Dear Friends,         

                                                                                                                                      April 2, 2002

This is a message for those of you whom we know are concerned.

I write to you from Jerusalem where I am stuck since the second incursion into Ramallah five days ago.  It is definitely more than an incursion, in the terms of the Israeli prime minister and his minister of military forces, it is a war being waged against the Palestinian people. 

I assume that you are aware of the situation but maybe what you are getting in your media is one sided:  Ramallah has been reoccupied since the early morning of Friday the 29th of March.  A population of 120,000: young and old, children and women, are under military siege; the sound of shooting tanks, heavy arms and missiles are heard through out the city constantly. Curfew is imposed on people which means they can not leave their homes for any reason not even to buy food and medicine or to go to the doctors: leaving one’s home means that he/she could be shelled or shot by the army. Being under military siege also means that the army can enter your home, tear it apart, kick you out of it and take over your home, eating your food, sleeping in your beds, stealing your jewelry and money and defecating in your sinks… that’s right your sinks!!!    Many people are already suffering shortage of food, milk, bread, medicines, as well as kerosene and gas in these horrible, cold weather conditions especially since there is no electricity and water. A group of families as large as 40 and 60 people are locked in an area less than 120 square meters with children, and elderly while the occupation army has taken over the rest of their building.  In other circumstances, the army takes over the house/flat and locks the whole family in one room forbidding them to go to the bathroom without asking for permission. Other cities like Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Toulkarem have been invaded since yesterday.  The Israeli occupying forces are using civilians as human shields while heavy shooting and shelling is destroying all sorts of buildings: official, cultural, commercial, apartments, churches and mosques, health and medical facilities.  The ambulances are not allowed to evacuate the wounded from the wreckage of buildings causing many of the wounded to bleed to death.  Since Easter Sunday journalists were prohibited from entering Ramallah, we are kept in touch with some of what is happening there from our friends and families and from local reporters who are risking their lives to keep us updated.

Silence is golden except in cases of injustice and destruction of humanity.  Those who do not know should attempt to know.  When you know, you cannot keep silent about what is happening here unless you think that some blood is more precious than another.   Unless there is a new set of values in this world being dictated by those powerful nations who insist on telling us how we should live our life and even speak our language.  Jesus was crucified and Pontius Pilate washed his hands … how many are washing their hands from our blood?  Water is scarce, save it to ease the thirst of the thirsty.  No water will be enough to wash the blood of the victims.

Five hundred Europeans including a group from YM/YW of Switzerland have come on a solidarity visit under the Grassroots International Protection for the Palestinian People.  They are in Ramallah, Bethlehem and Beit Jala, Toulkarem and Qalqilia, and a group of around 200 are in Jerusalem.  They are all here because they know and are determined to stand for justice and an end of this military occupation of our land. We wish to take this opportunity to thank those of you who expressed their concern either by phone, fax or through e-mail. 

“THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE US FREE … SOME DAY”

Abla Nasir, General Secretary

YWCA of Palestine.

e-mail address: abla@ywca-palestine.org