A brief message this evening—not because there isn’t much more to relate, but because between a variety of activities, including a conference and after a meeting (just returned home 10 minutes ago) I’ve had no time to read the foreign press or even the emails that I received today. Nevertheless, the items below will give you an idea of the situation here.
Item 1 tells us about settler violence. Item 2 is a Jewish couple’s reaction to their initial experience at the checkpoint at Qalandia.
Item 3 gives the frightening results of a recent poll—it almost sounds like Germany in the post 1933 beginnings of the Nazi era.
Item 4 relates an incident in which a child’s lie caused 4 innocent men, who happen to be Arabs, rough handling by the police, and the theft of their cell phones. So, even after they were ‘dropped off’ by the police, they had no way to inform their families that they were safe and on the way home.
This message closes with a plea from a woman who lives in the area that missiles have been falling. She seeks a “responsible adult.” Julia is a social psychologist and lecturer. Unfortunately, her plea will fall on deaf ears.
All the best,
Dorothy
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Don t say we did not know #257
The Palestinian village El-Bweireh, near Hebron, has suffered for many years from attacks by its neighbours, the settlers of Givat HarSina (Mt. Sinai Hill).
Settlers from Outpost Hill 18 of Givat HarSina settlement enter the village regularly, and throw stones at cars and homes. On Monday, 21st March, 2011, settlers entered the village, smashed the windows of two cars, and threw stones at houses.
On Thursday, 24th March 2011, P., a child of El-Bweireh, was hurt by a settler attack as he returned from school. Near an earthmound that blocks the entrance to the village from Road 60, young settlers threw stones at him. He sustained a head injury.
PARIS — We have just returned from a week in Israel and Palestine. We organize a chamber music festival in Southwest France and are interested in bringing Israeli and Palestinian students to our master classes.
We had no trouble reaching Ramallah from Jerusalem by public transportation. But we had problems on our return trip. We reached the Kalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem on Friday, March 11, at 9:30 in the morning. We chose to get off the bus with everyone else, even though as foreigners we could have stayed on.
We were stunned by what we saw: dwarfing cement structures, barbed wire, cameras. As we lined up we could see an Israeli woman soldier inside a multifaceted concrete blockhouse, peering out at us. Ahead of us there was a tunnel of bars just wide enough for one person. At its end a turnstile was blocked electronically from somewhere.
As we entered this narrow space I looked at the barbed wire further on. We are Jewish, and began to weep. How was it possible that our own people, who have gone through such suffering, can inflict this ordeal, intended to humiliate and intimidate another people?
And then we were seized by fear. If there had been a surge of panic or a fire, we would all have been trampled, for there was no escape. The stories of women giving birth here, some losing their babies, came painfully to mind.
After that narrow corridor we stepped into a small area, again in front of a metal turnstile. Many of us were wet, as it had rained in the morning, and it was cold. There were not that many people waiting but only one or two people were let through every 10 minutes or so.
There was no bench in this space, nowhere for old people or children to rest. One child started to cry, another complained of her feet being frozen because her boots were wet. Old women started to plead with the men to let them go through first, but the men refused. They wanted to keep their place in line in order to be in time for prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
We began to talk in English with the people around us. We did not hide that we are Jewish. A couple with a child showed us their appointment slip for a hospital consultation at noon, an unlikely target now, even though they had arrived at 9:30, as we had. As noon approached a few men turned back; it was too late for prayers.
At 12:10 it was finally our turn. We could see the people controlling the turnstile. There were several young Israeli soldiers inside. They seemed to be having a very good time, laughing, horsing around, like all youths. We want to believe that they had no clue as to the moral and physical suffering they were inflicting with their very slow control process. Do they have orders to slow everything down on Friday mornings in order to discourage the men who come to pray? Or perhaps to reduce the numbers of people who want to spend the weekend with their families?
One can easily imagine the feelings of resentment that are born from this experience. This treatment is unwarranted from the perspective of legitimate security imperatives; it is degrading and inhumane and not understandable coming from a nation that wants to be perceived as democratic, a nation among nations.
Alain Salomon is a former associate professor of architecture at Columbia University and president of a chamber music festival in Southwest France.Katia Salomon heads the association that runs the libraries in the Fleury-Mérogis Prison in France, Europe’s largest.
