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. 

Marriage proposal no.10

The score is 9 to 1. In total I have received ten marriage proposals (so far) during my time in Israel and Palestine. I confess to this being a rather pleasant experience.

Who would not enjoy men stopping you on the street and then starting to serenade you, singing ‘I love you –will you marry me?’ It is also quite interesting to know how many camels, goats, sheep, donkeys or rabbits you are worth in their eyes. The currency change according to what they can afford, and it reflects something about the differences in resources.

Whilst on vacation in Petra, my colleague Simon was offered to buy camel milk to refill his stamina, so he could handle his two wives. Then when he said this was not necessary, as we were so beautiful, instead Simon was offered to sell one of us, for ten camels, two donkeys and one hundred liters of petrol. Whilst this is my most memorable moment from Petra, it sadly reflects the role of women as a symbol of status and wealth, and as a product to be sold and bought.

Yet by making it that simple, you circumvent the respect for women that I have experienced in the culture. Women are something precious. They are taken care of and it is a privilege to be allowed to meet them. One man was looking for his third wife, and wanted me to meet his mother. It opened up the whole family world, and enabled me to meet his wives, daughters and his mother. If you take matters too seriously then you miss some rare opportunities, such as listening to a woman who has been tortured.

Yesterday whilst I was standing by the western wall, observing all the Israelis and Jewish tourists celebrating Jerusalem Day, I received my first Israeli marriage proposal. The setting was quite surreal, with hundreds of soldiers, children waving flags and a high security alert. At first I was certain he was an undercover agent asking me questions for a completely different purpose. My weapon of choice is to smile, answer all questions as vague and polite as possible, all the time remaining calm and cheerful.

I discovered a bag in the middle of the square, obviously abandoned, and tried to alert my colleague Helene of the risk of a bomb. The security guards started shouting, a police officer reluctantly walked up to check it, and they announced on the speakers for the owner to come forth. All the while, whilst Helene was thinking of all the damage a big suitcase could cause, and with her own experience from being Norwegian, crawling in her skin – he did not flinch.

He only had eyes on me, and confessed to having found the one woman he had been looking for all of his life. For him it did not matter that I was not Jewish, all that mattered was that he could see I had a warm heart. How he could tell all this just by looking at me, I do not know. But it is rather flattering that he had the courage to come up and talk to me, regardless of my reaction. Afterwards me and my three colleagues were sitting having coffee in a lovely garden, joking about the scenario. They refused to let me go to a man who starts the conversation with "I have been watching you", and we all had a good laugh.

I have received more marriage proposals here than anywhere else in the world, and as far as I am concerned that is one of the charms with this place. 

Jerusalem Day

Yesterday was Jerusalem Day, when 10 000 Israelis walk through the Damascus gate into the Old City. Jerusalem Day is a celebration of the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, when the whole city came under the control of Israel. It is important for the Israelis, as it ensured access to the holiest site in Judaism. In a commemoration ceremony Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "Israel without Jerusalem is like a body without a heart …It will never be divided again."

On the same day, one of the biggest newspapers in Israel, Haaretz, announced that 78% of the population of East Jerusalem lives in poverty. The Jerusalem Post called the day a day of celebration and wrote that “Jerusalem, Israel’s largest city, was home to 801,000 at the end of 2011. Never before has Jerusalem thrived so impressively. It should not be a surprise that it is the most desired place to live among new immigrants, according to a Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies report released on Jerusalem Day.”

The next day Haaretz report on how a ‘Palestinian attacks IDF soldier during Jerusalem Day celebration on the West Bank.’  What I experienced on the streets of Jerusalem was very different. Together with my colleagues from EAPPI, we stand outside the Damascus gate and observe the demonstration. The practice of the right to freedom of expression looks very different for Palestinian than for the Israeli, from where we stand in the middle of the street, holding on to a fence and trying to observe activities on both sides.

