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Eyewitness Photos of Colorado Delegations to Palestine Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace * CCMEP 901 West 14th Avenue, Suite 7 * Denver, CO 80204 720-956-0700 * ccmep@hotmail.com * www.ccmep.org Part of the International Solidarity Movement |
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12/13/01: Missile attack on police station.
12/13/01: Quaker school bombed.
12/18/01: Mock "die-in" in front of Israeli tanks.
12/18/01: Val Phillips speaking to Yasser Arafat.
12/19/01: Produce being moved from truck to truck or roadblock.
12/19/01: Val Phillips standing close to bubbling pool of raw sewage.
12/20/01: Activists digging and removing earthen roadblocks.
12/21/01: Palestinian men, removing a stone from a roadblock, Ben Scribner with Stop the Siege sign.
12/22/01: An Israeli tank blocking the road from Tel Village to Nablus.
12/25/01: Christmas Day Events
12/27/01: International Solidarity Movement and others stand in front of Israeli army vehicles.
12/27/01: At the Israeli army checkpoint at Surda, Palestine, and students being searched.
12/29/01: Coloradans with 150+ Internationals Take Over Israeli Military Checkpoint
12/31/01: Peaceful demonstration in Bethlehem
12/31/01: Pictures of March held December 31, 2001
01/02/02: Photos of Palestinian Teenagers Killed and Mutilated by Israeli Military
01/03/02: Photos from Gaza
01/04/02: Photos from Gaza
12/13/01: "The December 13th Israeli missile attack in Ramallah was focused on this building: the police station. Next door, also struck by a missile, is the Quaker School for boys. The police building sufferend massive damage, the school's windows were shattered and one room sustained heavy damage. No one was apparently physically injured. The police station and school are in the heart of Ramallah."
12/13/01: The pictures above are of the
Palestinian Quaker School bombed by the Israeli military on Dec. 13th, 2001.
Attack occurred in the middle of the night and no one was injured. Had
students been in class it's easy to speculate that dozens would have been
injured if not worse. The projectile in the middle of the photo is the
remnants of the missile, with English writing on it. Val Phillips, one of
the Colorado delegates, taught at this school from 1992-94. Her former
classroom's windows were heavily damaged, glass spewn all around
the room."
12/18/01: To protest the Israeli invasion of tanks into the West Bank city of Ramallah, over three dozen internationals did a mock "die-in" to block any further advance of the tanks. Just moments before an Israeli soldier came out of the tank's hatch and fired his M-16 into the air, apparently a warning.(photo courtesy of Bill Shumaker)
Left: 12/18/01 - Palestinian Pres. Yasser Arafat speaking to meeting of International Solidarity Movement participants. About 75 internationals were present, mostly from the United Kingdom and the US. Also there was representation from Israel, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Ireland, Greece and Jordan.
Right: 12/18/01: Val Phillips (far right in red) addressing Pres. Yasser Arafat (left at table) with a solidarity message at a very recently scheduled meeting. Afterwards Pres. Arafat brought us lunch, including pizza.
12/18/01: Israeli soldiers harassing Palestinian man by searching the man's trunk at the Qalandia checkpoint just north of Jerusalem. This is totally in the West Bank and not near the border of Palestine and Israel.
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1. 12/19/01: What some internationals called the "Fog March" was just another day for Palestinians surviving occupation. Dense fog combined with muddy, rocky paths created a surreal picture. Because the Israeli military has illegally erected numerous roadblocks and checkpoints, including one near the Palestinian refugee camp of Al-Jaluzon (between Ramallah and Bir Zeit), Palestinians going to school, work and hospital must walk around all these obstacles. (photo courtesy of George Roussopoulos)
2. & 3. 12/19/01: Internationals and Palestinians walking through a foggy, muddy wasteland as a means to get around an Israeli military barrier blocking the road. (photo courtesy of Bill Shumaker).
4. 12/19/01: George Roussoupolos, of Greece, taking a break as internationals
trudge over muddy, rocky dirt roads to see what life is life for average
Palestinians.(photo courtesy of Bill Shumaker)
Back to index.
1. 12/19/01: Palestinian man from the village of Deir Istya in Salfit Province standing on his produce truck as two dozen internationals help him and other local Palestinians move crates of produce from one truck to another over a recently erected earthen blockade by the Israeli military.
