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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
Dier Ibzia - an occupied village in the west bank |
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jannah |
07/29/02 at 16:26:56 |
Asalamoalaikum My name is Fehmida. I am 32 years old and I live in London with my two children and husband. I have just returned from my trip to Palestine (17/7/2002) . Whilst there, I was a volunteer for International Solidarity Movement. I spent my time in a small occupied village, where the people had suffered more hardship than I would ever know. It was the most heart rendering experience I ever went through. I met the most warmest, kindest, passionate and courageous people. Here is a report I wrote a few days after I came back to UK. Living under occupation in Dier Ibzia Life under occupation is a miserable one. The people of Palestine have lived under occupation for decades. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza strip live under Israeli military law, which resembles a pariah state, such as that of recent South Africa. Their homes can be searched and entered without warrant, they can be arrested without charge and held in jails without trial, routinely tortured and interrogated, cannot move freely from town to town and can be expelled from the country, without reason. Palestinians have to pay taxes to the Israeli Government, but are not allowed to vote or receive Government services. Taxes collected in the occupied territories are spent on Israeli citizens. Dier Ibzia is an occupied village, which lies just west of Rammallah. It is one of 40 villages that are clustered all over the western Ramallah region. Each village has a story to tell, similar accounts of suffering and humiliation at the hands of the Israeli army. Dier Ibzia, is an extraordinary place of natural beauty, a place which could be mistaken for the Mediterranean. An expansion of Hilltop Mountains spread out with 1000-year-old olive groves and fertile rich soils, a land worth fighting for. Existence in Dier Ibzia is never constant, changeable from week to week or even day to day. 2 weeks ago this village was soiled by armoured tank, causing ever more destruction. Tomorrow they may be back, along with the of patrolling armed IDF soldiers, mostly who are young, hormonal and arrogant, and have a point to prove. The contempt of the soldiers is apparent, as villagers are subjected to yob like conduct from these ideological militia, who are pre-programmed from birth to “cleanse their country of Palestinians.” The Palestinian situation is always volatile. 45 year old Taweel Subhi lives with his wife Buphaina, their children and grandfather, “On one occasion, the IDF were just throwing stones at our windows, they kept on and on, all night, this was the worst night of my life”. Villagers say they walk past soldiers with extra caution, trying to prevent eye contact with IDF, so as not to anger or exasperate them, to prevent them from being detained or their homes being searched, or worse. A cold reminiscent to Second World War nazi occupation. The Israeli army have put up roadblocks on all roads leading out of Dier Ibzia between villages and the nearest town, which is Ramallah. The implication of this is mental and physical devastation. Roadblocks between villages and towns act as a weapon of economic terrorism. The villages of Dier Ibzia relies on Ramallah as a life source. Without Ramallah, villagers cannot sell produce, go to work, to school, university, and go to the hospitals to seek medical attention. Leila a young women from the village explained “The Israeli army cut the road by digging it and putting big rocks in the middle of the road, making it unable for people and traffic to pass it. The soldiers place themselves in tanks on top of the hill to control the whole area.” Curfews are placed by the Israeli army, without warning. The road to Rammallah may be open from 9.00am –12.00am, or sometimes not at all, as 24 hour curfews are quite the norm. Villagers have lost their jobs, students who travel to Ramallah for schools and universities have missed exams, and education has suffered. Student Nadia Kamal from Dier Ibzia says, “its very difficult, I have had to miss so many important lectures, my exam results have suffered considerably.” Nadia and her sister have had to walk to their school in Ramallah. “It takes 10 minutes by car but 2 hours or more by foot”; sometimes they had to sneak through the mountains, risking their lives in order to receive education. Recently, the village school was also targeted by tanks. One side of the wall was destroyed, all the windows were smashed and tear gas was thrown in. Villagers have said “by hitting at education institutes, they aim to deprive knowledge, which can be used as a non violent weapon for the Palestinians”. Currently the unemployment rate in Dier Ibzia is 70%; Palestinians have lost their jobs as a direct result of curfews. Israelis are also encouraged to sack the Palestinians and persuade workers from other countries to work for them.. Another approach for reaching their goal of a Palestinian-free country. Most of the villages on the west of Ramallah have no income, this is reflected in the houses that are left in mid construction, people