First
Friday Of Ramadan: The 5 Second That Is Five Minutes
19 August 2010By Mazin Qumsiyeh
On the first Friday of Ramadan, thousands of
Palestinians tried to reach the Haram Al-Sharif in
Jerusalem for prayers in Al-Aqsa mosque. But only some
men above 50 and some women above 45 year old were
allowed to enter through the checkpoints in the
apartheid wall. Some of those left behind participated
in demonstrations. Al-Walaja demonstration was
particularly inspiring and faced the might of the
apartheid system. The Apartheid wall here is being
built to surround Al-Walaja on all sides. We marched
from the mosque towards the village entrance and along
the main road; here the wall facing Al-Walaja village
is ugly concrete and the side of it facing the illegal
colony of Har Gilo is decorated with Jerusalem stone.
We stopped at the village entrance as planned, beat
drums and chanted things like "1234 Occupation no
more... 5678 stop the stealing stop the hate", several
military and police vehicles and dozens of heavily
armed apartheid warriers prepared to attack us. Ali
chanted in Arabic, I spoke in English, and then Ali
spoke in Hebrew. We addressed the gathering and the
soldiers telling them this was a peaceful
demonstration against land confiscation. We explained
that this village lost 80% of its land in 1948 and is
now about to lose the rest. The officers came and gave
us five minutes to disperse but then started attacking
us within five seconds with stun grenades and tear
gas. They arrested Ali Al-Aaraj and then they ran into
the nearby house and arrested his cousin Ma'moun (who
was not participating in the demonstration) .
Some colonial racist settlers showed up with an
Israeli flag and waved uit and cheered their storm
troops on. They also violently attacked people
injuring several (I personally saw them toss a man
down against a concrete wall injuring him in the leg).
Those abducted were released a few hours later thanks
to good legal support.
Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnxkUD9LGJo
Photos here (the last six in the series including
showing arrest of Ma'moun
which is not shown on my video).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/activestills/sets/72157602013963483/with/145332
9309/
Video of destruction in Al-Araqib village in the
Negev, a Palestinian village predating the illegal
apartheid state of Israel that now sets laws analogous
to Nazi laws to ethnically cleanse what remains of
Palestinian lands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2bCIspDbHs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJJVWmBcDjU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzpKvEjQEMY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rud19ytcPS8
Good news: A CULTURAL boycott of Israel was launched
yesterday, with more than 150 Irish artists announcing
that they intend not to perform or exhibit in Israel,
or to accept any funding from institutions linked to
the Israeli government.
The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) said
it was in protest at Israel's "treatment of the
Palestinian people".
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0813/1224276715164.html
Human Rights Watch: Israel/Gaza: Wartime Inquiries
Fall Short; Governments and UN Should Press for
Justice
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/08/10/israelgaza-wartime-inquiries-fall-short
Action 1: Attend second Palestinian popular conference
in Chicago, IL
http://popular.palestineconference.org/
Action 2: Sign petition from Palestine Civil Rights
Campaign-Lebanon for refugee rights in Lebanon
http://www.petitiononline.com/ssfpcrc/petition.html
Finally, below is an eyewitness account of eth attack
of masked racist settlers on members of the Christian
Peacemaking Team in Hebron area.
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a
villager at home http://www.qumsiyeh.org
Professor, Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities Chairman
of the Board, Palestinian Center for Rapprochement
Between People, http://www.pcr.ps
Hi everyone,
By now some of you may or may not have heard about the
settler attack on Friday, so I wanted to send out an
update. This will also appear on the blog.
On Friday morning, "Koba", a fellow ISMer and myself
were at the village of Al Buyehreh. The village is
very close to a Harsina settlement and outpost and the
people living there have been almost under daily
attack. On Thursday evening, settlers tried to set
fire to the farmer's fields, and they
requested intervention. CPT and ISM have been taking
turns watching the village, taking day and night
shifts.
My partner and I arrived on Friday morning, around
7:00. We sat down under a fig tree. The tree is
between the village and a road connecting the
settlement and outpost. For the first few hours
nothing happened. We took turns napping while the
other kept watch, I was reading What's So Amazing
About Grace by Philip Yancey. I can't emphasize how
relevant the Biblical message of forgiveness was about
to become to me.
Around 10 in the morning, a small group of 5 settler
boys passed us. Three of them were small, two were
teenagers. The teens made some comments like "if you
don't leave we will kick you". We ignored them and
kept sitting under the tree. Most threats that are
made by settlers are not actually
carried out. And we knew that if we left, the
Palestinians would be completely at their mercy. It
was not an option either way.
Around noontime, a car stopped beside us. Inside were
two Palestinian women who had been attacked yesterday
evening and were on their way to the hospital. They
were too afraid to travel last night. The older woman
told us that settlers began throwing rocks at the car
they were driving. They were blocked and she got out
and threw a rock back at them. A few rocks hit her in
the head. The younger woman in the car witnessed the
incident. Sitting in the car the next day, she looked
completely traumatized. I have never seen someone so
afraid. We photographed the car and it had dents in
the front and back. We wrote down their story, took
some pictures, and they drove on.
About 20 minutes later, a car full of angry
Palestinian men drove by the outpost. They were
neighbours of the women. They spotted a settler on his
way to the outpost and began throwing rocks.
Fortunately they all missed, he ran to the outpost. I
wanted to say something but they drove by very quickly
and the incident was over in a matter of seconds.
