Freedom Summer

2002-08-19T17:55:00.000+03:00

Story that mentions us from the Scotsman

Official version of shooting angers Arabs
BEN LYNFIELD IN JERUSALEM
The Scotsman
August 5th, 2002

IF ANYTHING is clear about yesterday’s fatal shootings in East Jerusalem, it is that more happened at Damascus Gate than just an "exchange of fire" between security forces and a terrorist.

The violence claimed the life of an Israeli telephone worker, Yekutiel Amitai, who was shot in his lorry by an Arab assailant at the outset of the incident. Two other telephone workers were injured. The Arab assailant was "neutralised", according to a police spokesman.

Palestinians blame Israel for the death of a civilian, Nizar Aweisat, and the wounding of 17 people in the incident. Israel says they were hit in an "exchange of fire". Mr Aweisat was killed and at least three people injured as they sat in the al-Omal café, witnesses said. They said that the gunman had approached the entrance of the café to reload.

Israel Television said that a policeman had been shot in the head, but did not say by whom.

In an immediate sense, this incident may seem to be a footnote in a day punctuated by a Hamas bombing of a bus that killed nine Israelis in the northern town of Safad. But it is significant not only in terms of the damage it is causing to already acrimonious relations between Arab and Jew, but also because of the way police and the official Israeli media tried to gloss over what had caused Palestinians civilian bystanders to be killed and wounded.

Not showing what the Palestinians experience at the hands of Israeli security forces is part of a dehumanisation process by the state and media of the "enemy". This process is so extensive that if and when an Israeli leader decides to embark on genuine diplomacy, he may have a hard time convincing the public to follow along.

The Palestinian fatalities and casualties were almost certainly all caused by the police, who, according to witness accounts and bullet marks, fired automatic gunfire into a crowded area of shops and cafés. If there was any exchange of fire, it was a very lopsided one, pitting an array of automatic weapons against a lone gunman who, by all accounts, was a 19-year-old from Hebron, in the West Bank, who was armed with only a pistol.

"When there are exchanges of fire between the terrorist and the police and the terrorist is in a crowded area, it is possible civilians will also be hurt," said Jerusalem’s police chief, Miki Levy.

Palestinians are not buying that. Used to being treated as second-class citizens by the Israeli authorities, they are certain that police would never have opened fire into shops crowded with Jews.

They have a point. "This would never happen on Jaffa Street," said one man of Jerusalem’s main shopping street. "The police are criminals, they did not care who they hit," said another man.

Carl Williams, a US tourist, said the police had sprayed fire in all directions.

Police wounded two Palestinians at a table outside the al-Ayad restaurant, a full 25 yards from where the gunman’s corpse could later be seen on the pavement.

Ashraf Kastero, 23, who had gone to the al-Ayad for lunch, was hit in the groin.

The café’s fridge was shot up and there were bullet holes in the wall, 25ft away on the other side of the premises.

"I was having coffee, everyone in the café was having coffee or tea and playing cards," said Mohammed Saadi Salameh, 74.

"There were six tables and all were full. I did not see the shooting, I heard it. It was very rapid, in bursts. A man across from me was wounded, I saw three or four people wounded. I saw the blood of someone I knew next to me, Fakhri Shuweiki.

"I was afraid of dying. I lay on the ground.

"The police came and told us all to go. I do not know what happened to those who were wounded."

The Israeli police foreign press spokesman depicted the incident this way: "Two people were killed in addition to the terrorist and 17 people wounded, including two seriously, in a shooting attack by a pistol-wielding terrorist near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem."

State-run Israel Television Channel One reported that "border police identified the terrorist and opened fire at him" and that he and the Palestinian civilians were killed "in an exchange of fire". Police, but no eyewitnesses, were interviewed.

An Article that has terrible quotes from Chris and me ...

Wave of attacks rocks Israel, 13 dead, more than 80 hurt after Arab militants strike
By Charles A. Radin and Alon Tuval, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent, 8/5/2002

JERUSALEM - Arab militants launched attacks from the northern tip of Israel to the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, killing 13 people, including nine in a bus bombing, and wounding about 80 others, mostly Jews but also some Arabs and foreigners. One Palestinian suicide bomber and two Palestinian gunmen also were killed.

Also early today, Israeli forces searching a village north of Nablus killed two Palestinians, one a fugitive militant, Palestinian sources said, raising the 24-hour death toll to 18 from both sides.

The attacks began at about 4 a.m., when a Palestinian in scuba gear, armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and hand grenades, was shot dead while infiltrating a Jewish settlement bloc in Gaza from the Mediterranean Sea. At 8:45, a suicide bomber on a bus bound from Haifa to the northern mountain town of Tsfat blew himself up, killing nine others and wounding about 40. Around 11, Hezbollah gunners in southern Lebanon fired shells at Kiryat Shemona, Israel's northernmost city.

In Jerusalem, the quiet that had long prevailed around the Damascus Gate, a bustling area of Arab produce markets and small businesses next to the walled Old City, was shattered an hour later when a Palestinian gunman shot dead a telephone company guard and ran into a crowded coffeeshop while firing at Border Police patrolling the area. At least one Palestinian bystander was killed and 17 people, mostly Palestinians, were wounded.

Fighting raged throughout the day: Three Israeli soldiers were wounded by a bomb as troops continued their assault on units of the Islamic extremist group Hamas that are based in the casbah of Nablus. Three soldiers were severely injured by roadside bombs north of Ramallah, and two others were injured near Tulkarem. There were numerous unsuccessful attacks on Israeli settlements in Gaza.

Early this morning, Palestinian gunmen struck a family traveling in the northern West Bank, killing the parents and lightly wounding two children.

Senior Israeli sources said they felt the multiple assaults were an attempt by Islamic extremists to reinvigorate support for continued armed struggle within an increasingly weary Palestinian public, and to provoke a massive Israeli retaliation that would lead Syria and Iran to give Hezbollah a green light to operate aggressively against Israel along the Lebanese border.

''It is a very delicate time,'' said a source close to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, citing US efforts to discourage Russia from aiding Iran's developing nuclear-power capability and the perceived US preparation to assault Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein. ''For all the hurt and agony we have, to escalate now would not be wise.''

Nevertheless, a senior Foreign Ministry source said, ''we are very close'' to launching a massive attack because the Israeli public will not stand for restraint in the face of more days like yesterday, and Sharon will OK the attack rather than allow former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others to his political right to gain political leverage.

Hamas claimed responsibility for yesterday's bus bombing, as it did for last week's bombing of a cafeteria at Hebrew University that killed seven people, five of them US citizens.

The group, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the US State Department, says it plans a long series of such attacks in retaliation for an Israeli bombing in Gaza City two weeks ago that killed Hamas's military leader and 14 other people, mostly women and children,

Yesterday's bombing took place near a Jewish holy site - the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai, author of the Zohar, the central text of Jewish mysticism - at a junction in north-central Israel.

The jam-packed Egged bus 361, which set out from coastal Haifa at 7 a.m., was nearing its destination in Tsfat, an ancient mountain city which, since the mid-16th century, has been the center of Jewish mysticism, when the blast occurred.

