H. on the recent situation in the West Bank and Gaza

H. and T. are apartment mates of mine here in the West Bank. H. is a Canadian and we spend those seven hours together in class each day; and T. is an American. Here is H.'s email to his family and friends on the recent situation here in the West Bank and also in Gaza. It is followed by T.'s email, which in turn is followed by a more recent posting by yours truly which may give you the impression that all is relatively well here. And while everything seems normal in that there are no more tanks in Ramallah (they came, they kidnapped 72 Palestinians in the night, they left) the situation in Gaza is deteriorating.

M.

June 28th, 2006

Last night I watched scout planes and helicopters flying beelines over our apartment building. I take a quick break from the demanding piles of homework that arise from seven hours a day of instruction. The constellation Draco swims up into the sky at an unfamiliar declination, and the horizon is charged with mercury vapour. Garbage fires are burning along the roads and the gravity of so many stories of imprisonment begin to wear down on me. Nemo at the hardware store just had his US visa application cancelled on a technicality... after waiting ten years for a decision. He leans back in his chair and closes his eyes, takes a drag of his cigarette. I tell him about Beirut, Toronto, Chicago, Washington...We hear that a settler has been kidnapped and possibly killed. Nearby Ramallah is being closed off by the IDF. Students that go home tonight may not be allowed to return because of the the threat of flying checkpoints. The university has issued advice to international students to stockup and prepare for the Israelis to knock out the electricity. The consular offices have been evacuated in Ramallah- but don't get me wrong, it sounds dramatic but no one is surprised or alarmed. Birzeit is not implicated in these IDF operations.

"il-wada'a fi gaza zay izzift"

But Gaza is a nightmare. Some 80% of Gaza is without electricity after the air force conducted a lightning assault. Crumbling Gazan infrastructure is no match for high-tech weaponry and F-16s. No one knows when electricity will be restored. Bridges have been destroyed as well and several armourand light infantry battalions have massed on the outskirts, waiting to conduct some heinous operation in one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Despite the fairy tale story of Gilad Shalit, no one is tying blue ribbons for the Palestinians. No matter how many die, the media refuses togive them names. I am reminded of Abu Omar of Shatila camp, "We are the living dead..." worse, perhaps. No dignity is afforded to them in life or death. Today, during my amiyya (colloquial) Arabic class, Professor Sami began the lesson with his usually exuberance. He often uses me (Hana) as an example to demonstrate pronoun or subject-predicate sentences. He noticed I was tired today (I stayed up late trying to work out the assignment, with mixed results) and I tell him in Arabic that I am a "humaar almait" - "a dead donkey". He stops and puts his hand on mine and smiles and tells me not to worry. But we are worrying about Professor Sami. His vocabulary examples are becoming more contextual. Fewer cars, windows, pens and books and more words like "settlement" ... "refugee camp" "Israeli army" ... the class is grimly silent. His instructions, given with characteristic authority, are pleas neverthless.

"kul filasteeno behabb salaam"

every Palestinian wants peace

"ana insan"

I am human

and finally,"wallah"

believe me

"ana insan"

I am human

He tells us his family is in Khan Yunis. It has been six years since he saw his father. His mother died during this time and the Israelis would not let him attend her funeral. His ten-year-old son is in Ramallah today at the French school, as the IDF moves in. During breaks he tells us he must go to find out of his son is okay. "I don't worry just for my son," says Professor Sami. "But for all people." There is nothing rational or just about what Israel is doing. There is no way that two whole armour divisions are going to find a kidnapped young soldier and bring him out alive. It's like the wall and the checkpoints, they don't do anything but inflict pain and suffering on Palestinians. The occupation is wrong. The underlying violence is the occupation. Everything else comes from that. The Israelis are not attacking the"militants" or the "militant infrastructure" - they are mounting a violent and punitive assault upon the Palestinian people. Abbas is right, this is collective punishment. Don't think for a minute that it is justified. This is an assault on the foundational institutions of civil society that Palestinians have struggled to achieve against all odds. The people here do not deserve this.

Professor Sami gives us his number. "My house is open to all of you." And he adds. "I will not stop my classes."

Qassamiotics

You just want to scream into the air
at the settlements, at Bethel
but your voice veers off like a rocket
it explodes in the valley
you've achieved nothing
but now we wait for retaliation from Israel
this time people will die
lives will be ruined
we will wait in the dark
we will climb back into bed
the wild dogs will howl for us
they will prowl the road
to Ramallah