Author: ISM Media - Page 67 - International Solidarity Movement

“I think that today, I’m just going to cry”: A journal entry by an ISM volunteer

August 31st 2018 | Kristin Foss, International Solidarity Movement | Ramallah

I woke up feeling sad today. I’m just so sad. I’m crying now, I started crying in the supermarket, I cried a little when a farmer refused my money for grapes. I think that today, I’m just going to cry. Maybe I need it.

Yesterday, I was called by a friend to ask if ISM could spare some people to come to a place I can’t even remember the name of now. There are too many places, too much need for assistance. I wrote about it earlier though. Ras Karkar, the village is called. I remember now. The Israelis are going to build yet another illegal settlement there. Their village is already surrounded by three: in the North, in the South, in the East—and now the Caterpillar machines and the soldiers have arrived to block the West; to build yet another illegal settlement, trapping the villagers. It’s illegal according to international law of course. But, what is international law? It doesn’t apply in Palestine. The Israelis know it; they’ve never had to comply. The US has made sure of it, and the rest has accepted it.

The man who alerted me is my age; he has a professional job, a nice car. But he spends his free time alerting people, travelling to places where he is needed and getting beaten up by 20 year olds with machine guns. He does not get to go home and have a nice dinner with his wife or play with his kids. I guess he could. But then, will his kids even have a country when they grow up?

A man who is sending me live videos is my dad’s age. I’ve been watching the videos, videos of normal people, new friends I have not even met yet, although I recognize a few. Normal people, being brutally pushed over by young soldiers from God knows where, but from this land they are not.

I’ve watched videos of men trying to push heavy machines with their arms. I can feel the desperation. I want to be there. But today it’s only me here and I can’t go alone. I guess I could, but I don’t dare today. I need a time-out. Maybe my fear is stronger than my solidarity. I don’t want to die.

Rachel Corrie died. She was in ISM too. I don’t think she could have imagined that they would actually do it. That they would run her over with a bulldozer, as she was visible to all, standing in front of it, but they did. They killed her with a bulldozer. Her solidarity was stronger than her fear. The Israelis got away with it. They got away with it, and they call her Saint Pancake. She was 23, and they ran her over with a bulldozer for trying to stop a house from being demolished. She was American, and the US did nothing. Palestinians remember her still, with respect and dignity, gratefulness and immense sadness. The Israelis make fun of her. Most Americans don’t even know her name.

I’ve been reading comments that people have left in the comment sections of interviews with me, some say “third time lucky,” or “if she is there knowing the risks it’s her own fault, she deserved it,” etc. Then I think of what these same people say about my Palestinian friends: that they are an invented people, there was never a place called Palestine. If a nurse gets killed tending to the wounded, she is Hamas. If a school or hospital gets bombed, then Hamas was storing weapons there. If a child is murdered, his parents are using him for sympathy. It’s inexplicably inhumane. I have never witnessed anything like this, people denouncing a whole people. It is so unspeakably evil. How does it feel for Palestinians to read this; to read that they don’t even exist? To be faced with this evil? When all they did was to be born on their own land, and all they do is try to live under an inhumane occupation.

The thing is that the people who make these comments are the ones with the power. They are on the current winning side. Obama, Trump, Theresa May, Macron, Trudeau, Erna Solberg… these are the people that are on Israel’s side, and pour money and support into its government. They have the power, they have the money, they have the media and they have the politicians.

My own government doesn’t even care that five Norwegians were brutally beaten up, threatened with murder and arrested after being illegally boarded in international waters, or that I’ve been shot twice. I think they find us a nuisance. They blame us for being here; that we should not be here, that it’s the Palestinians who need to reconcile. I don’t even know what that means. They say that dialogue is the only way, and the Palestinians have to reconcile. There is no dialogue here, it’s all pretend. There is only violence, oppression, murder, land theft and politicians keeping up the facade that there is dialogue, while the press helps keep this game of pretend going. The Palestinians must reconcile… I think they mean that Palestinians must forgive and forget, get on their knees and hand over the keys they have left. I asked the representative for Norway what they meant with reconciliation—she did not know.

