SOS from DR Congo

An email in my inbox titled “SOS”, catch my attention, despite my attempt to ignore the outside world during my holiday. It starts with:

“…you may have been informed about my kidnapping last week by armed people in Rutshuru, I was released and I am back now in Goma, even if security is fragile now and everything can happen.”

It is Ilot, who is the Executive Director of Congo Men’s Network, and also a dear friend. We last met in Stockholm in November, just after yet another attempt on his life, and he had been forced to evacuate his family to a neighbouring country. Despite all the dangers both present and past, Ilot firmly believes in working for peace. A year ago when I landed with the UN World Food Programme plane in North Kivu, it was a stranger who met me at the airport, and dedicated many days of his time to my research without ever asking for compensation. Now it is a friend, who is a living beacon of hope for human rights and peace in the conflict zone.

Ilot and I together at UNICEF, Goma together with the officer for SGBV

-When I was a child I was wounded by a grenade, and lost most of my eyesight. Then I had two options; the first one was to join the armed group so I could revenge what I faced and saw. But after a while I realised that, after some time, violence is just reoccurring. I was born in a village called Ruthsuru, it is in the most conflict torn region in the DRC. I decided to just work for peace building, because it was the only way I could help my village to find peace. 

North Kivu

It is this region, of the eastern part of the DR Congo, and North Kivu that Ilot is talking about now, that is in urgent need of assistance:

-I have personally been in the fighting zones and witnessed sufferings of villagers during this period. Two of our offices on the ground cannot function, and all our community facilitators are staying now in camps here in Goma. This message is a call for help for our brothers and sisters who are in urgent need now. The collected donations will go directly to beneficiaries as non food items.

Together with young children from the village of Kibumba, who are now displaced together with their families due to the violence in the region.

Ilot is a trusted human rights officer, and know by many of the internationals working and visiting Goma and North Kivu. He has also himself used his local connections to work on the ground with the needs of the locals, his family, friends and country men. The organisations working on the ground are necessary for peace building, and for the daily struggle of survival in the region, as well as to report on the developments in the region on the ground. One of the villages now suffering displacement is Kibumba where I interviewed child soldiers together with Ilot last year, with the support of PEREX and Congo's Mens Network and their local facilitators. 

- The first organisation I applied to was PEREX. I was accepted and started working as a Peace Building officer, then one day I discovered that there is so many excombatants, and so many were men. So I started Congo’s Mens Network that is active in sexual gender based violence prevention. We believe it also important to focus on women, because whilst most ex-combatants are men, the children are the most vulnerable group and the women as well affect the situation in the family. Women they have specific problems other than men, and also we were thinking of children. What can we do for them? If you go to the streets you will find that most of the children they are child soldiers, and you  can see that they are not receiving any help, their families are struggling to support them. Those children that we left behind, what are their future now?

Child soldiers and SGBV victims in the village of Kibumba, outside the house of PEREX-CV in the community.

A year later, our research shows that at least 75% of those children we interviewed expressed determination to return to the life of the rebel groups. It means that without the assistance in reintegration and rehabilitation they will be returning to a life of child soldiers. And this is why the work of Ilot, is so important. If the children have no choice but to take part in the conflict, how can it ever end?

-I still believe that when you recruit a child it is something like putting an end to his life. He will be traumatized all his life. Yes it is very critical the situation of child soldiers. Children in general here in our country are suffering, but child soldiers have another problem where they are first of all victims of discrimination in society. They are not really taken into account as other children. Even for parents it is a little bit difficult to understand that it is possible to recover the family that the child had before. For the children they need really so much attention and advocacy for them because they are really discriminated.

Last year I asked Ilot: What kind of assistance would you like from the international community?

-We have to be responsible for our own and ask for support when we have done the first step. What I have been doing for seven years was not for my own interest first. And as you can notice for seven years I did not get any salary, all of us are volunteers, to not get paid, that is my daily life. I know how to volunteer for the common interest. I think that is my own motivation and I hope that one day I will be granted for that. So practically we have so many problems, and in such cases we usually give the opportunity to the person and the donor who want to give to choose, and find what they want to give that can be helpful for us.

But now Ilot is asking, the man who does not even get a salary for his daily work, is asking for help. And it is therefore imperative that he receives help, help for those in Congo who cannot themselves ask for help. Help them, you can!

Congo is chaos, according to a high ranking UN official I met in the region of North Kivu, an assessment now even more accurate due to the accelerated violence in the region. So it is important that we act, that we care and that we help!

What defines a selfless, brave and inspiring person? For me, it is all personified in Ilot, or Ilot Alphonse Muthaka.

Help here!

