Beginnings in Yanoun

Someone emailed me saying that in my last bulletin I had not mentioned
much about my team and my own feelings. There is so much to tell about
everything else, but just to say I have a great team. But we have hit
a bit of a low point in motivation. Yanoun is quiet, very quiet. Here
we have no checkpoints, house demolitions, demonstrations, arrests in
the middle of the night. And thank God for that. Our challenge is to
be here, experiencing the day to day ordinariness of life under
occupation. Every vehicle is scrutinised, every sound responded to,
every appearance of strangers feared. As I take a morning walk around,
to ensure our visibility to the surrounding settlers and army, I am
overcome with an exquisite sadness. Some of you know that I guide
walking holidays, and I imagine bringing a group here, to this
beautiful place, watching the gazelles chase across the wheat fields,
negotiating herds of sheep, catching the darting of a gecko across a
wall, passing small boys on donkeys. How they would love it. But this
will not happen, not here, not now or in the foreseeable future.

We sat with Yasser and his family watching two settlers and a dog
parading above us. Yasser is poor. He has 25 sheep and some olive
trees. The harvest is poor this year. When he had access to all his
trees he could produce 60-70 gallons of oil. Now he is lucky to get 5
or 6. His oldest son is at University in Tulkarem - his daughter will
go to Nablus university next year. He pays 3000 shekels (£600 every
term plus food and rent for his son. When he runs out of money he
sells another lamb. God, these people value education. Yesterday we
watched a four year old girl proudly shoing us the writing she was
doing in both Arabic and Latin script.

We met with Project Hope in Nablus on Sunday. They provide many
educational and other activities for children using local and
international volunteers. Hakim who runs the project as well as
holidng down his own paid work, is an inspiring young man. I ask him
if they ever use Israeli volunteers on the project. He gives an
emphatic "no". "I could not guarantee their security," he says"and if
anything happened they would shut us down, besides, while there is the
occupation on principle we will not work with them." He is also
scathing about the projects bringing Israeli and Palesintian children
together in expensive hotels. "They go home and continue as before,
nothing changes" he says. He makes a splendid joke. "The Israelis are
so generous" he says. "We asked for one state only, they give us 11".
He is referring of course to the way small "bantustans" are carved out
amongst the territory Israel controls.

In Burin yesterday, a town much plagued with settler violence and
destruction, we watch the army patrolling just across the settler only
road. Local villagers are harvesting there and the army protects them.
Our driver Ghassan tells us that when settlers attack the village the
army close off the Palestinian road to all Palestinian drivers.
Everyone is perplexed as to the reasoning. Also, arbitrary rules state
that any building in the vilalge must only take place 100 metres or
further from the road. The new mosque just fell foul of this
regulation.

A house high above the village has Stars of David daubed all over it.
I can't help myself from making comparisons in my mind to swastikas
daubed on synagogues. On our way home we find that the electricity has
been out for hours today. An Israeli electiricity company is fixing
cable by the road. Beside them there is a guard with an M16 gun. We
also visit a huge new water tank at the top of the hill above Aqraba,
paid for by USAid. The village now awaits funding for pipes in the
houses so that they can use the water. Settlers have been to the tank
but have not damaged it. Our driver thinks that they think they will
take over this splendid tank at some point.

I have a couple of days off in Jerusalem at the end of this week and
am hoping to link up with an Israeli couple who live nearby. I spoke
to Beni on the phone. "I've just been speaking to a friend in
Sheffield" he informed me, "It's really cold and wet there". I tell
him I come from Sheffield. "No kidding!" he says. I realised with some
embarrassment after I put the phone down that I had kept on referring
to Jerusalem as Al Quds.