I recently spent two weeks in Palestine with the International Solidarity Movement. This is a report about my experience.

Don


Update:

On 9th November, at 4.30, the al-Kurd family were evicted by Israeli police. Seven Internationals were arrested. Full story.

Further update:

On 22nd November, Mohammed (Abu Kamel) al-Kurd suffered a fatal heart attack. Now, Um Kamel (his wife, Fawzieh) must fight alone. She is supported by ISM and other volunteers and is camping in a tent close by her rightful home. Despite further attempts by the Israeli army to discourage her, this time through fines and destruction of her canvas shelter, she and her fellow protesters are persevering.

Day one

Well, that was easy. I'd heard all sorts of horror stories about people being interrogated by the police on the way through Ben Gurion aiport, questioned about their purpose for visiting, etc. In the event, the nearest I got was being stopped going through the green customs channel by a plain-clothes policeman, who showed me his badge, asked 'do you speak Hebrew, where did you fly from, how long did you spend in Istanbul — only a transit? — OK, enjoy your time in Israel'.

I only realised I was in when I went through a door and found myself on the street.

After that it didn't go quite so well. After being dropped off in Jerusalem, or al-Quds as it is known in Arabic, I found that the accomodation I thought I'd booked knew nothing of it. So I headed for the Palm Hostel, which was next choice. All I knew is that it was near the Damascus Gate. So I spent several hours walking through the maze of backstreets of the Old City, getting hopelessly lost, in an increasing state of panic, until by chance I came across someone who had heard of the hostel. Still had some trouble finding my way out, but eventually landed at the Palm.

Day two

Today I caught up on sleep (after having been up for over 36 hours), got lost in the Old City again, and met the contact for ISM, and will begin tomorrow.

Day three

The camp

After a short trip to Ramallah I'm now back in East Jerusalem, camping in the back yard of the house of a Palestinian family. However this is no holiday. There are four of us here, guarding the house against Israeli settlers. They have taken over a large part of the neighbourhood, including even part of this house. These are not economic settlers, tempted by cheap housing and large government grants, but hard-core idealogical settlers, driven by the desire for Eretz Yisrael. At some point we expect the army to arrive to evict the Palestinians, in which case we intend to chain ourselves to the door and call for help from Gush Shalom, Rabbis for Human Rights, Anarchists Against the Wall, and, of course, the media.

The door on the right is the Palestinian household. The one on the left is the settlers' door.

The neighbourhood.

Day four

The resistance.

A house occupied by settlers

One of the team taking a well-earned rest

Today, being Shabat, was very quiet. The settlers were away until early evening, and the only activity was us, the al Kurd family, and the security guard who comes by every 40 minutes or so.

I've been finding out more about the situation. More info here:

Palestine News Network

http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=29052

The Guardian

The Guardian story is, of course, slightly inaccurate. Apart from anything else, the extension was built perfectly legally before 1967, but was then declared illegal by the Israelis when they occupied East Jerusalem. I've not fully grasped the legal intricacies that make it perfectly legal for the settlers to live there, but not the Palestinians.

Day five

After the peace of Shabat, it didn’t take long for trouble to start. Just after 10.30 this morning one of the neighbours came running to us, seemingly in some distress. She was shouting ‘bring a camera’ and ‘child’. I picked up the video camera, and four of us Internationals followed her to a nearby children’s playground, where some sort of argument was going on. I began filming. There were a number of settlers, quite a few Palestinian women, and four settler security guards, at least two of whom were armed. I moved around filming several arguments, then began taking still photos.

Apparently one of the settler women had taken over the playground, and slapped one of the Palestinian children (about 4-5 years old) to make her get off the swing, so her own child could use it.

I couldn’t help but see the struggle for land going on in front of me. But this is the whole purpose of what we are doing here. It is not just about Kamel al-Kurd’s house, it is about the whole future of East Jerusalem itself. The Israelis want to make it theirs, and remove the Palestinian population who have been living here for centuries. For the Palestinians this is not acceptable. This one house is symbolic of this entire struggle. The owners, Mohammed and Kamel al-Kurd, were even offered millions of dollars for the house. But it is not for sale. al-Quds is not for sale. It is the capital of Palestine, and, with the courage and determination of people like Kamel, will remain so. I am honoured to have been able to help in some small way.

One of the settlers' Guards

The argument in the playground. The man in the orange T-shirt was one of the armed settlers' guards.