But there is another side. On this side there are the Palestinians, the people of this land, and some of us, international and Israeli activists who stand with them in solidarity. All we have is truth, dignity and humanity. We have this, but no power, unless everyone gets involved. Now, after getting shot twice, they talk about me, only because I’m a European woman—and thank god I videoed it. There are so many, just so many who would speak better than me, Palestinians, whose fate is incomparable to what happened to me. I’m a bit ashamed, but I will try to use it. If they all got the attention I got, would people care then? I would like to think so.

I still believe in humanity. I don’t believe there is any left in Israeli politics, but there is enough in Palestine to make up for their lack, when Palestine is free. But where is the global humanity, where are all those who say that we must never forget? Don’t ever forget, but don’t ignore what is happening now, because this too will have a horrible end if people do not react. This is not a history lesson, this is today and this can be stopped, before it becomes another shameful period of human history. Palestine can still be free. This cannot go on, it cannot!

Kristin Foss is an ISM volunteer who was shot twice in one week with rubber-coated steel bullets by Israeli soldiers in Kafr Qaddum. The first time with her hands raised, along with another female ISM volunteer from Iceland, and the second time while standing up against the wall of a shop. Below, see an interview with Kristin on Russia Today:

Interview: ISM speaks to Hakima Motlaq about a recent soldier and settler attack on the village of Asira

26th August 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, interview by Mariana | Asira al-Qibliya, occupied Palestine

Asira al-Qibliya is a village near Nablus that has been terrorised by the illegal Ytzhar settlement since 1982. In any moment of the day or night, settlers can arrive in the village and make violent incursions against the people or damage their property, including cars and houses. The people of Asira al-Qibliya live in complete insecurity and fear for their physical safety daily.

This is the story of Hakima Motlaq, a human rights activist and a tireless advocate for the empowerment of the women and children in the village. Here, she tells Mariana about a recent attack on the village’s inhabitants by soldiers and settlers.

“On 25^th August at 4pm, soldiers came and put up two flying checkpoints, preventing any access to Asira and the nearby village of Urif that borders Asira. Then, accompanied by a group of settlers, the soldiers assaulted 10 workers in the big Asira quarry.

First, the workers were detained and forced by the soldiers to stand with their arms held up for half an hour. After this, the soldiers searched them and then assaulted them by kicking them in the legs and then hitting their bodies with their guns. Not satisfied, the soldiers forced them to lie down and started to walk on them. This torture lasted an hour and a half.

After this time, they handcuffed the workers with plastic handcuffs and started asking hem where they were hiding their weapons. Not receiving any satisfactory answers, they searched throughout the quarry, but not finding anything, they finally freed the workers and removed the checkpoints.

Me and the mothers, wives and children of the workers lived terrible moments during this time and feared the worst, because for two hours we couldn’t contact them or reach the place. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured.

Only a week ago, in the same quarry, the settlers came one night and destroyed a new GBC excavator, setting it on fire.”

The excavator fire seen from Asira-village

For background information on the village of Asira al-Qibliya, read this expert from a previous interview with Hakima.

“Asira is a very old village with Roman ruins. So it dates back to the Roman age with a lot of evidence of the Ottomans being here as well. Some of the Roman ruins lie in the west of the village. The village lies 14 Km south of Nablus and is 6,440 dunams in its size. The population is 3,200. But 50% of the population are refugees of the 1948 war, mostly coming from Haifa.

The main problem we face is the occupation and the settlements. In the beginning, the settlement had only 18 dunams of land that had once belonged to Asira. But now they have 1,800 dunams of land taken from 6 villages, including Asira, but also Burin, Madama, Huwwara, Urif and Einabus. But also they come to the villages up to 3 times a week at the moment. They burn cars, burn trees, burn crops. So we’ve had to stop planting crops nearby to the settlement as they always come and destroy whatever we plant.

