[Jaurez] MPT accompanies Mass at the border

The Mass at the border has become a tradition, hundreds of people come together to pray on November 2nd (all souls day) for those who have lost their lives trying to cross the border. It is a most unique set-up because we may be celebrating together yet we are separated by a 10 foot high fence. There are those who come from the diocese of Las Cruces, and from El Paso on the USA side and then all the people from Juarez on the Mexican side.


Bishop Ricardo Ramirez started his homily speaking of the beauty of being together in the desert, and feeling the warmth of the rays of the sun. He said that in looking around we could see the fence that separated us but we could also see and feel the faith of the people that united us. We could also see the names on white crosses symbolizing those who have lost their lives.

Children participated, holding white balloons. They all released them together at the end of mass.

This year we also included all the victims that have lost their lives because of violence. We sang bi-lingual hymns and prayed as one. There was a prayerful festive atmosphere in spite of the border patrol being present. We are all one longing for peace.

[Palestine] Creative Play in Palestine

For the last 6 years the village of Bil’in has organized weekly nonviolent demonstrations protesting the Israeli separation wall which denies access to 60% of the village’s land.

MPT viewed these pictures before Friday’s scheduled protest. The play material pictured is spent ammunition that Israeli soldiers used against the demonstrators.

[Palestine] Sheik Jarrah Observations 2011

Nearly one year ago two households consisting of eight families were forcibly evicted from their house in the Sheikh Jarrah section of East Jerusalem. On a recent visit through the neighborhood MPT noticed how some family members take refuge outside under a shade tree across the street from the house they no longer live in. The house is currently occupied by Israeli settlers.

Upon walking closer to the house, MPT’s attention was drawn to what appeared to be an interview in progress. Two older Palestinian men, heads of the evicted household were being interviewed and filmed by internationals from Japan, Norway, England and the United States.

The Palestinian man stated that the interactions with his new “neighbors” are peaceful and the situation has to remain calm, so one day he and his family will have a better chance of returning to their home. One of the men stated, “There is no need for violence, so we just have a peaceful struggle.”

The men hold onto the hope that the freeze on settlements will indeed take effect in the fall of 2010. Additionally, with an impending appeal from the Israeli High Court this fall to further investigate the eviction process, the men and several international supporters meet in solidarity every Friday to hold non-violent protests.

In last Friday’s demonstration, nine non-violent protestors were arrested. Those arrested were mainly Israeli peace activists. Click on the link below for a more recent overview of the situation, courtesy of Haaretz online publication: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/nine-arrested-in-latest-sheikh-jarrah-clash-1.301162.

[Palestine] Peaceful March Through the Old City in Hebron

Al Khahil [Hebron] is one of the oldest city in the world, dating its history back to 4,000 years. It is considered the fourth holiest city in the Muslim tradition, after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. The city faces constant clashes between the Muslims and the Jewish population, some very violent crimes happened in the 20th century, committed by both sides.

Al Khahil/Hebron is the only Palestinian city in which approximately 450 Jews live amidst the Palestinian majority. A Palestinian massacre of Jews occurred in 1929 and all those who survived, many of whom had been protected by their Muslim neighbors, left the city. After 1967, ten Jewish families returned in the city center, in order to preserve the Jewish presence and culture in the city which according to some radical views, belongs to the Jews.

The massacre of 29 Palestinians in the Ibrahimi Mosque in the 90s led to the so-called Hebron agreement, in which the city is divided into area H1, under Palestinian administrative control, and area H2, Israeli security control. Although geographically the city is united, and all the services are commonly provided by the Hebron Municipality; the Jewish quarter forms a separate entity in the Old City. The city is also surrounded by several settlements and separation walls.

MPT visited Hebron and participated in a very peaceful demonstration this past week. There have been violent clashes between the Israeli Occupation Forces, Israeli settlers and the local Palestinians during demonstrations.

The past demonstrations` trade mark’ was the so-called “hate march”, organized by the Jewish settlers under the protection of the Israeli Occupation Forces. Every Saturday at 3:00 PM the gate which separates the two communities would open, and approximately 100 Jewish people would march in the Old City`s market, spitting in Palestinians faces, calling them crude and ugly names, destroying shops, hitting people, and giving speeches in front of different historical sites. The message of these marches was about installing Jewish domination in all Hebron and the re-occupation of the former Jewish properties, according to the Zionist theory.

Saturday, the 12th of June, the Palestinian demonstrators, accompanied by a few international activists, organized their protest in front of the separation gate at 3:00 PM, the time of the “hate march”. Protesters gave speeches, chanted in Arabic and English, and sang songs. The Jewish settlers, who started gathering at the top of the road, and settler youth on tops of buildings were did not come out on a march or to retaliate. After a while , they left.

The demonstration continued with a “peace tour” in the beautiful Old Suk/market, but the protesters had to run not to be “soaked ” by sewage water coming from the roof of the buildings, thrown by the Jewish settlers who live above these streets. Settlers have thrown garbage, cans, bottles and dirt.