On one side there are young Israeli men, singing, dancing and cheering, controlled by hired in security guards in yellow vests, without guns. On the other side of the street stands the Palestinians, and next to them Israeli Border Police, all carrying several weapons each. At one point the Palestinian crowd tosses white balloons with the Palestinian flag up in the air, and in the next the mounted police charge into the masses. We observe how a young Palestinian boy in a red baseball cap is beaten up by the soldiers, whilst the young Israeli boys are left unharmed.

Later on we move into the Old City, to observe as thousands of Israelis walk from the Damascus gate to the Western wall. They are waving flags, fathers are carrying small children on their shoulders, and it is an ocean of white and blue. Suddenly one of the young Israeli men celebrating Jerusalem Day attacks an undercover police, believing him to be Palestinian. The police is dressed in civilian clothes to look like one of the Palestinian shopkeepers in the Souk, just for the purpose of blending in and also to ensure that those intent to be in violent confrontations with the Palestinians are identified and stopped. They young man is immediately stopped, and after a little while pushed back into the crowd. A shop keeper says: “they do that to see who are the aggressive ones, who wants’ to cause trouble for the Palestinians.”

To celebrate the unification of Jerusalem is a good thing. If there could be one city living in peace, where everyone had the same rights to access their holy sites, to demonstrate and to wealth –then there would be something to celebrate. But according to International Law, and the UNSCR 478, the annexation of East Jerusalem is not legal, and therefore most countries in the world do not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. B’tselem an Israeli peace organization informs that the permanent residents of East Jerusalem have substantially different rights than their West Jerusalem counterparts. 

The position of the UN was stated clearly when the General Assembly revisited the question of Jerusalem at its fifty-fifth session. “In a resolution adopted on 1 December 2000, the Assembly determined that the decision of Israel to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem was illegal and, therefore, null and void. The Assembly also deplored the transfer by some States of their diplomatic missions to Jerusalem in violation of Security Council resolution 478 (1980).”

There can therefore not be considered to be a Jerusalem Day for us to celebrate.

It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it. -Eleanor Roosevelt

Shopping for answers

As the seasons have changed significantly during my time in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, I found myself in need of sandals and sunhats. This provided the perfect opportunity to interact with a young Israeli, as I went on a shopping spree on Mamilla Avenue, West Jerusalem.

-My family lives in Efrat. You said you have been there, it is a great place right!? So close to Jerusalem, and still so calm, it is great. All the farmers, and sheep and olive trees –it is so idyllic! Did you know that there are locals there who have not even got electricity or running water? What a great way to enjoy life, and never take anything for granted. Good for the environment too, seriously I wish everyone could think like that.

It is true I have been to Efrat, and I often try to mention all the Israeli places I have been to, and not only the Palestinian. So I excluded the little village of Khallet Sakariya next to Efrat, where Abu Osama has neither electricity, nor water, and where his family is too afraid of the settlers to live anymore. Sometimes to be open to the Israeli perspective requires an effort even by the most neutral minded tourist, especially if you are living on the West Bank together with the Palestinians. The problems caused by the occupation become so evident that it can be frustrating to not question the other side. At this point I could not help but to ask:

-I though everyone in Efrat had electricity? I may be wrong, but it looked very modern to me, with shopping malls and swimming pools.

The reply I got was:

-Yes, yes you are right. I was talking about the locals - you know who live like we did two thousand years ago. We can learn from them. Also it is great that they are so flexible, my uncle he lives in Maskillyot. Have you heard of it? It is close to Jordan. There the locals are so considerate, they remain flexible to our needs and move.

-Bedouins you mean?

-Yes, Bedouins. They can just move anywhere. It is strange really that they have not moved away yet. That would solve all of our problems, and then we could all live next to each other in peace. You know it is not like they cannot take their sheep and leave. And one of those houses, it does not take long to build.

-Have you ever built a house? Or could you think of moving somewhere else?

