They could have just asked for the key!!! As the door flung open we all saw the face of Ayşenur looking back at us. … Ayşenur Eygi is a fellow volunteer who was shot and killed by an IOF sniper as she stood beside me just four weeks ago.
October 11, 2024 | Helena Sully | Qusra
Tonight the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) including police and soldiers raided the home in Qusra in the occupied West Bank, where myself and 16 fellow international peace activists were staying. We were resting after a day at the olive harvest after providing protective presence to the Palestinian farmers.
Four police and army vehicles were parked on the road outside our building. Ten plus armed soldiers and police marched through the backyard and ordered the activists to line up outside. We were surrounded by these masked men carrying rifles and I would be lying if I said it was not frightening. I was thinking how grateful I was that I had just gone to the toilet!
We recognised two soldiers who were at the olive harvest earlier in the day when the IOF ordered Palestinians to stop harvesting and to leave their olive grove.
I was standing apart from the rest of the activists and a soldier asked me why. I pointed out that their rifles were in the way, with the barrel of the gun almost touching me.
The commander demanded we be ready to show our passports.
The soldiers warned us not to use our cameras. They photographed all our passports.
They could have asked for the key but they chose to smash open the steel door to the dormitory. It did take sometime. Really? They could have just asked us for the key!!!
As the door flung open we all saw the face of Ayşenur looking back at us. A poster of Ayşenur was hanging on the inside of the door. Ayşenur Eygi is a fellow volunteer who was shot and killed by an IOF sniper as she stood beside me just four weeks ago.
I chose to sit and pour myself a coffee (it was the best I could do to try and demonstrate I was not afraid). At one point two soldiers lifted their rifles with very bright lights and aimed it directly at me. I wasn’t sure if sitting down and poring myself a coffee was pushing it too far. All I could do was to raise my hands questioning their behaviour. I only found out later that a fellow activist standing right behind me had tried to use his camera and they basically were threatening to shoot him for this transgression.
At the end of this ordeal the commander said that they had received a report that we were doing something illegal but found no evidence of this and thanked us for our cooperation.
Welcome to the occupied West Bank. And yes, I got some photos.
Helena Sully is a grandmother of seven from Australia who works as a Social Work Field Educator.