''I saw the bus stop, the front door swung open, and suddenly there was a huge explosion,'' said Tomer Gani, 25, a gas station attendant who was fueling a car at the junction. ''The front section of the roof flew out in flames, and so did the front door with the people next to it. Thick black smoke came out of the bus'' - produced by a fireball that flashed through the vehicle, severely burning many of the passengers.

Gani and three drivers who were stopped at the service station ran to assist the wounded. ''It was a terrible sight,'' he said. The dead ''were totally ripped up, limbs missing, some with whole sections blown off. At first, everything was quiet - total silence - and then the screams started.''

Some of the passengers on the civilian bus were young Israeli soldiers on their way back to their posts after weekend home leaves. Of the nine people killed, three were soldiers; of 54 injured, 23 were in the military. At least two foreigners, Filipinos working in Israel, were also killed.

An hour after the bus bombing, mayhem erupted outside Damascus Gate. Just before noon, witnesses said, a Palestinian armed with a pistol jumped onto the running board of a Bezeq telephone company truck and shot the driver. The man ran to the other side of the truck, shot dead the guard riding in the passenger seat, and severely wounded another passenger.

Then, running toward the popular Al Umal coffeeshop and a neighboring falafel stand, both frequented almost entirely by Arabs, he fired repeatedly at Border Police patrols responding to the first shots. Before the firing stopped, three men were dead - the assailant, the guard in the telephone truck, and a Palestinian killed as he crouched for cover near the falafel stand - and 17 were wounded. Both Israeli Jews with the guard in the truck were severely wounded; most of the rest of the injured were Palestinians or Israeli Arabs.

Chris Williams, a 33-year-old Boston computer programmer who is visiting Jerusalem with his twin brother, Carl, dived for cover.

''I saw this guy had a pistol to the driver's head. We started to move away, and heard two or three pops,'' Williams said. ''We've heard gunfire before because we live in Mission Hill. I don't know who was who, but I'd bet a million the first kill was in the truck.

''We went into one of the shops and the automatic gunfire erupted,'' he said. ''Then the undercover guys came out of nowhere, and seconds later the M16-toting motorcycle police units.''

Chief Superintendant Ofer Sivan of the National Police said the shooter was a 19-year-old Palestinian from Hebron. Mickey Levy, Jerusalem district commander of the police, said the man was known to the authorities before the attack, but Sivan said further details would not be released until investigators had gone farther with their work.

In the aftermath of the shooting, the usually busy area of markets, businesses, and coffeehouses was all but deserted. Israeli security men walked along the top of the Old City walls. And a frantic Israeli Arab woman, who gave only her first name, Rullah, was telling whoever asked that ''an Israeli opened fire on the cafe, and many are injured.''

Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a branch of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

Hezbollah's renewed firing across Israel's border with Lebanon did no physical damage, but signaled the radical Islamic group's re-entry into the violence after a few weeks' absence.

The Israeli government put blame for the surge in violence on Arafat, whose administration condemned yesterday's bus bombing, but Sharon spokesman Ra'anan Gissin declined comment on an Army Radio report that the United States, revolted by the violence of the last few days, was now prepared for Israel to expel the Palestinian leader - a step Washington until now has resisted strongly.

''All in due time,'' Gissin said.

Charles A. Radin can be reached at radin@globe.com

Tuesday, August 13, 2002

Putting the cart before the Horse ::: Carl and Chris Williams Freedom Summer Update

We left the Dheisheh Refugee Camp on the outskirts of Bethlehem on Tuesday. We traveled to Beit Sahour which happens to also be a suburb of Bethlehem. We went there to meet up with a new set of activist. The reason was 2-fold : First to get some people to stay in the one of the Palestinian homes we had just left (the home was under demolition orders from the Israeli Army) and second to possibly get a few new activist to join our affinity group (which lost members because one went home and another was going to be doing other work).

After a long series of discussions we divided up and we came to the decision that Chris, myself (Carl) and Susanne would go to Qalqilya (pronounced "Qual - Kill - E - ahh), Palestine. A small team of activist have been based in Qalqilya doing a lot of work around checkpoint monitoring and accompaning Palestine Red Crescent Society ambulances.

To get to Qalqilya we had to go to Jerusalem (and through a checkpoint), then to Nablus, and finally to the checkpoint outside of Qalqilya. Qalqilya is basically under a sort of silent siege. It is very difficult to get in or out, and impossible unless you have the proper paperwork and identity card. All this for a town of about 35,000 people. We had a story fabricated to get into Qalqilya and what we were going to be doing. The Israeli Army wouldn't appreciated us telling them that we were coming to Qalqilya to monitor the treatment of Palestinians at this very checkpoint. Anyway, we made it in, but others international activists have had to sneak around the checkpoint which it a quite dangerous adventure.

Once in Qalqilya we met with local NGOs and the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS, which is affiliated with the International Committee of the Red Cross and runs an ambulance service for Qalqilya and the surrounding villages and towns). We also met the international activists that have been working in Qalqilya for some time (Garrick, Susan, Eli, Dave, Ester and Laura). We found out that they work their asses of too.

Basically, they have 2 or 3 people on duty at the PRCS for ambulance accompaniment 24 hours a day (which is divided into 3 shifts). In addition to that they also have 3, 4 or more people on duty at the checkpoint from 8 AM to 4 PM to monitor the Israeli army's treatment of the local Palestinians and the assist Palestinians in trying to pass through the checkpoint. We you do a bit of quick math you'll find out that this crew sometimes works 18 hour a day! All this in 90+ degree heat.

We (Carl, Chris and Susanne) were quite inspired by this sturdy group of activists and were eager to join in with them. After a good night's sleep of course. We slept the sleep of the dead that night, except for when we did a call-in to a group of activists in Boston to talk about our work with the International Solidarity Movement and out experiences in Palestine.

Wednesday, August 14, 2002

We awoke in the morning and had several actions planned for the day, the long day. Chris was to visit some local schools and a summer camp. The school was for the children of victims of Israeli attacks, there were scores and scores of kids at the school.

Carl was on checkpoint duty, pulling a double-shift from 8 - 11 am and from 2 to 4 pm. It is astonishing to watch the Israeli military at work. The face of the Israeli army is that of an 18 year old kid with wraparound mirrored sunglasses. In this specific case the image was completed with a fading hickey on the neck, which seemed to punctuate the boy's youth nicely. The soldiers would shout at the waiting Palestinians to line up this way or that way, back here or over there in an almost laughable manner. Periodically pointing an M-16 machine gun (US made and paid for in case you were wondering) at a middle aged woman or more likely a teenaged boy. We had brought about 6 1.5 liter bottles of water with us to share with the Palestinians waiting in the scorching sun. We were emptied out of water ("Mayy" in Arabic) in about 2 hours. A tom-boyish girl, about 8 or 9 years old, still seemed thirsty. While she was trying to communicate with us, one of the Army boy's came by to push the Palestinians back, seemingly where we were standing was no longer acceptable even though we had been there for about an hour. When the soldier approached the girl looked at him in a way that can only be described as sternly and said "Mayy!". I was baffled. So was the soldier. The girl repeated her demand "Biddi mayya!" ("I want water!" in Arabic). The soldier had wandered back to his cement block station at this point. He still seemed astonished at the girl's request but there was a bottle of water standing on the cement block between him and the girl. A bit of a staring contest ensued. The girl grasped the neck of the bottle of water but didn't move it. The staring continued. She seemed to be non-verbally saying, "I am going to take this water for me and my family, is that OK? And you are not really allowed to say 'no'". They she just took the bottle spun on her heal and walked off to her family. She chugged about a cup full before handing it to her younger sister. The family finished the bottle and the girl marched back to the cement block to politely return the empty bottle.

