003
Occupied Palestine, where do I start and where to begin. All the things I have seen here speak of an amazing and enchanting land of peasantry and philosophy and the longing of a spirit of a nation to be free of oppression and treachery. The presence of the Israeli forces here lends demonstration to the utmost absurdity and tragedy of the desire of human beings to conquer and subsume one another. So many things I have seen that while not especially brutal in a direct sense of immediate mortal violence suggest a deeper violence of transgressions against the spirit and the soul. Only a week have I been here though, which is probably the saddest part of all, in that I should come to the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank region of Israeli-occupied Palestine (a flagrantly illegal occupation, flaunting every accord and agreement of international character in regards to human rights and recognized sovereignity) in a time of relative calm and open social interaction leaving me in constant recognition (based upon knowledge of previous events and history here and elsewhere in Palestine, as well as the direct accounts and testimony of residents and organizers who have witnessed grave and wanton aggression by the Israeli military apparatus over and over again) that at any moment the situation could rapidly deteriorate to brute subjugation, all at the whim of Israeli commanders and right-wing politicos. Even more striking to me is the knowledge that my own fears and doubts as to the immanence of violent military force are nothing compared to that of the inhabitants of these areas, who have no ability of confidence in the prospect of being shielded in some way by their status as a foreign national, much less a non-Arab. In these times of grand uncertainty and sudden chaos at a moments notice though it is exactly that status as a foreigner that brings me here, to shed some light on the nature of events transpiring in these lands and to engender some hope that perhaps there are other ways to solve conflicts that lethal weaponry and wanton aggression. The prime organizational force behind these efforts (that I have so far participated in at least) is the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a cooperative effort of concerned peace activists of various international origins and local residents who seek a non-violent solution to resisting and ending the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine. An amazing collection of personry of all persuasions they truly are, digging deep into the well of collective solidarity to try to bring home the distant prosperity and peaceful social community that is so desperately sought after by every resident of this land, this Palestine. For some it is simply (though by no means simple) the essence of humanitarian concern for the welfare of others that drives them to a far off land, while for others like myself it is, in addition to human rights advocation, the pressing knowledge that the governments of which we are registered elements are direct supporters and contributors to this alienation of humility. Every dollar of tax revenue I contribute to the government of the United States, of which I am by birth a citizen, serves to place more guns and tanks and armored personnel carriers into the arsenal of the murderous and racist imperative of the government of Israel (and its popular support), not to mention numerous other abominable regimes about the planet (Guatemala, Nicaragua, Chile, Iraq, Indonesia, South Africa, Iran, and the Congo, just to name a few). Thus I feel it especially imperative that citizens of nations like the US do all possible to investigate the effects of their government policies and actions and to confer and cooperate with one another in educating the whole of humanity that abuses like Palestine will not be tolerated under any circumstance and that we will actively seek a non-violent solution to conflicts in question. "Terrorists," some might declare in reaction to the notion that I or others might choose to associate with and stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine, a quite remarkably uninformed response that should be discouraged at all possible chance. Indeed, one of the most horrid inflictions upon these people is the nefarious media blackout as to the origins and dynamics of the social and political reality here, a consequence of shoddy journalism and conscious ignorance of the facts. Every time a report blares out of the television (I must place particular emphasis upon the major news outlets in the United States for this, although similar occurrences elsewhere are not uncommon) or radio or splayed out across the newspaper and magazine headlines that a Palestinian chose to take the route of violent resistance and engage in a guerrilla operation or suicide mission it is conveyed with the notion that these actions might have been born in some racist and "evil" vacuum with no origin other than pure unwarranted hatred for totally innocent Israeli citizens and no pretext for existence. Understand that neither I nor other ISM participants, (much less most Palestinians and anyone else with a shred of concern for the human community) condone in any way a brutal act such as a suicide bombing, no one deserves to die like this. But it is long and sorely overdue that succinct recognition be brought to the fact that these acts are in direct response to the more than fifty years of oppression and occupation by the government and military of the state of Israel and it neo-Manifest Destiny. One only has to study the history of this conflict and then come here and witness the daily interruption of civil society that is perpetrated by the occupying forces of Israel.
One only has to realize how it feels to live in a town under constant curfew (curfew meaning cessation of all movement and interaction, everybody must go home and stay there until told otherwise, even for days and weeks on end) and watch as soldiers and police establish random checkpoints about town that serve only to disrupt daily life and provide some method of economic and social strangulation, routinely harassing every inhabitant who should pass by and often detaining them for hours on end (even those involved in transit for medical emergencies, a frequent occurrence which has led to many fatalities). The sight and feel of this should be easily enough to prompt one to question the nature of their government and the actions it takes and directly or implicitly supports and to actively engage in participation with efforts to seek a real solution that calls for an end to egregious military occupation and intervention in social affairs. The key to the survival of Palestinians lies not with violent aggression (although as activists myself and other members of ISM do recognize the militant aspects of the Palestinian social movement as justifiable given the immediate circumstances, however we do not choose to participate in or promote the actions taken by such elements) but rather with community organization and strengthening of social networks amongst local residents, using whatever international support is necessary to engender this, and expressing such desires through non-violent demonstrations and civil disobedience as well as grassroots organizing amongst members of the pertinent community, a task by no means made easy by the shadow of fear cast by the occupying forces of Israel. So far in my own short stay here in Nablus our principle actions have consisted of being monitors and witnesses at military checkpoints about town, lodging in the homes of the families of individuals who chose suicide bombing as their method of resisting the occupation, and meeting with community members to try to build a sincere coalition of peaceful intention so as to clean up and rebuild this shattered city. Reactionaries might be quick to jump upon our staying as guests in the homes where "terrorists" used to live but this must be tempered by the light of the fact that due to the action of one individual acting on his or her own belief an entire family or community is subject to lethal violence and state-sponsored (and encouraged) terrorism, a practice known as collective punishment. We believe this practice to be unfounded and illegal, and choose to live in solidarity with these families and prevent them from the belligerent and reactionary response of the Israeli government, not because we support violent action. One must truly recognize the nature of humanity as a community to understand this, it is not so far-fetched.
