1-My last day in Palestine (Report from Henry - Balata refugee camp-Nablus) 2-Israeli soldiers storm hospital premises and kill a man. 3-Bethlehem to Rafah - Christmas 2002 (Kristen Ess in Rafah) 4- Christmas Update from Palestine - Jaggi 5- Jenin Update December 26 (Annie Higgins) 6-curfew had been violently re-imposed in bethlehem (Carolyn)

1-My last
day in Palestine (Report from Henry - Balata refugee camp-Nablus)

Dear all,

Sunday morning, up bright and early to leave Balata for home. Ceri and
Eden walk with me to the Huwarra checkpoint, 1.5 miles from
Balata camp, as they want to walk through some Palestinian ISM
workers coming from Jerusalem. We arrive at 8:00 am, and join a
crowd of about 200 people trying to get south through the chkpt. An
equal number are coming north. The men have been separated from the
women, and are lined up against the side of the road. At times the
soldiers come down and re-align the group as some natural crowding has
occurred. They do this by barking out orders; Eden reports that the
northbound soldiers use bullhorns, and us south bounders have it "easy".

Some English speaking Pals tell me that I can go straight through; I
tell them that I probably will at some time, but choose to wait with
them to see how fast the line is processed. Turns out, the line is
processed hardly at all, my place is not measurable any closer to the
front.

I wait in this line for 2 and a half hours, it hasn't moved. A few cars
a let through, a few trucks, some trucks are turned away and must head
back toward Nablus. The women, after an hour, are let
through. The men encourage me to take photos, and in spite of having my
"tourist" memory card (disk) inserted in my digital camera, snap off a
few damning shots of the men in line, the soldiers, the
elevated sentry gate. It's now not an innocuous disk - my potential
cover to be used later at the airport is now not available.

Now it's 10:30, and Eden comes over and tells me I should be going. I
apologize to the men around me, and leave them. Some have told me how
they wish they could travel to America, they've heard so many wonderful
stories, but they cannot get the proper paperwork. A young guy says he's
going back and will take an overland route to get past the chkpt -
Palestinians can always find a way out.

I'm frustrated and angry at this situation, a typical day in the
life of Palestinians under Occupation. Eden and I walk down the
gauntlet, an open space past the guards. One shouts at me to stop.
Robert DiNiro turns and says: "You talkin' to me?" He says he has some
questions, and I say that's good because I have a few questions of my
own. Look into your heart, I tell him, and ask yourself if
this is a humane way to treat people? They might have a gun, he
replies. I might have a gun, my voice is rising, she might have a gun,
you're not worried about us? If you're only checking people
because of their skin color, can't you see that as racism? You don't
know what you're talking about, he huffs. I know what you're doing is
BS. Get out of here - he gets the last word.

Now we're on the south side of the chkpt, with the northbounders, held
tight against their fence. A young soldier catches and holds my eye; I
don't avert my stare. He says what do you want. I repeat my question of
the looking into your heart. He says I only see this
from one side. I tell him I'm Jewish and see things from both
"sides", repeat that what he's doing is wrong. He tells me to shut up. I
tell him to at least process these people, so that they may get on with
their lives. How many terrorists has he caught today, using these
tactics. He tells me to shut up again, Eden has drifted away, not
wanting to be associated with the psychopath I've become, who can blame
her? Some of the men in line are encouraging me - I'm waving my arms and
shouting. There must be some humor in this, but I cannot see it. The
soldier turns away. My plan for just dropping an older man's hints of
looking into the hearts of young soldiers has been self sabotaged. I
leave the chkpt, too and head into a
southbound bus.

The bus stops at the chkpt that the previous days' cabs bypassed by
going overland. A soldier boards the bus, and from the front
eyeballs every passenger. Some young men are removed from the bus, their
bags searched, then are allowed to re-enter. No occupation
here, Debbie.

At Calandia chkpt, I board another van, and we proceed around a
corner into, you guessed it, another temporary checkpoint. The 70 year
old woman sitting two over from me doesn't have her paperwork. Too bad,
this soldier gives her the royal boot, she might be a
terrorist, no? Absurd and terribly sad.