Astonishing. About half an hour later she asked the same soldier for more water. He seemed resigned to the fact that this girl was going to get her way and promptly produced a canteen from inside of him uniform.

I love kids!

Thursday, August 15, 2002

Meanwhile back at the 'ranch', Chris was on overnight ambulance duty (early Thursday morning). He was sleeping at the headquarters of the Palestine Red Crescent Society when a call came in to pick up a pregnant woman about to go into labor in the neighboring village of Azzun at around 5am. Chris headed out with on of the PRCS rivers Munthir and another paramedic in the back. It took the soldiers at the Qalqilya checkpoint about 7 minutes to even come out to the ambulance. A clarifying note here, it is against the Geneva Conventions to impede ambulance traffic in any situation. However the PRCS drivers know that they would be shot at if the even attempted to drive through the checkpoint without submitting to the Israeli military. The soldiers told all of the occupants of the ambulance to get out. For better or worse they did not think Chris was a foreigner. They probably thought that he was a Palestinian. Everyone was told to lift their shirts to see if they had any explosives belts on. This whole exercise took 10 minutes. It was raining that night which is bizzare weather for this time of year. This didn't deter Munthir, the driver. About 5 minutes later they pulled up to the checkpoint outside of Azzun. The family had a car but the Israeli military would not allow them to drive out of Azzun to the UN hospital in Qalqilya.

The woman and her husband were loaded into the ambulance and they took off. The woman was screaming from her labor pains.

Chris smelled the woman's water breaking, Munthir drove faster in the rain. He pulled over for a second just outside of Qalqilya thinking they would have to deliver there but the continued on to the Qalqilya checkpoint. Again the soldiers took more than 5 minutes to even show up. This time they did not take quite as long in searching the ambulance, however they did take just long enough that the baby's head came out and the delivery was starting. Munthir told the soldiers that he would have to deliver right here outside of the checkpoint gate. The soldiers, who seemed to be of North African or Druze backgrounds looked very similar to Chris. The soldier told Munthir that he could not stop here but would have to continue through the checkpoint. He drove through the gate about 10 feet past, stopped and went in the back to assist in the delivery.

It was a quick delivery. 14 minutes later Munthir was driving to the UN hospital and we had a baby boy in the back, with his mother and father. There is a kind of running joke in Palestine that lots of children are named Mahsoom, which means "checkpoint" in Arabic.

Arriving at the UN hospital at 5:37 am, Chris waited outside while the Munthir and the paramedic took the woman and child in to the hospital. Interestingly, a couple of guys outside the hospital greeted Chris with several phrases in Arabic, presumably believing him to be Palestinian.

Chris finished his shift at 8 AM and promptly went to sleep. Carl started another day of duty at the checkpoint, again having volunteered for a double shift. The first shift team was Carl, Susanne and Jennie and they were armed with 9 bottles of water, a digital video camera and a notebook. When the team arrived at the checkpoint there was moderate activity. About 30 - 40 people waiting in the morning sun. The group waiting included men, women, children and more that a few infants. The Israeli army institutes random policies at the checkpoints. Many times not allowing residents of a town to leave that town, only letting people who are in Qalqilya from somewhere else to go home, this is further complicated by the point that usually you cannot get INTO Qalqilya unless you are from Qalqilya. If you are confused at this point you are beginning to understand. Palestinians get in line as early as possible to try to cross the checkpoint before the rules change.

One of the other astonishing things that happens at checkpoints is that the Israeli military impounds horses, donkeys and their carts. There seems to be no possible explanation for this. They take the carts away and leave them next to the checkpoint tents housing the officers. If the army thought there was some kind of bomb threat they certainly wouldn't leave the carts there. One man, Lutvie, that we met had been at the checkpoint all day everyday for most of the past week. He was trying to get his cart back, since it was an integral part of his livelihood. He and his son approached us and if we could help him. We told him that we could. Throughout the day we had approched the army to request they let people thought the checkpoint for various reason, a mother needed to visit an ailing child, a father needed to return to his family after a week of work in Qalqilya and the like. We told Lutvie that we needed to wait a bit before asking the army for any more 'favors'. He agreed. At about 10:30 AM Carl and Lutvie approached on of the soldiers and asked if they could speak to the captain about the cart and horse situation. The soldier was hesitant but when pressured he allowed us to pass and approach the commander's tent. Outside the tent a young soldier asked, in a mish-mash of Hebrew and Arabic what Carl and Lutvie wanted. Carl asked if he spoke English.

"Yes, I speak English" was the reply.
"My name is Carl and I am an American citizen, this man's name is Lutvie and his horse and cart have been taken. Is there someone we could talk to about getting them back?"
"Yes."
"Ummm, who?"
"Me."
"OK, can we have the horse and cart?"
"Yes, not now, come back, 6."
"At 6 o'clock?"
"Yes."
"To whom should we speak at 6?"
"To me."
"O, OK, and what is your name?"
[Long pause]
"Doesn't matter, speak me at 6."
"OK, thank you."

Lutvie and Carl were annoyed and pleased at the same time. This was the first direct answer Lutvie had in three days regarding the horse and cart. But the arbitrariness of waiting until 6 PM was difficult to be happy about. Carl told Lutvie that he would certainly be at the checkpoint at 6 to try again.

After finishing the first shift Carl, Jennie and Susanne went home for a bit of a rest.

The second shift (from 2 - 4 usually, but due to circumstances this one would stretch to past 6) team was made up of Carl, Chris and Jennie. The soldiers were up to their usually pushing people around (they seem to always make a point of pushing people, sometimes with their M-16s).

The day seemed to drag on. We made a few interventions on behalf of people who asked for our help, provided water to people (and even to a horse!). And generally waited for 6 PM to roll around. At about 5 PM Lutvie returned to the checkpoint (he had gone home earlier in the day). We waited until a lot of the people and trucks were out of the way and they approached the soldier at the gate. We told him we had horse and cart related business at the commander's tent and could we be allowed through to discuss the matter. "No" was the answer. In situation like this we kind of learned to use the Jedi mind trick with the younger Israeli draftees.

"I am an American and I am going to talk to someone at the commander's tent."
"Oh."
"Is that OK?"
"Umm, oh, OK."

At the commander's tent the same young soldier was at the lounging on a pile of sandbags (he looked turtle-ish at about 5-foot-2 and with his olive drab uniform, battle helmet, battle flak jacket, and vest pouches loaded with sound grenades, half a dozen extra clips of ammunition and an M-16 slung around his neck). I asked about the horse and cart. To my astonishment he just pointed to an area behind the tent. Lutvie and I briskly skipped around the tent worrying that the decisions like this one can and very often are revoked at the slightest whim. I turned the corner to see about 25 battered carts.

Hmmm, "Terrorist donkey carts ... for terrorist donkeys, no doubt."