The palestinian inhabitants in
the Old City protect their

livelihood with wire fences

against the trash thrown by the

jewish settlers

The demonstration ended with the safe arrival of the protesters in front of the separation gate, where new speeches and chants were expressed. Surprisingly, a smiling happy face appeared near where 4 armed soldiers had stood and near an Israeli soldier in a tower, who apparently protested with the Palestinians, but from the other side of the gate.

After two hours of peaceful protest, MPT and all participants dispersed safely, acknowledging that no violence occurred from any of the sides involved.

[Palestine] Nilin: Brutal Response to Resistance

Nil’in, located in the Ramallah district on the Green Line, lost more than half their village land in 1948, than 1/5 of what remained after the 1967 War. This land was used for 5 illegal Israeli settlements and a large Israeli military base. In May 2008, an additional 600 acres were confiscated for construction of a three storey-cement apartheid wall. These confiscations include prime agricultural land with many productive olive trees. For more details see: http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article439

In 2003, other villages in this region led a nonviolent resistance struggle against the wall, holding daily and/or weekly demonstrations. Budrus became one of the first villages to successfully win an Israel court order to push back the apartheid wall to the Green Line.

In May 2008, when construction began again in Nil'in on the barrier fence and later the concrete wall, the village held 3 -4 demonstrations every week. Villagers were joined by international and Israeli peace activists. In response to the demonstrations the Israel Occupation forces [IOF] reacted with extreme violence, including firing massive amount of teargas from new weaponry mounted on jeeps. The weaponry consists of cannons capable of firing 10 - 15 tear gas canisters simultaneously.

Since 2008, 5 villagers have been killed including a ten-year old boy who was holding a flag in each hand and asking for peace. Many more have suffered injuries. In this same time period, 160 villagers have been arrested during demonstrations or in Israeli army night raids. These men have been jailed and imprisoned for different lengths of time. Eleven villagers are still in prison. In Nil’in in March 2009 Tristan Anderson, an American peace activist was shot in the forehead at close range with a tear gas canister. Tristan, who spent more than a year in an Israeli hospital, recently returned home to California, very incapacitated due to considerable brain damage.

Volleys of potent tear gas filled the area with smoke. Cloud formeds and stayed in the area about 30 seconds, but it took minutes to recuperate from one, even at a distance.

The huge Israeli settlement is in the distance, up from the wall and the barrier land.

Friday, June 11^th, MPTers met with the Nil’in villagers, Israeli peace activists and other internationals in the fields just behind the village for the Nil’in Demonstration against the illegal apartheid wall. After noon prayer in the field, the demonstrators marched toward the wall carrying Palestinian flags and the Irish flag for the Rachel Corrie ship from the Freedom Flotilla. The soldiers were positioned behind gate of the 3-storey concrete wall. This concrete wall completed last year, was constructed in front of the wire barrier fence put up in 2008.

Within a short time, volleys of powerful tear gas caused the demonstrators to move back and westward along the wall. MPTers experienced the tear gas more powerful than ever before. The soldiers seemed to be shooting the canisters at people and not in an arch. Since the Israeli naval raids on the Freedom Flotilla, Israelis, but particularly Israeli settlers seemed to have become more nationalistic and more fearful. A small group of settlers from the nearby settlement stood about ½ miles away, sang songs and shouted at the demonstration in support of the army encouraging them to kill Palestinians. After less than hour there was less action so one of the leaders asked the MPTers to hike back to the village through the fields, a safer route than the main path used sometimes by army jeeps after a demonstration.

Note the distance between the electrified fence and the cement wall and the loss of olive groves.

A man showed MPT some footage of 2008 demonstrations when villagers first began to demonstrate against the new wall. There was face to face contact with Israeli soldiers who responded violently to the nonviolent resisters, including children.

The man then showed MPT a scar where he had been hit by a tear gas canister. He said, “I was ashamed to tell my son [10 years old] that this was done to me by an Israeli soldier. I did not want my son to hate the Israeli soldier who had hurt his father. I do not want my son to see Israeli soldiers as the enemy. I want us to live in peace, as people of peace.” Later when he has the opportunity to do so, he said this to an Israeli soldier during a demonstration. The soldier’s reaction was to shoot more tear gas. He then said to the soldier, “You do not understand what I said now, but maybe someday you will."

[Palestine] Huwwara Community Integrated Team Location

A street in Huwwara.

The Huwwara village where MPT is located is on a major north-south 2-lane highway. This narrow asphalt road is used by Palestinians, Israeli settlers and Israeli Occupation Forces [IOF]. Huge trucks and buses pass with record speed through Huwwara. Israel allows no traffic control on this highway. This village of 5,500 people, has two very close neighbor villages. [The highway is Area C – full Israeli control, but most of the village is Area B Palestinian civil control and Israeli military control, but some is Area C..]

Since MPT arrived in the village of Huwwara it has been a major goal of teams to get to know the people of the village. Visiting the villagers has several objectives:

• Learn to know one other in order to build mutual trust and understanding.
• Educate people on the mission and work of MPT.
• Encourage villagers to contact MPT when there is a problem with soldiers or settlers: home invasions, checkpoint problems, harassment of student nurses from the national nursing college in Huwwara or boys high school.
• Learn the traditions of the village.
• Celebrate with the village at weddings and other festive occasions.
• Be a peaceful presence and show moral support and encouragement in this difficult and illegal situation.