Back at Elana's house in Tel Aviv. She makes arrangement for a taxi to
take me to Ben Gurion at 3:30 am. Don't want to give them too
much time at the airport to go through my things. I'm now pretty
nervous: I give Elena all my photo disks to mail back to me. What if
they ask about why my camera has no disk in it? What about the mud on my
pants and boots? What if they ask where I've been?
Elana counsels that I must lie to get through: just visited friends in
Tel Aviv and West Jerusalem. Do NOT mention Nablus, not even my time in
Bethlehem or Beit Jala. Better to also give up my Arab music CD that I
bought in the Old City. Tell them I didn't want my camera disks to be
exposed to X-rays, don't tell them I just forgot disks, that would raise
suspicion.

Time out. Here I am, plotting out how I'm going to have to lie to get
through this Police State's interrogators when it's THEY WHO ARE LYING.
Lying to the world as to what their military apparatus is
doing to the 3.5 million people in the West Bank and Gaza. Lying
about their territorial conquest plans, their torture,
assassinations, house demolitions, holding back schoolteachers from
their jobs in the interest of "security".

Who said Truth is the first casualty of War? It's right in front of me.
George Orwell is still laughing - truth has become lies, up is down,
right is wrong.

OK, I'm in the airport, and it's packed at 3:30 in the morning. This is
a good thing, they have to process many people quickly. A man
asks for my passport, then leaves me standing there while he takes it
away. Do I even remember what he looks like? He returns,
scrutinizes my photo and face. Then he observes that I've been to Israel
twice this year, why is that? he wants to know. I put on my best Tony
Soprano blank face, look him in the eye, and quietly say: "I'm Jewish -
I love visiting my country". He knows I'm jerking
his chain, but what can he do? I get through without one zipper on my
bags being opened. Victories are indeed tiny.

Back home on the first snowy Christmas in a long time. It feels like the
past 3 weeks have been just a dream. Will take a while to settle down,
and at least 10 days before the photos arrive.
Many thanks to all for wading through these highly editorialized
reports. I always felt you were with me, your support fundamental to my
sanity.

In peace,
Henry
============================================================2-Israeli
soldiers storm hospital premises and kill a man The Palestine Monitor

Israeli soldiers storm hospital premises and kill man - 10
Palestinians killed in four days 26th December 2002


After assassinating an unarmed man in Ramallah town center this
morning Israeli soldiers entered the grounds of the Ramallah
hospital, burst into a room and shot dead one man, and arrested four
others - including a 55 year old.

The guardroom the soldiers attacked was strewn with bullet holes, and
witnesses said a pool of the dead mans blood was on the floor.

In the past 24 hours the Israeli army has assassinated four people in
the West Bank, which Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi described as "an
attempt by Sharon to hide the scandals in the Likud party, by
provoking a Palestinian response."

Israeli soldiers have killed ten people since the December 23; seven of
these deaths were extra judicial executions, i.e. assassinations.

For more information contact: The Palestine Monitor
+972 (0)2 298 5372 or +972 (0)59 387 087
http://www.palestinemonitor.org
===============================================================3-Bethlehem
to Rafah - Christmas 2002

At the last minute, at the end of the day before Christmas Eve, the
Israeli government announced it would lift its curfew of Bethlehem. This
was another move in the endless game of Israeli propaganda, and one that
was expected. Thousands of eyes were on Bethlehem, the West Bank city
that has been under curfew and reinvasion for the past
month. For the second year in a row the Israeli government did not allow
President Arafat to move the 13 miles from Ramallah to
Bethlehem. There is a chair inside the Church of Nativity with a
photo of Arafat and a kafia sitting on it. The entire West Bank
remains under curfew and reinvasion. The Israeli military did
not leave Bethlehem, just remained out of site of the cameras. They
occupied five high buildings throughout the Bethlehem area, using them
as watchtowers and sniper posts. Israeli military jeeps drove through
the streets and around the camps. The night before Christmas Eve,

Israeli soldiers took 8 Palestinians from their homes and dumped
them in Israeli detention for interrogation. The next night it was
seven. On Christmas night Israeli soldiers abducted ten
Palestinians. The Israeli military government is holding over 8,000
Palestinians hostage in its prisons.