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3. Ynet,
March 31, 2011
Face of Future?
Intifada – effect on Jewish teens Photo: Reuters
46% of Israeli teens: Revoke Arabs’ rights
Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s Youth Study reveals Israel’s teens think greatest threat to state is Jewish-Arab conflict, believe less in democratic values. As for who they trust most – IDF gets 93%
A new study examining Jewish and Arab Israeli teens’ opinions on a wide range of issues shows nearly half of Jewish youths support revoking Arab-Israelis’ basic rights.
The study focused on such issues as nationalism, democracy and attitudes towards State institutions.
The results: Israeli teens in 2010 believe less in democracy, are inclined towards rebelliousness and violence, are more racist and some have given up hope for peace. They are also more right-wing and patriotic.
The third Youth Study (previous studies were held in 1998 and 2004) conducted by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in cooperation with the Macro Center for Political Economics examined Israeli teen and youth trends over the past 12 years.
In total, 1,600 teens from two age groups – 15-18 and 21-24 were interviewed.
Each age group included 600 Jewish and 200 Arab interviewees. The study’s conclusions, presented by the Dachaf Public Opinion Research Institute directed by Dr. Mina Tzemach, are available in a book which will be published Thursday.
According to the data, the importance of democracy as a national goal among Israeli teens has dropped from second place in 1998 (26%) to third place in 2010 with just 14.3%. Meanwhile, the importance of “Jewishness” as a national goal has climbed from third place (18.1% in 1998) to first place in 2010 with 26%.
About 60% of Jewish youths prefer “strong leadership” to rule of law and the study reveals that 46% of those asked tended to negate the basic political rights like the right to be elected from Israel’s Arab citizens.
Asked how they feel when they think of Arabs, 25% responded with “hate” and 12% responded with “fear”.
Biggest threat
When it comes to State institutions, the IDF received Israeli teens’ virtual complete trust (93%). Surprisingly, the survey shows that more teens trusted politicians in 2010 – from 38% in 1998 to 43% in 2010.
Analysis of the data shows that a majority of Israel’s youth (42%) believe that the Jewish-Arab conflict is the biggest threat to the State of Israel, compared with 23% that claimed that the schism between religious and secular Jews is the most dangerous.
In 1998, the findings were quite different as 44% saw the religious-secular rift as the biggest threat, while only 27% believed that the Jewish-Arab conflict was the most menacing. Researchers believe this shows a process of radicalization within Israeli society.
“It is possible that the combination of years of intifada and its effect on Jews, together with the October 2000 riots and their effect on Arabs, and the increase in nationalistic rhetoric in the political arena over the past few years are behind the perception that this issue is the most threatening to both communities,” the researchers noted.
“There is no doubt that there is a direct tie between this perception and the drop in support for democratic values and equal rights for Arabs.”
Analysis also revealed that the increase in feelings of fear and aversion towards Arabs manifests in political identity. Thus, 13 years ago only 48% of those interviewed defined themselves as right-wing whereas in 2010 the result was 62%.
While in 1998, 32% of the teens defined themselves as left-wing, in 2010 only 12% considered themselves as such.
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4. Ynet,
March 31, 2011
Suspects in court. Released without explanation Photo: Mati Elmalich
‘Police beat and spat on us’
Palestinian who was arrested in connection to rape of 11-year-old who later confessed to fabricating charges says officers ‘treated us like dogs’
A Palestinian man who was arrested in connection to a rape of an 11-year-old boy and was later released is saying he and the three other former suspects are considering suing the police for a violent arrest and humiliation they were subjected to during their interrogation. “We were treated like dogs, a police officer spat on us and shouted that all Arabs must be killed.”
False Charges
T., one of four illegal Palestinian aliens who were falsely accused of raping and abusing a boy, recounted the experience: “We finished work and drove back to out apartment. At around 3 am 10 police officers broke into the apartment.” He claimed the officers covered their faces, beat them, searched the apartment and took away their cell phones.
“At one point they took us to the police station without explaining why we were arrested. We were then told an 11-year-old boy complained we had raped him after having intoxicated him,” T. said.