2. 12/19/01: View of two trucks backed up to each other so it is easier to move crates of produce from one truck to another. Why? The Israeli military recently illegally erected an earthen barrier prohibiting vehicles from freely going in and out of the village of Deir Istya. There are dozens of such roadblocks that have been recently erected by Israel which hurt the rural villages immensely.
3. and 4. 12/19/01: International volunteers help local Palestinians from the village of Deir Istya move crates of produce from one truck to another over a recently erected illegal earthen roadblock by Israel. Produce included tomatoes, eggplant, avocados, cauliflower, cabbage and cucumbers.(photo #4 courtesy of Bill Shumaker)
12/19/01: Val Phillips standing close to a bubbling pool of raw sewage that is emptying into a creek which provides water to Palestinian villages in the West Bank. The source of the sewage is the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Ariel the oldest and largest settlement in Salfit Province.
Left:
12/20/01: Netta Golan, Israeli activist,
digging and removing an earthen roadblock recently constructed by Israel. The
roadblock, among several dozen in the West Bank, prohibits the Palestinians of
Harris village from freely coming and going. An Israeli military checkpoint is
stationed 100 yards from the village, keeping a vigilant watch. Netta was along
with three dozen internationals who attempted to remove the roadblock.
Center: 12/20/01: Coloradan
Eric Blair scoping
out the best place to remove the large boulders that are part of a recently
constructed roadblock by the Israelis in the Palestinian village of Harris. Two
hours after removing large portions of two earthen roadblocks, Ben and three
dozen other internationals were met by a bull dozer which created a new
roadblock made of larger boulders.
Right: 12/21/01: Palestinian men of Deir Istya joined with internationals remove a large boulder atop a roadblock the Israeli military constructed two weeks ago. The roadblock had prohibited villagers from traveling freely. One villager told us they had to delay a wedding because of the roadblock. An hour after we removed the roadblock we were invited to this wedding.
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1. 12/20/01: An Israeli soldier deciding what to
do while three dozen internationals piece by piece, mostly using their bare
hands, dismantle a earthen roadblock recently constructed by Israel to maintain
security. For the villagers Israelis means living in fear of being shot without
warning, prohibited from freely traveling even out of their village, lost of
jobs and much more.
2. 12/20/01: Coloradans Eric
Blair, Val
Phillips and Mark Schneider walk past a roadblock they attempted to remove.
After three hours of work removing two roadblocks Israel called in a bulldozer
and created a third roadblock for the villagers of Harris in Salfit Province.
With a few more hours of work the internationals could remove the roadblocks but
the Israeli military maintains a 24 hour post 100 yards from the village, more
than 20 miles from the border of Israel.
3. 12/20/01: Internationals and Palestinians remove clumps of mud and rock and rubble at an illegal roadblock near the village of Yousof. (photo courtesy of Bill Shumaker)
4. 12/20/01: The first Palestinian vehicle to leave the village of Yousof after dozens of Palestinians and Internationals deconstructed an illegal roadblock. (photo courtesy of Bill Shumaker)
1. 12/21/01: Internationals, including Palestinians, work to remove a roadblock in the Palestinian village of Kifl-Hares. (photo: George Roussopoulos)
2. 12/21/01: Israeli police
arrest an Israeli after he attacked members of the international movement for
solidarity with Palestinians in the Palestinian village of Kifl-Hares near the West Bank
city of Nablus December 21, 2001. Activists of the movement demonstrated near
Palestinian villages against Israeli closure. REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini
Back to index.
Left:
12/21/01: Aisa Souf, the man in the wheelchair, told us that six months ago his
village, without provocation, was invaded by Israeli soldiers who fired tear gas
and sound bombs. When he attempted to gather the neighborhood children he was
shot by the soldiers who proceeded to kick his paralyzed body. After weeks in
intensive care and months of rehabilitation, he recently returned home. Formerly
a school gym teacher, his nine brothers support Aisa, his wife and their newborn
(in the picture held by Aisa's father.)
Center: 12/21/01: Palestinian men of Deir Istya
joined with internationals remove a large boulder atop a roadblock the Israeli
military constructed two weeks ago. The roadblock had prohibited villagers from
traveling freely. One villager told us they had to delay a wedding because of
the roadblock. An hour after we removed the roadblock we were invited to this
wedding.