As for the checkpoints they provide the bulk of our daily actions, as they are the principle method of civil disruption by the Israeli military and rife with abuse. Otherwise fluid intersections soon resemble traffic jams in large cities as the thoroughfare soon clogs up with stationary vehicles and their detained pilots, who can and are often detained for hours on end (often the entire day if they are unfortunate to encounter the checkpoint early enough), with their release only coming at the casual whim of the soldiers or police on duty. This situation applies to those passing by on foot as well, and all too often to ambulances and those in severe need of passage or attention. Any attempt at individual initiative at expediting the process is met with the barrel of a gun held by trigger-happy young conscripts (mostly teenagers who are all too scared and confused at their surroundings), and not infrequently the barrel of a tank to boot. The most comic and tragic aspect of these checkpoint situations is their attraction and designation as resistance point-of-choice by local youth, who in their boundless yet unreleasable energy choose to take their aggression out as directly as possible against these lethal invaders in their neighborhoods and towns by inflicting upon the soldiers the most abominable and deadly threat of shouting insults and throwing rocks. At times the taunts and shouts can evoke comedy, occasionally even drawing in the retaliatory participation of those soldiers on duty with taunts and chants of their own, but these few relatively light moments are vastly outnumbered by instances of direct and occasionally fatal violence by soldiers against the jeering youth who should so much as dare to hurl a stone or bottle at a tank or armored personnel carrier. Kids getting shot and killed for throwing a rock, only the most delusional logic could condone this, and yet it is not an uncommon occurrence. I remember one occurrence the other day when soldiers actually forced a number of ambulances and medical vehicles to serve (under threat of force, of course) as a barricade between the stone-throwing kids and their heavily-armored military vehicles, probably the most rationally unfounded situation I have ever encountered here or elsewhere. The gall of the soldiers is appalling, and the blatant racism is enough to suggest the nadir of humanity. The hope of us as international witnesses and non-violent activists is to de-escalate these situations and prevent them from turning into violent clashes that might produce fatal results. Serving as a pacifying presence around the local youth or negotiating with soldiers to expedite detainments is the chief goal of these actions, although let it not be said that the soldiers are not afraid to shoot at or in the direction of foreigners, as more than a few international activists have been shot with both plastic bullets and live ammunition, resulting in some injuries and deaths (truly the malign intent of these invaders knows no bounds other than complete annihilation). The more we can defuse these conflagratory situations then the more we can concentrate upon the real needs of the community, which is basic social organizing to build local solidarity amongst the inhabitants so as to empower them to reclaim their neighborhoods and return them to functional and thriving locales. After-school programs for children, rebuilding infrastructure torn apart by Israeli invasions, bolstering universities frequently closed under force, improving medical access and facilities, these are our objectives, both as a collective and individuals. No child deserves to grow up in such an oppressive environment as that of occupied Palestine, a harsh ecology that can only discourage hope and enlightenment amongst the people here and serve the territorially expansionist policies of Israeli political and social institutions. The future of these areas is in the most tenuous balance. Waking up in the middle of the night to the sounds of marauding tanks has easily been enough to remind me that the dragon of imperial Israel can strike at any moment, as invasions and terror campaigns all too often here fall unannounced to these beleagured and historically oppressed people who consider themselves the inhabitants of the land of Palestine and the bearers of its cultural heritage. With the ever-increasing spectre of a belligerent and nearly unilateral US (or should we say US-based petroleum and weapons industry controlled government) war campaign in Iraq looming ever so closer the greatest fear running now is that the Ariel "the Butcher" Sharon-led Israeli government will take this war as a cover and distraction of international attention so as to somewhat emulate their Nazi oppressors of the past and enact what is being openly referred to in Israel as "Transfer", a situation whereby the remaining Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza Strip (perhaps even some of those residing in Israel itself) will be forcibly removed from their homes and deported to surrounding nations to live a diaspora life of resultant discrimination by their unwilling host countries, never to return and always to be oppressed. Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Iraq would be the countries of burden for Israel's zest for imperial colonization, and all are mollified by the prospect, all the while leaving the interests of the Palestinian people in the dust and for them to forever be relegated to dilapidated refugee camps. Obviously it goes without saying the such a "transfer" would not be without a heavy toll of lethal violence and destruction of property, surely resulting in heavy casualties of all ages. Is the world so cold and economical still to watch another holocaust in its midst? As the children of Palestine shout "How are you?" and "What's your name?" with bright-eyed zest to the few members of the international human community who have dared to come to step into their world, walk down the street together, and share in their struggles for life, liberty and pursuit of a peaceful world bound by a common humility and suffrage, they are waiting for an answer.--January 30, 2003
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