BostontoPalestine
Boston support group for the International Solidarity Movement

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bio & other reports by Ben and John

5) July 6th, 2002 We've Arrived!

Ben
Jerusalem

Thank you on behalf of our delegation to the Boston-area community for supporting our trip: seven of us are here from Boston, many with full funding. We are happy to be joined by a Colorado delegation and two from New Orleans, who we will be working with closely.

The moral support of our support team, BostontoPalestine is incredible. And most importantly, we know that our greater community of friends, loved ones, and supporters are ready to take action should any situations arise during our time here.

BostontoPalestine's delgation is now joining the International Solidarity Movement's Apartheid Wall campaign (see www.palsolidarity.org). We will be staying in cities and villages affected by the wall, joining Palestinians in nonviolent demonstrations, and working in other ways to promote peace,
nonviolence, and resistance.

While we are here we will do our best to keep you updated on the actions we are a part of and how they fit into a more general strategy of peaceful resistance to occupation. You can keep up to date by reading these emails or visiting our webpage at: www.bcpr.org/b2p

Below is an update on what we have been doing and our immediate plans.

SUNDAY JUNE 6TH

I'm writing to you from the Old City in Jerusalem. This has been a good day for our group. Our plans finalized and seven of our thirteen have hit the road for the occupied territories. We've already faced difficulties. One of our members was detained and interrogated for six hours on his arrival at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, with both his and his companions 'luggage held for two days by airport security.

One important consideration - As you know, the Israeli government, the media,
and various campus groups, are now calling the International Solidarity Movement, who is coordinating this summers nonviolent campaign, an organization that "supports terrorists." Incredible falsehoods and spin jobs are being done to support this allegation. Having personally met many of the courageous, peaceful and idealistic people joining this summer's campaign, and knowing the type of work the Boston group will be doing makes this all more laughable. I guess we just have to keep going, and know that our work must be effective if people have to be so creative to discredit us. But the "terrorist supporter" label could have real consequences while we're here so some of us may not be as open about our identities while here.

So for now, here's an update of what we're doing, without saying who's going where:

Jayous - Five of our delegation headed for Jayous today. There, farmers are sleeping on their land in tents. No big deal, right? Trouble is, their land is being confiscated for the "security fence" (Apartheid Wall). Yesterday the Army came and beat villagers who wanted to be on their land. So five of us will be sleeping in the tents with them tonight and for the near future.

Yanoun - BostontoPalestine has made a commitment to maintain an international presence in this tiny and very threatened community (see my report, "Yanoun 1948, for details: www.bcpr.org/b2p). Four of our delegation head to Yanoun tomorrow (Monday).

Nablus - Two from our delegation are headed to Nablus tomorrow morning to join two others already there in Balata refugee camp. The ISM house there is directly above a martyr's house threatened with demolition. The martyr, is, of course, passed away, but his/her innocent family is being punished for whatever action s/he took against Israel (When John and I were there last week tanks and jeeps parked below the house at 2 in the morning, and then left.) Demonstrations for the release of political prisoners are supposed to happen tomorrow so we may have interesting reports from Nablus soon.

BETHLEHEM

Joe, of Boston, and I made a trip to Bethlehem Tuesday July 1st to meet with ISMers and witness the handover of securty from Israeli to Palestinian.

At 4pm, church bells rang and uniformed Palestinian police took to the streets for the first time since Israel reoccupied the areas under Palestinian control over a year ago. Needless to say, only tiny parts of Palestine have EVER been under Palestinian control, and have always been surrounded by checkpoints. Most Palestinians we met seemed unenthusiastic about the change. "We don't care if security is Jewish (Israeli) or Palestinian, we just want to live" said a caretaker at a religious site. Most locals stayed home and the atmosphere was far from celebratory at the Nativity Church where the international media gathered to film the police as they appeared.

As Joe and I left that evening, our taxi driver lamented that Palestine, for him, is the four kilometers of road inside Bethlehem between Israeli checkpoints. The issue of closure is what everyone is talking about; Israel has formally withdrawn from limited areas, but has not taken its hand from the throat of Palestinian society. Beggars are appearing on the streets of Bethlehem, a major violation of local cultural mores and a sure sign of desperation. People are saying, "we want to work, we want to live." This seems to be what things are coming to here, and it's depressing to see how negative the changes have been since I was here in April 2002.

*a side note: the Nativity Church was the site of the standoff last year where Palestinian fled Israeli invasion into the church and were under siege for weeks. ISMers were able to sneak past the Israeli Army and enter with supplies and solidarity. Attached is a photo of Joe having a peek inside the Nativity Church through the "Door of Humility".

This is photo taken from Bethlehem of Har Homa settlement, built during the Oslo period on Palestinian land outside Bethlehem specifically to cut off access of Palestinians to Jerusalem. Until these "facts on the ground" change, I doubt there will be much celebrating in Bethlehem.

In solidarity,
Ben Scribner