Day four in Beit Sahour
November 12 2000
It was a bad day today. Very quiet in Beit Sahour, but a lot of
conflict
and loss of life on both sides in other areas. In fact, heavy shelling of
Beit Jala has been on and off since just after 6 this evening. Rounds of
fighting are constant for around 10 minutes each time. That doesn't sound
long, but can you imagine how long it would be to someone being bombarded?
A phone call to friends in the area said it was still going on, too early to
tell how much damage was being done.
Yesterday I told you about the attack on the same residential area of Beit
Sahour that is closest to the military base. Shurouq's uncle's house was
totally destroyed by the fire that resulted from shelling by tanks at the
base. Israeli forces prevented ambulances and fire trucks from responding.
The fire truck was damaged by gunfire, a member of the ambulance crew was
injured. Neighbors who tried to help were warned by soldiers that if they
didn't stop, the house would be shelled again. Does this seem like a
reasonable means to impose justice to anyone out there?! It is either
collective punishment, revenge, or an act of evil and hatred. It had
nothing to do with the person or persons who had offended, if there even was an
offense. We really have no way of knowing in most cases. I walked
through it today. The homes are stone which withstand almost any amount of
heat, but even the stone was damaged in some places. 21 hours after the
fire started, you could still feel heat radiating from the ceiling.
Everything in the home was reduced to ashes and soot. Glass dishes and
light fixtures were melted into a mass that was barely recognizable. Some
photos of that home will be posted to the PCR web site tomorrow.
There is a wide range of opinion here about how to deal with this. Many
young people are trying to get out of the country as quickly as possible,
especially the well-educated Christian families, which is of course, what
the Israelis are hoping for. Many continue to try to talk down those who
are ready to escalate the Intifada. The cost is too high they say.
Your
ambushes and shooting at Gilo is not an efficient strategy. Stop and think
about what you want to do, and what is happening instead.
Many people seem to just get through each day, see what happens.
"Our" mama today said, "they destroy our homes; they destroy our
sons. What can we do?" I didn't have an answer for her.
Many people from various militant factions are calling for escalation of the
Intifada, which literally translated means, "shaking off", like you
would
shake off a snake that is biting you. A neighbor of the home that was
destroyed last night, on local news said, "if we can't have peace, then we
must have war. It CAN NOT continue like this." This is not just
about the
people who are looking for an excuse to go and fight. The innocent victims
of the conflict are losing patience with any type of talk, especially that has a
high level of Israeli control and American involvement. They have had many
years of betrayal by the "Peace Process" that so many had delusional
hopes for. American involvement here has perhaps been the worst thing that
could have happened to the real process of peace that needs to take place.
There simply cannot be any peace between these two groups with such an
imbalance of power and perpetual injustice and torture inflicted on one of the
groups. Barak says all of the right things, especially when he is in
the U.S. But what Israel does here, on the ground, when he thinks no one
sees, is about as far as one can get from making peace. How can you steal
someone's land and use it to develop neighborhoods for your own
"superior" people, those neighborhoods by the way a constant,
imposing, visible reminder of your "superiority" and power....
How can you destroy an innocent family's home and all of their belongings, which
may have taken more than one generation to build.... How can you kill
their children, and blame them for it... and tell the world that you are
trying to end the
violence, but you have no suitable peace partner? Mr. Barak, if you
want
to stop the violence, you should have just STOPPED THE VIOLENCE. Most of
it has come from your side. Unfortunately, it may be too late. These
people have had enough. You had a window of opportunity to JUST STOP.
But you didn't, and now it may be too late. How much of the world will we
destroy with your peace process?
Khalas.
Rhonda
