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Jan's biography:
Jan is an American Jewish Middle East peace activist pressing for Palestinian human rights. Jan commits her time and energy to educating the public and the media about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.
Janice became involved with this work since living in Jerusalem from 1996-1997. While there she had the opportunity to dialogue with Palestinians (at the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement in Beit Sahour) and meet with several Israeli peace activists. What she learned regarding the history and reasons behind the conflict differed so much from what she had learned in the United States, that she came back determined to share her knowledge.
Jan's reports:
3) January 8th, 2003
Feeling Paranoid in Palestine
Jan, Beit SahourHi there,
Sorry I didn't get a report off yesterday. I was out of the center
most of the day.At 2 AM on Jan 8th, the electricity went off through Beit Sahour. We
had been expecting to be put back under curfew, but the electricity
going out still shook me up a bit. It was pitch dark and I was half
expecting to see tanks move in, but none did. I could hear a buzz
from the next office (Ghassan's) and felt my way into it to figure
out what it was. The buzz indicated that the server had switched to
a battery source, but I didn't know it, couldn't find a flashlight to
see what was happening, and decided not to call George or Ghassan to
wake them up since they might not want to come out in the curfew
anyway.At 5 AM the power came back up, but the battery backup did not last
that long. When Ghassan showed up at 7 or so, he spent some time
trying to bring the server back up.I left at 9 AM with activists Polly and Ross, to head to the
Bethlehem/Jerusalem. Because of the curfew we couldn't get a taxi to
pick us up. We walked for a distance, and ran across a taxi who took
us near, but not to the checkpoint. (A friend here assures me that
many of the taxi drivers who drive during curfew are collaborators,
and that is how they get away with driving during curfew. She warns
against letting any info spill in front of them.)The checkpoint was very dead. Just one Palestinian couple with two
babies trying to get into the West Bank and being held up by the
border guards.We walked down the street and caught a taxi to New Gate. We made the
mistake of asking the first taxi driver to take us to Damascus Gate,
and he nearly burned rubber getting away from us.After being dropped off, we got cash and Polly and Ross delivered
passports (they had received from the ministry in Gaza) to an
activist going into the northern west bank. The passports were for
Palestinians who wanted to make the hajj to Mecca.Then I spent the rest of the day in search of a working PAL format
digital video camera and in search of blank DVDs. I started off at
the ICAHD office in Jerusalem, where I got to hook up and talk to
Jeff Halper and Fred Schlomka. They had a camera, but the battery
was dead and they had no charger. I took their camera to a photo
shop to see if I could buy them a charger. No luck. Have to order
from Sony "if" they still have any for this model. I called up
Rabbis for Human Rights. No camera. I decided to see if I could
rent one. To make this long story short, I eventually located this
ultra-orthodox Jew in an ultra-orthodox part of Jerusalem, covered up
real good, and took a taxi to his house to rent his camera. So,
today, one of the volunteers here was able to sort through all the
digital video tapes and 8 mm tapes here to find the best for burning
onto DVD and bringing home. Unfortunately, the blank DVDs I bought
in Jerusalem don't work in the DVD burner so I have to go back to
Jerusalem again tomorrow to buy another type of DVD. I am either
persistent or stubborn... I'm not sure which.As I walked and took taxis around Jerusalem, I started getting a
distinct feeling that people were a little too curious about why I
was there and what I was doing. A couple of Israeli men were coming
on pretty strong, flirting, asking me questions about why I was in
Israel. One man followed me down the walkway into the photo shop
insisting he wanted to get to know me and wanted to know what I did
for a living, why I had the cameras, etc... I've lived in Jerusalem,
and not experienced this before to this extent from Israeli men. I'm
also no spring chicken. I got the sense from all of this that there
are plenty of plain-clothes Israeli security police hanging out
watching for internationals and trying to figure out what they are up
to. It makes me very nervous that ISMers are so predictable - so
many of them look like backpackers at a time when no backpackers
would be touring, staying at the same youth hostels, etc... Real
easy targets for undercover Israeli security.At 4pm I went to UNRWA to hook up with Allegra Pacheco, and we
traveled to Bethlehem in her UN car. She is 6 months pregnant, her
husband has been in detention (again) for 1.5 months, with no end in
sight. At the checkpoint, the boarder guards did not want to let her
UN car through. She had to get out of the car, show them her paper
work, and convince them. After going through the checkpoint, she got
her UN-supplied blue bullet proof vest out of the trunk and put it
on. (Ian Hook, who was recently killed by Israeli fire, had worked
in the office next to her.)I spent the night at Allegra's, and she gave me a ride to the ISM
office at 7:30 this morning (Jan 9), on her way to work. She bombed
down the roads, not having to worry about whether she was in the
correct lane since there was a curfew and no other cars on the road.
