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Manifestazioni |
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Di 06.03.12
20 h
Bern, Le Cap (Französische Kirche), Nicolas Manuel-Saal, Predigergasse 3
Marlène Schnieper Nakba – die offene Wunde
[piu ...]
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A Personal Account from Ramallah
April 17, 2002 |
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by Islah Jad |
Dear friends everywhere,
So quiet in Ramallah these days, but we keep hearing from time to time explosions when the army detonates doors of ministries, schools, kindergartens, development agencies and houses. Tonight, it is exceptionally noisy. We started the day while still under curfew since 19 days, by hearing sirens coming from nearby settlements to commemorate the 'Independence Day', it is the same day we call it the Nakba day (disastrous day), the two names denote the same thing, the day of the creation of the state of Israel which led to the expulsion of over a million Palestinian out of their homes and fields. To add insults to injuries, we hear since over one hour now the explosions of fire works coming from near by settlements to celebrate fully the Independence Day and forcing their celebration on us. Following the Palestinian habit in shooting in air as a sign of defiance or joy, I hear now the same shooting but with heavy machine guns to make the celebration tastes diffident for the besieged Palestinians. Very frustrating and humiliating.
Yesterday Monday, April 15, they lift the curfew for few hours, this time I forgot about demonstrating and decided to get some food for my family. I missed eating meat so I decided to go and see if there is a way to get some. Also, my husband is diabetic and he cannot eat white bread but rather whole wheat bread, so finding some brown bread for him was my second important task. Having some meat was not an easy task since all slaughter houses depend on municipalities to get their meat checked and permitted. It seems that slaughtering sheep or cows need time and functioning facilities which is not available for both municipalities in Ramallah and al Bireh. I saw only two butchers were open, one in al Bireh main market and the second in down town Ramallah. It seems that they slaughter animals in their own houses. I had to wait for an hour to get some meat. While I was waiting, women were telling their stories, one said, thank god my neighborhood is quiet, it is a new upper middle class area and we did not see them often. An old woman holding a cross in her neck was blaming the butcher that she used to be called 'za'ima', (boss or leader) welcomed by coffee and nice reception, but now since one hour she is standing and no body even looked at her. She was not answered; they are too busy serving the crowd. Then, she turned to me, yes, they came to my house tomorrow, I am an old woman with my husband and they want to search my house for what, they want to steal not searching, but I did not keep my tongue in my mouth, I gave them a very cold shower, I told them you steal our belongings to make us beggars, we will never tend our hands to you, not for our rights nor for our living, we will stand up again and take our rights. He did not like me talking it seems, she says, then he pushed me aside, see my arm with these bruises, but I don't care they will not make me feel afraid. What is the time, she asks, they said that they lift the curfew from 9-2p.m is it right, no body knows, we are so lost between Israeli time and Palestinian time, we have no authority now to tell us what time we have to follow (she is referring to the uncoordinated change of time between Israelis and Palestinians, the Israelis advanced one hour to initiate the summer time while the Palestinians did not, it seems that they forgot about it in their siege and we still follow winter time till a further notice..). They shoot to tell us that our time came to an end, I said. But they are so bloody, said the woman, they know that people get up late now since they don't go to work or schools, they used to lift the curfew in the afternoon but why this time at 9 and not at 12 as all the times before, I did not have an answer.
I went to a nearby baker, all his family was in his help, the wife and the daughter were helping in preparing the dough, the son serves the long line by putting the very hot loaves in bags, and the father was backing. One hour to get 10 loaves of whole wheat bread. I felt so satisfied and happy, I got what I wanted. I went with my daughter Yassmine then to buy some fresh vegetables, it was late, almost nothing left, I felt internally happy, all fresh vegetables and fruits are Israeli product, second class product, even some vegetables are decaying. I kept thinking in our poor peasants in the Jordan Valley and in Jenine and Nablus, what happened to their product, this is the time to collect their tomatoes, zucchini, egg plans and many other vegetables, it will be rotten now. A woman entered the shop in a hurry, do you have any green herbs, parsley, or menthe, asked the woman, oh, no forget about it, they come from Nablus or from villages around Ramallah, said the shopkeeper. In my way back I met my son Maher with some friends, he looked tense, look what I found on the ground, asked my son, Jad's key with his medal, in the same place where he was shot dead. I tried to change the subject, he does not want to forget about him, he is hunted by his memory all the time till he got so depressed, he does not talk, he does not eat well and he does sleep well. I met also Saleh, my husband, he was looking for brown bread too, I found some, I said, he looked satisfied. All of us went to look for some yogurt in Azhiman shop, forget about it, nothing left, said the man. You are late, it is almost 11, he said, yes but we had to get other things, you have to set your priorities, I said. We go back home, in the way we were covered by dust, eye lashes, hair, face and hands, you feel that you come back from a battle field. Suad was waiting for me, she was taking pictures for the newly destroyed walls in our street. Every time the army comes, they destroy a wall to block the street, they destroyed three walls in our area, all are from old beautiful stones.
Back again to our prison, Saleh was yelling, this girl does not want to do anything, he was yelling at Sireen,our middle naughty daughter, but she is not here I said, he just wanted to yell. Calm down Saleh and come smoke a cigarette with me, says Suad, come and tell me what will happen next, Saleh starts analyzing the situation and forgot about his anger. Tania, my friend's sister was telling me the other day, thank god my husband is blocked in Amman otherwise in this situation he would go crazy and would drive us crazy too, men cannot cope easily with this situation, we women proved to be more flexible and patient, we have to mange our families and our lives otherwise we will be lost. Suad was worried, she does not want to exceed the time given to us, she asks me again about the time and if it is from 9-2 Palestinian time or Israeli time, again I had no answer.