I would have laughed at the thought if it were not for the fact that something like this thought was probably their reason the Israeli military first impounded the dozens of carts (and does so regularly and continually I have been told). Lutvie and I grabbed the cart. I was in the donkey-position, that is I grabbed the poles in the front that would normally be tied to the animal. We navigated the cart out of its parking spot and onto the road as we approached the soldiers at the checkpoint about a half dozen men were shouting and running about. I thought they were happy to finally see Lutvie get his cart. Not exactly. They had impounded carts and wanted them back too. That is the problem with justice when people see tiny bits of it, everybody wants some. Hard to argue with thought. So I left Lutvie to his horse-less (and Carl-less at this point) to re-request cart releases from the military. Seemingly an order had been made to allow all the carts to be released. About 6 people some men and some pre-teenaged children where grabbing carts and wheeling them out. Then the rule changed. "No carts out", quickly became the unspoken order. How or why was anyone guess. One can imagine that the Israeli commanders getting an encoded radio message from Shin Beit (Israel's Secret Service) at the crucial moment:

"Islamic Jihad amassing donkey carts... stop ...
North West Judea ... stop ...
Dangerous situation ... stop ...
Israel's existence at risk ... stop ...
disallow movement of said carts ... stop ...
immediate and urgent ... stop ..."

Anyway, including Lutvie's cart, 3 were released. I was beaming with pride. Three people had their card back. Granted they had no animals to go with the carts and they should have never been taken in the first place. Further the very existence of the checkpoint is an injustice, but the minor victory of the free carts was overwhelming. I kind of came to a tiny understanding. When asked about the military occupation Palestinians will invariably say "What can we do?"

Insha' Allah -- it is God's Will.

People here feel helpless and any miniscule victory or resistance to the Israeli occupation is a gift from God. I, in my agnosticism, felt the same way.

Today, together, we freed the carts.
Tomorrow, together, we free Palestine.

For information on how you can work for a free Palestine check:
http://www.israel-divest.org/
and http://www.freepalestinecampaign.org/

Carl and Chris Williams
(Phone-less in Amman, Jordan in transit to the USA)

2002-08-16T15:35:00.000+03:00

Last night in Dheisheh
Tuesday, August 11, 2002

Early Monday morning, at about 4 AM we were woken up by, what has come to be know as "the sound". The sound is an explosion, but a specific kind of explosion. It is differnt that the sharp sound of a homemade "Bottle bomb" use to blow up Israeli jeeps, it isn't like the same as the quick snappy explosion sound grenade used by the Israeli military to shock Palestinians.

It is the sound of a multifloor cement home being reduced to rubble.

When you wake up to this sound your heart sinks and seems to merge with a the fear that is rolling around in your stomach.

After the sound Chris called me. He was at the home of Abu Samir. This home is also under threat of demolision becasue the families eldest daughter carried out a suicide attack against Israel. Her name was Ayaat. She was 17. Chris told me that the house that was destroyed was the house the Bedaer family. The mother of the house had come to visit Chris and the Abu Samir family 6 hours previous. She asked if someone, anyone could come to here house because she knew the Israeli military was coming to destroy her home tonight. She knew this because the military had come earlier in the day to take the families "pass cards" read here for more information on the pass card system and its similarities to the pass card system under Apartied in South Africa read here;

http://www.lawsociety.org/Intifada2000/articles/safrica.htm

Chris made some calls and came to the conclusion that there was nothing we could do to protect the home. We, the international activists staying in homes in Dheisheh, numbered about 5 at that moment and were streched between 2 homes. We couldn't possibly take on another home. We tried to get other international activists to come to Dheisheh but at 10PM and with the Israeli army enforcing the curfew with jeeps, sound grenades and armored personnal carriers it was far to risky.

Chris tolded her that it simply wasnt possible to get anyone to her house. As I mentioned above her home was blowen up about 6 hours by the Israeli military. Home demolision is a process that has recently been upheld by the Supreme Court of Israel, but somewhat ironically is rejected by international law, world opinion and the Geneva Conventions.

Home demolision is also rejected by the opinions of the Bedaer family, 18 of whom are now homeless and will likely live in a tent on top of the rubble that was their home.

After the sound of the demolision, Samir, one of the sons in the home, discussed some of the rumors he has heard of new ways the Israeli military is using to destroy the homes of reletives of suspected Palestinian militants.

One is to use a vacuum bomb to sort of make the house implode (kind of like sucking is in instead of blowing it up). Another he had heard of was a huge wreaking ball that is attached to an Apache helicopter and dropped through the house from the roof. We are not sure on the validity of these stories but it speaks volumes to the attitudes and fears that these refugees live in on a day to day basis.

Sleep was sporadic at best from 4 AM until about 7:30 AM when we need to wake up. We awoke and packed to leave. Our team was leaving to go to Nablus, by way of Beit Sahour. Nablus is under full 24 hour curfew with tanks in the streets. We are told that the level of fear and oppression there are higher there that in Dheisheh.

Today we will probably rejuvanite our affinity group with a few new members and head off to Nablus tonight of tomorrow morning.

Updates from Nablus are sure to be quite 'action packed' so be sure to stay tuned but they are also sure to be fewer since it ain't easy to get to an internet cafe under 24 hour curfew and military occupation.

If you read this and you are as shocked and outraged as much as we are please consider supporting the work of the International Solidarity Movement.

The two best ways to help (aside from coming to Palestine) are :

1. Donate to help other activist come to Palestine:

Send Checks to: Carl Williams, 8 Sewall St, Roxbury, MA 02120
Make payable to : Boston Committe for Palestinian Rights

2. Call you Senator, and your 2 representatives offices and tell them that the US stop its financial support for Israel until it ends the occupation and stops destroying homes.

www.senate.gov (202) 224-3121 TTY (202) 225-1904
www.house.gov (202) 224-3121 TTY (202) 225-1904

There will be peace and justice in Palestine/Israel as soon as enough people of good conscience here and around the world care enough to make it happen.

2002-08-16T01:34:00.000+03:00

Last night in Dheisheh ::: Carl and Chris Williams Freedom Summer Update

Tuesday, August 11, 2002

Early Monday morning, at about 4 AM we were woken up by, what has come to be know as "the sound". The sound is an explosion, but a specific kind of explosion. It is differnt that the sharp sound of a homemade "Bottle bomb" use to blow up Israeli jeeps, it isn't like the same as the quick snappy explosion sound grenade used by the Israeli military to shock Palestinians.

It is the sound of a multifloor cement home being reduced to rubble.

When you wake up to this sound your heart sinks and seems to merge with a the fear that is rolling around in your stomach.

After the sound Chris called me. He was at the home of Abu Samir. This home is also under threat of demolision becasue the families eldest daughter carried out a suicide attack against Israel. Her name was Ayaat. She was 17. Chris told me that the house that was destroyed was the house the Bedaer family. The mother of the house had come to visit Chris and the Abu Samir family 6 hours previous. She asked if someone, anyone could come to here house because she knew the Israeli military was coming to destroy her home tonight. She knew this because the military had come earlier in the day to take the families "pass cards" read here for more information on the pass card system and its similarities to the pass card system under Apartied in South Africa read here;

http://www.lawsociety.org/Intifada2000/articles/safrica.htm

Chris made some calls and came to the conclusion that there was nothing we could do to protect the home. We, the international activists staying in homes in Dheisheh, numbered about 5 at that moment and were streched between 2 homes. We couldn't possibly take on another home. We tried to get other international activists to come to Dheisheh but at 10PM and with the Israeli army enforcing the curfew with jeeps, sound grenades and armored personnal carriers it was far to risky.

