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News from Nablus
News from Nablus
Tuesday,
December 09, 2003
Hi All,
Have just finished my walk around Nablus and visited some of my friends
here. Last time that I was here we removed the Iron Gate that was blocking
Amman street and threw it down a nearby ravine where I'm glad to say it
is still resting! Shortly after that we removed two huge roadblocks on
Jerusalem road, and the good news there is that they have not been renewed and the local administration has resurfaced the road where they had been.
Also the road that I tried to prevent being destroyed last December has
been repaired and resurfaced; this was the time that I was hit on the head
with a rock while trying to stop the soldiers shooting at the stone-throwing
children while the armored bulldozer tore up the road. A lot of things have been repaired since I was last here but a lot of things have been destroyed and new roadblocks erected.
The people are still working hard at rebuilding their society. During my first time here there was no talk of business or the economy only of the destruction and killing. During my second visit the economy was becoming more of a topic of conversation; now it is the main subject. Every one is suffering from the lack of business and the huge unemployment; no one can pay their rent or afford to buy anything but the essentials. My friend who ran and owned a pharmacy has closed up and moved to Jordan to work for someone in Amman; he is lucky that he has a profession that is much sought after. Others are not so fortunate and have great difficulty making ends meet.
My friend the barber has redecorated his shop and bought a new chair. He also has a new apron (cape) for the customers to wear with Japanese writing on it and graphics showing people having their hair cut. He also now wears a very Japanese-looking tunic while working. This is all to enhance his chances of business and to look more desirable to the passing clients. Not sure if it is working but you must admire him for his tenacity.
Last night I heard gun fire for the first time during this visit, I guess
it was too much to expect the quiet to continue. There was considerable
heavy machine gun fire at around 10:30. It seemed to be some way off and I thought that it was probably coming from Askar, but it turned out to have
been in Balata, at the opposite end of the camp from where I was staying.
Apparently many people were arrested including a woman.
That's it for now, thanks for listening, Dave.
Prisoners
Wednesday,
December 10, 2003
Dear All,
Today in Balata Camp there was a funeral for a man who had been beaten to death while in an Israeli prison. This was the second death in two weeks of men from Balata camp while in prison. Ali Hashash and Bashir Awaes, both were Fateh activists in their mid-twenties, and leave children behind. Ali had been in prison for several years, Bashir was only arrested a month ago. And another man from the camp has had his back broken and is now in the prison hospital, people fear that he is not getting proper medical treatment. The terrible beatings and ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners is something that should be taken up with the international human rights groups. Amnesty and other groups have been silent on this for too long.
Yesterday I visited a house in the old city that had been badly damaged by
rockets and heavy machine gun fire from Apache helicopters during my first visit in April 2002. Modern weapons have such huge destructive power and the whole area was wrecked because there had been some resistance to the invasion. The local fighters had only light guns, M16 and Kalashnikovs, so the IDF dropped 12 tons of bombs from F16 planes and used Apaches. This was a completely over the top response that cost the lives of many civilians.
Since then the local administration has been repairing buildings in the
historic Old City. Last time I visited in December 2002 this house had not been
repaired and the family was suffering from the cold and wet conditions as
most of the roof was missing. Now I am glad to say that it has been
repaired and very well too; the old stone walls have been stabilized, the
roof fitted and the old hanging veranda renewed all to a very high standard
and with great traditional skills. But that is where the good news finishes
because three months ago the special forces came and arrested the husband.
They told the wife that they had come with the intention of killing him but
as she was there with the children they would not kill him but they did
beat him up in the house and shot the place up. This man had been part of the resistance to the invasion of the Old City, something that he is perfectly entitled to do under international law. As they were leaving, taking the husband with them, the wife looked out of the window to see what was happening and they fired at her with a machine gun. In her words "Just like a film. A bad film, they all had blacked faces and all you could see were their eyes" He is now in prison and she does not know very much about what is happening to him. It is so sad for the family - his mother, his wife and children who all live there.
The Old City is so beautiful and picturesque that people in the UK would say "I would die to live there" but people are literally dying in their attempt to live here.
All for now peace and bright moments, Dave