When they come at night they are also causing a big problem for the children in particular. The children suffer from insomnia, bed wetting and their performance at school is worse all due to the psychological effects of this constant fear. Even when they play you can see it. They are always playing violent games like “settler and Palestinian” where they hurt each other. This is their favourite game and they pretend to shoot each other and all the parents are scared for their children and the psychological damage that is being done to them.

But even worse than this in recent times rather than just coming and throwing stones settlers have come with guns. Last year a man was shot in the head. We have a video of this incident. [Yizhar is considered the most violent settlement in the West Bank due to the number of reported incidents coming from there.]“

A statement from the Norwegian ISM volunteer targeted and shot by an Israeli soldier in Kafr Qaddum, video included

18th August 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Kafr Qaddum, occupied Palestine

A description of the events of Saturday, 18th of August, from the Norwegian ISM volunteer targeted and shot by a soldier in Kafr Qaddum

I, Kristin Foss (43) work as a volunteer for ISM (International Solidarity Movement). ISM is a non-violent, Palestinian lead organisation that responds to requests for assistance from Palestinians, who for various reason need international witnesses and/or protection. This can be for demonstrators, when houses get broken into by soliders or colonialist settlers on a daily/nightly bases, children needing to be walked to school as a result of being harassed by colonialist settlers, that they have been told their house or village is about to be demolished, that their access to water has been closed or broken etc.

I am fully aware that this job carries risk and that I will be exposed to dangerous situations, but this does not release Israel from their responsibilities with regards to international law. Israel portrays itself as a democratic state, with “The world`s most moral army”—as such, the minimum that could be expected from them, is that they adhere to international law.

On Saturday, 18.08, an Icelandic colleague, Anna, and I travelled to Kafr Qaddum, a village close to Nablus, West Bank. The inhabitants had asked for our presence due to violence from Israeli soldiers every Friday and Saturday.

The main road to Kafar Qaddum was closed for inhabitants, by Israeli soliders 7 years ago. The road was built and kept by the ethnic population to the region, throughout generations. Today the road is only open to Israeli colonizers, in the illegal settlements.

The local population of Kafr Qaddum now has to drive 14 km, instead of a couple, to arrive to Nablus, where many of the inhabitants study and work. The inhabitants have been protesting the closure of the road every Friday for 7 years—now also on Saturdays. Pre- or during demonstrations the village is invaded by soldiers who fire live ammunition, rubber coated steel bullets and tear gas at demonstrators. They have also sprayed skunk water (raw sewage) into the houses of inhabitants. Several inhabitants have been shot with live ammunition, including children and elderly. The inhabitants do not have any weapons themselves (!)—they want to be able to demonstrate in peace, and they want their road to be open for them to use.

When we arrived Saturday, there were already clashes. Soldiers were present at 2 points in the village. From both points they were shooting with rubber coated bullets, at a group of mostly very young boys, who were throwing rocks back at them. Anna and I were present at one of the points, observing and making sure our presence was known to the soliders.

The shooting was going for about one and a half hour, before it started to calm down. Apart from some tear gas inhalation there had been no injuries at this point.

When things were calm, I was approached by a senior citizen, asking if we could please help him. He had gone out to his drive way earlier as he was going to get in his car to pick up his wife. He did not notice that his drive way was full of soliders. The soldiers stole/confiscated his car and the keys, and parked it in the middle out the road as an economical shield. As it was calm, we agreed to accompany him to speak to the soliders and to ask for his car back. There was no shooting, nor stones being thrown at this point. Him, Anna and I started walking towards the soldiers, with our hands in the air. I had my camera phone in one hand. The man walked surprisingly fast and was soon with the soldiers, whilst Anna and I stopped some 20 metres behind, still with our hands up. I am filming at this point.

