The West Bank Is Also Under Seige

Here is a family I know quite well, having been a guest in their house in Nablus many times, and having hosted the father and his youngest son in my house as well. It s Mohammed's family: his wife, Samar, his older son, Yazan, 23 and 15 year old Majed. ( The daughter, Raya, is married and out of the house.) Not only are we friends, but Mohammed and I are both involved in the struggle to free Palestine from the grip of Israel's occupation.

I respect Mohammed's perspective and values which are informed by more than 15 arrests and times in Israeli prisons simply for his involvement in grassroots organizing, and by his deep Muslim faith. Further, this family is an urban, professional family, both parents being university professors, and the children either with advanced degrees or aspiring to such. Thus their opinions on Palestine's present status and future prospects are important to record.

Mohammed believes that it will just take one incident to set off a violent revolt among Palestinians, and that spark will come from the action of Israeli settlers. Settler violence is on the rise in rural and urban areas alike. If the reaction becomes a full Intifada, it will be different from the others, but he can't forsee what shape it will take.

For years settlers have stolen the sacks of olives from farmers after they have completed a day of hard work to harvest them, or they have burned and cut the olive trees in order to deprive Palestinians from this vital crop. But this year Israeli settlers have added a new tactic to disrupt the olive harvest: they are coming into the olive groves at night and stealing the olives off the trees. When the farmers arrive in the early morning to start picking, they find the trees are bare of fruit. The settlers thus avoid direct confrontation with the farmers while provoking them with a poisonous surprise. The settlers also get around the arrangement that the Palestinians have managed to make with the Israeli army whereby farmers are given from one to four days to harvest without fear of settler interference. These arrangements do not allow enough time to complete the harvest nor to provide time for pruning trees and conditioning the soil. Under normal conditions, a farmer attends to his trees all year round.

In urban East Jerusalem, settlers have been steadily expanding their holdings, but now their armed "guards" are roaming through Palestinian neighborhoods at night and in September shot and killed a man on his way to early morning prayers. In the neighborhood of Sheik Jarrah, Palestinian families have been forcefully evicted from their homes of which they are the lawful owners, in order for settlers to move in. So far the reaction from Palestinians has been non-violent demonstrations, in which they are joined by outraged Israeli peace activists and by international supporters. However, with many more homes already targeted by settlers for take-over, one has to wonder how long the Palestinians' anger will remain corked.

Mohammed’s wife adds that the so-called peace talks won't give Palestinians their rights. "I am not optomistic," she says. " Israel doesn't want peace, so things will get worse." Maybe there will be another Intifada. She wants to see two states, and believes that many others want that solution also.

Yazin's anger at Israel simmers just below the surface. He was arrested on trumped up charges three years ago, tortured and imprisoned for 2 years. (As in most cases of arrest of young Palestinians, the charges were vague, the military trial unfair, and the sentencing arbitrary.) As a result, Yazin suffers from bleeding ulcers and "fire" in his lower legs where he was beaten, by inability to sleep and difficulty concentrating on his university studies. Mohammed says that his son's personality has been changed by the prison experience. He used to be gentle and generous; now he is moody, defiant and angry. I have little doubt that he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

In answer to my questions about prospects for peace with Israel, Yazin said, " There is no Israel." I was puzzled by this statement and pressed him for an explanation. In essence, he said that Jews came to Palestine and took the land. It wasn't theirs before the state of Israel was formed, and it still isn't theirs. So there is no Israel-- only Palestine.

Yazin finds it hard to stay interested in his university major in Business Administration, which he was forced to suspend while in prison, because there is little prospect of finding work in Palestine when he graduates in 2 years. The occupation, with its goal of squeezing Palestinians out of Palestine, has destroyed the economy. Still, he is thinking ahead and wants to get his Masters in the U.S., and then go wherever he can find a good job.

I later asked Mohammed what Palestinians think of the Free Gaza flotilla movement. He said that they support it from the humanitarian point of view,, but want the international community to realize that the West Bank is also under siege, and that Gaza is not a separate entity. We must create interventions that address all parts of Palestine.

I wonder if we must think of an over-land caravan through Jordan to the Allenby Bridge crossing into the West Bank to coincide with the flotillas aimed at Gaza.