April 20: Kafka’s Border

Rafah Border: the wrong side of the fence

This is an excerpt from a post I wrote in September 2008…

The outdoor restaurant overlooking the sea has been nicknamed “Casablanca without the alcohol” by Dr Bill. Here, we internationals and Palestinians alike sit, looking out over the moonlit water, sharing argeelah and rumours about the Rafah border. Will it open? If so, when? And for who? People tell each other about what documents they have obtained, what connections they have made, which consulate may be arranging a visa for them.They show pictures of the husbands, wives, children, lovers who are waiting in other lands.

April: Kids on wheels in Jabalia & other farewells

Here again are the children of our Jabalia friends, one of the many lovely families I spent last week saying goodbye to. The wheelchair belongs, not to any of the kids thank goodness, but to the father of the oldest boy, who lacks both legs, yet continues to tackle life with humour and enthusiasm. It made me smile to watch them use the chair for their games. But it reminded me of something I saw recently; two young friends, boys of about 12, going down the street side by side. One was on his bike, the other in his motorised wheelchair. This is Gaza.

April 11: Disarming by direct action

L with her broken foot from fleeing gunfire, & youngest child

Last night I was playing chess in the shisha cafe across from Al Quds Red Crescent, where I am sure to find a familiar face and where they seem to have got over me being a girl in amongst the shebab, when I got a text from the south. “Our friends J and L were trying to fix the asbestos sheeting on their farmhouse roof in Faraheen today…” it began.

April 9: Art in the ruins

by Shareef Sarhan

In my last post, I told you about the photo exhibition in the middle building (which I tend to call the Social Centre, possibly because someone told me it was called that) of the Al Quds Red Crescent hospital complex. And last week you heard about the concert held in the ruins of the third building (which for the sake of argument we will call the Cultural Centre) which held the theatre and a children’s space and is so badly damaged it must be demolished. Now, also as part of the World Health Day commemorations, three artists are displaying their work in this same theatre building, art that is a response to the Israeli attacks on hospitals and medical workers.

April 2: Down to the sea

and yet Gaza fishermen are injured and killed trying to do so...

On Thursday we joined Gaza fishermen in their demonstration against the increase in Israeli violence against fishermen and the ongoing theft of their boats. An Israeli gunboat appeared three miles out, but didn’t open fire at us on the beach, as they sometimes do. The report that follows was originally posted at the ISM website, and the photos are mine. The following day, it was business as usual – “April 3: Fisherman injured, three boats damaged by Israeli fire”…

March 31: The lentils did ok today

Lentil picking in Khoza'a

Today we accompanied farmers in the Latamat area on the outskirts of Khoza’a. The last time we were out farming in Khoza’a the shooting was the closest I’d experienced, and from the video footage it looked like the Israelis were aiming to shoot my college J in the leg. Since later that same day Wafa was shot in the kneecap, and not too long before that farmer Mohammed was shot in the foot while we were with him, the ISM group had been taking stock of our role. We decided that Gaza ISM had to hold meetings with any farmers that wanted our accompaniment and be absolutely sure they understood that our presence protects them only mildly if in fact it protects them at all.

March 30: Land Day in Beit Hanoun

Setting off the Beit Hanoun Land Day march

Today was Land Day, celebrated every year in Palestine, commemorating the Palestinian love of the land and also those people who have died for it. Our friend S from the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative invited us to join people in the Beit Hanoun area who were going to take direct action by walking into some farmland in their local stretch of border area – about 800 metres away from the Erez border crossing – and celebrate the day with dancing, bread-baking, and tending of a handful of young orange trees there (Israel has destroyed most of Gaza’s orchards.) Thankfully, nothing disturbed the festivities, except the sad sight of the destroyed houses there. Hope you enjoy the photos…

March 29: Happy birthday K!

K shows birthday rabbit to baby brother

You might recall we visited K and her family once already, via the lovely Atfaluna School for the Deaf. J from 14 Friends of Palestine, who sponsor K, asked me to go back again for her birthday; I’d been meaning to go anyway as I had the rest of the money J had sent over to deliver to them. J suggested I buy some food and toys for the family with a little of the money. In the end, I decided that my blog readers might like to share in celebrating with K too, so I put in some of the money you’ve sent; this meant that K’s mum S received all the original cash from 14 Friends and the food and toys were an extra bonus.

March 26: Dancing in the Ruins

Dubke dancing in the ruins of the Red Crescent theatre, Telal Howa

The building in the shelled Telal Howa Red Crescent complex (which includes Al Quds Hospital, burned with phosphorous) that was worst hit during the attacks was the Red Crescent Theatre, which I believe also had a music school in it. It pretty much burnt down, and its ruins will be demolished. But this afternoon the Palestinian Brotherhood of Tunisia sponsored cultural groups, including the Watar Band and the specially formed dubke dancers, the Jerusalem Group for Folklore and Heritage, in a performance “at the scene of the broken Red Crescent“, and it was inspiring.

March 19: Speaking truth to power

January 09 art from children at the Al Amal Centre, Khan Younis

We were back at Faraheen this morning accompanying farmers again, eyeing the jeeps driving along the Israeli border while our farmers removed the irrigation pipes from one of the fields we have visited regularly. Since Mohammed was shot in the leg, the farmer here has decided to give up on this field, its convenient well, and its half-grown parsley crop – 200,000 shekels worth – in case of further injury or death of harvesters. It was a quiet morning, thank goodness.