12/11/2009
Dear Folks,

Since returning to the Bethlehem area from East Jerusalem last Sunday: three areas of meaningful involvement for me: visits to the Beit Ommar young prisoner families (often seen as a gesture of respect here); working the land with Palestinians farmers and joining a children's solidarity march through the desert hills south of Hebron.

As I last mentioned in Beit Ommar, the army brought more than 100 troops into this small; town two a week ago, broke into four homes and arrested five young men. I asked to visit some of the families and saw two.

For the Abu Ayysh family the arrests of two sons Mohammed, twenty-four, and Thear, nineteen, follows and is probably connected to the October death of the son, Mahdi, seventeen, who is the most recent person killed in Beit Ommar..In March 2009,Mahdi was shot in the head from less than 20 meters while at a falafel stand during an Israeli army incursion. The army is reported to have delayed calling for medical help and then set up a checkpoint to further prevent the ambulance from reaching urgently needed help .

Twenty-seven pieces of metal were discovered in Mahdi’s head, the Army would not respond to urgent calls from the doctors concerning the nature of the ammunition used nor would they allow him to be transferred to an Israeli hospital. He died without regaining consciousness this past October. Because of the nature of the shooting and the Army's response the family has begun legal proceedings in the Israeli courts.

Thursday, Dec 3 at 3am the Israeli Army entered the family’s lives yet again when masked soldiers invaded the home and searched for two hours , violated the Koran in the bathroom, broke and stole property including Mahdi’s picture from the wall and arrested Mohammed, who had constantly stayed by his brother’s bedside for five months.

The following night the Army returned, hit the father, degraded the mother and arrested Thear. Because Thear was an eye witness to his brother’s murder, there are suspicions that his arrest is an effort to prevent his participation in the court procedures. Because no charges have been filed in either arrest one might also conclude that the Army’s actions against the family represent similar harassment to discourage the family from further legal proceedings

After three days of arrest Yousef Abu Maria, seventeen, was released, perhaps because a soldier videotaped the intrusion, which was then covered in Israeli press. Like the other Beit Ommar homes, the Abu Maria home was invaded twice by the military Thursday and Friday nights when approximately thirty soldiers woke up each family member at gunpoint. After frightening the children and ransacking the home the soldiers took Yousef. ( Yousef had been arrested and held for two months without charge when he was twelve-years-old..he has been shot three times in the past five years..the Army has been very trigger happy in Beit Ommar..).

Several of us returned to Yousef's home to welcome him back (another tradition) and I spoke with him and two of his friends, also seventeen, who had both been in jail without charges for several years.

It should also be said that once these youngsters are released..whenever that might be under "administrative detention"..the 'record' of their arrests, even when no charges have ever been filed, subjects them to re-arrest on the whim of whatever soldier happens to stop them, thus continuing their education, employment in certain sectors, entering Jerusalem and obtaining travel visas all remain very difficult if not impossible..Arrest, in other words, does nothing to discourage the youth from resisting the Israeli military occupation..if anything and the prison experience becomes the defining and organizing part of their lives..increasing their "sumud" or critical Palestinian concept of resistance: steadfastness. Reminder: resistance to military occupation is an international legal right. By the way, the youngsters have not told me much about the conditions of their imprisonment other than to say it often involves living in tents, beatings and dogs. Actem, one of Youser's friends, arrested when he was fifteen told me he expected to be held a long time "so I prepared myself." When I asked what that meant he responded.."I looked to make a program for myself of reading, basketball and discussion group."I think the maturity of this now seventeen-year-old reflects that of many Palestinian youth whose childhood, as known in the US, was stolen, along with so many other human rights, by the Israelis many years ago.

Two days ago I spent a wonderful day on a hillside with a pickaxe helping Palestinian farmers cultivate and so, reclaim their land. In this case the hill was marked to be included with the settler land inside the Wall ( yet another example of the Wall being used to annex land rather than for "security" purposes) thus confiscated from the town of Un Salamuna near Beit Ommar. The Stop the Wall Campaign (website available) is helping farmers obtain the legal papers to secure marked land, in this case, the Israeli Supreme Court affirmed the Palestinian ownership and rights as long as the land was re cultivated by the end of Dec. Farmers had in some cases stopped cultivating, both because of settlers and army harassment as well as Israeli's dumping of their subsidized agricultural products in Palestine making it difficult for local agriculture to be sustainable.

This action by the Stop the Wall Campaign and the farmers is another example of nonviolent resistance to the Israeli occupation that we seldom get to hear about in the United States. Attending a village council meeting, even through a translator, while the farmers and organizers worked on their goals and strategy in the face of another Israeli threat was terrific . One organizer told me once when he discovered a parcel of land under immediate threat he found a large wedding party and persuaded all the guests to immediately join him for a demonstration at the appropriate office.

I can't describe what a privilege it was to spend the day working and enjoying a communal luncheon with these, in some cases quite old farmers who were so deeply moved by their land, our accompaniment and help. I have seen over and over again that just being with them keeps the invariably appearing Army from creating a scene and often stopping the work. One farmer, also a stone cutter, said he planned to erect a stone on the hill with all the first names of the internationals who have helped him recover his land..WOW!!! I plan on returning after sending off this email.

Finally, yesterday, I joined a children’s march south of Hebron. In a very small town, Al-Tuwani, where the children are often harassed by settlers even considered illegal by the Israeli government (see the Christian Peacemakers Team- website for description of the struggles accompanying these kids to school.) The children in this town wanted a solidarity and gift bearing march to another school in village, an hour and a half away through the desert hills. I really can't begin to describe the countryside we passed through, nor the joys of the giving and receiving schools so I am including a photo where the two sets of children begin to approach each other. The second school is simply two tents in the desert erected so families don't have to choose between exposing their children to violence or moving from their homes to a bigger town when they want to get an education for their children. Of course there was a big party including much dancing for much of the afternoon.

So many of you have written me wonderful emails of encouragement..I really appreciate them and am sorry I haven't thanked you personally..but it does sound like you would rather I keep on doing what I am doing sending you news..

Take care,

Ridgely