"I see the soldiers every day"

“This day was like the 1948 war. Around 1 000 soldiers came down on the hills and surrounded our tents.”

It is midday and we are standing out in the sun, in the middle of the Jordan Valley. It is above 30 degrees Celsius. Yet there is no option for shade, as we are talking to one of the families who have been forced to leave their land and had their tent demolished. On the 30^th of June there was a large military exercise in the area, and thirteen families were forced to evacuate for 24 hours. Ibrahim Fakir’s family is one of four who have not been allowed to return to their homes after the military exercise, but have nonetheless done so through the support of the community.

“First in the morning there were ten jeeps full of soldiers, and three bulldozers. They gave us two hours to collect our stuff, before they demolished our home. Then they told us to leave, and we have not been allowed to come back. I am still afraid they will come back and damage my tent. I can see no future for us, only the end.”

We also meet Khalled Sahare, who was forced to leave with his family for 24 hours. As we sit in his tent we see soldier after soldier walking by, climbing the hill and disappearing in the horizon. It is a strange sight, with the soldiers walking in the middle of the Bedouin community, a Palestinian tractor driving in the mist of the soldiers.

”I see the soldiers every day, they come every day. I ask why they tell me to go away from here, and they say ‘we will do training every day.’ Where will I go? This is my area; this is where my father is, where my children are, and my tent.”

“I want peace and to live here in peace with my children, but every day the soldiers come here to train for war.”

When we express our concern for the children, and how they are affected by the proximity of the soldiers he says: “You ask me a question, but you already know the answer. The soldiers come here every day and they train here with their guns. You know how our children are feeling. It is the same as your children would feel.”

Photo credit: Simon Ming/ EAPPI

Next we visit Yasser, who is a little more than a child at the age of 20, but already scarred for life and tired of telling his story. “Well I was grazing my camels, when I heard the shooting. Then suddenly I was shot in the breast, but it was too far away I could not see the soldier who shot me. First they took me to the military camp to check my blood pressure, then I went to the hospital in Nablus, afterwards they took me to a hospital in Ramallah where I had surgery.”

Yasser pulls up his shirt and show us his scars. Besides a ten centimeter long surgical scar, there is another visible wound of the bullet. Meanwhile a group of soldiers approach the tents, and we go out to make our presence known. On the opposite hill we see Yasser’s 20 camels, and we ask if he has gone back to his job.  He says: “yes I still graze them in the same fields, there is nowhere else to take them.”

To go back to face the same dangers day after day, always carrying the reminders of what can happen, is in my eyes rather courageous. It takes determination and makes me wonder how he sees the future. Yasser does not answer, but some of the other men do:

“It is very, very black. Every year is worse than the year before. They took all of the water, they will not allow us to use our springs, and they take our sheep and our tents. They take everything.”  

“There is no vision for the future. Nothing. In the nearby settlement of Maskiyyot they are allowed to build houses, but here they do not allow us to build a tent.”

For who belongs this land?

“We face two kinds of problems; the local people and the occupation.”

“The locals don’t like to see us here; they want us to leave this land. The people in Upper Fasayil resist us the most. The Israeli military officers want to move us to upper Fasayil; they are willing to allocate a little plot of land for each family. But the Mayor refused every offer.”

“Where should we go?”

“Every time we go they follow us. Every time they tell us to leave. We need to move to an area under the control of the Palestinian Authority. We could go and live in upper Fasayil, but the plot of land they have offered us would not be enough. When my son wants to get married, the land will not be enough, I have to think about my children….I said that to the officer and he became very angry. He started to ask questions: ‘From where you bring the water tank and tractor? From where do you bring the electricity? Who support you here? Why are you still here?”

Abu Naher has a question of his own: “Why are you forcing us to move?”

In the last year the family has received four demolitions, every time with a different reason.

“The first time it was archeological, they said it was an archeological site. The second time they said that dates were to be planted here. Then they were to build a zoo for all the animals that was the reason for the third demolition. And the fourth time they said it was land belonging to the settlement.”

“We were offered to get a kindergarten and a health clinic, but nobody wanted to let them build on their land. I said we should make a plan together, but all of the people refused. So finally I said they could use my tent. You see everyone here have taken 2-3 dunams of land for themselves, and they do not care for one another. It is each man for himself. Really if I succeed to stay here it is not just for me, and if I lose, then we will all lose.”

Yesterday Tony Blair was in Al Fasyail and met with the Mayor of upper Fasayil. He did not however met with Abu Naher, despite him being the most renowned case amongst the international organizations working in the area, the one symbolizing the future for the people between upper and lower Fasayil. The land in between upper and lower Fasayil, where Abu Naher is living has been proclaimed state land and the question is what does this mean? Or in the words of Abu Naher:

“for who belongs this land?”

