May 25, 2009 - Wendy is going to Palestine (again)

Dear friends,
Soon I will be leaving to travel to Palestine once again as an international human rights volunteer. I will be working for the International Women's Peace Service (IWPS - www.iwps.info) in Hares, a village in the northern part of the West Bank. IWPS provides international accompaniment to Palestinian civilians, documents and nonviolently intervenes in human rights abuses, and supports Palestinians in their nonviolent resistance to end the illegal Apartheid Wall and the brutal Israeli military occupation.

As Tanya Reinhart (Israeli academic) said before she died, it is crucial for internationals to join Palestinians on the ground defending their land. Although the situation only gets worse with more and more land theft, I cannot help but to hold on to hope.

For an interesting recent article about land theft (aka settlements) see Max Blumenthal's "Netanyahu's West Bank Nightmare"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/netanyahus-west-bank-nigh_b_206577.html

Home Again - July 2007

Dear friends and family,

Please forgive me that I have not written sooner to let you all know that I have returned home safely. I left Palestine last Thursday morning and arrived in San Francisco Saturday afternoon. (It took that long because I didn't leave Amman, Jordan until Friday and then missed my connection in New York on Friday night.) I am now settling back into my comfortable life, however, I have been at a surprisingly low energy and the jet lag seems harder to overcome than ever before. It must be because I am pushing 50. At least I'll use that as my excuse for the delay in writing to you.

Thank you for letting me share my journey with you. This is my fourth trip to Palestine in a little over five years and although I've begun to wonder if international volunteers are actually helping the Palestinians, I know that regardless of how pathetic or futile our efforts, a significant contribution that we do make is to tell their stories. Palestinians chafe under the knowledge that they are perceived as terrorists by the majority of the world, even as they feel so unjustly victimized. So I am very grateful to you for listening.

Even though I will no longer be reporting to you, the stories continue. In fact the day I left the IWPS house one of the farmers that I had met was badly beaten by a settler while he was herding his goats. If you want to continue to be informed about what is happening on the ground you can check the IWPS website

http://www.iwps.info/

or the ISM website

http://www.palsolidarity.org/

If you want more official versions of the situation you can check out the PA run Palestinian National Information Centre which releases monthly statistics http://www.pnic.gov.ps/english.html

or the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights which releases weekly reports

http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/2007/19-07-2007.htm

or B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories

http://www.btselem.org/english

The PNIC report for the month of June documented that the Israeli army killed 49 Palestinians, wounded 47, arrested 383 and carried out 765 invasions in Palestinian communities. I can only hold on to the hope that historical events can take everyone by surprise and things can change overnight.

Love,Wendy

Susiya

Nablus under Invasion

Home Demolition in Al Funduq

Yesterday we went to document the story of a family in Al Funduq whose home was demolished last Thursday. The report is on the IWPS website (Human Rights Report No. 333 written by yours truly) if you want to read it.
http://www.iwps.info/

The first picture here is of their old home.

Then second is their new home.

The third is telling their story.

The last picture here is them making tea for us in their new home. (the tent)

Other assorted odds and ends:

Susiya Petition
Last week I talked about the village of Susiya in the South Hebron Hills where the villagers face the possible eviction from their lands for the 5th time. Ta’ayush has also created an online petition to protest this injustice. Please consider signing their petition.
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Susya67/petition.html

Hamastan or Hamas’ Stand?
Polls indicate that only 1-3% of Palestinians want an Islamic state in Palestine. So why did Hamas win so big? And why do they still retain some popularity? This link takes you to the July 10, 2007 Los Angeles Times where an official of the movement describes Hamas’ goals for all of Palestine. He cleverly calls his excellent article “Hamas' stand”.http://exchange.ips-dc.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-marzook10jul10,0,1675308.story?coll=la-tot-opinion%26track=ntottext

Artas Demonstration - Video of Awad entreating soldiers
Here is a link to another video for you to enjoy. This one is entitled
“Awad Asking Soldiers Permission to Visit His Own Land”
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-344645899062047376
Description: During a demonstration at Artas, a village in the West Bank of Palestine one of the organizers and land owner faces a line of Israeli soldiers in riot gear. After explaining that they are brothers who all just want peace, he asks permission to visit his own land that was confiscated just weeks earlier. The Settlement above the wadi that his land is in wants to use the wadi for drainage. (Presumably for sewage as other settlements have done.)

Tree Planting in Tel, a village near Nablus

I realize that I never told you what happened when I went to Tel, a village near Nablus to help a farmer plant trees on his own land that he’s been denied access to for the last 3 years. (The military may shoot or the even more dire threat is settlers with attack dogs and knives.) If he doesn’t plant soon, the land will be confiscated for laying fallow. I am happy to report that we were able to help him plant 20 trees. Further actions are being planned to plant 80 more.

Awad with his son