| Balata Camp |
[Nov. 3rd, 2006|10:52 pm] |
Set off with half of the group to meet with a contact in Nablus who had arranged for us join a group she was taking to Balata Camp - the biggest refugee camp in Nablus. The plan was then to have a turkish bath at one of the oldest Hammams in Palestine and to have a tour around the old city.
We hit the first checkpoint at about 9:30. The queue was quite long and we thought we might be there for a while. Embarrasingly the taxi driver wanted to drive through on the basis that foreigners were in his car. There was no disuading him, despite the fact that our policy is to not jump the queue at checkpoints, after all this racist system of letting non palestinians through quickly is theirs and not one we should go along with. Still this is a really difficult point to argue with someone who normally has to wait and has an opportunity not to. So we got through after 10mins, by which time i finally had enough of a signal to phone to Nablus.
It seemed things had changed at the camp. During the early hours of the moring a 15 year old boy had been killed by the army. He had run into the street after the mosque announced that his brother, one of the resistance fighters most wanted by the israelis and a hero in the camp, had been shot and killed whilst laying a booby trap for the army to prevent them entering the camp. The fighter had been shot, but not killed. The boy though, the only son not wanted or imprisoned by the Israelis was killed and we were about to arrive just as the deomonstration and funeral was starting.
We managed to get there before the demonstration began, but the atmosphere around us was extremely tense. We were taken into a house of one of the Balata families who often worked with internationals and who had agreed to give us a tour and history of the camp. It was decided that the tour was neither appropriate or aafe. Martyers funerals are emotional events, and this death had caused a lot of anger. Still we spent a few hours with the guides inside and talked about life in the camp, politics in Palestine, the problems facing refugees and the day to day realities of living under fairly constant seige.
A woman who jouined us had a fairly typical story. She had 11 sons, of which only 1 remained unhurt and at home. The rest had been killed, imprisoned or disabled by the fighting. One of her sons had received a sentance of 500 years in prison. She told her if she could be granted one wish it would be for her son to be let free. She had been able to visit him until three months ago until her visitors permit was revoked for 'security reasons.'
One of the guides had been living in Balata for 6 years and wants to be a journalist. He has already had articles printed in the electronic intifada and was riting his own blog. He also had visas to vist England and the US but has been unable so far to get an exit visa to leave Palestine. This is common for any Palestinian that has been imprisoned. A real problem given that so many young Palstinian men spend time in Iraeli prisons. Right now there are over 9000 prisoners in Israeli jails, many of whom are basically children. He told us that prison was hard, but also one of the most inspiring times of his life. He had the opportunity to meet some of the best Palstinian thinkers, read lots of books and learn about the history of Palestine and its resistance. he said it really made him think about his life and what role he should be playing in the liberation of Palestine. He decided he wanted to write, to tell peoples stories and now he is studying at university to be a journalist. I hope he makes it as Palstine needs these voices to be heard right now. |
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