At one point, we ran into a convoy of two Israeli army jeeps followed
by a CIA car leaving Beit Sahour.I have spent the entire day in the office today (other than venturing
out to buy pita - a few of the little grocery stores were half-open -
in other words, despite curfew they were open but keeping a watch,
and literally had just 1/2 of the door open). I FAXed out press
releases on Jaggi Singh's arrest (which probably was the result of a
tapped cellphone), on the planned demolition/demo of a house in Rafah
(turns out the Israeli forces were bluffing and called off the 3
o'clock demolition), and now am sending one out on the arrest of 4
Palestinians from Jayous. Been talking with lawyers and press.One of the volunteers here was kind enough to view/sort through all
the digital video tapes and 8 mm tapes here. We have selected which
ones to copy to DVD and bring home. The blank DVDs I bought
yesterday don't work in this DVD burner so I am going to somehow get
back to Jerusalem tomorrow to get others. I might end up picking up
Jaggi's suitcase as well. We are expecting him to be deported, but
don't know when, and want to make sure to get the suitcase to him.Marty and I are planning to go to a joint ICAHD/RHR/Bat Shalom demo
and tree planting in the area of Hebron which is slated for
settlement expansion (by Kiryat Arba) tomorrow morning.That's all for now. Got to get back to press releases.....
Regards,
JanP.S. Bad news. Just heard from Shamai Leibovitch, Jaggi's lawyer,
that he was beaten up after he was nabbed on the streets of Jerusalem
by the Israeli secret service (because he refused to talk). He has
now been transferred from the Russian Compound in Jerusalem to
Maasiyahu prison in Ramleh. The Canadian Consulate is in talking
with him and it looks like he will get a laisse passe from them
tonight and a flight home (details still being worked out.) Since he
is going to be deported anyway, he opted not to wait two days for his
flight home on Jan 11th. But... we won't know for sure if he is
leaving tonight until the details re: ticket costs are worked out.
2) Tuesday, January 7th, 2003
Jan in Beit Sahour, West BankGreetings!
It was Orthodox Christmas today, which means that in Beit Sahour,
where most of the people are Greek Orthodox, it was not business as
usual. Ghassan Andoni came in to the center early today to get off
reports, then left to fulfill his Christmas obligations.Whereas Christmas Eve is quite festive, Christmas day is more serious
here. Many atended church services in the morning across from the
center, but all spent the afternoon making social calls to relatives
and friends. It is customary to visit all who have experienced the
loss of loved ones during the year. Also, to visit those you owe
visits too - all those you have been putting off visiting.The townsfolk were dressed to the nines. Some of the clothes would
have fit right in the best fashion magazines. Beit Sahour, which is
a relatively affluent and quite worldly village, sharply contrasts
with the refugee camps that I have spent time in.Other than a couple of brief walks to warm up in the sun (there is no
central heating in this building)and grab food, I spent almost all
day in the center alone, sending press releases, cheking out what
they have here, fielding calls from ISMers and the Palestine Monitor,
and making copies of the wonderful ISM media contact lists to bring
home (for me and all of you!). By late afternoon I was beginning to
feel all those left out feelings I get every Christmas since I am
Jewish and am not often invited to Christmas celebrations. Everyone
is having a party and I'm left out once more!
Fortunately Ghassan Andoni dropped by the center again to work, and
suggested that I check out the Christmas celebrations down at the
Greek Orthodox Shepherd's Field in Beit Sahour. (Just as various
Christians disagree about where Jesus was buried, the Roman Catholics
and Greek Orthodox disagree about where the angel appeared to
announce Jesus' birth (do I have the story right?) There is a Roman
Catholic Shepherd's Field in Bethlehem, and a Greek Orthodox
Shepherd's Field in Beit Sahour.)The whole town must have been out on the street to Shepherd's Field.
Thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people. There were vendors out
there selling cotton candy, halvah, and other sweets. Kids were
carrying balloons. All were dressed to the nines. The church at
Shepherd's Field was celebrating a mass. I went inside for about a
half hour. Can't tell you a thing they chanted, but the art,
incense, and candles were magnifique.Meanwhile, two of the activists from Rafah (Ross - US, and Polly -
UK) called to book a place at the inn. (Okay, I'm being a little
facetious here.) I warned that there is only one mattress, but after
spending several nights in tents in Rafah, they were more than happy
to sleep in sleeping bags on the floor here. While waiting for them
to show up, I went grocery shopping. Can't entertain with only
coffee and baklava. (There is about a years supply of baklava in the
fridge here - nothing else.) In all honesty, though, everyone in
Beit Sahour is assuming that the Israeli forces will be cruising
through the streets any moment announcing the reimposition of curfew -
since Christmas has ended. I figured I better get some food while
possible - although few food stores were open on Christmas. I'm now
stocked with cheese, yogurt, cookies, juice, bananas and dried
soups. No pita or bread to be found at any of the stores - I guess
noone was baking pita here cause of Christmas.Ross and Polly showed up and caught me up to speed with their actions
in Nablus. They have set up a tent "camp" there and plans are to
remain as a presence to try to prevent home demolitions. They had
been in a home trying to prevent its demolition when the bulldozers
started doing their job (despite knowing there were internationals
inside). When the walls started cracking, they decided they better
move out or face burial. But there has been evidence that they have
been a positive force in deescalating the violence.On their arrival, Ross and Polly spent much of the evening writing a
press release about the Rafah "camp", describing their action and
presence and encouraging journalists to visit and call. I edited it
and sent it out.That's about it. Ross and Polly are sleeping. I will be soon.
