What is the situation on the ground in Palestine right now?
by Brian Wood
9/17/01
* Brian Wood is a member of CCMEP living in the West Bank since May of this year. To read the rest of his articles, go to: www.ccmep.org/brianwood/main.html
The media has repeatedly showed video footage of Palestinians dancing in the streets after the attacks in the US. The little footage that is shown is presented as representative of the Palestinian people as a whole, rather than confined to those who were celebrating. It works like this: video is shown of a handful of Palestinians dancing while what is being said by the reporter is something to the effect of "Palestinians celebrate attacks in US." We must be very careful of moving from the few that are shown to the Palestinians as a whole. This step, which is not clearly distinguished in the reports I have watched, must be avoided at all costs. These types of generalizations fuel grave misunderstanding that leads to further conflict.
Further, little has been shown on the news about the several efforts to show support for the US by Palestinians. Friday night the 14th, there was a vigil by Palestinians with candles and signs of support for the US in this difficult time. Estimates were between 3 and 500 Palestinians marched from the Damascus Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, the main Palestinian gate into the Old City, to the American Consulate in East Jerusalem. In Ramallah, also on Friday, the weekly demonstrations protesting the occupation of their land included signs and pictures in support and sympathy of the US. Many have donated blood, including President Arafat, to be sent to the US. Overall, the portrayal of the Palestinians in these last days has been to exaggerate the dirt and hide the much larger positive sides of this community. However, those of us who live with the Palestinians see this as routine.
Personally, every Palestinian I have met since last Tuesday has offered condolences when they knew I was from the US. They are deeply moved by the attacks, sometimes even more than I am. One shopkeeper talked with me for 10 minutes about his grief over what happened in New York and Washington DC.
The outpouring of support by Palestinians for the US comes at a time when they are in the midst of enormous suffering themselves. Over the last one year, they have lost 650 persons, most of them civilians and dozens of them children and babies. Thousands of their homes have been bombed and shelled or plain bulldozed by Israel. They have lost numerous political leaders and activists to assassination by the State of Israel and are daily subject to dehumanization at the some 260 Israeli checkpoints that control their every step. In the agricultural sector, the heart of the Palestinian economy, the Israeli military or Israeli settlers have destroyed 400,000 of their fruit producing trees, 765 goats and sheep, 53 cattle, some 70,000 chickens, and 2220 beehives, and at least 10,000 acres of farmland, all in only ten months. Water wells, irrigation tanks, barns, fencing, and water reservoirs have not been spared either. Total losses just in the agricultural sector in the same period are $325 million. The total estimated losses of the Palestinians as a result of Israeli measures is estimated at over $5 billion.
The immediate situation on the ground is one of exploitation by Israel. Ha'aretz, a main Israeli daily, referred to a senior Israeli diplomatic source who said "the terror strikes in the US had given Israel a much greater degree of freedom when it came to political and military pressure on the Palestinian Authority." More particularly, the same source said, "we are operating in Jenin, and nobody's complaining." He was referring to the Israeli military invasion that has been taking place in the Palestinian town of Jenin since midnight Tuesday, some 12 hours before the attacks in the US. In the first 48 hours there were 12 Palestinians killed and over 100 injuries as tanks rolled through the center of town, firing into homes and directly at the shirtless men trying to defend the city. Other Israeli military officials "admitted [Wednesday] that the extensive drive into the Jenin area. . . was conducted against the backdrop of Tuesday's terror attack in the US." With over 5000 people officially missing or declared dead, including 120 Israelis, these comments and this week's Israeli invasions into Palestinian controlled areas can be explained as nothing short of exploitation of not only US losses, Israel's number one ally, but their own.
This exploitation of great human suffering taking place in the US and around the world continues each night. The last two nights (Friday the 14th and Saturday the 15th) Israeli tanks have rolled into the Palestinian city of Ramallah. Our sleep was interrupted at 3 a.m. last night by the sound of heavy machine gun fire, tank shells, and attack helicopters being fired against the Palestinian area called El-Tireh, in the western portions of Ramallah. In at least two other portions of Ramallah, Israeli tanks invaded last night. I am writing this as the sun sets on Sunday night, the 16th, and word on the streets is the Israelis are coming back for more tonight. The mood in most of Palestine is quite grim now because US pressure against Israel is the most substantive weapon they have--they have not the means to defend themselves. Unfortunately, that weapon is busy right now, tending to its own wounds.
Why are some Palestinians cheering at these attacks against the US?
After watching at least 25 hours of coverage on several different satellite channels from Tuesday until Sunday, I have seen only one video clip of Palestinians celebrating. This is the first problem with the claim that Palestinians are dancing over the attacks in the US: there is only one clip to show. Second, concerning the content of the clip, there are three or four young boys and one woman, probably in her early 50's, who are cheering in the scene. I understand why so many people are writing to me, asking why Palestinians are dancing. After watching the news all afternoon today, the same clip has been played at every half-hour broadcast on BBC. With such frequency it is no wonder everyone in the West is thinking the Palestinians are enjoying watching the US suffer.
Honestly, I am amazed that not more Palestinians are celebrating the attacks on the US. For over 50 years, the US has supported Israel, who has continually crushed the Palestinians. Since 1967 the US has given 77 million dollars to Israel. Each year Israel receives a $3 billion military grant, not to mention economic, humanitarian, intelligence, and other forms of aid on top of that. These monies build Israel, who then take more from the Palestinians, and have created the enormous disproportion in power, capabilities, and living standards between the two groups. For example, US aid to Israel has helped boost the Israeli military to the fourth largest in the world. Meanwhile, the Palestinians have no military at all. The most significant weapon they have is an M-16. The Israelis, on the other hand, have a full navy, air force, and ground troops, including F-16s and attack helicopters. It is precisely these latter items that are used against the Palestinians with such absurdity when one realizes that their targets have only M-16s.
This raises the issue of power. When one is as powerless as the Palestinians in defending themselves, co-joined with over 50 years of total subjection to Israeli decisions regarding their freedom to move, to travel through their airport, to get to their jobs, to arrive at hospitals in times of emergencies, to reach their lands and harvest their crops, etc., one feels very helpless. This helpless group feels some measure of relief of their own suffering when those that have been the largest impetus for their suffering take a hit. However, Palestinians I have encountered do not feel this way at all. They feel great sorrow for the situation in the US, and as they continue to say in public statements put forth by various groups, the Palestinians, of all people, can understand well what it means to lose innocent civilians and can empathize with the US at this time. This is the overwhelming response of people in Palestine.