For another perspective, read my colleague Simon Ming's blog.

How many times can you lose your home?

This is the question I ask myself as we are sitting in an improvised tent in the Bedouin village of Fasyail al-Wusta. The tent, if it can be called that, is equipped with a fan, but it does not succeed in fending off the extreme heat midday in the Jordan valley. It may not look like much to me, but this shelter is the home of two brothers and their families, and in total house 20 people. What will they do if they lose the shelter this provides?

In the last year, since June 2011, Abu Nahar and his brother Hussein Yassin have had their home demolished four times. Last week on the 24^th of May, the animal shelter housing 170 sheep and goats, was demolished. The deadline allowed to appeal to the court  expires on the 13^th of June, when the family expects the house to be demolished again. Abu Nahar says “we do not know if they will wait until then. It is no problem for the soldiers with the decision, they can come anytime.”

His has no hope in the lawyer representing their case in court, saying “he did not make any difference for us.”

“Really we are here in the middle, between two Palestinian villages, not close to any fields or to any settlements. With what do they want our land?” he says pointing out towards the slope of the mountains going down to the Jordan valley. Looking out in the direction there is no habitation, no water and no houses –just rock and sand.

The 60 Bedouin families are living between the two parts of the village of Fasayil. The upper part of the village, called Fasyil al-Fauqa is in Area C and the lower part, Fasayil al-Wusta in Area C. The area in question, has recently been claimed to be an archeological site, needed to be preserved for cultural purposes. Regardless of the existence of these archeological treasures, it is nonetheless against international humanitarian law to displaced the local population. Article 53 of the fourth Geneva Convention, states that: “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.”

UNOCHA recently released their annual report, which for 2012 is called Fragmented lives. One of the main issues raised is the increasing displacement of Palestinian Bedouins. During 2011 a total of 622 structures were demolished and 1094 people lost their homes. The family we are visiting is included in that number, but their personal account makes the problem much more real.

“Every time they come to execute a demolition they wait until after the children have gone to school.”

This I at first consider a sign of humanity, willingly sparing the children the trauma of seeing their house taken over by soldiers and then demolished to the ground. Yet Nahar seems to disagree: “At least if they could do it before the school starts, it would be good. Because now when our children come back from school, they don’t find our tent, and don’t know where to go.”

The older children, above the age of 16, work in the Israeli greenhouses next to the village. Despite all of their negative experiences with the Israeli military, they remain determined to distinguish between their employers and the soldiers. “Yes they are like farmers and good –not like the soldiers.” Their father however points out: “we are working for them, and they are destroying our homes.”

Tomer, the settlement growing grapes close to Fasyil, is using a lot of the land and water. It is a very visible difference between the Palestinian farms that are very dry, and the Israeli settlement farms that are flourishing and green. Meanwhile the Palestinian Bedouins are suffering from a lack of water, living under very dire conditions and under the threat of losing their livelihood and homes.

How many times can you lose your home before you lose hope? When do you stop seeing the good in your adversary, who is benefiting from your suffering?

When the WALL is closing in on you

Imagine a man who will be living surrounded by the wall, shut out from his village. Only a tunnel connects him to the others, and suddenly he is denied access to his land further down the hill. He is concerned about his two children who now will have more than double the distance to get to the school, although the school remains at a five minutes walking distance. This is the story of Omar, in the village of Al Walaja.

According to the map of the wall presented by UNOCHA in December 2011, there are many Palestinian villages isolated by the wall in the Bethlehem area. It states that: 

“The Barrier’s total length is approximately 708 km. 61.8% of the Barrier is complete; a further 8.2% is under construction and 30% is planned but not yet constructed. When completed, approximately 85% of its route will run inside the West Bank, isolating 9.4% of West Bank territory, including East Jerusalem and No-Man’s Land. On 9 July 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion which stated that the sections of the Barrier route which ran inside the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, violates Israel’s obligations under international law.”

(On a little side note: why are some saying the wall and others the barrier? According to the ruling of the ICJ, as referred to by UNOCHA the entire construction is referred to as the wall. The ICRC and the UN organizations refer to it as the barrier, a more vague term. Israel call it the security fence. As a Swedish EA I follow the term stipulated by the International Court of Justice, whilst the EAPPI is ruled by the World Council of Churches who has so far only agreed on the term the separation barrier.)

Claire Anastas, lives with her family in Bethlehem, surrounded by the wall on three sides. To the right of their house, on the opposite side of the wall is Rachel’s Tomb, and beyond that one of the three refugee camps in Bethlehem. The street outside their house is Hebron road, that before was the main road between Nablus and Hebron. Due to the important strategic position, strict military rules apply as the area is despite being in Bethlehem city, considered Area C.

