The Palestinian people, not the Israelis, live in fear.

by Larry Hales in East Jerusalem

May 2, 2002

What goes on in this part of the world is in no way just.  The Israeli government has and continues to usurp Palestinian land.  There are some people in the Israeli government that want nothing more than the complete removal of the Palestinians--those that do have been adamant about it.  

As I travel around this extremely beautiful land, even the sky shows its age, I am both amazed and enraged.  How has this continued
for so long?  Before I came here I would talk to Americans and they would say, well, you've never been and you don't understand the dynamics of the place--this from people that have themselves never come here.  

I'm here now and I can back up my arguments by the things that I have seen and the events have taken place since I've been here. This is nothing more than an occupation and, partly, an attempt to remove the Palestinian inhabitants.

I came here to at least bear witness and I have.  The Palestinian people, not the Israelis, live in fear. They live in this fear everyday waking day; it seems as if it is closer to them than the skin they live in--it is the air they breath.  I feel the fear with them.  The fear is of getting back to normal life and then having the soldiers return, the streets blocked off, curfews and family members taken or killed in the
middle of the night.  

I have visited with families in Hebron.  They had their sons, brothers, nephews and fathers taken away early Monday morning.  They had their property destroyed and stolen.  This is not on the news in America.  This was not a ploy by these people to gain sympathy.  I saw the homes and pictures of the boys.  This is their reality and their reality is ours because we have a human bond.  They don't want
the destruction of Israel.  Many of the people actually thought that I was an Ethiopian Jew and they treated me like family.  

I watch as children break curfew, to look at us and greet us, and I watch as they think they hear a tank and run for cover while yelling De bebba, De bebba.  These are people that want respect and a chance to live normal lives just like the Israeli citizens that live next to them, and the Israeli citizens live normal lives from what I can tell, but they can't.

Today, we are planning another action and I hope that it will go well.  At home, I pray that the media is becoming less one sided.  I have not been able to watch the news much; so, I cannot tell from here.  I also pray that everyone is well.

Take care.

Larry

* Larry Hales is one of four members of the Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace in Palestine with many internationals in solidarity with nonviolent resistance to Israel's illegal military occupation. More on their trip at: www.ccmep.org/palestine.html