Bethlehem Ghetto

Bethlehem Ghetto

justicewheels — April 25, 2010 — The Ghetto of Bethlehem is shrinking, the people are resisting but feel abandoned by the self-appointed leadership. Many people complain that the Prime Minister who was not elected or confirmed by the parliament comes to give his blessings to projects or to plant a tree for the cameras. In fact he symbolically planted a tree in Mitris front yard after the army bulldozed his trees. Internationals and locals replaced the childrens swings and slide only to see them pulled out again a few days later. We now have the video of the dragging of nonviolent protesters from the garden of Mitri and tape of the destruction of his childrens playground http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1iWdi...

Saturday night we had an educational protest to hundreds of Italian tourists who were brought by the catholic church on pilgrimage. We were distressed to find that they had coordinated their visit with the Palestinian ministry of tourism AND with the Israeli ministry of tourism. We objected to the way it was presented and dealt with. The wall is not after all a border between states to march to for peace and play games on the other side. The wall is an illegal apartheid structure built on occupied territories separating Palestinians in the shrinking Bethlehem Ghetto from their land and from other Palestinians and from their holy sites in Jerusalem. As the Italians were crossing the apartheid wall, the Israeli army was extending the wall around Al-Walaja village of Bethlehem and destroying more of Mitris land. But Al-Walaja people were heroic on Sunday. They delayed the uprooting of their trees at a cost to themselves: over 30 were injured and several detained. Internationals and Israelis were there. I will try to get you the link to a video of the actual action. It is hard for us to be at many places of destruction at one time and we lack resources to get video cameras in the hands of qualified people to document the atrocities so this initial video (photographed by another person) has little of the more rough and tumble action.



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Beit Jala and Hebron - Another Day Under Apartheid in the Holy Land

Beit Jala and Hebron:

justicewheels — April 11, 2010 — Another day in this apartheid system ruling over the holy land. Representing the popular committee against the wall and settlements in Beit Sahour, we joined with our friends in Beit Jala, a town which lost nearly half its land to Israeli Jewish-only colonial settlements over the past four decades. Now town residents are prevented from getting to additional areas near the apartheid walls and bypass roads (all to serve illegal Jewish colonies on Palestinian land). The weekly Sunday demonstration proceeded as expected: soldiers stretching barbed wire across the road, activists speaking to those present (including soldiers) in Arabic, English, and Hebrew. There was a poignant moment when a young German girl tried to speak to a soldier who even refused to look her in the eye.

We then drove to Hebron to show a visiting teacher from Denverwhat it is like to have 400 racist settlers ruin life for 150,000 Palestinians. The settlers took over some buildings, built a few other sites and make life in this largest Palestinian city hell for its inhabitants (Hebron is largest now because cities like Nazareth, Jerusalem, and Jaffa have had much of their Palestinain population ethnically cleansed). I am trying to get a steadier hand and better editing for youtube videos of these things. Below is my latest attempt which I end by a more mundane segment showing poor children who we took to a park ( they have not been to a park for 2 years). We fed them Knaffa (Palestinian dessert) at that time but I did not have my camera then so I show what Knaffa looks like in Bethlehem with our small group that visited Hebron earlier.



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Beit Jala Protest against the Apartheid Wall

Beit Jala Protest Part 1/4 (near Bethlehem):

"Palestinian Christians and Muslims, along with Israelis and internationals, share their concerns about the illegal wall's destruction of Palestinian land and homes...and are met with violence from Israeli soldiers (under order)."

Part 1


Part 2


Comment: I must urge the video makers not to label Palestinians as Christians, Muslims, or otherwise in their videos. If Palestinians don't label themselves as such, why should others do it.

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Beit Jala - Mothers' day

Beit Jala - Mothers' day

In the town of Beit Jala, Birth Place of St. Nicholas, on mothers's day. The Israeli soldiers prevent town people from going down to their lands where the occupation colonial army is uprooting olive trees. Israel continues to expand illegal colonial Jewish settlements around the Bethlehem area.



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Beit Jala Action against the path of the Apartheid Wall

3.3.10- Beit Jala Action.mp4: "Already when driving on route 60, we saw the intimidating bulldozers riding on the side of the road on their way to another day of 'putting facts on the ground' as chiefs of the Israeli government call it. As we arrived in Beit Jalla, a heart-breaking scene came into view - a huge pile of sawed trees and olive and lemon branches spread all across the yard of the house next to the wall's path. A yard it cannot really be called anymore - the grass is turned over, two children's swings were uprooted and put aside, and the only thing left standing is a brick oven, with mounds of dirt and mud all around it. 10 olive trees were cut down here already yesterday. A red X on the front floor of the house marks the path of the wall to pass here, which will seize the whole yard area and cut the only access driveway to it. It's hard to imagine how life would look like in this place in a week or two.

We were 45 protesters - 25 Palestinians, 15 international activists and 4 Israelis. We descended to the works path trying to stop the bulldozers. A group of twenty soldiers prevented us from doing so, and began pushing us up the hill without showing a closed military area order as they are required. While the bulldozer's claws were uprooting trees one after the other, we explained to the officers that their actions violate numerous international laws, as well as the fact that they may not tell us to move without the order. We were pushed up the hill a few more meters to where we sat on the ground demanding to see a printed order before we move any further. At 08:53 they brought the papers and the officers declared the area will become a 'closed military zone' within 7 minutes. One of them held two stun grenades with a nasty grin on his face. We reminded them again that constructing the wall on West Bank lands is a crime according to international law, as well as the settlers-only road which it 'protects' and that they still may put down their guns and join us. A bearded IDF captain told us that the only law he follows is the biblical law. Rabbai Arik Ascherman referred him to to read the chapter in the book of Deuteronomy which refers to uprooting of fruit trees.

At 09:00 precisely they started pushing and dragging us up the hill again. 2 Israelis and one international activist were detained for a few minutes and were released shortly thereafter. Two Arab TV network reporters stationed on the upper road to report the events. Two young women from Beit Jalla were prominent among the protesters. As one of the officers told on of them them 'Min fadlak, ruch min hon' (Please go away from here), she replied wisely 'Min fadlak, ruch leIsrail' (Please, go back to Israel), with her finger pointing north-west.

When we left, the bulldozers were still working with all their might."



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