Right: 12/21/01: Coloradan
Eric Blair holds this
sign as dozens of internationals and Palestinians remove the roadblock at Deir
Istya, Salfit province. Israeli soldiers, police and enraged settlers stopped
by, one settler, with a New York accent, said, You're all a bunch of losers.
Later, two settlers attacked the internationals, striking two people before they
were restrained by Israeli police.
Left: 12/22/01: An Israeli tank
blocking the road from Tel Village to Nablus. The main road from Ramallah
to Nablus was completely blocked off and thousands of Palestinians were walking
over a circuitous mountain pass to avoid the main road blockade. Our group
of internationals marched past the tanks with large Palestinian flags flying and
signs in Arabic and English demanding the end of occupation.
Back to index.
Left:
12/22/01: Val Phillips reveling in the joy of making it into Nablus, marching
triumphantly passed the Israeli tanks that had invaded the Nablus area two days
prior. The response from Palestinians was overwhelmingly positive. One
older man commented, Thank you so much for coming to be with us. At least
you walk with us.
Center: 12/22/01: Val
Phillips holding a Palestinian flag out our bus window as the people of Nablus
greet our arrival. In the center of the photo is one of the hundreds of
posters we saw of the Palestinian martyrs killed by Israel since the beginning
of the second Intifada, 15 months ago.
Right: 12/22/01: Netta
Golan, one of the key International Solidarity Movement organizers. She
was speaking to the Governor of Nablus Province about the Palestinian right to
resistance and how internationals could support them.
Back to index.
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1. 12/23/01: Israeli tank blocking the road from Nablus to Tel village. (photo: Leslie Whiting)
2. 12/23/01: The road into Nablus blocked an Israeli tank,
Palestinians have found ways to bypass the road, though it's much slower.
(photo credit: George Roussopoulos)
3. 12/23/01: Our group of 50 internationals attempted to put some special
messages on the Israeli tank. Here are a few signs of why we were there.
(photo credit: George Roussopoulos)
4. 12/23/01: As our group of
internationals encircles the tank and starts pasting on a sign, the tank begins
to roar and move, using it's turret to clear people. (photo credit: George Roussopoulos)
5. 12/23/01: After pasting
the message "Return to" the tank sped off in retreat. The internationals
regrouped and began marching after the tank. (photo credit: George Roussopoulos)
6. 12/23/01: Again
surrounding the tank internationals paste a picture of Deeb Al-Sarawi onto the side of the tank (a local Nablus
father-to-be that was killed a day prior, likely, by this exact tank) and
finished pasting the message, noting the tanks origin, "Return to Sender."
The tank then retreated completely out of view for 30 minutes. (photo credit:
George Roussopoulos)
7. 12/23/01:
Internationals walking towards Israeli tank blocking the road. (photo:
Leslie Whiting)
12/23/01: Home in Salfit that was partially demolished on
Dec. 14th, the same night and place where an Israeli death-squad murdered six
men. Several eyewitnesses saw Palestinian men lay down their guns, forced
to lay down on the ground and then summarily executed. Several homes in
Salfit were bulldozed by the Israeli military. Why? Collective
punishment.
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1. On Christmas, Coloradans
Val Phillips and Eric Blair join over 100 other internationals from a dozen
countries who supported over 1,000 Palestinians in their attempt to march from
Bethlehem to East Jerusalem (Al Quds) -- a distance of about 8 miles. Many
of the Palestians in the march had not been able to travel to Al Quds in more
than year. Israel bars Palestinians from leaving cities and towns, even on
Christmas.
2. 1000 Palestinians and
internationals from more than a dozen countries attempted to march from
Bethlehem to East Jerusalem (Al-Quds). Israel has prohibited Palestinians
from entering Al-Quds or to leave from one city to
another. At the march the Israeli soldiers forcibly prevented the marchers
from crossing the checkpoint, many of the Palestinians assembled had not
traveled the 6 miles in more than a year. Organizers with the Centre for
Rapprochement promised to bring thousands more to a Dec. 31st march to again
cross the checkpoint.