One of the soliders shouts something at me in Hebrew, I don’t understand, but I shout back that the man just wants his car back. Then he shouts that it is dangerous. I shout back that it is only dangerous because he is pointing a machine gun at me. Those far behind me posed no danger to the soldier, nor to me. One shot is fired as I am shouting, then another shot is directed at me, and hits me in the abdomen. I would say from approximately 20-30 metres. It is absolutely no doubt I was targeted and shot deliberately.

It was extremely painful and I was in a state of shock, but quickly managed to withdraw to behind a brick wall. I was then helped by Palestinians who led me to the nearby Red Crescent ambulance. I received immediate treatment to my wound, the bullet had pierced some skin, so there was some blood, a massive bump and I was already black and blue. The ambulance staff was incredibly professional and calm.

After 5 minutes or so I wanted to go back to confront the person who had shot me—from a safe distance. I was angry about being shot, whilst unarmed, after having declared our mission—and whilst posing absolutely no threat. However, Anna then had to retire to the ambulance as she was suffering badly from teargas inhalation. We did join the protest a bit after this, but then decided to retire to the back as I felt very vulnerable and I was scared they would shoot me again.

I would like to add, that I know I am, and was, very lucky. I am Norwegian and have be shielded from this kind of violence my whole life. I do not have to be here and I can choose to go home at any given moment. This incident however, has only strengthen my resolve to keep fighting, in solidarity, with the Palestinians —who unlike me have no choice. Thousands of Palestinians have been shot this year alone. By rubber coated steel bullets and by live ammunition. Palestinians get shot for the crime of demonstrating for their basic human rights—or simply for the ‘crime of being born Palestinian’. Whilst my case have been blown up in media, theirs go unnoticed.

It is an unnerving feeling, the knowledge that a stranger has aimed his gun at me, perhaps discussed shooting me with his colleagues —and then made the choice to shoot me. That someone wanted to inflict pain on me, without knowing anything about me —to shoot me in the knowledge that it has no repercussions for themselves. Palestinians have to live with this everyday. The knowledge that at any moment an Israeli sniper might have them in their scope—and will shoot to kill or maim. Shoot them, shoot their kids, their parents, their friend, their loved ones. Violence. Because I am Norwegian, I can and will use my story to highlight what is happening here in the Norwegian media. But I do not, not even for one second, forget that what happened to me, is only a small taste, a minuscule taste of what life under Israel occupation is like. Free Palestine!

In solidarity!

Kristin Foss, activist with the International Solidarity movement

Bruises and a wound where the bullet pierced the skin

VIDEO: ISM Volunteers in Al-Khalil forced to show their passports during protest in Al Khalil

17th August 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

After Friday prayers at around 2pm, Palestinians gathered in front of checkpoint 56 to protest against the military occupation. Around 4o soldiers and border police officers entered H1, the Palestinian controlled part of the city, where they shot excessive amounts tear gas and stun grenades at protesters for around 6 hours. They invaded the streets around Bab el-Zawiye and went up to the rooftops of several houses to intimidate residents, who as a result could not continue their daily routine. In addition to intimidating the residents all day, the police officers also went up to ISM volunteers, forcing them to show their passports and threatening to deport them if they were “disrupting the border police’ work”. Watch the video below.

Diary entry from an ISM volunteer. Northern Jordan Valley.

13th August 2018 | Kristin Foss, International Solidarity Movement | Northern Jordan Valley

I lost my flight.. On purpose.. I was pretty sure I would though, when I left for Palestine. To be honest, I don’t think its gonne make it easier to leave later. The more I know, the more people I know – the more involved I get. And how, I wonder, am I going be able to get on a plane and leave, when my new friends aren’t even able to leave the West Bank. They can’t leave and they can’t live. Are some of my new friends gonne be arrested when I’m gone? Will I loose some? It does not bare thinking about..

Yesterday I came home from the northern Jordan Valley, knackered.. Stayed one night, sleeping under the stars next to a guava grove. Almost a full moon, nice breeze. Accompanied by my Icelandic friend and fellow volunteer Anna, and a very nice new Palestinian friend, Rasheed. Sounds lovely right? To the right we could see the lights from Jordan, separating us was the Jordan river and to the left, the so called holy land.. Still sounds pretty nice? Well, reason for being there was to wait for the Israeli soldiers who had announced that they would arrive the next morning to tear down the green houses of local farmers – claiming they have been stealing water. A.k.a – the water Israel is `legally`taking from the farmers.