Today, the day after Christmas, the Israeli military took over
Manger Square again. They began shooting and firing gas. They were
yelling from their jeep loudspeakers that curfew was reimposed. Some of
Bethlehem's residents resisted by throwing stones for two hours.

Last week in Bethlehem's Azzeh refugee camp, 50 Israeli soldiers
stormed into a sleeping household, one that has welcomed me as their
sister and daughter for the past year. One of the son's, living on the
second of three floors, went to his door. He called out, "I'm unarmed,
I'm opening the door now." He's telling me this, everyone in the family
has told me the way it went for them, saying, "I
didn't know, you know, they could have shot me right then. We don't ever
know if they're gonna kill all of us." The Israeli soldiers ran into the
house and demanded that everyone come outside. They put
their guns in the backs of the family and pushed at those who live on
the upper floors. They searched the blankets that the babies
were wrapped in. One of the women is pregnant. One son has a mental
disability. The mother and father are elderly. The entire family was
forced to stand in the camp allyway with their hands on the cement wall.
It was 2 o'clock in the morning, a winter night. The Israelis took one
of the sons.

He wears glasses, writes poems, laughs out loud, makes good coffee,
listens to music. He's a student. Israeli soldiers blindfolded him and
bound his hands. They stuffed him in the back of a jeep. The
kids were calling out goodbye. He is in an Israeli prison now,
without charge. The father and all of the sons in the family, save for
two, have been abducted in this way.

His mother is sobbing throughout all of this. It's enough.

A soft-spoken man who used to live in Rafah in the south of the Gaza
Strip until the Israeli military demolished his Block O house in
order to build their separation wall, tells me, "You know really," he
pauses for a long time, "I'm afraid now that we are just all
wanted." The night before Christmas Eve the Israeli military
demolished thirty houses in Rafah.

Tanks fired into the houses, the families ran out, and the
bulldozers ripped through. There was not even a half second of
notice.

Kristen Ess
Occupied Palestine
26 December, 2002

011.972.(0)67.341.268
011.972.(0)59.357.526
==============================================================4-
Christmas Update from Palestine - Jaggi

Near Bethlehem, in occupied PALESTINE (December 26, 2002) ---
Soldiers have returned to the streets of Bethlehem, and outlying
areas, and curfew has been re-imposed, although it's hard to confirm the
news through "official" sources. The APCs and armored jeeps in Manger
Square are confirmation enough. Curfew wasn't imposed without some stone
throwing by local residents, part of the daily resistance here.

The curfew reprieve lasted just a short two days, basically timed by the
arrival and departure of the international media in town for
Christmas. Meanwhile, at least 9 Palestinians were killed today by
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), in Nablus, Tulkarem, Ramallah, and
elsewhere; all part of the effort to root out what the IOF
calls "militants" and "terrorists."

There were also several arrests throughout the occupied territories,
which now number at about 400 for this month, and more than 1800 in the
past four months (according to Ha'aretz). One of the arrests was in
Bethlehem today, someone who happens to be the nephew of the town mayor.

In Nablus, residents of the Old City defied the curfew - a typical act
of civil disobedience -- and were shot at by IOF soldiers. In Bethlehem
the curfew -- meaning house arrest -- has been in effect for more than a
month; but the Nablus curfew, which includes the
Balata refugee camp, has lasted for more than half-a-year, ever
since Israel's direct takeover of Palestinian areas in the spring.

For the past week, I've been working in the offices of the
International Solidarity Movement (ISM). My job has been to take
calls from various ISM activists - both Palestinian and
international - as they report from incidents and actions on the
ground. I take their calls on a 24-hour basis, and produce reports and
releases, based on need.

The people on the other end of the line are involved in all kinds of
front-line situations -- observing, accompanying and negotiating -- in
support of the self-defense and civil resistance actions of
Palestinians. For example, today, Roba phoned from Qalqiliah and
described the scene as she stood at the side of an IOF soldier as he
fired several rubber bullets at children throwing stones in the
distance. Saif phoned at exactly the same time, from Nablus, and
passed on info about IOF operations in Nablus involving gunfire. At one
point, I had Roba on the office phone and Saif on my mobile,
trying to decide which one to tell to phone back later.