Chris tolded her that it simply wasnt possible to get anyone to her house. As I mentioned above her home was blowen up about 6 hours by the Israeli military. Home demolision is a process that has recently been upheld by the Supreme Court of Israel, but somewhat ironically is rejected by international law, world opinion and the Geneva Conventions.

Home demolision is also rejected by the opinions of the Bedaer family, 18 of whom are now homeless and will likely live in a tent on top of the rubble that was their home.

After the sound of the demolision, Samir, one of the sons in the home, discussed some of the rumors he has heard of new ways the Israeli military is using to destroy the homes of reletives of suspected Palestinian militants.

One is to use a vacuum bomb to sort of make the house implode (kind of like sucking is in instead of blowing it up). Another he had heard of was a huge wreaking ball that is attached to an Apache helicopter and dropped through the house from the roof. We are not sure on the validity of these stories but it speaks volumes to the attitudes and fears that these refugees live in on a day to day basis.

Sleep was sporadic at best from 4 AM until about 7:30 AM when we need to wake up. We awoke and packed to leave. Our team was leaving to go to Nablus, by way of Beit Sahour. Nablus is under full 24 hour curfew with tanks in the streets. We are told that the level of fear and oppression there are higher there that in Dheisheh.

Today we will probably rejuvanite our affinity group with a few new members and head off to Nablus tonight of tomorrow morning.

Updates from Nablus are sure to be quite 'action packed' so be sure to stay tuned but they are also sure to be fewer since it ain't easy to get to an internet cafe under 24 hour curfew and military occupation.

If you read this and you are as shocked and outraged as much as we are please consider supporting the work of the International Solidarity Movement.

The two best ways to help (aside from coming to Palestine) are :

1. Donate to help other activist come to Palestine:

Send Checks to: Carl Williams, 8 Sewall St, Roxbury, MA 02120
Make payable to : Boston Committe for Palestinian Rights

2. Call you Senator, and your 2 representatives offices and tell them that the US stop its financial support for Israel until it ends the occupation and stops destroying homes.

www.senate.gov (202) 224-3121 TTY (202) 225-1904
www.house.gov (202) 224-3121 TTY (202) 225-1904

There will be peace and justice in Palestine/Israel as soon as enough people of good conscience here and around the world care enough to make it happen.

Insha' Allah,

Carl and Chris Williams
Cell Phone -- 011 972 67 387 881
(call anytime we are +7 EST)

2002-08-12T17:31:00.000+03:00

"Who makes war makes peace, no one else."
Sunday, August 11, 2002

Our affinity group members, Mike, Ronise (who is deaf) and Jennie went to the Deaf School in Bethlehem. The school serves boys and girls from 6 months to 15 years old. It was a well equipped modern school run by the Catholic Church. The school is currently closed because of the clampdown of the military occupation. The Italian nuns that work there showed our team bullet holes around the school and in a student desk. It makes you wonder what worse target the Israeli army could pick to shoot.

Our group had a meeting to discuss our future. We decided to leave the Dheisheh Refugee camp on Tuesday morning. Part of the group will be staying together after leaving Dheisheh. Sherri said goodbye. She will be leaving the camp in the morning and leaving Palestine on Tuesday.

On Sunday night we heard a speaker at the Ibda Community Center in Dheisheh. Narsir Al-Laham, is a Palestinian journalist who was jailed for 6 years during the first intifada. He has some interesting observations about the struggle against occupation and the search for peace. Here are few thought-provoking quotes:

"Everyone has a story."
-- speaking of the suffering that ALL Palestinians have gone through

"If Barak promises us 98% of the land, we guarantee him 98% security,
if Sharon guarantees us 42% of the land we guarantee him 42% security."
-- speaking of peace negotiations

"Who makes war makes peace, no one else."
-- speaking of bringing the fighting parties to the negotiation table,
not just the 'peace camps'

"Palestinians did not kill Arafat because of Oslo.
In Israel they killed Rabin because he said Gaza was Palestinian."

A few Israeli army jeeps came into the camp on Sunday night. They weren't around for long. While Samir, the brother of Ayaat (the female suicide bomber) and Chris were up watching for signs of military activity they started to talk about politics, suicide attacks, and the families' situation. Samir told Chris the story of his sister. He said that he would have "broken her foot" if he had known she was going carry out a suicide attack in Israel.

-- For more information on home demolision and collective punishment
read article 33 and 53 of the 4th Geneva Convention:

http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/92.htm

Monday, August 12, 2002

Carl and Suzanna came over to the Abu Samir house to meet the family for the first time. The teenage sisters of the Abu Samir family were 'intrigued' with Chris from before and were laughing and giggling at both of us together. It was pretty awkward given the conservative nature of Palestinian culture and the age of the girls. Nonetheless it was flattering.

Tonight is our last night in Dheisheh camp. We hope that the new International Solidarity Movement activists will be willing to take our place. We'll find out tonight. We are leaving so we'll have the opportunity to do other things while in Palestine and because some members of our affinity group will be leaving soon.

-- For more information on Palestinian culture read:

http://www.palestine-net.com/culture/ )

Ta'eesh Filisteen,

Carl and Chris Williams
Cell Phone -- 011 972 67 387 881
(call anytime we are +7 EST)
http://christian.home.igc.org (click on ISM Travel Blog)
http://carlton.home.igc.org

2002-08-12T17:24:00.000+03:00

Friday, August 9, 2002

Friday is the Jewish day of rest, Shabbat. So it seems that the Israeli army takes a break from house demolitions, at least that is our guess. There were are few armored personal carriers (APC) going up and down the main road in front of the Dheisheh Refugee Camp but nothing that dramatic.

We called a CNN press contact, Dianne, that had called us a few days earlier. I asked for her and was told that she had gone home hours ago. I said that I was one of the Americans staying in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp at a house that was under demolition orders. He said that I should call back for Dianne at 10am tomorrow. I told him that the house might not be there tomorrow and asked if they would be interested in sending a camera crew down to see the Israeli military dynamite the home. He said that it was Shabbat and that all the camera crews were off duty, but if the house was destroyed that he was sure that the wire news services would carry the story. Somehow this wasn't much of a relief to us.

Saturday, August 10, 2002

We took that bus to Bethlehem to go to a protest starting in Manger Square in front of the Church of the Nativity. A lot of the children from Dheisheh were there. The girls sang a bunch of songs of protest. There were a few speeches about peace and co-existance. The attendence of the protest was pretty low because busloads of Israeli, Palestinian and other activists coming from Jerusalem were not allowed through the Bethlehem checkpoint. In fact, the Israeli army attacked the peace activists that got off the bus with water cannons and mounted police.

For an article on the checkpoint attacks read:

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=196148

After this disappointing situation we went around Bethlahem and some members of our affinity group did some shopping and we got some lunch.