The local farmers do not have access to the water under their farms, there literally are Israeli waterpipes under their land, going to illegal settlement – and they themselves – do not have access. They are at the mercy of the Israelis who charge them the some of the highest water prices in the world.

The day before Israelis soldiers, heavily armed, had come to the village to inspect the pipes.. To see if anyone was stealing their stolen water. In the neighbouring village the soldiers welded shut two connections, and broke a pipe. Cutting farmers off from their water supply. In the past two months this has been happening aggressively. Israelis breaking pipes, Palestinians desperately trying to get water back.

This is farmland. The bread basket of Palestine it was known as – due to the immense underground water reserves. 4 times a year they could harvest. But, already the Palestinian population is down from 320.000 to 56.000. The ones left live in refugee camps, in caves (!!), many in tents (they are not allowed to build – one man has had his home demolished 34 times.. So I guess living in a tent is just practical for obvious reasons) – and some still remain on their farms… To exist is to resist … I saw this written on many walls.. To exist is to resist… Who is the terrorist?

Thankfully the soldiers did not wake us up.. I had one scare, when there was a commotion in the bushes not far from my make shift bed… Rasheed was up like a flash and checking with his flash light…in The end he excitedly called me over to reveal a pig.. I never actually saw it though, so I’m not sure if it was a language thing or if it was a pig on the loose… Anyway… Thankfully soldiers did not arrive.. But that’s not to say they wouldnt arrive today, or tomorrow… Not so thankfully we discovered that the water pressure that supplied the Guava field we were next to had been cut off.. Its a communal field. So Rasheed rushed off, us in tow, trying to find the problem… As they only get 2 hours of water for this field.. In the end they gave up… The 2 hours were up anyway… And if the Israelis stop the water, well then they stop the water... I asked, and apologised for asking, if there ever is a possibility of calling the Israelis to see if there is a problem that can be solved with the water they are actually allowed to take… I’m sure you can imagine the answer.

Before heading back to Ramallah. Our friend took us on a drive. It was depressing… And beautiful, good conversation, good music, for a bit it almost felt quite normal, pleasant.. But mostly depressing. The Jordan river behind a security fence, Israel having declared it a security zone. Illegal of course, but its Israel… River beds have run dry. Quite often we would drive past green oasis, and lush fields – illegal settlement, to where the water is diverted… At one point an illegal settlement was right opposite the refugee camp. The water lines for the settlements, goes under the camp. In the camp they have water tanks and they have to pay to have them filled.. I’m not making this shit up!! Its unbelievable!! I don’t why anyone would want to live like this – and I’m talking about the illegal settlers. Apparently many are poor people from Russian and Eastern Europe – enticed to come here where they get land and water.. – and live like kings, behind barbed wires … Staring at refugee camps where the ethnic population lives…. And should they wish, they also have the opportunity to shoot some people with out consequences (no joke)…

For the animal lovers.. Of course this is also affects the wild life.. I did not even consider this.. But the gazelles, the dears….we saw 3 gazelles… They are cut off from the water too… Israel is killing the holy land, if it ever was. But for sure there are legends born and legends dying in Palestine every day. How they manage to continue living, not to give up, to find solutions when Israel finds a new way to oppress… Its just… I don’t know… I’m witnessing the most extreme human greatness… The capacity to make a life in the most difficult of circumstance… When Palestine is free, which I hope will be soon.. We can all come here for holiday, and how I would love to bump in to Palestinians on holiday abroad, not as refugees, but as holiday makers.. If they are this great under occupation, I cant imagine what they will be like when they have their freedom

Please go to the pages of the Nordan Jordan Solidarity group, for more information, or if you would like to get involved: http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/