-You are funny. Of course not this is my home, or at least it has been for like the last 15 years when I moved from Argentina. This is our history, our land.

Deeply troubled by the reasoning I decide that for once I shall not hide what I am doing here. So I confess to be living in a small village of Yanoun, no it is not a Jewish name, but very clearly a Palestinian village. And in the Jordan valley next to the village, there are Bedouins who’s river has dried up because the Israeli settlement nearby is using all the water. That settlement just happened to be Maskillyot. Settlers who have been moved from Gaza, and relocated in another part of the occupied territory.

-Yes it is difficult. We should think more about the environment. You know this is produced in China, but the brand is Australian. And then it is shipped all across the globe. It is no good, all the resources should be used locally. And the Bedouins, they can find water locally too. If they find it somewhere else, would not that be the most sustainable solution? We would not need to build large control stations for security, and we would have more usable land. Then we could save the houses they leave behind, and recycle them.

Feeling slightly provoked, I asked where would they go?

-They can go back to where they came from.

By this point I left the store. Sometimes you may be looking for answers, but it is not always you find them. At least I did not leave empty handed, and have something to cool my head (a hat). I need it. The possibility of going back to where I came from, is bestowed upon me. I can also go back to try and meet more Israelis, and keep an open mind. I can continue shopping for answers. 

EU funded project for Bedouins under threat

Imminent Displacement Risk for Eight Homes funded by ECHO 

We sit in a Bedouin tent on top of a hill, listening to the story of Abu Fares and Abu Daoud about their homes. We are there because their new homes, funded by ECHO (European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid & Civil Protection), are under the risk of immediate demolition. Abu Fares, son of Abu Daoud says:

“I have one boy and one girl. I do not think my children will live here forever, but only God knows. I would prefer if I could live here and build. We are born here, we have grown up here, it is all we know. We want to stay because it is all we know, but also because the Israeli they come here, and they want to kick us out…The military come here every day, it is normal. Sometimes they make it difficult for us. The settlers they also come on tours, to see if we have built anything new, to take pictures and report. But they do not do anything, they do not harm us.”

Forced ethnic displacement is a growing threat for the Palestinian Bedouins. The families living in Kurshan, in the Khan al-Ahmar Arab al-Jahalin Bedouin community, to the East of Jerusalem, are one of many examples. The struggle to remain on their land is what makes the Bedouins such a vulnerable group in society, but it is a struggle shared by many. As settlements, outposts, and military zones expand, the Bedouins are pushed further away, and forced to live in more enclosed areas, often unable to keep their cattle.

The families living in Kurshan have used this location seasonally since the 1960s, and settled down permanently in 1992. Their houses were already demolished in November 2011, and ECHO deemed the case eligible for aid. The new homes were handed over to the families on Monday the 7^th of May, the very same day the Israeli military came to deliver a demolition order. That the homes were built by international money, and the project supervised by the EU was of little significance.

As we sat listening to Abu Fares, representatives from ECHO and UNRWA came to the site. However they had little knowledge of the case, so we informed them of what we knew. Abu Daoud had left, after receiving a phone call from his lawyer saying that they had been granted a seven day injunction against the eviction. In theory this means that the Civil Administration has seven days to present their case to court, and then it can take weeks before the case is settled.

As the other internationals leave, we from EAPPI decide to stay on the scene. Because in practice it happens every so often that despite the court giving the families more time, it has failed to inform the Israeli military in time. Hence the demolition may still take place, which render the court case insignificant. So we are not only the first on the scene for this incident, we also remain just in case.

When I publish this, the homes are still standing. Yet the relevance remains as urgent and significant as a couple of days before, because I cannot promise that this will be the case tomorrow. The attention, and presence of the international community, is not in itself a guarantee against a demolition. 

The insecurity of women in the Middle East

Let’s talk about it!