Regards,
Jan
1) January 6, 2003
Arrival
By Jan in Beit Sahour, West Bank
Hi,
I just wrote you all this nice long email. Then the server timed out
when I tried to send it. I will be briefer this time....I am here in Beit Sahour at the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement*
now. Here is a brief recap of the flight, etc.I flew through Franfurt and changed flights there. I was fortunate
to get out before there was a big incident. Yesterday afternoon in
Frankfurt, some guy stole a small plane at gunpoint and circled
around the city for hours saying he was going to crash into the
European Central Bank tower. They closed the airport for hours, and
sent up fighter jets. Took them a couple of hours to get him out of
the sky. I missed all the fun....Our plane was almost on the runway in Tel Aviv when our pilot
suddenly pulled up and gunned the engines. He announced later that
the tower said there was an emergency on that runway and asked him to
approach from the other one. I assume that we were not about to be
hit by the four Arrow missiles that Israel shot up to test their
effectiveness in preparation for the Iraqi war.After my passport was checked I was pulled aside and questioned about
why I had an Egyptian stamp in it. I explained that I lived in
Jerusalem in 1996-1997 and on my vacations I visited the same places
that Israelis do: Turkey, Jordan, and Egypt. That lead to the
questions about why I lived in Jerusalem, where, if I had relatives
in Israel, etc... I swam through those questions and headed for my
baggage.The shared taxi to the Damascus gate took forever. Rush hour traffic
through Jerusalem, and had to drop off some people on a small street
that was closed because of an "unidentified package". That slowed us
down. I got to the Damascus gate after 5, and called George
Rishmawi who advised me to wait till morning to go through the
checkpoint. I stayed at the Knights Palace hotel in the old city (a
Latin Patriarchate hostel) which is not far from the Jaffa Gate. It
was lovely. I ran into another ISMer there with German/Swiss
passports. She had been working in Rafah and in Tulkarem.I grabbed some homous at a homous stand, went to bed early, and woke
at 5:45 when some women were mistakenly trying to enter my room.
I've been up since then checking out the place. By 7:30 there was a
strong military presence at the Jaffa Gate. The orthodox priests
were heading in cars (I assume to Bethlehem) to celebrate Orthodox
Christmas. The Israelis had shut off the streets in the Christian
quarter to vehicular traffic. Orthodox Jews had free travel through
the checkpoint to the Jewish quarter.I was afraid that the double bombing in Tel Aviv would shut down the
checkpoint. It was open and I caught a taxi there at 9:00 AM. It
took me to the Palestinian taxis at the checkpoint in Bethlehem.
There were severl taxis waiting there and they fought over my
suitcases and business. So depressing. Hate to see how this
situation pits one wage earner against another. The taxi driver who
lost the fight screamed as we were leaving for me to pay the driver
no more than 10 shekels. When the driver arrived at the Palestinian
Center for Rapprochement he demanded 50 shekels. I knew it was way
too much, since the meter from Jaffa gate to Bethlehem checkpoint
(which is a much longer distance) read 27 shekels. We argued. I
paid him 20 shekels. I didn't bring enough money to afford to be
overcharged. When I went upstairs, Ghassan told me that the taxi
should have cost 15-20 shekels. I guess I got it right. Hate this
situation. Brings up all my western guilt.Anyway, I am here now. It is really quiet. Orthodox Christmas.
Volunteers just showing up now. George Rishmawi just walked in. I'm
going to try to get to work.Marty [another bostontopalestine delegate - moderator] is in Nablus.
Helped break through two checkpoints yesterday to allow Palestinians
from refugee camp to get to Nablus city center. Unfortunately, the
bombers were from Nablus, and now there are skirmishes there. Hope
all are safe.Send this message on. I'll be in touch soon. Not sure where I will
sleep, but probably at a hotel in Beit Sahour. I don't see a bed
here.Regards,
Jan--------------------------