Current “Coexistence”: Prayer and Death for Palestinians
The “war” in Middle East is really a fight between the Israeli army and the Palestinian civilians.
By Nancy Stohlman in Bethlehem
April 8, 2002
Appeared at www.PalestineChronicle.com
At five o’clock in the morning I heard a barrage of gunfire coming from Manger Square. Sadly, I ‘m becoming desensitized, rather than flinching. I just sighed and the sides of my mouth drooped. Arabic words droned from a loud speaker and I assumed it was the call to prayer, funny how prayer and death can coexist.
After breakfast, the internationals around Bethlehem were planning to join a march of clergy towards Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity. Because it was Sunday and because of the presence of the clergy, I hoped that many of the townspeople would also join the spiritual demonstration, but over breakfast we discovered the broadcasting was actually the Israeli military announcing that they would shoot anyone who went out into the streets. Although most of us decided that this warning was probably a military bluff, we all agreed that we didn’t want to take a bullet in the thigh to find out. Following the disappointing news, my body finally broke down on me, and I found myself drinking vitamin C from bed.
The atmosphere in the hotel ranges from jumpy and nervous to downright bored. We all feel trapped. The lobby is constantly filled with press people in flak jackets. The internationals walk from room to room in stocking feet, within an illusion of safety. We all feel helpless and starved for fresh air. I had to start eating meat, as there is no room to be a vegetarian, when you’re working on rations from the freezer and dying for dairy products.
Everyday we sit and watch CNN or the BBC reporting the news that is less than a mile away. We watch the tanks roll down our street from the TV screen too afraid to go outside or stand too close to windows. It means a great deal to us whenever we see the reports of worldwide demonstrations and it is equally disheartening when we learn that the U.S. media doesn’t spend enough time reporting those sorts of things.
Last night in Tel Aviv, two thousand people demonstrated, including some of our internationals who had left Bethlehem in the convoys. Our biggest fears are that the “Arafat compound story” or the “Church of the Nativity story” will become a “rap” in media lingo and the world will stop paying attention to the daily horror and humiliation to the Palestinian people.
In a nutshell, Paul LaRudee, of California, reminded me that the prospective of “war” in the Middle East itself is biased. War implies the fight between two armies, but the Palestinians don’t even have an army. The “war” in Middle East is really a fight between the Israeli army and the Palestinian civilians.
We in the U.S. seem to believe that the “conflict” is equal sided. A few dissident Palestinians with crude or homemade weapons get more press than the perpetual massacre of the Palestinian people and while it is horrible for me think of innocent Israelis being killed by surprise bombs—it made me ill at breakfast to hear of Palestinian women and children being tied to tanks in Jenin as bait for the Palestinian men. I’m waiting for any news station to report that in half a day Israeli troops leveled most of the buildings in Jenin and slaughtered a hundred people.
Nancy Stohlman is one of five Coloradans in Palestine in solidarity with Palestinians under siege by the Israeli military. More information about their trip can be found at www.ccmep.org/palestine.html