To discuss the insecurity of women in the Middle East, can be seen as a presumptuous attempt to foster prejudice against the Palestinian society. However women’s rights are an inherent part of human rights, and to ensure development in the region it is imperative that it is not forgotten or neglected.

I was sexually assaulted last week on a morning walk in a small countryside village. It was scary, and I was shaken. My initial reaction was to not discuss the event with people back home, as it would not only make them worried, but also emphasize a problem rather than all the positive aspects in Palestine. There are many positive aspects found in the Palestinian society.

Yet it remains questionable if a Palestinian woman would have had the strength to report the incident. What for me was ten minutes of uncomfortable conversation, groping and come on’s with attempts to get me into the secluded olive trees, would get much bigger proportion for a sheltered Palestinian woman. That is not to say that the incident was acceptable, and everyone involved especially the locals were extremely supportive.

It should not matter that I am a woman. Every human being has the same rights. Yet it does matter, and here a part of everyday life is to accept the culture where women and men have different rules guiding their lives. This is not to say that one is worth more than the other, just that life here is different. Accordingly in a traditional society,  a man would normally not shake hands with or touch a woman, a woman would not go anywhere on her own, and normally it is the man or elderly in her company that is addressed. Even the Palestinian men I work with admit that they are more comfortable talking to my older colleagues than with me, just because they do not want to send out the wrong signals in any way.

When you are living in another culture, you have to respect their way of life. You adapt to the dress code, to the cultural standards and accept that your job is not to tell others how to live their lives or to judge. They have the same right as I do to cherish their culture, and if I want to visit them and work with them I am obliged to adapt. I meet with women in women’s centers, I put my hand on my heart when I greet conservative men instead of shaking their hands and I cover up in long sleeves even if I am visiting a Bedouin community in the desert.

After the incident, I admit that I have become more aware of the insecurity that I face by being a woman. I am a blond, western, woman in her 20s and I receive attention. I am not hiding under a veil, and my job is to engage with the local community. People from back home reacted strongly, encouraging me to be more timid, compromise my initiatives and believes, for my safety. I beg to differ. To compromise my values, and believes, to hide who I am because of one unfortunate incident, would be to accept the insecurity of women, and not to fight for their equal rights.

Women can have bad experiences everywhere, women can be scared, and women can receive support from the community. It is important that we talk about it, so I am willing to admit that sometimes being a woman can be difficult, whether I am in Sweden or in the Middle East.

What is the bulldozer up to?

I have had the duty to provide protective presence to Yanoun for the day. After my colleagues left, I went to the old ladies next door and had a cup of tea. The ladies are two sisters and their mother, who run the ‘supermarket’ of the village and also seem to be related to everyone in the village. Then the Mayer comes to visit his sisters and mother, and end up chatting with me for half an hour. We talk about the weather, the village, the villagers, the sheep of the village and in particular the newborn lamb born two hours earlier.

Not once does either one of us mention the big yellow beast 300 meters away, as we both remain oblivious due to the steep hill hindering our sight. When my colleagues return back however, it is with pictures and question about what the bulldozer is up to up by the Itamar outpost behind the house. For how long has it been there? What is its purpose?

We decide to climb as close and far up as we are allowed to go before provoking the settlers. With the large binoculars thrown over my shoulder, and a water bottle sticking up from my pocket we attempt to get a better view. The attempt does not yield any results, and the bulldozer is hidden even from this angle. A team assessment of the appropriate approach rules out the possibility of me walking closer so I can view over the rink. Safety and respect for the rules that guides the villagers life and interaction with the settlers, remains our first priority.

Instead we walk to the hill opposite, hoping to gain a clear sight of the bulldozer. On the opposite outpost, further away on hill 777, we however notice further activity.  A crane working is on the electricity poles. At first glance it looks unsuspicious. Yet it could possibly be an indicator of planned expansion of the outpost, preparation for additional caravans. It remains calm, with the usual settler walking around with his machine gun by the grapevines.