We took the bus back to Dheisheh.

That night when we were all back at with our home-stay families we got word of 6 Merkava tanks or APCs and several jeeps coming into the camp from over the hill. The Israeli army fired live machine guns rounds into the air and announced the curfew. This was the first time that we had heard curfew announced this way. It was around 9 PM. The army may have also threw some sound grenades. These are small orange handgrenade type bombs that make huge frightening and disorienting sounds but do little else. They are effective at waking up the entire camp.

Our Palestinian hosts told us that this did not look like a house demolition team. They believed that it was more likely a kidnapping team that came in to arrest one or more Palestinians.

The next morning we found out that Palestinian fighters had detonated a homemade 'bottle bomb' (not a molotov cocktail). A 'bottle bomb' is a bomb made of TNT, semtex, or some such material that has a hand detonation switch. We heard that the bottle bomb was detonated underneath a tank or APC but the bomb is so weak it cannot damage a Merkava tank or an APC.

The 'bottlebombs' can destroy Israeli jeeps however.

The Israeli army left the camp without approching either of the houses we were staying at. We believe that there were no demolitions carried out that night.

Sunday, August 11, 2002

Chris got a called from a woman named Mary that said she read about him on the web. She said that she was so inspired by the work of the International Solidarity Movement and what activists were doing in Dheisheh, she wondered where people found the strength. Chris said that she should have seen how terrified he was when the first house was blow up. She said that she has an Arab-American child and she felt so alone and isolated in her views. It was a nice start to the day with this kind of support.

Later in the afternoon 20 or so kids (all under 8 or 9 years old) were in front of the Ibda community center just off the main road. Many of them were holding apple sized rocks and intently watching the road. A Zelda M-113 APC came by spewing a cloud of white diesel smoke. The kids all ran away. After it pass they threw their rocks after it but it was so far gone they had no hope of coming close to hitting it.

The next time the APC passed a boy hid behind small wall to the camp and threw a rock, most of the other kids ran away. The only child visible was a boy about 2 1/2 feet tall with an orange shirt that seemed to be about 4 years old. He threw a rock the size of a acorn at the APC but came nowhere near it. The APC stopped I saw a weapon (most likely an M-16 machine gun) with an oversized muzzle being pointed out of the APC. Later I realized that this was the launching device for a volly of rubber coated metal bullets. None of the childern in front of the community center were hit but seconds after the APC drove off to adults came down the hill carrying 2 children about 5 years old. They had been hit by bullets from the APC.

Another APC passed and stopped in front of the gate, less than 20 yards away. One of the International Solidarity Movement organizers took our camera and stood in the open (where the bullets were fired moments before), making it plain that she was taping the soliders actions. This time the APC drove off without firing.

2002-08-09T15:40:00.000+03:00

Home Wreakers - Deheisha Refugee Camp near Bethlehem

Wednesday, August 7, 2002

We are in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp outside of Bethlehem, Palestine. Our affinity group has split into 2 teams, one of 3 people and the other of 4 people. Our group is staying with one Palestinian family and the other group with a second family. Both families have been threatened by the Israeli Army with house demolition (in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 33 against Collective punishments). We spent most of the afternoon at the entrance of the camp at the 'Ibda' Community Center. We had (what else?) falafel at a small shop in the camp. We did a little shopping for food and stuff. The owner of the store invited us all into the back, which was his house for tea. He showed us family heirlooms that he had in his living room. The most interesting item was the wood pole that was from the tent that the UN gave the family in 1948 when his family was driven out of Palestine and fled to the West Bank, which was at that time then militarily occupied by Jordan.

We went back home to our host family. We spent some time with the younger men of the family out on the rooftop deck that has a great view of the hills (mostly topped by paramilitary Israeli outposts, sometime referred to as "Settlements") surrounding Dheisheh.

Thursday, August 8, 2002

When we went to sleep things were fairly calm. We were shocked awake by the father of the family who said that he had gotten a call saying that another house was surrounded by the Israeli military and had ordered the family out of the house. This house was quite near and visible to the other half of our affinity group. We started making frantic calls to our Boston and our US based support group, the US Embassy and Consulate and the International Solidarity Group organizers in Beit Sahour and Jerusalem.

Needless to say we were all very nervous. This experience has changed my view of the Israeli occupation. I thought that I understood the terror of the Israeli military occupation before, but now I have a first hand taste of just how dehumanizing it can be. All 12 members of our host family were at immediate risk of being made homeless ("double homeless", in a sense, since they are living in a refugee camp in the first place) from a crime that they did not commit. Collective punishment is a cruel and senseless form of brutalization.

We went downstairs and for the first time met the women of the family. Our affinity group is pretty good at consoling each other in the time of panic. Then at 3:30 am (early Thursday, August 8, 2002) we hear the first explosion. We could feel the shock wave from the blast. It knocked a handle of one of the cabinets in the kitchen and sent us crawling across the floor in a panic like clawless cats on a linoleum floor.

After that we were all in a mild state of shock. Nothing could have prepared me for that fear. It was horrible and consuming. I am glad that our group is so cool and supportive and we were able to help each other and the family though this time.

We thought that the common practice of the Israeli military was just to do one house demolition in any night. But at 4:30 am we heard another explosion. Neither of these houses were the ones our subdivided affinity group was at. But the other group actually saw the second house blown up. They almost caught it on film. According to the story told to us from camp residents, at one the homes the family refused to leave, so the Israeli military took a passing child hostage and said to the family that they would kill him if they family did not leave the house immediately. Then the house was destroyed according to the family.

We stayed with the family for about a few hours and thought the worst was over. We went back to our floor mats upstairs to sleep off the nightmare. At 7am were woken up by another explosion. We weren't expecting another demolition to happen. I don't really have any words to explain how we felt after this. Demoralized would not be strong enough. But somehow after a night full of terror, the third act of terror was just an added exclamation point.

We slept on and off till about 9:30 am or so. Then one of the family members and a friend came upstairs to start taking the house apart. They took off the doors and said that they would do the windows later. I took this as a sign that they were sure the destruction was reallygoing to happen tonight (Friday morning sometime after 3am). We left to meet the rest of our affinity group at the Community Center. One member, Mike, had left the camp to go to Beit Sahour to train another group of incoming International Solidarity Movement activists. This left us a little weak numerically and we discussed how we may reshuffle our 'forces' for tonight.

We got to play with some of the kids of the community at the center. They almost all have slingshots or wrist rockets. And they all seem to be much better shots than me. Another popular toy is a kite, but here in Dheisheh a kite usually consists of a plastic shopping bag on a string, but it surprisingly seems to fly. We found it interesting how all the children's toys seem to be politicized. The kites are a symbolic and visible way of breaking curfew. An activist here says he is going to give the kids some balloons so they can try hitting the tanks with water balloons. The difference between pebbles and water balloons will probably not be appreciated by the Israeli military.

We spent the night helping one of the families move everything out of their house. It was great to see the many of the neighborhood men come together to help the family move. Later we have dinner (falafel, hummus, and some veggies) while watching the news of other house demolitions. It is tragic. We all felt quite sure tonight was the night.