3. Annual Christmas march in
Beit Sahour (next to Bethlehem) had a distinctly human rights theme this year.
Banners included: "Jerusalem is also the holy land for Palestinians," "History
Repeats Itself: Yesterday Nero, Today Sharon" About 2,000 locals came out
for the candle-light march from Shepherd's Field to the old city of Beit Sahour.
About 1,000 continued on, with international support, to the Bethlehem
checkpoint for a
tense
stand-off.
4. Coloradans Beth Daoud and
Val Phillips take part in the annual Christmas march in Beit Sahour. The
march was led by a contingent of Palestinian teenagers playing bagpipes and a
drum corp. Over 2,000 locals
took part.
5. Israeli soldiers try to
stop a European youth during a protest against the closure of the Bethlehem
checkpoint December 25, 2001. The Israeli army checkpoint on the outskirts of
the town where Jesus was born marked more than just the usual line between
Israeli-controlled territory and Palestinian-run Bethlehem on Tuesday.
REUTERS/Magnus Johansson (Per Mark, he is from NYC, not Europe as the caption
says).
Back to index.
Left:
12/27/01: Members of the International Movement for Solidarity with Palestinian
People stand in front of Israeli Army vehicles during a demonstration to show
their support, in the West Bank City of Ramallah December 27, 2001. Israel said
on Thursday it would ban Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from travelling to
Bethlehem for next month's Greek Orthodox Christmas mass and launched a fresh
raid into his territory, seizing eight militants. REUTERS/Osama Silwadi
Back to index.
Far Left:
12/27/01: At the Israeli army checkpoint at Surda, Palestine, on the road from
Ramallah to Bir Zeit ("Palestinian-controlled areas"). Israeli soldiers
painted "Israel" on the barricade; protesters of the occupation
painted "End Apartheid." International observers estimated that between
1300 and 1800 Palestinians--including elderly women and men, and children--walk
through this checkpoint per hour.
2nd From Left:
12/27/01: Near the Israeli army checkpoint at Surda. Note the Palestinian
flag and other messages, especially that referring to education. Most of the
traffic through the Surda checkpoint are students and faculty of Bir Zeit
University. The soldiers at the checkpoint harass, intimidate, detain,
threaten and bar the way of students and faculty--especially males--trying to
reach the campus.
2nd From Right:
12/27/01: Israeli soldiers stop Palestinian students returning from Bir Zeit
University, and demand that they empty the books, notebooks, and clothing from
their bags. When asked by an international observer why they did this, the
soldiers gave no reason. They paid almost no attention to what the students
pulled from their bags.
Far Right: 12/27/01:
At the Surda checkpoint, Occupied Palestine, Israeli soldiers stop a Palestinian
ambulance with lights and sirens blaring, attempting to get Palestinian patients
to Ramallah. After checking the ID of the driver and searching the back,
the soldiers allowed the ambulance to pass.
Back to index.
12/29/01: COLORADANS WITH INTERNATIONALS TAKE OVER ISRAELI ILLEGAL MILITARY CHECKPOINT AT SURDA:
* Click on Photos for Larger Image
Daily life for Palestinians under military occupation: Having to walk a great distance between illegal Israeli military barriers, going from school and work to home.
A last-minute strategy session in progress, just moments before internationals would leave to nonviolently take-over the illegal Israeli military checkpoint near Surda (between Ramallah and Bir Zeit)
Group of 150+ internationals marching down to the military checkpoint – this checkpoint is a constant source of harassment and intimidation (the words seem weak compared to the reality) for students & others coming to and from Bier Zeit University, near Ramallah.
Liz,on right, from Michigan attempts to communicate with Israeli soldiers as they approach our line. Int’l media on left. Tension was mounting – two jeeps and an APC (armored personnel carrier) were forming up to challenge our thin line. We were only about 13 making a blockade so that students could liberate and dismantle the checkpoint about 300 yards up the road.
The view from the ground, where a dozen internationals lie down to block the Israeli military from re-taking their illegal checkpoint and further terrorizing Palestinians. Liz, from Michigan, attempts to communicate.
A cameraman with the Associated Press gets into position just before the Israesl military attacks our line.
