Barely worth a mention - anonymous Palestine
Jimbo | 27.07.2002 11:28
Yesterday morning I woke up at 5 am in the village of Kfeeret, a few miles outside Jenin, to the familiar sound of tank shells, which were being fired into a youth club in another village nearby, called Al Yamon.
The I. D. F. had arrived before dawn and set about clearing a path for the tank to get into position by way of crushing whatever obstructed it with an armoured bulldozer. Two private homes, situated on either side of a narrow alley,had been partially demolished in order to make the alley wider. 5 vehicles, one of them a cattle truck, had been flattened beyond recognition. I saw the mangled body of a cow who was trapped inside when the bulldozer lowered its forks down on top of the truck, its tongue lolling out of its crushed head. This vehicle and several others weren't even in the path the tank had taken - they were in another street altogether.
I have witnessed this sort of delinquent, malicious vandalism countless times in Palestine. This is just a relatively recent instance of a pattern that recurs ubiquitously and incessantly throughout the country, yet which seldom gets a mention. Hundreds of small, backwater communities suffer a campaign of psychological attrition in continual obscurity while the established media love to swarm around any fresh pile of carnage for a limited duration, roughly proportionate to the body count.
Al Yamon is a tiny, poor farming village of 18,000 souls, and the youth club is just about the only recreational outlet that the young people had. Now you can see the kids playing among the headstones in the graveyard. Two young men were arrested in the village and, as usual, no reasons were given and the family will probably have to wait for weeks (or longer)to be told where they are and any other relevant information. The old man who rents a flat above the club was ordered to get out of bed and wait outside, still undressed, while the exploding shells punched through the walls and gutted his home. Another man was forced to stand next to the tank with his two children as it fired, and forbidden to put his hands over his ears to protect them from the blast. And, as though the shrapnel and debris didn't wreak enough minor damage to surrounding buildings, soldiers decided to put a few windows through with stones as well.
Abu Eyad, who lives in Kfeeret, told us that the club had been donated by his sister (who isn't rich) to the community. two months ago his son, a young police officer, was executed by I.D.F. troops. They made him put his hands on his head and then shot him at point blank range.
Back in the spotlight of Jenin itself, we have had two days of particularly heavily imposed curfew on Wdenesday and Thursday this week. I and several other internationals took cover and waited for hours with local people in a small back street surrounded by tanks and A.P.C.s as they shot the place up and Army jeeps roved about the empty streets. Niklas, a young Swedish guy, juggled with stones to entertain the kids and distract them from going out into the main street (these are toddlers we're talking about) We saw a couple of young Palestinian men in the centre of town with A.K.47s and were told later that two I.D.F. troops had been shot. Eventually, when the majority of the shooting appeared to subside, some of us went out to stand in front of the tanks and to ask the soldiers in a parked jeep to stop the shooting, we were afraid for the children. Shortly thereafter, the army left the area. I don't know if our presence had anything to do with it, you can never tell, but the fuckers left thank god. A young boy of about 17 blew his hand up with a home made bomb earlier in the day. This clever device comprises a glass bottle, partially filled with gunpowder (probably from rounds collected in the wake of departing I.D.F.) into which a lighted cigarette is carefully placed, so as not to be in contact with the powder until the bottle is thrown. Easily misjudged, as we saw.
The next day the I.D.F. were back in similar style, and three young Palestinian men were shot; two of them friends of mine. They are as O.K. as can be expected - one is walking around already - the third was taken to a hospital in Nablus and I have heard nothing about him so far.
Curfew was imposed again this morning, so I escorted a Red Crescent lady to the U.N.R.W.A. school for girls to give a talk to small children about the dangers of unexploded landmines. Every one of them had a story about a mine disaster involving a friend or family member.
O.K., I'll leave this update here. I could talk about numerous other things, but again, most are relatively minor and perhaps a few instances serves better to give a general flavour of everyday life in this area at the moment. For a fuller picture, BUY A TICKET AND GET OVER HERE.
The I. D. F. had arrived before dawn and set about clearing a path for the tank to get into position by way of crushing whatever obstructed it with an armoured bulldozer. Two private homes, situated on either side of a narrow alley,had been partially demolished in order to make the alley wider. 5 vehicles, one of them a cattle truck, had been flattened beyond recognition. I saw the mangled body of a cow who was trapped inside when the bulldozer lowered its forks down on top of the truck, its tongue lolling out of its crushed head. This vehicle and several others weren't even in the path the tank had taken - they were in another street altogether.
I have witnessed this sort of delinquent, malicious vandalism countless times in Palestine. This is just a relatively recent instance of a pattern that recurs ubiquitously and incessantly throughout the country, yet which seldom gets a mention. Hundreds of small, backwater communities suffer a campaign of psychological attrition in continual obscurity while the established media love to swarm around any fresh pile of carnage for a limited duration, roughly proportionate to the body count.
Al Yamon is a tiny, poor farming village of 18,000 souls, and the youth club is just about the only recreational outlet that the young people had. Now you can see the kids playing among the headstones in the graveyard. Two young men were arrested in the village and, as usual, no reasons were given and the family will probably have to wait for weeks (or longer)to be told where they are and any other relevant information. The old man who rents a flat above the club was ordered to get out of bed and wait outside, still undressed, while the exploding shells punched through the walls and gutted his home. Another man was forced to stand next to the tank with his two children as it fired, and forbidden to put his hands over his ears to protect them from the blast. And, as though the shrapnel and debris didn't wreak enough minor damage to surrounding buildings, soldiers decided to put a few windows through with stones as well.
Abu Eyad, who lives in Kfeeret, told us that the club had been donated by his sister (who isn't rich) to the community. two months ago his son, a young police officer, was executed by I.D.F. troops. They made him put his hands on his head and then shot him at point blank range.
Back in the spotlight of Jenin itself, we have had two days of particularly heavily imposed curfew on Wdenesday and Thursday this week. I and several other internationals took cover and waited for hours with local people in a small back street surrounded by tanks and A.P.C.s as they shot the place up and Army jeeps roved about the empty streets. Niklas, a young Swedish guy, juggled with stones to entertain the kids and distract them from going out into the main street (these are toddlers we're talking about) We saw a couple of young Palestinian men in the centre of town with A.K.47s and were told later that two I.D.F. troops had been shot. Eventually, when the majority of the shooting appeared to subside, some of us went out to stand in front of the tanks and to ask the soldiers in a parked jeep to stop the shooting, we were afraid for the children. Shortly thereafter, the army left the area. I don't know if our presence had anything to do with it, you can never tell, but the fuckers left thank god. A young boy of about 17 blew his hand up with a home made bomb earlier in the day. This clever device comprises a glass bottle, partially filled with gunpowder (probably from rounds collected in the wake of departing I.D.F.) into which a lighted cigarette is carefully placed, so as not to be in contact with the powder until the bottle is thrown. Easily misjudged, as we saw.
The next day the I.D.F. were back in similar style, and three young Palestinian men were shot; two of them friends of mine. They are as O.K. as can be expected - one is walking around already - the third was taken to a hospital in Nablus and I have heard nothing about him so far.
Curfew was imposed again this morning, so I escorted a Red Crescent lady to the U.N.R.W.A. school for girls to give a talk to small children about the dangers of unexploded landmines. Every one of them had a story about a mine disaster involving a friend or family member.
O.K., I'll leave this update here. I could talk about numerous other things, but again, most are relatively minor and perhaps a few instances serves better to give a general flavour of everyday life in this area at the moment. For a fuller picture, BUY A TICKET AND GET OVER HERE.
Jimbo
e-mail:
jimbomatthews@hotmail.com