Tag: Balata Refugee Camp

Video: Settlers and soldiers storm Joseph’s tomb in Balata

21th August 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Balata Refugee Camp, Occupied Palestine

Last night, hundreds of settlers accompanied by Israeli forces invaded Balata refugee camp in Nablus to pray at Joseph’s Tomb. Israeli soldiers shot tear gas canisters and sound bombs at residents who protested the incursion – three youths were reportedly arrested.

At around 12am, several buses carrying hundreds of settlers, escorted by Israeli military, invaded Balata refugee camp. The settlers went to Joseph’s tomb to pray while Israeli soldiers separated into various groups and patrolled the area around the tomb. Residents of Balata, outraged by the incursion, left their homes to protest the invasion and were soon met with tear gas canisters and sound bombs shot at them. Soldiers blocked all entrances of the refugee camp, severely restricting movement of people in and out of the camp.

International activists were present at the scene and could witness how Israeli soldiers were shooting the teargas canisters directly at people rather than in an arc as the Israeli military guidelines on shooting teargas dictate. Soldiers also fired teargas directly into the narrow residential streets, several times hitting and damaging civilian cars. No one was injured there are reports that three Palestinian youths from the area were arrested.

Running from the tear gas canisters fired at protesters, one resident stated: “This happens every week. This is our life in the camp; constant settler and army invasions…the Israeli army comes with the settlers to protect them while they are praying but we, Palestinians, have no right to be in our camp”.

Indeed, this type of incursion is part of the daily life of Palestinian refugees living in Balata camp. Israeli settlers believe that Joseph’s tomb is a holy place, where Joseph is buried. Thus, groups of extremist settlers storm the camp and perform religious rituals on a weekly basis. Israeli soldiers, as usual protecting the settlers, shoot tear gas canisters and sound bombs at residents around the tomb.

Balata Refugee Camp: The toll of human rights violations and imprisonment

by Alex

9 May 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

The 9th May marks the 22nd day of the Palestinian prisoners mass hunger strike. Today as with every day, the prisoners’ families and friends met at Nablus Prisoners’ tent in a show of solidarity, paying respect to their sons, brothers, daughters and sisters suffering in Israeli prisons in conditions which constantly violate international laws.

Said al Kabi, 54, is just one father whose anguish is worn on his worried face. He has suffered greatly, lost many family members and both of his legs to the illegal Israeli occupation. His son, Jawad al Kabi, 26,  is sentenced to 13 years in prison and has now served six of them. Said lost both his legs in 1967. One morning whilst going out in his tractor to farm his land as usual, Said turned down a dirt road and hit a land mine left by the Israeli army.

In 1984 a demonstration in Balata Refugee Camp claimed the life of Said’s mother. The demonstration was to resist the occupation but tragically Said’s mother was shot in the heart and died immediately. Ten years later, in 1994, Said’s brother was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper, also in Balata Refugee Camp.

Said has two cousins and a twenty year old nephew suffering in Israeli prisons, their sentences adding up to a depressing 37 years and four life sentences. His family’s misery is wholly representative of the thousands of the absent mothers, fathers, daughters and brothers of Palestine who sit waiting in Israeli prisons for some sort of justice.

All of Said’s incarcerated relatives began their struggle in the mass hunger strike which has now reached a tragic world record. The prisoners, their families and human rights supporters all over the world are uttering the same demands for these prisoners: the right to be treated according to international and humanitarian laws.

The Israeli Shalit law in which Palestinians are sentenced under violates international law in many ways. Some of the violations are:

  • Prisoners are kept in small rooms with a strong light on 24 hours seven days a week
  • Prisoners are kept in solitary confinement and not allowed to meet or interact with other prisoners
  • People from Gaza can not visit their relatives in Israeli prisons
  • Prisoners are denied the right to continue their studies.
  • Prisoners are forbidden to watch TV, can not read newspapers or books

“The message sent to the world from the prisoners are very simple and clear” Said says, “Death and dignity or give us our demands to be treated according to International laws”

Unfortunately, Said’s tragic story is not unique. For almost every person present in Nablus’ Prisoners tent there is a long story of suffering and longing for freedom. The photographs and posters of absent family members duplicate on the walls of the tent each day, now spilling out into the street as the situation becomes more desperate. As one prisoner moves into his 72nd day of hunger strike, the deterioration of his health will cause reactions across Palestine and hopefully the world, forcing Israel to recognize Prisoners rights in accordance with International law.