“Not long ago we had a successful business here, on the main road of Bethlehem. People would come from Jerusalem, just to buy our organic crops, and repair their cars in my husband’s garage. Christians would visit our souvenir shop, and we had a good life. Now nobody comes here, and the coaches cannot pass, so there are no tourists, no business. Now we live in a cage, but we cannot leave.”

“My main problem is that my children have suffered a lot. They are afraid, and they often cry. Did you know that the wall was erected in just one day? My children went to school in the morning, and when they came back there was the wall. From my kitchen window, all you can see is the wall. The children feel suffocated, like the wall is blocking the sun and their freedom.  On TV they watch children playing football outside, they see Walt Disney, and they see that other children are happy.

“My oldest girl refuse to look at or speak about the wall, she turns away and stay silent. The other children are looking at it and the youngest said “Wow, it is here like a tomb!”What they need is hope, and as a mother I want them to have a future. I pray to God that they will one day remove the wall, that my children will see the horizon. I tell my children not to worry, that I am doing my best to ask the politicians, powerful men such as Tony Blair to help remove the wall. I sent a message to Tony Blair, I was on TV. This gives them a little bit of hope. But I don’t know what to do if it does not helps us.’

Leaving Claire’s house you see stories of the women in the area, of how they are affected by the wall, hung up on the wall between the checkpoint and the house. This is an attempt to give a voice to women, and it feels rather symbolic to have their testimonies visible on the nine meter tall wall. Yet what strikes you as you are walking is that you see no children playing, you hear no laughter.

The West Bank is a comparatively small area. The wall is cutting in, behind the green line, placing a large part of Palestinian land on the “other” side. After three months in Bethlehem, I realized I was used of not seeing the horizon. It started to feel like the wall was closing in around me. Imagine what it feels like if you cannot leave!

Claire's house is in front of the last piece of wall, straight ahead!

The German President Joachim Glauck visits the West Bank

Education and gender equality -in focus for the German President on the West Bank

Photo credit: Katarina Reigo/EAPPI

Girls’ scouts waving Palestinian and German flags stand in two neat lines at the entrance, and everything is very punctual. It is what I consider typically German, in its well organized structure and German rather than English is the language of the day. It is a formal event, with high security. One of my colleagues is asked to show that his camera is just in fact a camera, by using the zoom. I have to explain what my binoculars are for. Our German colleague is very proud of how well organized it all is, and looking forward to hearing her newly elected President remark on his visit.

Then the press takes over like a bunch of bees, making it impossible to view the entrance of the two key players. The German national anthem is played, followed by the Palestinian. Out of the two it is the Palestinian I actually know how to sing. The speeches commence, with an abundance of compliments, expressions of welcome and gratitude and titles, everything to be repeated in German. Meanwhile the young girls are left standing in the gazing sun, as the audience sit in the shade with their back to the Palestinian people.

“Building this school is a sign from all the world that they support Palestine as a free country” said the Palestinian Minister for Education. She went on to mention the settler violence, the recent burning of Palestinian wheat fields, and the lack of freedom of movement symbolized by the checkpoints. “We hope to be able to build schools like this in Gaza and Area C, and that you will help us to put pressure on Israel.”

Photo credit: Emmet Sheerin/EAPPI

Yet from the German President Mr Joachim Gauck, there was little mentioning of the Palestinian situation. He praised the beauty of the village of Burin, how pleasant it is to open a school and observed that it was great weather for the occasion. Then President Gauck concentrated on the importance of education and gender equality. “Strong, educated, intelligent girls, will become strong, educated, intelligent women. Women who will build up tomorrow’s society and foster democracy and equality.”

According to the second in command in Burin’s village council, the German President had been advised three times not to visit the terrorist village of Burin. From that point of view, it was a diplomatic sign of support that he went through with the visit. However the visit in itself only lasted less than an hour. The girls’ sang some songs, and played some basketball, before a ceremonial buffet of Palestinian food. The Mayor of Urif, a neighbouring village on the other side of the settlement Yizhar, is standing hoping for an opportunity to talk to the German President. He has said he would like to tell about the problems last Saturday when 180 dunams of land was burnt by settlers, under the protection of the Israeli soldiers. Yet that opportunity does not present itself.

