Marhaba from Palestine Stories for this Week
Anna in the Middle East
Anna Baltzer
Several days ago while attending an embroidery workshop for local
women, we received a frantic call from the north about a killing. We
called around to see if any other human rights groups had
internationals in Jenin, but it seemed everyone had headed south to
document settler violence around Hebron. The next day, we traveled
to Rumani, a village on the northwestern edge of the West Bank. We
brought along our friend Ashraf translate for us, a soft-spoken
Palestinian nonviolent activist studying at the American University
in Jenin. When we arrived in the village, we were told that the
family we'd be visiting was very religious, so Ashraf would have to
stay with the men while we took the report from the victim's wife,
the only adult witness. My colleagues and I were guided into a room
full of women from the village, sitting with somber faces around the
victim's mother and wife. I realized this was the Palestinian
equivalent of "sitting Shiva" in the Jewish tradition, when family
and friends gather right after a death to mourn and comfort the next
of kin.
Dr Mona Speaks of the Difficulties in Gaza
Dr Mona
Today I was supposed to be in London, addressing the Rally organized by
PSC and other organizations to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the
Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. It was the “Enough!” Coalition rally, calling for an end to Occupation and freedom for Palestine.
I could not make it to London. The Gaza borders are closed for an indefinite period. Before the closure was announced I was hoping to cross to travel to London, as it had been announced several times on local TV that the borders would open for one continuous week.
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An American in the West Bank
(Faraa Refugee Camp Day - 1)
Mike Mullenix(Contributing Editor)
Once again, because of the travel agenda I had, my contact and I had a lot to do. The first was to visit Ahmed. Ahmed is a young child and lives in the Belata refugee camp, just outside Nablus. Ahmed was subjected to an explosion from an Israeli artillery shell and a piece of metal lodged in his left eye. Ahmed’s sponsor, in combination with sales of arts and crafts and other donations to PCWF, paid for a trip to Spain to see the best surgeons and eye specialists, in the world. Unfortunately, the eye was damaged beyond repair. In addition, Ahmed has developed some other issues and has been given the nickname “tsunami” because at times he is completely uncooperative, and that may not have to do with the damage to his eye, as I experienced when dealing with his family. Without going into too much personal detail, we met with his family who was not the most cooperative. We were informed that a doctor in Jerusalem had recommended another surgery that would improve his vision, and we would be best just to leave any money we had with the mother. However, in reviewing the doctor’s report, it was clearly stated that no operation would improve his vision, however, eye glasses were recommended to protect his other eye and to make sure that in case of another incident, his eye would at least be behind protective lenses.