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Rabbi Arik Ascherman, left, executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights, picks olives for Palestinian olive growers.
A popular Israeli musician is appealing for better
treatment of Palestinians at West Bank and Gaza Strip checkpoints.
“Twenty years ago I served, just like you, as a combat
soldier,” singer-songwriter Yuval Banai writes in a pamphlet being
distributed at checkpoints by the human-rights group B’Tselem. “Attention
to the needs of the civilian population is part of your mission,” it says,
adding, “Your actions today will stay with you for years to come.”
B’Tselem officials said the initiative follows mounting Palestinian
complaints of harassment by soldiers at checkpoints.
Feb.4, 2004: The International Human Rights March of Women has finally come
to an end, and it was much harder and more successful than any of us had hoped
for. This was a 3-week march (from December 20 through January 10) through Israel and Palestine, and 100-150 women came from overseas to participate, in addition to the locals -- Palestinians and Israelis -- who joined intermittently. Women marched in all the major cities of Palestine (with the exception of Nablus, then under curfew) and Israel (with the exception of Haifa). Along the way, the women witnessed and often experienced the brutal heart of the occupation -- checkpoints, curfews, closures, demolished homes, the 'security' wall, refugee camps, and -- on the Israeli side -- sites of terrible suicide bombings. It was a kind of reverse VIP tour:
Instead of meeting with official dignitaries, participants met mainly with
people on the ground: Palestinian and Israeli families, representatives of
grassroots organizations, Israeli soldiers manning checkpoints, Palestinians
trying to get through. The Palestinian side arranged for a meeting with
Arafat; on the Israeli side, we were turned down for meetings by a long list of
officials (Sharon, among others) on the pretext of insufficient advance notice,
though Knesset Member Issam Makhoul (from the left-wing Hadash Party) did find
time to meet. On both sides, the group met with a rainbow of progressive
organizations -- peace, human rights, social justice, and women's issues --
learning about the nexus for both populations of occupation-inequality-poverty.
And women spent unforgettable nights with families in Palestine and Bedouin
families in the desert region of Israel. |
