[WCUSP] A different kind of report

[Libby or Mort Frank]

The writer is from the Philly area.  Some of this information was new to me.

Libby

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Alissa Wise 
To: palestiniantalmud at yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2006 5:24 AM
Subject: [jvp-philadelphia] [palestiniantalmud] Closure


"When the judge is your enemy, to whom can you take your grievance?"

This Arab saying certainly rings true here in Palestine, from what see,
what I hear from Palestinians, and what I learned recently at a legal
training given by PCATI-the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel
(www.stoptorture.org.il/eng). Take for instance that under the Israeli
military justice system, the system under which Palestinians are subject,
Israeli prosecutors can bring "classified evidence" that will be used
against the Palestinian defendant but will not be revealed to the
defendant or the defendant's lawyer. Or, "administrative detention" under
which Palestinians are jailed indefinitely and without trial. Or, that a
Palestinian's attorney will often not be able to meet with the client
until minutes before the trial begins because the client is being held in
Israel and the attorney is in the West Bank and can not get a permit to
visit the client. Or, that Palestinians put under detention are routinely
(according to PCATI) not given a chance to make a phone call, their
families are not notified, they are not given access to attorney or
information about their rights (though Israel is required to do so under
the law). Or, that on July 9, 2004, the International Court of Justice
ruled that the separation wall was illegal, and that Israel should
dismantle it and it currently remains under construction through Kifl
Haris, for example, a village of over 4,000 people, where it will separate
some 16 households from the rest of the village, and the village from over
60% of its farmland.

Issa, our neighbor and friend who lives in a wheelchair after being shot
by the Israeli army when he was out making sure all of the village's
children were safe during an army incursion, reminds us that the peace
that the Palestinians are struggling for must be built on justice and
freedom. Peace is a third step, found only after we have laid the
foundations for it.

Today I woke up to children laughing and playing in the yard next door,
the sounds of birds, sheep, goats and donkeys, and the news that the West
Bank has realized what many had been fearing-general closure. Defense
Minister Amir Peretz announced today that until Saturday night the West
Bank and Gaza are closed, completely. That means no movement for
Palestinians in or out. It remains to be seen if this will include
humanitarian cases as well. This type of collective punishment, used when
there is fear of or there has been an attack in Israel, is routine here.
Nevertheless, the closure and the reminder you are at the whim of the
Israeli government, stings.

Thankfully, between all of this gruesome news, there is something
encouraging--the first conscientious objector to the fighting in Lebanon
has stepped forward--Staff Sergeant Itzik Shabbat,a 28 year old from
Sderot(www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/740241.html). He said yesterday to
Haaretz: "I know people will attack me and ask how could I not take part
in this war when Qassams are falling on my hometown and Katyushas on the
towns in the north, in my opinion, only this type of opposition that I've
chosen will put an end to the madness that is going on now and will
shatter the false feeling that the entire home front supports this
unnecessary war that is based on deceptive considerations. Someone has to
be the first to break the silence and it will be me. It is a shame that my
order was signed by another Sderot resident, Defense Minister Amir
Peretz."

Finally, I am sad to report that because of my family's deep concern for
my safety, I am returning home early. Though I do not feel at risk here
and would prefer to stay longer, I am not willing to make my family
miserable by staying. This was a difficult decision to make and one I do
not feel good about, it is with great sorrow and frustration that I leave
here.

Especially today with the news of general closure, I feel embarrassed to
leave; as an American, I am free to move, free to leave this place when
the going gets tough, while my Palestinian friends and neighbors are stuck
here, indefinitely (my American privilege is particularly evident at
checkpoints where the Israeli soldiers check each and every Palestinian's
ID and the passports of my Spanish and Canadian colleagues, and as soon as
they see the front of my passport they are satisfied, they don't even look
inside to see if it is really mine). This evening, I will have no problem
getting to the airport, for me it's as easy as hopping in a yellow-plated
(Israeli) car (driven by an Iranian man who, though not Jewish, was,
bizarrely, resettled in Israel and then put by Israel into Ariel, a nearby
Jewish settlement, where he is one of the only non-Jews; he tells me that
he's completely ostracised by the community). The truth is that this
substantial privilege I carry is not news--Palestinians are not permitted
to travel to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem even on a "normal" day.

Though it is with a heavy heart that I pack my bags and say goodbye to
Palestine (for now-I will be back soon), I leave finding hope in the news
that the Salfit region's Popular Committee Against the Wall is gearing up
for a series of non-violent demonstrations against the Wall coming through
Kifl Haris. I find hope in the news that this same group is currently
organizing to start the first ever newspaper of the Palestinian
non-violent resistance movement which they plan to print in Arabic,
Hebrew, and English. And, as I head home I look forward to carrying out
the mandate given to me by nearly every Palestinian I have met--bringing
back all I have seen and learned to Americans; telling the truth about
what life is like here in Palestine, under occupation.

-Alissa

p.s. Still want to get reports from Palestine? Check out:
www.loveandjusticeinpalestine.blogspot.com



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