Photo credit: Katarina Reigo/EAPPI

My colleague, Evi Handke, who is German, reflected on the visit:

“It was a nice speech, focusing on the importance of education and gender equality. It wasn’t political his speech, and I expected a political speech when he is coming Palestine. Because it is a horrible situation, it needs a political solution, and that requires political attention. The speech could over all have been written for anywhere else in the developing world, where you want to promote education and gender equality. Only some small points focused on Palestine, such as Palestine having the highest literacy rate in the Middle East. “

“He mentioned before he travelled to Israel, how important the relationship between Israel and Germany is. I did not expect him to make the same comment about Germany’s relationship to Palestine, but as a friend of Israel I assumed he would say more about the difficulties of the people. Because I think that a friend has to say the truth, especially as a friend you have to criticize, because your opinion and input will be valued much higher.”

As the German President Gauck, and Prime Minister Fayyad leave in a motorcade back to Ramallah, we remain with the Palestinians. In the background, on the opposite hill, so does the settlement of Yizhar. 

Photo credit: Katarina Reigo/ EAPPI

Revisiting the Idea of Refugees

The first time I walked into one of the three refugee camps in Bethlehem, I did not even realise it. The refugee camps are not what you expect. For starters there are no tents, secondly there was nothing separating the camp from the neighborhood next door. I was meeting Mohammed Al-Azzeh, a seventeen year old boy, who welcomed us into his family building.

 “I am born here in the Azza camp. My father is also born here, and so are his seven brothers. My mother comes from Aida camp, and it was my grandparents who fled from their land in 1967. We have never been able to go back, so I have never seen the land, but I am a refugee. I have the paper.”

Like Mohameed and his family, the refugees living here have lived here for their entire life, and many of them have never visited the land from which their parents or grandparents or great grandparents fled .According to UNOCHA and UNRWA the forced displacement of Palestinian refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs)  in Palestine, represent one of the largest and most prolonged case of refugees in the world. Most of them descend from groups of Palestinian refugees who were displaced or expelled from their places of origin as a result of the Nakba. Whether or not the people left by force or willingly, is not important for the case of argument, because UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees) define all of those who left their normal place of residency, and lost their homes and livelihoods as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict.

Palestinian refugees include those who became refugees following the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948 and the second Arab-Israeli war in 1967, as well as those who are neither 1948 nor 1967 refugees, but outside the area of former Palestine and unable or unwilling to return owing to a well-founded fear of persecution (see Badil for a more detailed discussion). Still Palestinians continue to be displaced, as houses are demolished, the wall is surrounding large areas of land, and the restriction of movement becomes more severe. Some refugees are even becoming IDPs, such as in the village of Al Walaja.

How can a young man who has never seen his land, who is born here in Bethlehem, and who’s mother and father was also born here,  be considered a refugee?

The rights of the Palestinian refugees have also been emphasized in UN resolutions the most renown being General Assembly Resolution 194. Article 11 stipulates that; " …the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property…"

Palestinian refugees are not necessarily poor people in need of cookies and school books. In Aida refugee camp Mustafa is a volunteer at Aida Youth Centre. He has a university degree, and is fluent in English. His main identification as a refugee is that their suffering has not been recognized. According to international law, you cease to be a refugee when you have been given the choice of recompensation or return, and it is widely accepted that it will not be plausible for all Palestinians to return to their villages. The villages have been destroyed, and replaced with Israeli communities. It is the idea of the right of return, rather than the real logistics that is of the essence.

Yet Mustafa would prefer to go back to the 25 acres of land lost by his grandfather. When I ask him how the family of 64 would sustain themselves on this plot of land, he is determined this would still be possible. As my colleagues and I remain doubtful, I ask him if the compensation for his grandfathers land would be sufficient for all of them. He answers that this is not an option, it would not be enough.

Others such as Mohammed’s uncle, Abdullah, are more open about the difficulties related to the idea of return.  He explains the reluctance to give up their land: “the land is our mother, would you abandon your mother? The land is our blood, it holds our ancestors, and it represent our future, where our children will one day roam free. Without our land, there would be no hope, would you willingly give up your future? Where would our children play?”

Strong, brave and stubborn -A Palestinian woman

Photo credit: Emmet Sheerin/EAPPI

“I am very strong, very brave and very stubborn!”

Hanan Soufan is a widow and mother of nine, and we are sitting in her living room. For me she is the epiphany of a strong Palestinian woman, and I ask her if she is comfortable being a role model for other women and a symbol of the strength of other Palestinian women.

“It is not just me we have a lot of women like me in Palestine. Inshallah, something more will not happen to me, because now the attention is on me. Then instead the eyes of the world will be drawn to them, the other strong Palestinian women out there, and it would make their struggle and strength known.” “I cannot leave my land, my house. I have not got any choice.”

Raising her voice Hanan says: “They can do what they need; I will still stay in my house. I will defend it anyway I can. I will not give them my land.”