The attack happened maybe 15 minutes later. Three men
suddenly appeared in front of us. They came from the
direction of the outpost and managed to sneak up on
us. They were all wearing black clothing and had their
faces covered with black ski masks. They were holding
what looked to me like black rods. I later learned
that 2 of them were wooden sticks and one was a metal
pipe. From the moment I saw them it was very clear to
me what they were going to do. One of them walked up
to me. He was very muscular and looking straight at
me. None of them said a word.
I said "shalom". He swung his weapon back and slammed
it into my face. It shattered my nose and I went into
shock. I fell down face first and didn't feel the
other 2 blows that landed on my back. My friend tried
to deflect the third blow and they hit his foot.
Afterwards they took his camera, backpack and notebook
and left. Blood was pouring from my face and on my
shirt and pants and shoes. They are still stained.
A group of Israeli soldiers and Palestinian farmers
appeared at the scene.
The soldiers were very polite and many of them looked
shocked. Others though were smirking. They offered to
take us to Jerusalem for treatment. We politely
refused because it would mean getting arrested and
deported. The Palestinians called an ambulance as
well, and we were taken to Al Ahli
hospital in the Palestinian section of Hebron.
I remember crowds of concerned and angered villagers
gathering around us and helping me walk to the
ambulance. I asked people several times to not take
revenge against the settlers for what happened.
Firstly I do not believe in revenge as a Christian. I
believe in love for enemies and turning the other
cheek, I would not want anyone to hurt somebody else
on my behalf. Also, revenge is usually carried out
against people who had no part in the violence that is
being avenged. Most of the violence in the West Bank
is carried out against innocent Palestinians but the
in the fairly rare occasions when Palestinians avenge
attacks against them, innocent Israelis are usually
the ones who suffer. Lastly, this region has seen more
than enough of its share of violence and counter
violence and violence to avenge the counter violence.
It does not help achieve anything but grieving family
members and additional anger and pain.
The hospital was an amazing experience. Koba and I
were put under an X-ray.
Fortunately his leg was not broken and he was
released. My nose was broken and I had to go for
surgery the next day, and that meant staying in the
hospital for 2 nights.
The doctors and nurses were amazing and looked after
my every need. I did not pay a cent- the Palestinian
Authority pays medical bills of anyone who was hurt by
the Israeli army or settlers. I am not endorsing the
PA but I have to say it was a great relief and I am
very grateful for this.
My fellow ISMers came to visit me constantly. I have
to single out "Laura", one of our members from Mexico,
who converted to Islam a few weeks ago. She brought me
food and kept me company for most of the days. She
also brought me my Bible and helped put my cross
necklace around my neck after surgery. I will be
forever grateful to her and my fellow ISMers.
Most amazing were the people I do not know. Over 200
Palestinians came by to see me. They heard about the
attack on the TV and radio and from friends and wanted
to express their sympathies and outrage about the
attack. Many of them were very upset and during some
meetings I felt I had to repeat my request for no
revenge to be taken. Most were very grateful for my
being there with them and some said that now I am a
Palestinian, one of them. I felt very proud.
Groups of young men came to my bedside to say hello.
Whole families came as well, parents with children and
grandparents. I had a delegation of 7 Muslim clerics
come in to shake my hand. It was very moving yet I did
not deserve it. I am not a hero or brave person, many
people do the work I do and take the same risks. It
could have happened to anyone.
I was blessed with many oppurtunities to share Jesus
with my visitors. I never initiated the discussions,
many of them were curious about my cross and Bible and
wanted to know about what I believe. I focused a lot
on love for enemies and that Jesus died on the cross
for all of us- Christians,
Muslims, all people, including the settlers.
The ironic part is that I meant everything I said. I
believe that God worked a miracle in me that day. I
did not feel any anger or resentment at the settlers
who beat me and I still don't . I hate their violence
and hatred and I hate what they do to Palestinians. I
don't hate them though or wish any harm to come to
them. I have forgiven them, and it has been remarkably
easy. For this I thank God.
Some of my visitors tried to convert me to Islam and
it led to very interesting discussions. I cannot
emphasize my admiration for the Palestinian people.
They brought not only more food and drinks than I
could physically consume, but they brought their love
to me. I didn't cry when I was attacked or after the
incident but I come close to tears when I remember the
outpouring of concern and friendship and love they
have shown me. I have not experienced anything like
that anywhere else in my life.
The story made headlines across Palestine, Israel and
the wider world. It has been reported on Al Jazeera
and Washington Post. In ISM we operate under
pseudonyms and I go by "Peter", so the press stories
talk about "Peter" who was beaten up. I am OK with
this for several reasons. My activism in the West Bank
is not even close to being over, and I want to come
back one day.
I do not want to be blacklisted. I also do not want to
be remembered as a victim. Also, the story should not
be about me. What is the important issue are the
continuing attacks against Palestinian farmers and the
terrorism they suffer on an ongoing basis from
settlers and the army that usually
turns a blind eye to the abuses or takes part in them.
A broken nose and a few bruises on my back are nothing
compared to what they suffer. The story should be
about them, not about a young white guy from Winnipeg
who happened to get caught in the conflict.
Tomorrow I am going back to the hospital and hope to
have the cast around my nose removed.
Anyways, that was my weekend. As Palestinian Muslims
and Christians say, Allahu Akhbar. That means "God is
greatest". I fully agree.
Cristo Vive!
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EsinIslam.Com
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