On Tuesday evening, Henrik phoned literally thirty seconds after he
escaped a collapsed house that had been shelled by IOF tanks in
Rafah (Gaza). He and other internationals were keeping a constant
presence in the house with its Palestinian owners, in order to
prevent the home from being destroyed. In this case, an entire block of
houses was slated for demolition in order to build Israel's so- called
"security fence", more popularly known by Palestinians as
the "Apartheid Wall."

Beyond the reports I get from on-the-ground observers as the IOF
goes about its normal occupation activities, Palestinian activists and
organizers are also pro-actively organizing actions to challenge the
occupation. Up in Qalqiliah district, ISM organizers are
supporting a local Land Defense Committee that is opposing the
building of the Apartheid Wall (which will effectively annex 10% of the
West Bank).

In one district village, Jayyous, the wall means that 72% of local
farmland will be lost. A march in the district will take place this
Sunday, converging on Jayyous.

In Gaza, a Palestinian refugee committee was organizing to deliver food
and medical supplies to a village that is beyond an IOF
checkpoint, and encircled by illegal settlements. To do so would
mean to defy a notorious checkpoint near Rafah - Mawasi - that is
surrounded by several guard towers, and where IOF soldiers shoot
bullets as a first warning.

I've included in a second e-mail, to be sent after this, many of the
reports and releases that I've been writing in the past few days,
including a report I wrote from a demonstration in Bethlehem last
evening. I've also added a Christmas report by my friend Kristen
from NYC, who's been here off-an-on for almost a year, and currently
works in Gaza.

She was in Bethlehem recently, and writes eloquently and simply
about the reality of what's happening in Palestine.

The reports together provide an overview of the ISM's day-to-day
work. I still do intend to write that longer article on the current ISM
campaign
(I've got two notebooks full of material so far). But in the
meantime, do check out the website to get an overview of
the "Prisoners in Our Land:Oppose the Apartheid Wall" campaign
(http://www.palsolidarity.org).

I will send a separate third e-mail with info about the case of Omar
Al-Titi. He was detained by the IOF on Tuesday, and he joins the
more than 8000 detainees of Israel's occupation prisons.

For those of you who are getting an update from me for the first
time, just e-mail and I'll pass along some previous reports
(including an article about the case of Palestinian worker Jihad Abu Id,
an interview with Beit Sahour activist Ghassan Adoni, and a
radio report from Manger Square). Stay in touch everyone. Will try to
write again soon. -

Jaggi
=================================================================5- Jenin
Update December 26 (Annie Higgins)

The day after Christmas, the Israeli Army has killed six men, one of
them from the next village over, Qabatiya. He is Hamza Abu Rubb who was
active in Islamic Jihad.

Yesterday when I was coming from a Christmas day journey to the
nearby village of Zababde, the shared-taxi driver said he was headed to
Jenin, but "by the dirt road." Not just dirt, it turns out, but huge
ditches which the Israeli Army has dug to prevent Palestinians from
going from one contiguous village to another. At the edge of Qabatiya
village, he advised me: "Just walk a little way and you
will find a ride on the other side." I admit that I enjoyed the
mildly treacherous walk because the scenery was so beautiful,
distant hills thrown into relief by the light misty rain. Why did I
assume that the collection of black plastic bags were garbage bags? I
passed by them, and had gotten to the middle of the precarious
terrain when I realized that a man was transporting the bags from one
side of the trenches to the other for the next leg of the
journey. I backtracked and hoisted a bag onto my shoulders. "Apples" he
replied when I had guessed they were onions. Placing the bag by the
others, I saw an empty taxi. When the driver ran back, I asked if we
would wait for other passengers. No, because the army was on the way. I
don't know if the Army was that close, though clearly
they were there the next morning to hunt the men they want.