Hanan laughs when considering her vision for the future. “If we are still alive in the future”, she says with a smile. “I have not got any ideas for the future -every time we are attacked my knees are shaky. It is a pain in my knees, I cannot escape, and I am afraid.” Referring to the nearby future she says “We hope it will be quiet, but now it’s the season of the burning, and I am afraid.”

The Soufan family lives in the outskirts of the village of Burin and are separated from the rest of the village by a road. The settlers are known to harass the family, throwing paint bombs and sending burning tires down the hill. In 2002, the settlers set fire to the house which gave Soufan’s husband a lethal heart attack. Now the family is supporting themselves through their eight sheep, and six beehives.

“We have daily, daily troubles. The settlers have burnt two cars, they have stolen our horse that we can still see up on the hill, they poisoned 20 sheep and they cut down 50 olive trees. They also broke our solar panels…It does not matter if internationals are present. Our family is known in 16-17 countries, but the settlers do not care. The army just tells the internationals to leave.”

Burin, and the case of the Soufan family is only one example of the struggle facing the Palestinians resisting the settlers. Yet Hanan sitting on the coach with the portrait of her dead husband behind her illustrates the determination and strength of Palestinian in general, and the strength of Palestinian women in particular. 

What is it like to be tear gassed?

As 150 dunams of land was burning, tear gas was flying above my head. We were standing behind the demonstrating Palestinians, thinking we had some cover from the danger of getting the tear gas canisters shot directly at us. However some were shot behind the retreating crowd into the garden where we were standing hiding behind a fence. Then our retreat path to our left was suddenly filled with tear gas, blocking our escape. We were stuck between a rock and a hard place. In front of us were soldiers shooting, to the right tear gas, to the left tear gas, behind us tear gas.

We had received information of settler activity in Urif midday. On our way the first thing we saw was the smoke, rising from several spots. As we drove there, we passed an ambulance and soldiers, and got a clear view of a wounded man. The settlers had set fire to the land, and the settlement security shot a 22 year old Palestinian guy trying to stop the fire. He was shot next to the kidneys and had been left on the burning land, as his companions were forced to retreat. They were not allowed to stop the fire and retreated as shots were fired and teargas filled the air. The shot man was left to the mercy of the settlers, and the security handcuffed him and then allowed the settlers to beat him further to the head. According to the Ma’an News today, he may never be able to walk again as the bullet went into his spine.

When we arrived it was rather calm, and we could see the settlers and the soldiers on the opposite hill. The Mayor of Urif explained the situation, and we met other internationals from ISM, who were at the scene. The fire engines’ were refused to enter the site, and there were several ambulances in the village. We received information about settlers putting fire to a wheat field on the other side of the hill and went to assess the situation. When we came back to Urif, there were soldiers at the outskirts of the village. This is when we got caught in the line of fire.

Tear gas is designed to temporarily disable people, by making them unable to function properly. The New York City Department of Health explain that tear gas is a common term for riot control agents, and  that tear gas normally is causing irritation to the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs, and skin. Tear gas causes burning and irritation to the area of contact within seconds of exposure. So after we saw the tear gas coming towards us, there was little time before it is inhaled in our lungs.

I grabbed Steve’s shoulder as to not lose the location, if inevitably the sight of, my team member. As we retreated into the garden, a kid stood with a bucket of onions for us to grab. I grabbed two and after squashing them against the concrete wall, I past one over to Steve. He was kneeling over, spitting and I felt nauseous, unable to breath. Tears were pouring out of my eyes, and they were stinging. Every breath was like acid in my lungs, and I dug for the water bottle in my bag. We eventually stumbled out and ran towards our rendezvous at the Mayor’s house. A sound bomb went off next to us, and we tried to enter the house as quickly as possible. From the roof top the air was easier to breath, and as we squinted our eyes we could see the soldiers leaving the village.

Settlers instead approached the outskirts of the village, and there were some brave men, including a Swede running to put them out. Myself, I was too preoccupied to focus on holding on to the edge of the roof as my breathing deteriorated. Onion, ginger, water, sage, tea –nothing was proving effective. Eventually the ambulance came, and I had three lovely men from the Red Crescent ambulance giving me oxygen, checking my pulse and asking for my medical history.  It was all very embarrassing. With months of pneumonia at the end of last year, and acute asthma the tear gas was severely damaging to my lungs. It took a couple of hours of wheezing and coughing before my team members felt relaxed enough to accept that I was indeed fine.

So if you were wondering what it is like to be tear gassed – now you know.

