This letter was sent to ISM internationals recently returned from Nablus.Anyone who wishes to go to Palestine, where their presence is urgently needed, please contact www.palsolidarity.org

Hello guys,

I am Rada from Nablus,Palestine.I am a mother of
three children, a simple family struggling to live under these circumstances which you may have seen or heard about.
It's a dear chance for me to meet you this week. I want to thank you on behalf of myself and in the name of the Palestinian people, we want you to know that we appreciate your efforts, sacrifices and your noble feelings for the Palestinians.
I think you have studied our conditions on the ground, you have seen the Israelis destroying our Nablus, especially in the old city: the factories, camps, mosques and the basic
services.
Our life is restricted under the curfew: hospitals,schools, universities and markets are hardly reached and sometimes it is impossible to get there. When the curfew is off, there are roadblocks and checkpoints as basic difficulties in our lives. If you want to go from a village like Roujeeb to Nablus (about 3km) you need a long time to reach it, because of stopping at every checkpoint and showing your papers, waiting under the sun heat or rain; or you may avoid the roadblocks by taking shortcuts which may put you under the fireshooting.
This is the life we have been living for about two years. Since the second intifada the employees, the workers, the teachers, university students, doctors, pressmen and merchants are prevented from doing and reaching their jobs, and earning enough money to supply their families. So, the poverty rate jumped to 90% of the people. Eventually, there is a lack of food, baby milk and drugs.
I want to thank you again for coming all this distance, away from your homeland and your loved ones, sacrificing your luxury life, accepting to live hard conditions. This is very important for us to know that we are not alone in a valley and there are some brave people from different
nationalities who feel with us and be there for us. I want you to know that we appreciate it and we are glad to have you here among us.
Life in Nablus isn't very easy even for kids. It was very hard for me to explain the fireshooting for my children. I have always been hit by the fact that there is no excuse to shoot a little kid like Mohammad Al Durra, without mercy.
My children are young, their innocent souls and minds are growing up seeing and hearing the news. They are getting more and more aggressive - even their toys are plastic and wooden guns to defend themselves.
As the days go by, they can't sleep peacefully because of the fireshooting around the city and the camp. I tried to remove their fears by massage treatment but it didn't work.
I think they need comprehensive psychological treatment, and this isn't only my children's problem.
The Israelis made us lose a young generation in the Intifada, I think that they don't have the right to do the same with the innocent generation to come.
They use their military tanks and jeeps to surround the city, controlling certain points such as mounts, hills and the road functions, so travelling between areas is quite impossible.
The last words:-We are a peacefull people, and if we have to live together as good neighbours, let it be by respect of each other, sharing the land and the resources. But we will never accept to be removed from our home, our land,our roots, living as refugees whose homes are stolen.