Friday, August 9, 2002

At about 1:30 we heard an explosion and several hours later we heard another. We are still unclear what the first explosion was but we found out the second what a homemade bomb exploding as the Israeli army was traveling through the refugee camp. We went to sleep feeling that we would not sleep long. We awoke at about 9 am, a bit surprised to have slept so long and to still have a house around and under us. I slapped a wall just to feel it and get a sense of security from it. Today we will try to figure out exactly what happened last night and try to plan for what will happen to tonight.

As for now the houses are still standing and we are not deported, detained or arrested.

To be continued...

At Home in Dheisheh

Monday, August 5, 2002

On Monday, Aug 15th we attended a training presented by the International Solidarity Movement in Beit Sahour, Palestine. Beit Sahour is a town on the outskirts of Bethlehem. It is populated with mostly Christian Palestinian and is know from being the home and source of the Palestinian non-violence movement. It was the source of much of the resistance during the 1st Intifada. We had to take a number of 'services' taxis to get to Beit Sahour. We met up with the International Solidarity Movement organizer. She took us through the Bethlehem checkpoint. It was an easy but interesting experience. There was concertina (razor) wire all around and concrete roadblocks and tank tracks everywhere.

We got into Beit Sahour and met George Ashrawi on of the heads of the Rappraochment Center. The training went into a lot of background of ISM, non-violent action, and affinity group structure. Towards the end of the afternoon we met Huwaida one of the founders of ISM. She told us that there was a request from Palestinian families in the neighboring Dheisheh refugee camp to have some Internationals stay with them because their houses were under threat of demolition by the occupying Israeli Army. We decided that even thought we were not finished with our training we would go if they wanted us.

After a number of calls back and forth they decided that they were (or at least felt) safe, so we stayed at our hotel in Beit Sahour. We were however woken up at around 1:30am thinking we were going to go out to the homes at the last minute, although in the end we didn't. Truthfully, I was not looking forward to doing a 1 hour walk at midnight, breaking the Israeli military curfew that was in effect in Beit Sahour and Bethlehem. We did meet all the other members of our affinity group during the training and got a chance to discuss a lot of stuff with them. We also met a number of people from the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between Peoples (PCR) which is headquartered in Beit Sahour.

I got a call from a producer at WGBH, the Boston PBS affiliate, he had seen Carl on the news talking about a shooting incident we had witnessed Damascus Gate in Jerusalem. I told him that we were fine and in training. He told us to get it on film.

It was a bit strange being in Beit Sahour. The first issue was that we were under curfew for the first time. It was not that strictly enforced and some people were out in the street. The other strange thing was seeing all the random destruction by the Israeli military. Just down the street we saw the burned out hulk of a car that had been crushed by a tank. Many of the sidewalks were crushed into dust from tanks driving over them. The streets and curbs often had tank tracks pockmarking them. IT sort of reminded both of us of being in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, that was the first place we had ever see tank tracks. There were also lots of walls, lights or electric poles destroyed by tanks.

Tuesday, August 6, 2002

We keep getting emails from friends (and others) that they have seen us in the newspaper or on TV commenting on the attack at shooting incident that happen at Damascus Gate, in East Jerusalem. The response has been interesting. I guess it will give us lots of change for dialog when we get back. None of the media seems to have really picked up on the fact the innocent Palestinian civilians were killed in the hail of automatic gunfire from the Israeli security forces. Anyway, on Thursday August 6 we had finished up with our non-violence training and then headed back to Jerusalem to get the rest of out bags. The soldier there was a bit annoyed with us because we left our visa slips back in Jerusalem, but he let us through.

We picked up our stuff at the hostel in East Jerusalem (the Arab section, also know as al-Quds) and came right back to Bethlehem. We met one of the organizers from the Palestinian Center for Rappraochment between Peoples (PCR) and he drove all 7 of us over to the Dheisheh refugee camp. We stopped at the IBDA, which is a community center in Dheisheh. There are lots of kids all over here and fortunately a nice computer room with internet access (where this very message was created).

Our affinity group broke up into 2 groups. 3 people, Mike, Ronise and Jennie went out to do a home stay with one Palestinian family whose home is under threat of house demolition (in contravention of the fourth Geneva Convention, Article 33). And 4 of us (Carl, Chris, Sherri and Susanna) went to another home under the same threat. Both homes are scheduled to be crushed by a bulldozer (an armored Catapiller D-9) or blown up with dynamite because family members (who are now dead) were accused of taking part in attacks against Israel. In one of the cases the dead family member didn't even live in he home scheduled to be destroyed.

We spent a night talking with the families and neighbors and planning on how we would use non-violent direct action (a la Gandhi and MLK) to deal with the Israel military if and when they appeared.

When we awoke in the morning we were relieved to have been able to sleep through the night.

Tomorrow might be another story.

Carl and Chris Williams
972-67-387-881 Mobile
(call anytime, +7 hours EST)

2002-08-07T14:55:00.000+03:00

Here is the press release about todays work.

International Solidarity Movement
http://www.palsolidarity.org
August 6, 2002

For immediate release

INTERNATIONALS PROTECT HOMES AFTER ISRAELI COURT UPHOLDS ILLEGAL DEMOLITION

[BETHLEHEM] Tonight seven American civilians with the International Solidarity Movement will be staying in two houses in Deheishe refugee camp in Bethlehem in an effort to protect the families from illegal collective punishment by the Israeli army.

One dwelling is home to 12 people and the other is a 5-story apartment building that houses 5 families. A total of 54 Palestinian refugees will become homeless if these demolitions proceed.

The international activists are committed to using their bodies to protect these homes and families for as long as their presence is required.

Today the Israeli High Court of Justice rejected a petition demanding that Palestinian families' whose homes are scheduled for demolition be given advance warning so that they can appeal the decision.

Demolition of civilian homes is a war crime. Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, collective punishments are a war crime. Article 33 of the Fourth Convention states: “No protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed,” and “collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.”

The International Solidarity Movement is opposed to this illegal policy of the Israeli government and army and will continue working to stop it.

For more information from inside Deheishe contact:
+972
Chris or Carl: 067 387 881
Sherry: 067 341 467
Jennie or Ronine 059 307 081
Mike 067371583

END

2002-08-05T00:40:00.000+03:00

Shooting at Damascus Gate

Sunday, August 04, 2002

East Jerusalem, Palestine

Today at just before noontime we walked out of our hostel on our way to the Old City of Jerusalem. We were across the street from Damascus Gate, one of the main entrances to the Old City. Just before we crossed the street we heard 2 or 3 gunshots. We looked up and saw a man with a pistol leaning in a Israeli phone company (Bezeq) truck. He had the pistol to the head of a man in the truck. We turned and started to run. A fraction of a second later we heard a few more shots which we assume was the person in the truck being shot.

A few seconds after we heard bursts of automatic gunfire. We presume that this was from Israelis. We took refuge in the near by stores for the next 10 minutes of so.

We saw an Israeli security forces drag a teenager across the ground and drop him. He then pointed a his M-16 at the chest of the boy as he lay on the ground. He was shouting wildly at the boy. It seems that both this boy and at least one other were taken away by the Israeli security forces.

