Jerusalem to Ramallah

Ramallah does not have the same associations for me as it does for most other people. For most of us, it is the site of that awful time when Arafat was besieged and his compound destroyed in September 2002. It is still the site of the Palestinian leadership under Salam Fayyad, who is still trying hard to build a state of Palestine. The ruins left by the Israeli armoured Caterpillars are still there but hopefully something political will emerge soon.

For me it is the place where Barenboim. a Jew, courageously gave a concert in 1999. I believe it is the place which finally fermented the idea of the West-East Divan Orchestra in the minds of Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim; an idea of which they had dreamed after running across each other in a hotel. The first meeting of the orchestra took place in Germany that year and consisted of equal numbers of Israeli and Palestinian young people plus some local Germans. Eventually Seville in Spain became their main meeting place, the meeting place of Christians and Moslems in more ancient times. The surprising feature of this enterprise is that the group has become an excellent orchestra.

The essence of Barenboim and Said’s thinking was that the orchestra members should talk but not try to agree. Edward Said’s mother was a Palestinian Christian from Nazareth and part of his schooling was just up the road from here at the St George School opposite the Cathedral of St George. Unfortunately most of the Palestinians I have met here regard him as more American than Palestinian as he was a Professor at Columbia. (I doubt whether “Stanley” went to any of his lectures!!)

Ramallah is a large city and it was an experience just to drive past Arafat’s old compound and the present government buildings. We are headed for the Jalazone Refugee Camp whose residents appear to have no legal status. Like the Aida They were displaced in 1948 after the UN partition, 1967 during the six-day war and later troubles. Like the Aida people, they still do not recognise Israel’s right to sieze their land and their homes.

We first visit the YWCA in Jalazone. This is a place full of optimism and young children while we are there. They run a kindergarten and an early grade school. At the same time woman make traditional items in modern form. For example, I saw them making beautifully embroidered mobile phone cases and other useful items that will not finish up in US garage sales. We saw many of the women working in a room above the schoolrooms. Although they do a lot of work at home, the idea of the workroom is more social than practical so there was a happy atmosphere. They also do the usual YWCA things like after-school activities and courses for all and sundry.

An important feature of the YWCA is that they teach these skills to women who, as refugees, have very few rights even within the Palestinian Authority areas. They make great smelly soap using olive oil! The shirts they make are beautiful and they also have a great line in hand puppets. Although all the women here are Moslem, their Christmas production lines sell well. After all, Jesus is one of their Prophets. It has taken a lot of work on the part of the Palestinian Christian people who run this centre to build up the trust of the Moslem people in the camp.

Sadly there is a radical Jewish settlement nearby within the Palestinian Authority border. We meet a woman whose 15 year old son had been killed last week while playing in the vicinity of the camp. She says settlers came out and dragged the boy into the settlement. They then apparently danced around the body singing as they danced. Two hours later an ambulance arrived to take away the body of the boy. The settle,era shot the ambulance man and the friend of the boy who had been killed.The body had not yet been returned to the family.

In the last three years, ten children have been killed. Also apparently hundreds of young men and women have been taken at night from the camp to be charged with ‘sedition’. Sometimes they apparently sit in jail without any charges being filed.

We drive cautiously up the road from the camp. It is in full view of the settlement so people must be careful to avoid walking this stretch. There have been many incidents of firing on people and killing them in this area.

Our next port of call is the Friends House in the high street of Ramallah. It is a priviledge to hear a talk from a great Palestinian Quaker pacifist, Jean Zaru. She has written a number of books including “Occupied with Nonviolence: A Palestinian Woman Speaks” and “Structural Violence: Truth and Peace-Keeping in the Palestinian Experience”. For me, it seemed curious to be hearing a pacifist talking in an area where so much violence had taken place and is still around. These high powered theologians also cook us a lunch complete with Ramadan drinks!!

We then travel back into Jerusalem to visit the ‘Sebeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Centre’ where we have a talk from Naim Ateek, considered by many people to be the Desmond Tutu of Palestine. One of his book titles, “A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation.” emphasizes this. Again, the whole work is ecumenical and, while we are there, the chief honcho of the Greek Authodox Church in Jerusalem pops in for a natter.

We have talked to very few Moslem people but have received gestures of goodwill everywhere we have walked. This is due to the work of Palestinian Christians who have worked so hard to gain the trust of the Moslem community. Moslems are not supposed to believe in causation. Everything is the will of God. I first learned the effect of this when I asked my Moslem students in England what they thought about the Palestinians. “It is the will of God” said one. Another even said, “They are being punished by God”. So workers around the West Bank must be very patient and understanding.

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Palestinian child shot and killed near Ramalla      by Saed Bannoura

Palestinian medical sources reported on Tuesday at dawn that the Palestinian child who was shot and seriously wounded by Israeli military fire on Monday at night died of his wounds at an Israeli hospital. The child, Mohammad Riyadh Nayef, 15, from Al Jalazoun refugee camp, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, was seriously wounded after the army claimed that he and other youths hurled stones at military jeeps. The army also fired rounds of live ammunition, gas bombs, and concussion grenades, at several residents and medics who rushed to evacuate the wounded; two medics were wounded and were moved to Sheikh Zayed hospital in Ramallah. Local sources at the Al Jalazoun refugee camp, reported that the army kidnapped four residents and took them to an unknown destination.

Palestinian medical sources reported Monday at night that three Palestinians were wounded by Israeli military fire, one seriously, near the road that separates between Al Jalazoun refugee camp and Beit El settlement, east of the central West Bank city of Ramallah. One of the wounded Palestinians is a paramedic. The sources added that a 17-year old youth, Mohammad Nayef, was seriously wounded and was moved to Hadassah Israel hospital in Jerusalem.The youth is the son of Riyadh Nayef, a Palestinian security official who was assassinated by the Israeli army several years ago.

The two other wounded Palestinians are Ali Al Qaisi, shot in his arm, and ambulance driver, Osama Al Najjar, who was wounded in his leg while providing first aid to Mohammad Nayef. Furthermore, Israeli soldiers kidnapped several Palestinian youth and took them to an unknown destination. The detained youths remained unknown.