cannot afford to carry on building homes. Local shops are empty, having only tinned supplies as fresh fruit and vegetable cannot not be traded in from village to village. As a self sufficient village most of the funding for Dier Ibiza’s roads, mosque, schools etc comes from its agricultural fields. Now this has dwindled, they cannot meet their budgetary needs. As the infrastructure crumbles beneath the Palestinians, so is the feeling of desperation and despair. The daily ritual of harassment, being shot at, homes being searched, and mindless unnecessary violence has taken its toll. The health implication of curfews are daunting. Medical supplies are running low and ambulances cannot get through. Villagers have died from not being able to get access to medical attention, having to climb the mountains and travel miles to seek help, which by car or taxi would take less than 10 minutes. The IDF soldiers have refused the very sick from entering Rammallah, where the nearest hospital is located. The father of Deeb Kamal, a resident of Dier Ibzia, was not allowed by the IDF to get to a hospital, he did not survive. A woman, from a neighbouring village of Qibya who was in labour, was refused entry in to Rammallah by the IDF soldiers. She was forced to climb through the hills to try to get through to Ramallah hospital, but gave birth in the mountains, her baby died shortly after. These cases are just a few of many. Sometimes the villagers have no option, other than defying curfew, in which case, if they are seen, are interrogated. Deeb Kamal, a resident of the village has said “they can be subjected to interrogation and kept under the sun for 6-8 hours, without any water, in other cases they are shot at.” Settler towns are appearing in Dier Ibzia at an alarming rate. A new settlement was built just eighteen months ago, on the hill opposite Dier Ibzia. In the last few months there has been more construction work, new houses are immerging constantly. The settler town are built on Palestinian land, which they have owned for centuries. Olive groves that were 1000s of years old were uprooted to build the settlements, which are provided with modern electricity and water systems. These natural resources belong to the Palestinian villages, who now are in constant electricity and water supply shortages. Not a day goes by without power cuts and water restriction. Resources are unequally distributed, 80% of water resource in the West Bank is consumed by the settlers, who make up less than 20% of the population. The nights in the villagers are sometime pitch black, houses are lit up with and oil lamps or candles. The only lights in the power cuts that can be seen are the coming from the settler towns, whose electricity never seem to get cut of. The settler towns are not just a place for the Israelis to live; they are strategically placed and have a very political agenda. As settlements in Dier Ibzia are between Palestinian villages, this stops any movement from one village to the next, preventing villagers from selling their produce to each other, causing dire economic consequences. Dier Ibzia has a stream that runs through the village and at the bottom of the stream, has a pool. This is a haven for the villagers, a place for family picnics and escapism. However, the settlers have planned a leisure complex here for Israeli use. If this plan goes ahead, the villagers would be denied their only sanctuary. The aim of Israel is to stop any life line or communication between the villages and towns so as to stifle them. To suffocate the life line of jobs, food and medical supply, in the hope the Palestinians somehow will wither away and cease to exists. The unequal parallel of poverty of the Palestinians and prosperous Israeli settlements is accelerating. Built on confiscated Palestinian land, the settlers continue to harass the Palestinians and shoot at them. A resident of Dier Ibzia says “they come down and burn our crops or destroy them with their guns” .Palestinians have no power to defend themselves. Any laws that the Palestinian National Authority makes, can be vetoed by Israel. Armed struggles by Palestinians have been used by the Israeli government as an excuse for non-negotiation. They claim to be the victims and produce the same rhetoric “not until the violence stops.” But occupation is violence, state terrorism is violence, killing unarmed children is violence. Being under occupation has a dramatic effect on all aspects of the lives of the Palestinians, each person has been affected. The psychological and economic effect on a nation that has been tormented by this ethnic cleansing must be empathised, yet sadly, it rarely is. Once a prosperous affluent nation with well-established societies, Palestine is now reduced to a nation with no land and uncertain about their future existence. Palestinians are victimised and humiliated on a daily basis. Every family in every village has a story to tell. A story of, anger, despair, hopelessness, fear, and courage. Palestinians carry on regardless, in the face of the bombings, tha killing of their children and the ritual oppression they face. What else can they do, apart from carry on. Reported by Fehmida Shah , July 2002 omarashah@aol.com |
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