Your phone is always busy keep saying my friends. Zahira said, finally I got you, your phone is always busy, then she starts her long talk. Yes, I went to Jenine and whatever I tell you is not at all like seeing, the Israelis allowed a group of humanitarian organizations with UNRWA (UN agency for the relief of Palestinian refugees), and the Red Cross. The camp was in ruin, they did not let us approach it. We went to visit a group of people, they put them in Jenine charitable society after forcing them to evacuate their homes, very big crowd, all on top of each other, it is like you put 20 people in one square meter, unbelievable. We took with us some oil, sugar, spaghetti, but some women were mocking about us telling us with bitterness, how we can use them, where, we took nothing from our houses, we don't want food, we want you to bring our children, just give us water to drink. They wanted to talk, to tell their stories, said Zahira. A woman in her forties, the wife of the Imam of Jenin's mosque (Sheikh Mohamed al Sa'adi) told me that they announced with loud speakers that all men from the age 15, should come out. My husband thought that being an Imam, will spare him some humiliation, and he cannot leave his old paralyzed mother, she cannot walk, she has to be carried and non of us can carry her. He decided to stay with us. Then they called for women to come out, we left together. He was carrying his mother and me and our two daughters followed him. They stopped him and told him, why did you come out when we called upon women and not men, are you a man or a woman, let us check and be sure that you are a man. They asked him to take off all his clothes including his underwear, and to turn around, then forced him to carry his mother and walk naked in front of me and his two daughters till we reached this place.
I met a very bright girl her name is Maysoon al Jad'a, said Zahira, she is a science student in her third year in al Najah university in Nablus and lives in Harat al Hawashin (the most affected area by the Israeli shelling in the Jenine camp), she told me that the next door neighbors, a family of 5 person were listening to the Radio in order to know what is going on and if the international pressure will stop their massacre, suddenly we heard a sharp whistle of the spiral movement of a missile, we thought that it is going to hit us, we all squeezed to the wall, getting so close to each other and started to read Quran as we are going to die, then it hit, not us but our neighbors, the five of them, all died, we kept knowing on their wall hoping to get an answer but nothing came out only deadly silent, then the soldiers entered their house and put the radio on some Hebrew music, we all cried when we heard the music. Did you film any of what happened to you from inside the camp, ask her Zahira, yes, I had a friend who was trained to film and had a video camera, but it seems that they saw her, she was hit first by a bullet in her eye, then a shell take away her arm and her leg and I don't know what happened to her, I don't know if she is still alive or dead. While Zahira was talking to Maysoon, another woman called her, I saw you bringing some food stuff with you, what we need is not your food now, said the woman. What do you need then, asked Zahira, she looked so upset, the air was suffocating, and the place was so crowded, she raised the tail of her dress discreetly and told her, look, I have my period since three days now and I cannot change my sanitary towels, there is no privacy here, I have no sanitary towels, no electricity, no water and we are under curfew, since three days we cannot leave this place, even animals when they have their menstruation, they go to the nature to clean themselves up, but we cannot, said the woman.
Dr. Salwa gave me two calls this morning, she was so upset and sad, a dear friend of hers in Nablus lost his new born baby. Dr. Ali al Sha'ar used to work as neonatology in al Makkasid hospital in Jerusalem but now works for Save the Children organization in Nablus. His wife, Tahani, 32, is diabetic and she had six times miscarriage. The couple lives in an area still under curfew in Nablus, Tahani was 32 weeks pregnant and she was praying all the time to give birth when they lift the curfew to be in the hospital. But for her bad luck she got a premature labor and Dr. Sha'ar was with Salwa over the phone to help him in getting an ambulance to take his wife to the hospital, Salwa sent him twice an ambulance but were not allowed to reach his house. Then she put him in contact with Dr. Khamash, a neotology in al Makkasid to be with him in this difficult moments. Dr. Sha'ar helped his wife to deliver, the baby was born alive at 7 p.m but was in need for an incubator, impossible to find in his house, but he was so happy to have a baby after all this wait, the couple gave the baby the name of Ossaid. But, at midnight, the baby had apnea, and has difficulty to breath, the father tried mouth to mouth breathing, but at no avail, the baby died in silence but the father was in rage, Sharon killed my son, I saved many lives but I could not save the life of my own baby, said Dr. Sha'ar.
I hear the news, 'we are the most moral army in the world, to keep our morals intact we risked the lives of our soldiers' says Major Efrat Segev, Public Relations Branch in the Israeli 'Defense Forces', we allowed ambulances to enter Jenine camp but the Palestinians refused to let them go, they wanted to pile the bodies of their dead to use them for their propaganda. We risked the lives of our soldiers because we did not want to harm civilians, we could use F.16 to finish the 'job' in one hour, but we did not. As Amira Huss wrote in her article in Ha'artz (an Israeli newspaper) this week, if the F.16 bombs cannot differentiate between armed men and civilians, that is why they claim they did not use it, how apache missiles, tank shells and ground missiles would differentiate. I was saying to myself, but why they used the F.16 to bombard Nablus, a Norwegian friend told me, may be because they want to 'finish' their biblical archeological search underneath the old city of Nablus, that is why they have to destroy it first. I feel every day that I am killed twice, one by the atrocities taking place on the ground, and the second by the distortion of these realities, how can they go that far in their lies, how come they can foolish the world this way?.
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