Huwwara has many small shops, but most are struggling to survive. MPT has spoken with and given out MPT business cards to many of these shopkeepers. Many English-speaking shop owners have worked or visited many different states in the USA, including Hawaii. Those who worked in Kuwait before the First Gulf War also speak good English.

The Palestinian national nursing college has recently located in Huwwara.

MPT spoke with people who have advanced degrees and those who have much less education. MPTers have learned more of the village culture/traditions. This is a strict village which is not advantageous for women, but the amount of freedom women have depends also on the family norms and openness.

Villagers are very aware of events in the country and speak their minds about the occupation and their present government. Many just wish for the occupation to go away and some have a rather fine tuned analysis of the situation and are more action oriented. There are different levels of commitment to bringing change, as there are in any society.

[Palestine] Jordan Valley 2010: Serious Water Crisis

As part of the Bil’in Conference international groups visited various Palestinian areas, including the Jordan Valley. The Jordan Valley is mainly Area C – Oslo Accords, which means total Israeli military control. (All of Palestine is under Israeli military control, but Area C more so.) It is, therefore, much easier for Israeli settlement s or military to confiscate land and control the limited water supply in this semi-desert area.

It is easy to locate the land controlled by the illegal Israeli settlements because their fields are greener with larger plants. The water for the Jordan Valley comes from the eastern aquifer. Palestinians are only allowed to dig their wells to a certain depth, while settlements continue to dig deeper and deeper which will eventually dry up the aquifer. Most Palestinians in the area have to buy water in portable tanks even though they have wells.

Some of the largest Israeli-owned fruit and vegetable plantations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel are in the Jordan Valley and owned by Carmel Agrexco. Most of these products are sent to Europe by the Carmel Agrexco, a company targeted by the boycott campaign. The confiscation of land and reduction of water for farming has forced many Palestinian farmers away from their land into jobs on settlement plantations. Working conditions on plantations are harsh. The hours are long and the pay is low.

Some Jordan Valley Palestinian villages were denied electricity and access to running water until two years ago. (Bedouin people in the area still have neither electricity nor running water.) Villagers get water irregularly, so are forced to buy water in tanks. Where homes have been demolished, villagers are building with adobe which is labor intensive, needs ample water and skilled builders.

Growing date palms can be a very profitable enterprise, but means careful planning, skill and sufficient water. MPT visited a Palestinian date palm farmer. He has been fairly successful, even though he works as a sharecropper. His home was demolished by the Israeli army at least once. His grove had sufficient water, but an expensive water pump was stolen by the Israeli army which he will have to replace.

[Palestine] Huwwara Youth Harassed

Photo: Left - jeep with soldiers. Brown jacketed Palestinian teenagers [2 more behind the post] detained by the side of the main road through Huwwara.

Late Monday afternoon an MPTer, observed a group of 4 teenage boys, standing and quietly chatting by the side of the main road in Huwwara. A passing Israeli Occupation Forces [IOF] jeep pulled up and soldiers demanded their IDs. Three of the boys presented their IDs , one did not. An adult nearby, perhaps a relative, asked that this boy might go home for his ID. The MPTer moved closer to the jeep and inquired as to why the boys were being detained. One soldier responded that they could be dangerous. After being ordered back in the jeep to get their helmets, two soldiers with automatic weapons stood outside the jeep.

The IOF held the three boys’ IDs for some time, so the MPTer asked the soldiers why the IDs were being retained making boys wait. No response was given, but in a few minutes the IDs were returned and the 3 detained boys left. Soon the youth who had gone home for his ID returned on his bike. He handed the soldiers his ID which was returned rather quickly. All the youths' IDs were checked off a list by the jeep driver and all names were phoned in.

The MPTer stepped back and with care took pictures. A Palestinian said to be careful and there was no reason to escalate the situation. Taking pictures can help the soldiers conduct themselves better, but it can make the scene worse for the Palestinians.

There had been a harsh night raid into several homes in the Huwwara village over a week ago in which 7 teenage boys were taken by Israeli soldiers, so the youth had reason to worry when they were detained. Perhaps under pressure and from fear, those detained in the night raid may had given names of other youth, friends of theirs. Being a teenage Palestinian boy is often reason enough for arrest by the Israeli military. These teenagers did not know what the results of their detention by the IOF might be. The IOF has the free hand of a military occupier and can arrest and jail young Palestinian men.

This afternoon's incident lasted about 20 minutes and no one was arrested. It could have lasted hours with all being held in a detention center and later imprisoned with no explanation. So these Huwwara youth struck it lucky this afternoon.

Did MPT presence make a difference? It may have prevented a longer detention period or arrests.

These kinds of night raids and the arresting of teenage boys are increasing all over Palestine. There are some who think the reason for this action is to provoke violent responses from Palestinians so that there would be an excuse for very large attacks by the IOF. The responses of the Palestinians so far have been creative and non-violent. One Palestinian told an MPTer today that he does not understand that when Palestinians respond with good will and kindness to Israelis that they do not return that to them.