Alex is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Turtles in Aqraba

by Jonas Weber

10 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Planting trees in Aqraba

“Hurry up you turtles!” Wael yelled in the distance. He had suddenly turned this walk into some kind of contest. We skipped across the rocky landscape of Palestine, dirty and with the sun in our eyes.

We were planting trees in the small village of Aqraba, putting up pictures of our missed friends Rachel Corrie and Vittario Arrigoni. Men and women, young and old were helping out with the planting, and we were treated to tea sweet as syrup. Aqaba has lost 144,000 dunums of land to the ten illegal settlements surrounding the village. A road is being built between the settlements of Itamar and Gittit, effectively grabbing even more of the 17,000 dunums still in the villages possession.

After the planting some villagers insisted on showing us something on the other side of the mountain adjacent to the hillside on which we were planting the trees. We went down the slope between the blooming red, yellow, and purple flowers. We crossed the road leading from Itamar to Gittit and started climbing around the hill on the other side. From a rock right next to the trail a turtle watched us wobble past a hyenas nest with our arms stretched out to our sides, so as not to lose our balance.

On the other side of the hill, was a cave used by sheepherders as a place to sleep for hundreds of years. A few steps further down the road I got to see my first blooming almond tree of the year. Beyond that, the lemon groves stretched across the floor of the valley.

We were given lemons and oranges by the farmers and their children. I used the few Arabic phrases I knew to express my gratitude. Then we started the journey back to the olive trees. We picked up speed, not even stopping to admire the stunning view of the rolling green hills of the West Bank. Wael picked up the pace, treading with experienced feet over the rocky ground.

As a worn-out tourist and skeptic, who has long given up the search for the genuine and untouched, I find myself in this setting, my hands sticky with the sour juice of fresh lemons. The sheep grazing the mountainside stare at me just like the turtle, the street vendors of the old city of Nablus, and the children of Balata. As a Westerner I stand out here, without ever feeling like an outsider. The stare of the turtle, the sheep, the vendors, the children are all full of anticipation and curiosity, as is mine when I round the steep mountainside to catch up with Wael.

“Hurry up you turtles!” he yells in the distance.

But I find no reason to hurry. Palestine has greeted me well.

Jonas Weber is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

In Photos: Balata cleans up for a place to run free

by Amal

3 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

It is hard to describe the joy of a simple yet so meaningful clean up day, and the beauty of children playing in a stress-free environment. We joined residents of Balata Refugee Camp in a clean up and play day. Many people came out Friday, December 2nd and Saturday December 3rd to help with cleaning a field. The youngest volunteer was barely over two years old, but that did not stop her from clearing scattered rocks.  The anticipation for the games to come excited us all.

Volunteers and locals make room for children to run free - Click here for more images

Balata children are clearly affected by the Israeli Occupation and possibly one of their biggest struggles is lack of space to play. There is no area where they can play freely. Even the field they cleaned up this week will be plowed in two weeks. They already knew this field will be no place to play in two weeks, and they still wanted to clean up the field. They did not give up when the job of field cleaning seemed never ending.  The spirit of never backing down when the odds are against them is apparent in all of these children. We have no doubt that these children will continue to resist for their right to play, one game at a time.

 

Amal is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

The psychology and coping of Balata refugee camp

by Alistair George

30 September 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Balata refugee camp, 2km east outside of Nablus, in the North of the West Bank, is a densely packed grid of permanent buildings and tight streets, many narrower than shoulder-width.   Buildings rise higher each year as residents add extra storeys to cope with chronic overcrowding and lack of space.  Having been founded in 1950, Balata was initially designed to house 5000 refugees forced from their homes during the 1948 Nakba [Catastrophe].  There are now more than 25,000 people crammed into the 1km2 camp and many residents live in extreme hardship with poverty, limited educational opportunities, poor health and mass unemployment added to overcrowded housing conditions.

The Yafa Cultural Centre was founded in 1996 to address many of the problems faced by Balata’s inhabitants.  The bright, modern building is located near the Jacob’s Well entrance to the camp and rises several stories high.  It is full of bustling activity as Balata residents and international volunteers mingle.

