"An absolute honor to be able to be here now and participate in the resistance."

by Tycho in Jerusalem
April 11, 2002

Dear Friends,

It's late and i'm exhausted. Have spent the past 2 days in the northern part of the West Bank, dodging soldiers, meeting with torture victims and trying to find a way into Jenin. i want to get some news out to you but since i can barely keep my eyes open, this is not going to be very long or detailed.

The main message is that i have clearly arrived in time to witness the death throws of the Israeli Occupation and the Palestinians, to varying degrees, seem well aware that their revolution is "happening." There is no way that Israel can pull its forces out of the cities it continues to visciously occupy and have things return to the status quo. They have just gone too far, the outside world appears to have finally caught on to the deeper layers of what occupation itself means, and i don't see how, when the pullout occurs, they can revert to the previous closure or any other level of military control over Palestine. The people will simply not stand for it.

So, it is totally exciting and an absolute honor to be able to be here now and participate in the resistance. Unfortunately, there will be a lot more deaths on both sides before the war is over, and i have no intention of becoming an armed freedom fighter because the amount of work that internationals need to do in terms of human rights work, material support and documentation is crucial (on top of the fact that i don't want to engage in any violence OF COURSE).

The number of people who are now refugees from refugee camps is growing daily and will soon be in the thousands. The number of homeless, wounded and sick is already at that level, and if the IDF starts to launch attacks in Gaza, it is going to become an obscenely unacceptable number very quickly. The nature of the violence is insidious: from outright murder to theft of belongings, torture and total humiliation, terrorist stamps on ID cards, and so forth. What the
IDF is doing can only be characterized as total barbarism and there is a sense, being among the Palestinians, that this is being displayed in such extreme ways that one is tempted to even feel sorry for them, if only the anger and frustration did not override one's brain/sense of justice.

We were unable to get into Jenin because the IDF has the area totally blocked off. They had shot a palestinian in an area that yesterday would have allowed us a way in just an hour before we arrived there. A hour after we were in that area, six journalists approached the road block, were arrested, had their passports destroyed and no idea yet what's happened to them (One was from The Times UK). We tried a variety of potential access routes, but the army was shooting people every place we thought might be a possibility. i decided to return to Jerusalem and will go to Bethlehem tomorrow, either to be a source of support in the camps or ride around with ambulances.

Although i am definitely going to be putting myself in very high risk situations over the next while, especially if they attack Gaza while i am there to bring medical supplies, i feel so committed to countering the IDF that this seems to be washing over my fears. But it is important to understand that the israelis are not kidding around now: they have launched an all out war and they intend to see it through as victors. (the atmosphere is *extremely* different
that when i was here last winter) Oddly, things do not seem to be going as well as they planned and it will be interesting to see what happens as a result of Colin Powell's visit tomorrow. Reports i've gotten from Gaza and the detainees from Jenin indicate that people from all factions are solidy behind Arafat now - the solidarity i've encountered even if this short time is amazing, truly. 

There is also a widespread desire to get internationals into areas under attack, and i hope in the next few days to have an opportunity to write more about this phenomenon.

The other thing i want to say before closing is that what has been happening in Jenin will probably go down in history as the first major massacre and totally calculated large scale act of war crimes in the 21st century. We received reports this morning, as we were trying to find a way in, that the IDF is digging mass graves in an effort to cover up the hundreds of deaths inflicted. 

The accounts i heard last night make it clear that this has been a heightened version of Sabra & Shatila. So, we need to start demanding a full investigation now into Jenin and also work to prevent the assault on Gaza from starting, because surely once it gets underway, it will be nastier than any of us want to imagine is possible for so-called "civilized" human beings.

ok, that's all i can do right now. my return ticket is for the 21st - i would be more than happy to stay an additional week, if anyone wants to wire me some money:-) At the same time, Israel is a major military power and they are not going to admit defeat anytime soon (although the international community could potentially expedite things, and the israelis of course might find a way to oust Sharon, though this seems highly likely). There are small groups of internationals coming for short periods of time and two weeks will have been worth it for me, so please don't be annoyed by my mention of this - consider it an offer, if you want to have someone here you personally know, etc. cause i'd be more than happy to stay on a bit longer.

Love & Rage
Tycho
 

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