Regarding the legality of the use of tear gas, the United Nations has on several occasions condemned the use of excessive use of force, including the use of tear gas. The UNOHCHR have also expressed concerns about cases where civilians have died from complications from gas inhalation. In April’s issue of the Monthly Humanitarian Monitor produced by UNOCHA, it is revealed that the monthly average of people hit with tear gas canisters is almost twice the rate of 2011, and four times the rate in 2009. In April, direct hits by tear gas canisters accounted for 28 percent (37 injuries) of the 131 Palestinians injured in demonstrations. There are also cases where people have died from the respiratory problems induced by the tear gas.

“The firing of high-velocity tear gas canisters at demonstrators by Israeli forces has been a long standing cause for concern.  Because they use high-velocity rounds, are made of aluminum, and are imprecise in nature, these canisters can cause serious harm or even kill when fired directly into a crowd or at specific persons. Therefore, the Israeli military officially prohibits their use in this manner.” Last week my colleague Steve Hynd wrote about Waseam, a 17 year old boy who was hit in the head by a tear gas canister in Kafr Quaddum, one of the demonstrations we monitor on the West Bank. He was severely injured, temporarily losing his speech and it is still not completely restored.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression after his mission to the Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) in December 2011 noted that “any use of force against demonstrators or rioters must be minimal and proportionate to the threat posed. For example, while the use of tear gas to disperse a crowd may be legitimate under certain circumstances, tear gas canisters should never be fired directly at demonstrators. While it appears that IDF open-fire regulations prohibit such use, it has been alleged that in practice, members of the IDF do not respect this injunction.”

To encapsulate tear gas is not a pleasant experience. Whilst it for me was only slightly distressing, it can have a long term effect. Therefore the zealous practices by which tear gas is shot and its frequent use, makes it a high cause of concern. You do not want to know what it is like to be tear gassed!

Paradise Lost -Al Lubban Ash Sharqiya

 “I consider myself to be living in the desert, because I have no other land and nowhere to go. If I can I will make this a paradise.”

We are in the village of Al Lubban Ash Sharqiya, and Khalid Daraghmeh is taking us around the property very promptly. We stand outside this beautiful stone house, with arches looking down on a pile of burnt fabric.

“They broke into the house, took a lot of things and burned it. This was four days ago when seven people attacked and ruined our front door. They did not leave anything inside of the room, and this door has been destroyed a lot of times, so now I have shut it. It cannot be opened. Now we are living in the small building further down, but they have said they want us out of there too.”

The situation started to deteriorate five years ago. After Khalid’s house was demolished, they burnt the next house where the family was living. These houses mark the home of Khalid, standing as landmarks of the struggle to remain on the land, on either side of the road, one burnt and one shattered into pieces. A little bit further up is an old, beautiful building from the Ottoman time, which belonged to Khalid’s grandfather. The family has been living there for several years, and only moved out four days ago when the situation became unbearable. Now they are living next to the demolished house, in a one room dark house, which likely appears to have been previously used for animals or storage as it is next to the fields.

“Before I had the possibility to fix what they destroyed, but because they have made it a thousand times now I cannot buy more. I am thinking of selling land. I would sell anything to keep this land. The last weapon I have is just to stay here with my family, and remain on this land. But with all of this trouble, now my children they have started to be afraid.”

The children go to schools one to two kilometers away, and they confess to being afraid of walking to school. Cars stop as they walk on the road, and they are harassed by settlers. Mohammed, 14 says “They get out of their cars and beat us. Also they cut our backpacks and throw them on the road. I don’t feel well. I am worried someone will die, that my father or brothers will be hurt. I would feel better if the settlers did not come to our land, our house, or home.”

“The children want to return to Venezuela. Their mind is not like mine, I am like my grandfather. Me and my wife, we want to stay here on the land, and live in peace. I speak to my children about this, it is good to stay in the land, to make the land our own. But they all want to leave.”

“They try to make me go to Venezuela. I like any good solution and to stay in the country, but my wife she says I cannot suffer anymore. No one takes care of me or the family. First of all I feel myself alone here, nobody is helping. Really sometimes the money I save for my children, I cannot use to buythem clothes because the money must go to replacing what is ruined by the settlers. Just the pipes here in the field where we are sitting, and the cucumbers they took, you see how they destroy it directly. You can put yourselves in my shoes. If you would see your children beaten by your eyes, really if I had guns I would make them stop. When the army came to search my house, they took everything even the things only similar to knives. Why did they take these things? Really the soldiers start thinking I will do something, because they know what I am suffering…I do not need the violence, I need to work my land. I need to feel safe.”