Two Israeli military jeeps (and an APC in the background, center) sandwich a Palestinian taxi-van, just seconds before the soldiers throw rounds of tear-gas at the dozen internationals lying on the ground. TV cameras from several local and international networks were on hand.
An Israeli soldier in action throwing a can of tear gas towards our line of 15 internationals.
The Israeli military continues to lob more tear gas at our line of 15 internationals. We had two people whose sole job was to go after the gas cannisters and kick or toss them away from us. This helped a lot, but some of us got a few good lungs full, and our line weakened rapidly. Except for Mark who was left at the front wondering where everyone had gone!
Tear gas canisters litter the road just below us. Behind the two jeeps was a very well-armored personnel carrier.
A round of tear-gas thrown by the Israeli soldiers explodes and the wind carries the gas back over the soldiers.
Self-portrait of Eric Blair as he suffers the effects of the tear gas. At this moment Ben could not see. (This is of course not unusual when Ben's eyes are closed. But in this case, they were pinched shut from the effects of the gas).
About 6 to 8 canisters of tear gas were thrown at us. Our line was starting to break up at this point when a well-needed contingent of French internationals came to reinforce us.
Just after being tear-gassed, Beth Daoud gave an interview to int’l media.
All the media vehicles have giant letters "TV" hastily taped over all the observable surfaces. One Palestinian photographer who works for a wire service has been shot 26 times in his career. In the last 16 months three journalists have been killed by the Israeli military.
In a lighter
moment Mike and Trevor re-enact how Trevor caught a tear-gas canister during the
Israeli attack just minutes before.
A gigantic Israeli armored personnel carrier emits a soldier, armed and ready to attack peaceful protestors. An hour after our group was attacked with tear-gas, the Israeli soldiers returned and violently dragged and tossed people out of the way; for those that persisted, the soldiers began kneeing, kicking, and in at least one case, jabbing one of us with an M-16 rifle butt.
Two Israeli soldiers are viciously attacking the peaceful international protestors, dragging bodies across the ground, kicking, kneeing, punching and at least one case, jabbing with their guns.
As Palestinians continue to try to walk by, internationals are viciously attacked by Israeli soldiers.
Israeli soldiers grabbing and trying to drag internationals off the road. Nadya Waziri, of Boulder, Colorado (in blue) attempts to use her body as a wedge to help the international on the ground.
Internationals getting physically attacked by the Israeli military. Trevor, center-bottom, was dragged, kicked and jabbed with a gun.
An Israeli soldier scolding Trevor, of Seattle, Washington, trying to force him off the road. Moments before the soldier had dragged, kicked and jabbed Trevor using his M-16.
Trevor Baumgartnet of Seattle, Washington is on the receiving end of an Israeli M-16 rifle butt. (a noticeable welt was Trevor's injury). The soldiers, however, grew frustrated with our disciplined nonviolence and promptly retreated. (photo courtesy of George Rousesopoulos)
A Palestinian man tells the group of internationals his gratitude for what they were trying to do: nonviolently liberate an illegal Israeli military checkpoint.
Members of the
International Movement for Solidarity with the Palestinian People run for cover
from tear gas thrown by Israeli soldiers during a demonstration to show support
for the Palestinians, in the West Bank City of Ramallah December 29, 2001.
Palestinians have called for renewed U.S. mediation in the Middle East, saying
they were ready to show what they had done to meet Washington's conditions for
the return of its envoy.
REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic
Palestinians and members
from the International Movement for Solidarity with Palestinian People remove
concrete blocks from the street to open the checkpoint in the West Bank City of
Ramallah, December 29, 2001. Palestinians have called for renewed U.S. mediation
in the Middle East, saying they were ready to show what they had done to meet
Washington's conditions for the return of its envoy. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic
12/31/01:
The Patriarch of the Latin church, Michel Sabbahan
(C), along with representatives from the other churches, give olive branches to
Israeli soldiers at a peaceful demonstration in Bethlehem, December 31, 2001.
Israel's killing of six Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has drawn promises of
revenge from militants, defying President Yasser Arafat's call to halt attacks
on Israelis. REUTERS/Magnus Johansson
Back to index.
12/31/01:
1. Coloradan Beth Daoud, just before 12/31/01 march
thru Bethlehem checkpoint. Sign on her shirt reads: "I am ashamed of my US
government." Her shirt reads: "Free Palestine" Her green hat says,
in English and Arabic: "Open Jerusalem".