The Israeli security forces started searching the stores nearby. They came into the shop that we were in and became alarmed at my (Chris's) backpack. Also I assume by that fact that I do not look typically American, because there were other white Americans on the sidewalk that had backpacks on. The solider barked an order at me in Arabic. I assumed he was telling me to turn around. I put my hands up and turned around. Carl kept saying, "We are Americans, we are Americans!" Another solider from outside called in to the solider searching me. The solider stopped searching me and left, as he left he said in English, "Sorry about that, buddy." I wonder if I was a Palestinian if I would have been treated so 'kindly'.

Later, we did over a dozen interviews with TV, and print media. Some of the ones I can remember were Chicago Herald Tribune, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Washington Post, New York Times, Baltimore Sun, LA Times, Boston Globe, a few smaller international papers, a couple of TV stations, and at least 2 Israeli newspapers. My basic message to all of these outlets was "What has happened here today was tragic, the root of the violence need to stop. And that root is the occupation, Palestine must be free."

Carl and Chris Williams

972-67-387-881 Mobile

News Article (briefly quoting Carl)
Photos

2002-08-04T16:57:00.000+03:00

Saturday, August 3, 2002

From Boston to East Jerusalem

We started at 6am at our home in Mission Hill, in Roxbury, MA. From there we went to Chinatown in Boston. We took a cameraman and a producer from WGBH, who might be making a documentary piece on the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and our involvement in it. At the Chinatown bus stop about 12 friends and ISM supporters saw us off. With all the fanfare our fellow bus passengers wondered who we were (Brazilian Soccer players seemed to be the prevailing guess). The bus took us to NYC from there we caught a cab to JFK and then a plane to Istanbul, Turkey (seems there is a custom in Turkey that standing between twins grants you a wish, interesting that). Anyway, from Istanbul we flew to Amman, Jordan. We spent the night in Amman and in the morning made for the Israeli controlled border between the West Bank (Palestine) and Jordan.

That’s where the fun began.

You have to take a bus across the border. We were on the bus with about 20 or 30 other people. Jordanians, Americans, a German woman and a couple of Palestinians with American passports. As we cued up to get our bags checked and our passports perused we were almost immediately pointed at by border security. They asked us to come with them. We did, although we were asked to leave our bags behind. We were escorted into the building, we were separated and then told to sit down. I (Carl) was approached by a woman, she could hardly been very much older than 20. She said "Hi, I am from security and I am going to ask you a few questions." Few turned out to be a lot, scores and scores would have been more appropriate.

As a bit of an aside I think I should explain about Israel airport and border interrogators. If you are unaware this you probably won’t believe a word of it. They are all about 19 - 22 years old and seeming placed in these positions based on 2 primary characteristics: petite-ness and cuteness. So what you have is a bunch of short cute girls in tight black pants (this certainly must be part of the uniform because EVERYONE had them on) that screen people entering the areas under Israeli military occupation. The whole thing is bizarre.

So back to our story. I get approached by what looks to me to be a raver from a cheesy NY club (replete with short dual ponytails). She takes my passport and start in on me:

Interrogator: "What is your name?"
Carl: "Carlton Williams"
Interrogator: "Where are you from?"
Carl: "USA"
Interrogator: "Have you been to Israel before?"
Carl: "No"
Interrogator: "Why do you want to come to Israel?"
...

It went on like this for a few minutes. Some of the more interesting questions were:

Interrogator: "Do you know any Philistine?"
Carl: "Excuse me?"
Interrogator: "Do you know any Philistine peoples?"
Carl: "O, Palestinians? Ummm, no."
Interrogator: "Are you a Muslim?"
Carl: “Muslim? No."
Interrogator: "Do you know any Arabic?"
Carl: "No."
Interrogator: "What do you know about the situation here?"
Carl: "Ummm, I dunno' the basic stuff I guess."
Interrogator: "Are you afraid?"
Carl: "A bit I suppose"
Interrogator: "You seem nervous, why are you nervous?"
Carl: “I don’t know, I have never done this before"

Later I was taken into a private room with a man with plastic gloves on and he asked me to empty my pockets, take my shoes off and remove my belt. While I am not terribly comfortable removing clothing for men with plastic gloves on, I did. He searched me and metal detected me, then told me to sit down again. We waited for about 10 minutes and then were led away. A security agent asked us to identify our bags. We did and then were lead into a backroom with a huge X-ray machine and several metal tables. After another wait we assisted security agents in searching everything in our bags, including looking at photos on the digital camera and looking thought the pages of the books we had with us. For some reason agents took Chris away into another room and questioned him further on the specific details of why we had chosen to go to Jordan before coming to "Israel", Chris didn’t correct them on the fact that we were not actually in Israel, but we can let him slide on that.

While waiting for Chris I decided to catch up on a bit of reading. "1984" is the book I had brought with me and it seemed to be the perfect thing to read in the middle of an Israeli interrogation. During this time on a different interrogator brought us some cups of water.

About a 1/2 hour later we were allowed to get our entry stamps and officially entered the West Bank (Palestine). One of the security agents said "Sorry we made you wait so long, we had a problem with the computers." They shook our hands and said goodbye.

Bizarre.

Another amusing thing about all this was that EVERYONE that was on the bus with us was already long gone except for the One of the Palestinians with a US passports. She seemingly went through much the same process as we did.

From the border we headed straight to East Jerusalem.

To be continued ...

Carl and Chris Williams

972-67-387-881 Mobile

2002-08-01T08:01:00.000+03:00

Well it is now just turning to the early hours of Thursday morning. We will set off at about 6:40am from the house on our way over to the Chinatown bus from Boston to New York. Our plane leaves from JFK at 5:30pm. I am really not packed at all, but I have all the stuff I want to bring gathered together at least. I am feeling ready. We bought a nice video camera today. I had some actually work (the paying kind) to do today. I don't know if I did a very good job on any of it but at lease I made an attempt. It is hard to see how the training plans of a bunch of over paid programmers and some memory utilization issues are very important in comparision.

We will be landing in Amman, Jordan at about 7pm on Friday night. We will most likely sleep there and then make our way to Jerusalem on Saturday morning. We are supposed to meet Susan (another American ISMer) there. She already knows her way around so she will get us acclimated.

2002-07-31T07:41:00.000+03:00

We had our fundraising send off party on Sunday night. I am not too sure how many people were here I would guess more than 60 people the whole night.

We did a spur of the moment non-violence training in the parking lot of the auto-repair place by our house. It was about 10pm and we took out our tank prop. It was pretty cool, we did a role play of a house demolition. Ben Scribner acted as the Israeli Army military commander. He was great. The activists in-training all knelt down to protect the house from destruction by the tank. It was certainly not your average party.

Later we showed Ben's video. It is of the action he did last winter opening the checkpoint between Ramalla and Beir Zeit.

Then we hit the crowd up for $ for the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). We ended up making about $1101 from the emails we send out and the party collection. We are still expecting 2 or 3 checks in the mail too. We will have to update the total amount when we get back. For us it was a good fundraiser and a good show of support for ISM and us.

2002-07-15T07:30:00.000+03:00

Just started this blog. I started it to use for my trip to the West Bank. I wanted an easy way to update people about what is going on. We just got back from an ISM meeting tonight. We did a one hour Arabic lesson first. After the meeting we went over to the 14 for 14 Amnesty concert. Check that out at 14for14.org.