We walk home, and wonder: what is the bulldozer up to?

The hill behind Yanoun has been occupied by settlers belonging to the Itamar settlement. There are several organic chicken farms, so this could indicate a new one being built. One of my colleagues met a settler from the area who said that the organic eggs have been in high demand. In particular the organic products are popular among the more liberal people living in Tel Aviv, who ironically represent the same segment of the Israeli population as those opposed to the settlements and outposts.

A helicopter fly by on a low altitude, and we can see it clearly. We can also hear the Israeli air force being active in the Jordan valley. In the last couple of days several demolition orders and cease of cultivation orders have been issued in the area, including a demolition order for a tent by ICRC. Is it all a sign of more pressure on the people in the Jordan valley by Israeli authorities?

I can only speculate on the purpose of the bulldozer, and have no answers for now. All I can report from the region is what I see on the ground, and do my best to get as extensive information as possible. If the bulldozer is up to anything at all, I am obliged to inform you that for the occupying power to change any conditions on the ground is an illegal act according to international humanitarian law. So the bulldozer is in that case, a sign of Israel breaching the Geneva conventions and neglecting the rights of the Palestinian people, and the people of Yanoun.

Protective Presence in Yanoun

To sit outside in the sun, with an incredible view over green hills and fields of olive trees, may not be the idea that comes to mind when you say you are a civil observer. Yet it is all that is required of you in the village of Yanoun.

The village is split in to two parts, and it is approximately a kilometer between lower and upper Yanoun. The village of Yanoun is in the North West of the West Bank, near Nablus and the ultra radically nationalistic settlement of Itamar. In upper Yanoun where we live, there are a population of 36 people, us included. There are 13 adults and 23 children living here, one horse, two donkeys, but the number of sheep and goats far exceed this with a ratio of at least 10 to 1.

At first Yanoun appears rather idyllic, with a calm serenity and peaceful atmosphere. There is no wall, there are no checkpoints and there are no huge white settlements ruining the view in the horizon. However as time pass by you learn to spot the outposts on the surrounding hills, lit up clearly by watchtowers during the night.  During the morning and evening walks in Yanoun, you learn to turn when you reach the invisible borders to military closed areas and security zones surrounding the outposts. Even though it is not fenced in, and despite the lack of signs or a separation barrier, the distinction between us and them, between Israeli and Palestinian is still clear.

Frequently, or what we have experienced so far to be daily, the military jeep drives around in the village, sometimes together with settlers. There have been many incidents with settlers coming down from the outposts and threatening, or even hurting the villagers. It was this harassment that in 2001 led the entire village to flee, and they would only return after having been promised international presence and support. It is that support that we as EAPPI offer with our constant protective presence in the village, now going on ten years.

When you mere presence is all that is required to make a difference, the reality on the ground is gravely distressing.

Despite our presence the situation in Yanoun is still not resolved, and the occupation with its negative consequences is constant. Located mostly in Area C, a lot of the land belonging to the village has been confiscated and today a family received new military orders that their case would be brought to court as their home is now considered to be in a closed military zone. Therefore after the 21^th of May they may no longer being allowed to live there anymore, despite being the rightful owners of the land.

According to one of the villagers in Yanoun the protective presence we provide is important:

“Without the internationals, the problems would start again and the children would be afraid again.”

Surrounded by settlers

”I woke up in the middle of the night with a man standing above me with a gun in his hand. My wife and I had been sleeping, and then he was there in the middle of our house. He asked if I had any cigarettes, and I gave him three.”

Abu Osama, recalls another time when he together with his wife, son and grandchildren were trapped inside the house with big dogs barking outside. The settlers from one of the twelve nearby settlements had come to his house, and brought the dogs. Abu Osama called the Israeli army, and the Palestinian DCL, but nobody came.”Now I don’t bring my kids or wife here anymore, because my wife has already been attacked twice.”