“My grandfather was living here, my father. I own 8 dunams of land, and the family we own 65 dunams of land. Nobody else from the family is living here anymore, and everyone in the village they are too afraid of the settlers to come and visit. But the land is my main source of income, and I need to stay here and support my family. Before I had a permission to work in Israel, but now when I tried to get a permission they refuse. I am blacklisted. I have been arrested four times, sometimes for ten days, sometimes for twenty days. Ten days ago a settler came, and we defended ourselves. He was injured. They then came to arrest my son, but he had fled. Twenty soldier jeeps came, but really before there has been no soldiers for us. It is Area C, but we have the Tabu. We have the Ottoman Papers. This is proof that we own the land. If they need to take the land, my land, they have the power. We need an answer. Why do they need to take this land? I have the ownership. I have everything. The power, it does not work with me. I will stay.”

“My most urgent need is that I desperately need pipes and a fence, for irrigation of plants and to protect the fields. A water pump, like the small one that they stole is also important. Then I need plants, they took them all; grapes, lemon, orange, figs and cucumbers. Last year they uprooted 250-270 olive trees and took them away. They do not leave anything for me to work with, and I have to start over. Again and again.”

Earlier this morning the settlers came for another visit. They beat up Khalid and his son, Jallad seventeen years old. Then they ruined an entire field of cucumbers, and the irrigation system of pipes used to water the plants. Then they left with all of the vegetables, leaving nothing for the family. 

Before we leave with a full bag of lemons that Khalid picks from the trees, and a bag of newly baked bread from his wife, he says: “Just for you to visit us, it is really very good for us .It gives us energy. I am so sorry for my lack of hospitality, but I have nothing more than this. Now after all the visits by the settlers, after all that they have done, now I have nothing left. My wife has not even got her kitchen appliances anymore, but I am very sorry that I could not give you more.”

If the family in Al Lubban Ash Sharqiya does not receive assistance it will soon be a paradise lost, because there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

Children in Demonstrations

To see a four year old child putting on a ski mask and waving his sling shot, is highly distressing. When under aged children set fire to tires, and try to provoke the soldiers under the cover of smoke, throwing stones with their sling shots, it may all look like a game. But on the opposite side of the demonstration, there are armored soldiers, with live ammunition, and big guns. And whilst the children are free and within their rights to demonstrate, the fact is that the most common cause for child detention in the occupied Palestinian territory is stone throwing, according to the Palestinian Authority. That makes children in demonstrations a cause of concern.

Children have a right to demonstrate. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, they are free to express their opinions. Even in cases where demonstrations are less than peaceful, children participating cannot be considered to be held responsible for any wrong doing. For example the UNHCR determined that children participating in Intifada demonstrations cannot be considered child soldiers.

However children need the permission of their parents, who are believed to know what is in the best interest of their child. In all honesty, it is difficult to believe that any parent willingly would send their children to a situation with the possibility of turning violent. Nobody wants to expose their children to violence, to weapons –nobody would want them to be in harm’s way.

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, UNICEF has commented on occasions when children have been used in demonstrations. Whilst the statement was raised in regard to an incident taking place in Nepal, it is nonetheless just as valid for any other conflict. Accordingly “While children do have the right to freedom of expression under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, their parents and guardians also have the right and responsibility to ensure that children are exercising their rights in an age-appropriate manner.’’

“Organizers of any demonstration or public gathering have a responsibility to ensure that any children participating do have the consent of their parents. When children in Kafr Quaddum or Al Ma’sara are participating in demonstrations to stop road blocks and allow access to Palestinian land, this can be a peaceful demonstration. Two young boys, aged for and seven can convey a very powerful message by holding up a sign saying “You arrested our fathers so we lead the demonstration today.”

Within the mandate of EAPPI, we only support non-violent demonstrations aiming to stop the occupation. Most of the demonstrations I have attended have been peaceful protests with Palestinian flags, or prayer beads as the most prominent sign of resistance. Yet sometimes demonstrations inevitably become violent, with sound bombs, teargas, and skunk gas.

To risk children being detained due to their activities during demonstrations, whether they are associated with activities, accused of activities or not, is too high. In 2011 the UK Parliament debated about the 190 children detained in Israeli prisons at the time.  According to the Time, throwing a stone can result in a sentence of 20 years in prison under the Israeli military law which applies to the occupied Palestinian territory.

Mahmoud a seventeen year old boy says: “‘I went from having a normal life at home to handcuffs, deprivation of sleep, shouting, threats, rounds of interrogation and serious accusations. In these circumstances, life becomes dark, filled with fear and pessimism – tough days that words cannot describe.”  

Thus after establishing the children in demonstrations may not be a strategic or responsible move, the next concern is the children who are in detention, and finally their rehabilitation. The best course of action is to exclude children from demonstrations, as a preventive measure against child detention.

We cannot stop children from being children, but we can make sure they have noone to throw stones on, and that they have nothing to be accused of. We can minimize the risks.