He denied any connection to the event. “I was shocked and said I had nothing to do with it. I asked who the boy was and when the rape supposedly occurred but they didn’t answer my questions.”
Suspects in court. Beaten and spat on (Photo: Mati Elmalich)
He added: “I kept thinking about my family and the great shame. I didn’t want to call and tell them because of the shame.”
The boy was questioned again on Wednesday and following discrepencies in his story it was decided to release the four before a line-up was held. The boy admitted to fabricating some of the cases and gave a different description of the suspects.
The four were transferred to an IDF checkpoint on the way to their village. “We got on a police car that dropped us off at the Kafr Kassem checkpoint. They never returned our cell phones and just ordered us to return to the village without explaining why we were suddenly released and without apologizing,” T. said.
He added that they learned the boy had lied from their lawyer.
This is no life for them, and no life for us, once again we find ourselves in the all-too-familiar nightmare.
Once again we find ourselves in the all-too-familiar nightmare. Rocket attacks follow rocket attacks, air strikes follow Grad attacks, which follow more air strikes, more Kassam rockets and more air strikes. The scenario is intimately known and the outcome is tears and fears on both sides. It is past time a responsible adult step in and put an end to this unnecessary conflict.
Here in the Western Negev, we have known 10 years of rocket attacks, snipers and attempted terrorist infiltrations. We go to sleep wondering if we will be woken up by the familiar rocket alert, if we will be instructed by the IDF to remain in secure rooms (which many of us do not have), or begin our morning with terrifying booms and close encounters with exploding metal and glass. We jump when we hear a sound that approximates an alert; we dread driving on roads that put us in direct danger.
Many regret living here, and exposing ourselves and our families to a life that knows no safety. The Western Negev has been redefined, at least in regard to rocket attacks. The mortar shells, Kassams and Grad rockets reach communities on the border, those within a 20-km. radius, and those further to the east (Beersheba) and north (Ashdod, Yavne, soon Tel Aviv?).
In Gaza, my friends there tell me they and their families are psychologically drained and their lives and homes physically destroyed by the nearconstant air attacks, the seemingly never-ending blockade and the physical isolation from the rest of the world. Israel bombs them and shoots at them; the Hamas government terrorizes them and denies them their most basic freedoms and the Egyptians close the borders, erect a wall and ignore their cries for help.
Connections to the outside world are limited and unreliable. For a few hours each day, depending on the restricted supply of electricity and phone service, it is possible to connect to others via email, Facebook and Twitter and cellphones. This is not the human connection that we, outside this small strip of land, need or take for granted. It is a faceless connection, devoid of opportunities to physically meet one another, to shake hands, to smile at one another. For a few hours each day, Gazans are allowed to electronically connect to the rest of humankind.
This is no life for them or us.
I AM looking for the parent-leader who understands that punishment only leads to despair, sadness, fear, anger and a learned helplessness. I search for the responsible adult who understands that enough is enough, and who is clever enough to understand that if the endless cycle of attacks and responses has not succeeded in solving the problem, we need to engage in different types of behavior.
I call upon my people to demand that we be put up for adoption, so to speak, so that we can gain worthy “parents” such as Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk, who became responsible leaders for the South African peoples, or Gerry Adams and David Trimble from Northern Ireland, who finally understood that their peoples did not deserve lives of suffering and injustice.
These leaders were far from perfect. At times, they let their people down, and the South African and Northern Irish “families” are still working on the creation of a healthier and safer reality – a process that will take years. But these leaders admitted that their parenting skills needed sharp adjustment. They did not continue to expose their peoples to unnecessary trauma, death and injury. They realized, as our governments do not, that it is unconscionable to play loosely with our lives, and with the lives of our children.
As part of the family of humankind, I demand the basic rights to life, liberty and security of person.
If our leaders cannot, or will not, provide our most basic needs, then we need to disinherit ourselves. We need to become responsible adults, and take concerted steps toward finding good-enough leaders who truly care for their charges.
The writer is a social psychologist who specializes in peace building. She is a senior lecturer in the Department of Social Work at Sapir College and a member of Other Voice – a grassroots organization from the Sderot area that seeks a nonviolent end to the Gaza-Israel conflict.