The Centre has a children’s library providing much needed access to books, educational films and games to children in the camp.  There is a media centre which trains young people in journalistic skills and produces films depicting the reality of life in Balata, many of which have been shown in Europe, the USA and across the West Bank.  A computer laboratory provides internet access and courses in Microsoft Office programs and Photoshop.

The Centre has a modern, fully-equipped theatre where students learn musical instruments and dabke (Arabic folk dancing).  Local residents work with international volunteers, such as dance choreographers and lighting technicians, to gain the necessary skills to stage plays – often representing the history of the camp and the Palestinian people.

Mustafa Farah is a young man from Balata, wearing a back-to-front baseball cap and a garish orange ‘Dubai’ t-shirt.  Like many residents, Mustafa is extremely proud of the Centre and its achievements.  Mustafa says that the Centre provided him with a camera and photography courses run by international volunteers and has enabled him to produce work as a photographer, graffiti artist and music producer.  His photography has been exhibited in London, although he was unable to get the necessary permits to attend.

Mohammed Issa, is an affable, bearded 32 year old man.  He has lived in Balata all his life, although his family was expelled from a small village next to Tulkarm in 1948, which now lies behind the green line in Israel.  Like many residents of the camp, Mohammed does not want to gain full Palestinian citizenship as it would mean forgoing the right to return to his family’s village.  Mohammed struggled to find work until he was given a job at the Centre as an IT support worker and tour guide, showing foreign visitors around the camp.

Mohammed says that the Centre does incredible work in developing the skills of Balata residents, particularly focusing on women and the youth, and promoting democracy and civil society.  The Centre also plays a vital role in raising awareness of the historical plight of the Palestinians and the continuing resonance of the Nakba.

However, Mohammed worries greatly about the psychological impact of the Israeli occupation, particularly on the camp’s children.

Balata played a leading role in the First and Second Intifadas and the camp has been subjected to repeated incursions, killings and sniper attacks by the Israeli military.  During their incursions into the camp, the Israeli military has been reluctant to pass through the dense, narrow streets of Balata, preferring instead to occupy houses and travel across the camp by smashing through walls to move through adjacent properties.  Israeli forces continue to stage raids in Balata, arresting residents in the middle of the night.

Mohammed remembers a child handing him a piece of human flesh after a Palestinian was killed in the camp by Israeli military gunfire, “Who can hold such a thing in their hands?” he said.

He describes how he has seen children mimicking what they have witnessed by assuming the roles of Palestinian and Israeli soldiers; interrogating and beating each other whilst playing in the street.

As we walk through Balata there are many young boys playing in the streets, brandishing plastic toy guns.  The Yafa Cultural Centre has a psychological unit providing therapy to the Balata residents but Mohammed worries for the future of the children as the trauma of the conflict is so ingrained and pervasive.

Mohammed admits to finding the emotional pressures of the living in the camp hard to bear.

He said, “I am proud to be a Palestinian and proud to be from Balata, but for me the camp is also like a prison.”

He used to escape the confines of the camp by hiking in the mountains that frame Balata but this is no longer possible as they have been taken over by Israeli military and observation posts.

Mohammed is still struggling to come to terms with the death of his younger brother, Ibrahim, who was killed by Israeli soldiers in 2006 at the age of 15.

Ibrahim was drinking tea on the rooftop of his house with a friend and another brother, when Israeli soldiers shot him from an adjacent building which they had occupied.  Mohammed was sleeping in the house at the time and remembers waking to the sounds of distress that his mother and sister were making, “When I heard my mother and sister screaming I felt like a bullet had entered my own heart”.  He rushed to the rooftop where he found his wounded brother lying next to a table laid out with tea.  Ibrahim died in Mohammed’s arms; “He was more like a son than a brother to me.  He could look into my eyes and know straight away how I was feeling, what I was thinking.”  The Israeli military claimed afterwards that his brother had attacked them from the rooftop but Mohammed insists that “this was a lie – they were just drinking tea”.

Despite the collective hardship and trauma suffered by the people of Balata, the Yafa Cultural Centre offers respite, friendship and precious educational and cultural opportunities.  They are always looking for international volunteers to share their skills and solidarity with the people of Balata.  A theatre production at the centre on the 20 October 2011 will showcase the camp’s dabke, Palestinian hip-hop and storytelling talents.  Several weeks of hard work between volunteers and creative Balata residents will demonstrate that there is the hope amongst the hardship in the 61 year old refugee camp.

 

Alistair George is an activist with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).