Keep Them Guessing!

January 30th



4 a.m., 5 a.m., 4 a.m. 5 a.m.???? Is it strategy of the Israeli army to keep Palestinians guessing and off balance or is it a decision made by the Gilo army unit commander based on whether he stayed out late partying the previous night? If you are deathly bored reading about Gilo CP, think about how Palestinians feel trying to get to work every day. Or think about we poor little EAs trying to second guess whether to be there at 4 a.m. on the off-chance that the CP may be open only to stand for an hour unable to do anything but wait. At least, we don’t run the risk of losing our jobs if we are late (as the Palestinians do) based on a CP opening.

These pictures don't translate very well but if you double click them you may be able to enlarge them. I can't seem toTwo are the empty CP and two are what we usually experience.



















My teammates and I are now getting anxious to hear the other side of the story. We have heard many stories, visited several families and met with many, many NGOs but now we feel a need to meet with some Israelis (other than soldiers). We have asked the Jerusalem staff if we would be able to go and visit Har Homa or Har Gilo, two rather large settlements, within a stone’s throw (no pun intended) of our apartment. Har Homa looms large over Bethlehem with construction proceeding at a brisk rate. From our vantage point, we certainly see absolutely no evidence of the freeze on settlement construction talked about in the Western press. We know that, in two weeks time, EAPPI has arranged a week out of the West Bank, to visit Israel, however, my recollection from my first stay here is that the week was carefully orchestrated visits to kibbutizimes, settlements, Yad Vesham, Hebrew University and other places. We would like to be slightly more spontaneous and simply walk around a settlement, visiting coffee shops and talking to people. We have heard, and would like to confirm, that many settlements are more than half empty of residents but the settlement provides a footprint on prime real estate for Israel’s expansion into the West Bank. EAPPI staff has not responded to our request yet but we have an all-day meeting booked with them on Wednesday and will ask again.

We attended our second peaceful demonstration in Umm Salamone with many more local villagers participating this time. There were as many cameras as there were people. The Palestinian press was out in full force photographing the soldiers and in turn, the soldiers were photographing us. It would be really quite funny if it was not so serious. If you are Palestinian participating in the demonstration, it may be your house that the army comes to in the night. Sometimes, it is just for questioning but sometimes it is to arrest you.

Notice the nice soldiers with the cameras and cell phone. All in a day's work, I guess.






A visit to the family of Ameen (our morning coffee maker) closed out our week. His wife had prepared, what else, Maqlubbah, an upside down rice, cauliflower and eggplant delicacy which we have enjoyed in many homes throughout the West Bank. Ameen has a mobile stand from which he sells coffee to the throng gathered to go through the CP. He charges 2 NIS (about 70 cents) for tea or coffee and he told us that on a good shift from 2 a.m. to 9 a.m. he can earn up to 120-150 NIS ($40 to $50) clear, after paying transportation. He, his lovely wife, four children and extended family live in the village of Tu’qua about 1/2 hour from Bethlehem. On this income, he supports his own family, his parents, his brother, who is unable to work due to a disability and his sister and her family, whose husband married another wife because the first wife had produced (presumably not by herself) a disabled child. His mother is in need of a back operation (he showed us the x-rays!) but they cannot afford it. They have a handful of sheep, goats and chickens which help sustain the family producing eggs and cheese. He took us to his sister’s house to introduce us to her 28 yr-old disabled son. Things we take for granted, like a wheelchair, is out of reach for this family. He sits all day in a corner of the living room covered with a blanket but on the cold tile floor. There appeared to be many brothers around to assist the mother with his physical needs such as lifting him into and out of his bed. Ameen knows the limits of our program well and knows that we cannot give the family money but nonetheless, it was a bit uncomfortable for us.

I did find a baby to cuddle, Maice, Ameen's youngest daughter.






Holy passion for their work! We met two of our main contacts, albeit a little later than we or they wanted, to be briefed on village situations. Marwan Al’ Fararja at the Holy Land Trust and Hamed Qawasmeh, our UN contact, are two of the most passionate men we have met so far (and we have met many). They both pour themselves into their work and talked to us non-stop for many hours about villages surrounding Bethlehem which we visit. Marwan informed us about about military incursions into various places and Hamed dealt with issues such as the need for electrical power, a road, a nursery etc. We were exhausted listening to these men but they were very impressive.

Our team has now started to host visiting EAs on Placement visits and go on visits to other placements ourselves. I am excited to be traveling to my old home in Tulkarm for the weekend although there won’t be too much time for visiting friends because we are expected to participate with the team when we go on placement. I’m sure I’ll be able to slip away at least for coffee with AKS, AKD, Samar and maybe, Muawya.

One member of Group 34 has had to leave the program due to the fact that she has health issues which prevent her from participating in team activities, such as walking – a lot! She has breathing difficulties. Another Group 34 member seems to be easily disoriented and his team has concerns about him. Both of these participants were on the Jerusalem team where they could/can be monitored by our staff. It really puts quite a stress on a team when they have members who need taking care of; it’s difficult enough doing the work we do without that additional stress. C’est la vie, these things happen!

Today was a 12 hour day starting at the CP and continuing with visits to two Christian families in Beit Jala (a suburb of Bethlehem); sandwiched in the middle was a visit to an old-age home. There is not the need that we, in the West, have for such homes here because the elderly are usually cared for by family members until they die. However, this home has 11 beds for elderly residents, with walkers, wheel-chairs, well-equipped bathrooms, etc. and an addition is planned.

As usual, the taxi drivers find us very frustrating because crazy EAs walk everywhere. They tell us that they thought we came here to help the Palestinians, so why won’t we support them by taking taxis? We have our favourite, trusted drivers whom we call when we need them.

Fatigue is not a favoured friend when doing this job. So off I go to bed.