The house where we are is on land belonging to the village of Khallet Sakariya, and is daily visited by settlers. During our visit there are several settler cars driving by, and as we leave in two UN cars, a military jeep appears. It is a very small house with one room, and the house has no electricity. Right outside the house passes the large electricity line between the settlements, but Abu Osama cannot use it. There is no running water, and it is instead carried from the village to the house. On either side of his land, large Israeli flags were recently placed by settlers, despite it being Palestinian land.

As we sit in the sun outside Abu Osama’s house, he is serving us both coffee and tea. He then goes on to say: “only last night they came again, the settlers. Now I do not have a bathroom, if you ask me to use the toilet I will offer to drive you to the village.” The radical settler from the near-by settlement of Efrat destroyed the lean-to just by the house, which functioned as the bathroom and toilet.

“I want to build a fence around my land, so they cannot get in” he concludes. It is evident that Abu Osama’s family cannot live on their land, and that they do not feel safe in their own home. The settlers are guarded by the Israeli military and there is additional security for the settlements. For Abu Osama, neither basic services nor respect is granted, and the protection in place for the Palestinians nowhere to be seen.

Making the work of Palestinian women visible

“The women's centre was really a great help for the mothers and girls, also to help the children with their English homework. That is how it all started. Then we continued with offering girls who were off from school, between 7^th and 10^th grade to come and practice their English. Later on we also introduced health education. If the woman knows everything about the family’s health needs, it can be the difference between life and death. Here in Nahhalin, we are living outside of Bethlehem and it is good to know first aid.”

“We have health education, language and computer classes and classes in agriculture and farming. The women actually proved us wrong, they were really interested and wanted to know more about agriculture. Some of the girls came for one year, twice a week. They learned all the trees, all the plants, how to trim, how to plant, the seeds. How to plant herbs, and how to dry herbs. One of the girls started growing herbs in pots on her window, and now they are all over the house. It is a good income for the family. Another girl convinced her father to give her a really bad piece of land. It was not considered good for planting, and the family said it was not good for cucumbers. Now there is plenty of them, and she even has enough of them to sell to the neighbors too. We also have classes for food processing. We teach how to make your own cheese, yoghurt and different kinds of jams. This is good if you want to sell. We teach the mothers how to make healthy food for their kids."

“Every year we have a women’s week and I pick a theme. This year it is stress management and living under pressure. It is very important to see that other women also experience this, so you can exchange ideas and values. Each year I try to take them for a trip, to take them outside of the village. The purpose is not only to have fun, but also to learn.”

Jihan is an impressive woman, and with a family and the Tent of Nations to run, it is a wonder she has all this time and energy to spare.  It was her husband, Daoud’s idea that she could start a project to try and help the women in the village next to Tent of Nations.“I organize all of these things, but get volunteers to help us at the women’s centre, such as yourselves. And then we take in experts for certain courses.”

After one of the weekly English conversation classes, I have been holding together with my colleague Hannah, there is a workshop and we are invited to stay. UNDP have a program targeting women in vulnerable villages, and two young women are coming to talk. The topic for the day is ‘Divorce according to Islamic law’, and unfortunately we are forced to observe an inquisitive discussion without understanding the language. When we later on ask Jihan to give us a summary, she says they discussed issues such as: what happens if a man is drunk when he says he divorce you? What if he only says it once instead of the required three times?

For us it is these opportunities to see a world that is hidden for the regular tourist or even for us on our visits to the villages. To hear that a woman whose husband divorce her, has to go back and live with her parents, and that he then can change his mind until three menstrual cycles has passed, was not only news to us, but also news to Jihan, who is Christian.

It may seem unrelated to women’s rights, but to empower the women in the village enables development and is an important part of strengthening the Palestinian society. The centre provides opportunities to communicate both with each other, and with others. It gives them the tools to earn an income, and better provide for their families both financially, physically and mentally.

Thank you Jihan, and Thank you the women of Nahhalin.