2. Colorado delegation to Palestine: Nadya Waziri,
Val Phillips, Eric Blair, Mark Schneider,
Beth Daoud.
3. Ghassan Andoni, Director of the Palestinian
Centre for Rapprochement Between Peoples Beit Sahour. He is helping to
guide the Bethlehem to Jerusalem march.
4. Several of the Palestinian Latin Patriarchs who
helped sponsor the Bethlehem to Jerusalem march.
5. Several of the Palestinian Latin Patriarchs who
helped sponsor the Bethlehem to Jerusalem march.
6. A Palestinian boy attempting to offer an Israeli
soldier and olive branch of peace. The soldier rejected the offer.
This action happened at a march from Bethlehem to Jerusalem march that attracted
over 1,500 people.
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1/1/02
1.The crowded conditions of the Dehaisheh Refugee Camp (near Bethlehem).
2. During the first Intifada
(1987 to 1994), under total Israeli military control, the only entrance for
Palestinians living in Dehaisheh Refugee camp is this one-person-at-a-time
turnstile. Over 12,000 Palestinians live in the camp. Now in Palestinian
controlled "area a" there are 14 entrances to the camp, funded and maintained by
the United Nations Refugee & Work program, founded specially in 1948 for
Palestinian refugees forced out
of Israel.
3. On a wall in the Dehaisheh
Refugee Camp is spray-painted: "Sorry Pope, we will not call any of our
streets of our camp after your name. Camps can't last forever." A
few years ago the Pope visited Dehaisheh camp. Palestinians refugees
passionately insist they will return to their villages one day soon.
4. A mural in the Palestinian
Refugee camp of Dehaisheh. Depicted is a Palestinian teenage boy being
killed by an Israeli soldier. "What did he do?" Since the 2nd
Intifada began 15 months ago Dehaisheh has seen nine of their population killed
by the Israeli military. PFLP stands for "Popular Front for the Liberation
of Palestine," one of several Palestinian political parties.
5. Poster of Kifah, a
12-year-old martyr from Dehaisheh Refugee camp. He was killed
approximately two months ago (early November) by the Israeli military at the
Bethlehem checkpoint.
6. Mural in the Dehaisheh Refugee Camp visitor center of a child about to throw a stone at an Israeli tank.
7. 1/1/02: In the visitor center of the Dehaisheh Refugee Camp is a mural depicting the history of the millions of the Palestinian political refugees. The dates (1948, 1967) and tents signify how the United Nations came and created "temporary" refugee tent cities. Today those tent cities have become crudely-built refugee slums. The UN agency, UNRWA, is cash-strapped and is currently seeing further cutbacks. (photo courtesy of Bill Shumaker)
8. 1/1/02: Children of Dehaisheh.
Left: Former Palestinian
Coast Guard Station in Gaza along the Mediterranean Sea. Israel bombed the
station a year ago, obliterating all the buildings and vehicles and half the
Palestinian boats. One month ago Israel bombed the station again, though
there had been no repairs. Israel refers to this station as the
Palestinian Naval Yard.
Center: A child stands
inadvertently in the way of an oncoming Israeli tank near the Palestinian
village of Beit Lihia in Gaza. Israel has recently expanded an illegal
settlement along the sea coast and had in the previous weeks expropriated
hundreds of acres of farmland ("shaving" as the Israelis call cutting down all
the orange and date trees). After the photo was taken the Israeli military
ordered us to stop photographing.
Right: The remains of
a few Palestinian government vehicles in a parking lot of the former Palestinian
Coast Guard station in Gaza. The Palestinian Authority has no army, air
force or navy. Also Israel controls the coast and all ships, including
simple fishing boats, are wantonly prohibited, stopped, searched and worse.
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1. At an illegal Israeli
military checkpoint at Khan Younis in Gaza,
Palestine, Palestinian men are forced to unload a fresh harvest of sweet
potatoes from one truck to another, no traffic allowed to travel from the
Palestinian village to the rest of Gaza. An illegal Israeli settlement is
strategically sandwiched between a Palestinian village and the Palestinian
city of Khan Younis, the checkpoint in between.