The Army's obvious presence, comprised of tanks and armored
personnel carriers, have been less in evidence. However, they are very
much here, using Special Forces soldiers disguised as Arabs to track
down and arrest or kill men. Hidden in the midst. One of my neighbors
had been in hiding for two years but thought that the
situation had improved in Jenin with the Army at bay. He came back to
visit his family and proceeded to town for a cup of coffee with friends.
Five men approached him on the street and told him to put up his hands.
He thought they were local youths joking with him.
Their Arabic accents were good enough to sound native to this region
which is linguistically distinct from other regions of Palestine. When
they put a gun to his head and said they were Special Forces, he
believed them. Neighbors found solace in the fact that he was
merely arrested, and not killed on the spot.

My taxi driver was not so far off the mark about the Army's
movements. The Internet Café manager received an email message
saying there were tanks here in Jenin. He opened the window, and we
heard them a bit far off. They came closer and were shooting quite
heavily in the middle of town. Then it seemed they had left, and we
emailers also left shortly after. It seems they did not cause any bodily
injuries. People walking in the streets asked me, "Why are they doing
this? When will they leave?"

I visited some children in hospital, wounded by the Army's hunting
practice.

This morning, the eldest daughter in the Muslim family thoughtfully
called me to listen to a Christian church leader speaking in
Bethlehem on Christmas Day. He spoke clearly and sincerely against the
occupation. As happens with such television shows, tragic scenes were
interspersed with speeches. The children watching with me let up a cry
of recognition when they saw a quick clip of their brother just after he
was fatally shot last month. They were all excited at this remembrance
of him, in spite of the circumstance.

We haven't been totally tank-free. They rolled down the main road in
front of the Refugee Camp on Monday 23 December as children were
going to school for the major event of school examinations. A
six-year old friend did not want to go to school when he heard the
situation in his neighborhood: "The tanks might shoot me." His
mother encouraged him to go since I was accompanying him. As we were
walking to the cluster of schools, the tank did shoot and spewed a cloud
of special masking smoke. When the smoke cleared, I could not find
Hasan. I accompanied his sister and brother to school, and
returned to find him. He was at home, and this time his mother said, "He
doesn't want to got to school today." Small wonder considering that his
little cousin was killed in June 2002 on his way to first grade. The
tanks left without incident.

Another perspective: A relative visiting from inside Israel asked, "How
can you tell there are tanks?" Her local cousins told her to listen for
the steady purr in the background. Imagine, some people don't know the
sound of tanks!

Last week there were faded green tents in the destroyed Hawashin
area of the Camp. For several days, loudspeakers from mosques
announced that people still waiting for compensation for their
destroyed homes should come to a special meeting. Community leaders
spoke and asked pointed questions of Richard Cook, the UNRWA
official. Muhammad Abu Ghalion pointed out that the tens of millions of
dollars earmarked for the homes had been in the possession of
UNRWA for a number of months without being distributed, while it is
believed that UNRWA used the interest on the money to pay its own
workers' salaries. The UNRWA official said he would consider all of the
questions that were raised.

An Emergency Committee has been formed for Jenin city and Camp,
whereby the Munipality, the Red Crescent and other service
organizations will work together to be prepared for emergencies, and
will have one central telephone number for people to call in time of
need. This should alleviate problems we encountered in the last
invasion where private citizens were arranging for bread and water
distribution.

May we arrange for more exalted issues.

Annie Higgins in Jenin, Occupied Palestine
tel: + 972-67-540-298
============================================================6-curfew had
been violently re-imposed in bethlehem (Carolyn)

just a quick note to say that as we were leaving bethlehem this
afternoon about 3:30pm a brazillian journalist working for the bbc
approached us and said that she had just left manger square 5
minutes before and that the curfew had been violently re-imposed. she
told us that she was sitting having coffee when two huge israeli army
jeeps swept in announcing that everybody was to go home
immediately and that curfew was back in place. without any warning as
they were making this announcement, they threw tear gas
cannisters into the crowd. earlier there had been several
international tourists in the square. i don't know how many
internationals were there apart from this journalist, but now it
seems they simply don't care. (not that international lives should be
worth more than palestinians). the journalist has been living in
jerusalem for 4 years working for the bbc but was visibly shaken and
shocked by what she saw. i haven't heard anything more. take care of
yourselves. carolyn and theresa.