2. Val Phillips (left) and
Beth Daoud (right) both attempt to negotiate with
Israeli soldiers to allow an old Palestinian man to go to his home in a
Palestinian village in Gaza, just a few hundred yards away. Two days prior
the old man suffered a heart attack and with his wife rushed to the nearest
hospital, past the checkpoint. At that time the man and his wife asked for
written to permission from the soldiers so it would be easy to return; the
soldiers refused and told them they only needed to bring proof of his
hospital stay. When, two days later, they showed up with proof, the
soldiers
refused entry. After an hour of tense negotiations the Coloradans were
unable to persuade the soldiers.
3. At left is a turnstile, part of an illegal Israeli military checkpoint, each Palestinian must past through to go from Khan Younis, Gaza to a Palestinian village along the Mediterranean Coast. On the right, in the background is a yellow gate with dozens of Palestinians waiting to go through.
4. A sign warns of
danger for anyone trespassing onto a former Palestinian
seaport under construction. Several foreign European governments provided
the funding. Several times over the last year Israel has bombed the
seaport
site, obliterating any attempts at Palestinians to have their own port along
the Mediterranean.
5. Amjad, a local
human rights leader in Gaza, speaks about the repeated
Israeli bombings of Khan Younis (in background) which have killed many
Palestinians and leveled over 800 apartment units. Israel has illegally
expropriated nearly half of the small Gaza strip of land, forcing over 1.2
million Palestinians to live in the most densely populated place on earth.
6. A young Palestinian
boy collects firewood among the leveled ruins of
apartment buildings in Khan Younis, Gaza, Palestine. The Israeli military
has repeatedly bombed Khan Younis and much of Gaza; many Palestinians have
been killed by the shelling.
7. A view of the west
side of Khan Younis, a Palestinian city in Gaza that
has been repeatedly bombed by the Israeli military. Hundreds of apartments
have been leveled, many Palestinians killed.
8. The Israeli military has
erected an enormous 5-story high concrete wall that is more than 200 yards long
that effectively blocks the view of the Mediterranean for Palestinian residents
of Khan Younis. On both sides of the wall dozens and dozens of Palestinian
homes and apartments have been demolished to make way for an Israeli military
post.
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1. Brian Wood of Denver
explains to Colorado delegation that the Beit Jala home behind him was bombed by
the Israeli military back in October, 2001, when Israel invaded Beit Jala and
Bethlehem, killing over a dozen Palestinians. This home belonged to the
Hajajli family in Beit Jala where 35 people lived. It was shelled by Israeli
tanks stationed in the settlement of Gilo. Over 1,300 Palestinians
homes in Beit Jala alone were damaged by Israel's attack. Brian has lived
in Beit Jala for most of the last year.
2. Dr. Hanan Ashrawi,
Director of MIFTAH,
The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy.
Dr. Ashrawi is an outspoken human rights leader for Palestinians and has been
one of Palestine's chief negotiators in peace talks with Israel.
3. A poster of Abu Ali Mustafa, former political leader of
the People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). He was 63 when
US-given Israeli apache helicopters fired two missles into his office in
Ramallah. He was torn to pieces by them. He had lived in Syria for some time and
came back to Palestine only a few years ago. Most importantly, he was the
political head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; there is a
separate leader for the military wing. His assassination
was the cause of the 50-hour invasion in Beit Jala, Aug. 28-30, 2001 and the
10-day invasion in Bethlehem and Beit Jala, Oct. 19-28. The first incident in
Beit Jala: The same day Abu Ali Mustafa was assassinated, PFLP people from its
military wing began shooting on the illegal Jewish-only settlement of Gilo
across from Beit Jala. The same night the Israeli military entered Beit Jala.
One police officer was killed and over 100 were injured. The second
incident in Bethlehem and Beit Jala: PFLP people from its military wing took
responsibility for the assassination of ultra-nationalist Israeli Tourism
Minister, Rehavam Ze'evi on Wed., Oct 17, 2001. They said it was in response to
the assassination of Abu Ali Mustafa. Thereafter, the Israeli military invaded 6
of 8 Palestinian towns, including Bethlehem and Beit Jala. Each invasion was not
necessarily tied directly to Ze'evi's assassination, but was at the very least
an indirect cause.
6. 
