A couple of months ago I met up with an old school friend I hadn't seen since leaving school. She told me that both her son and her daughter were spending some time in Palestine researching their heritage as they have a Palestinian grandparent. Yesterday, she sent me a copy of the e-mail she had just received from her daughter which made me think a bit. At the risk of stirring up a hornet's nest of discussion about a subject I know little about, I asked if I could pass it on to you guys and she said she would be delighted so here it is:-
Twisted normalities We had finished watching 'Snatch', and in a fit of Brad Pitt fervour, decided to move onto 'Fight Club'. Just a normal evening - friends getting together, watching a video. Normal for Ramallah, that is. That means, firstly that choices are limited on social engagements, (there's an occupation, people dying every day, it's not really a party atmosphere). Secondly it means that an interruption to almost any 'good time' we are having is guaranteed. Last night was no exception. At 11.45 the 'phone rang. Tamara was calling from a friend's wedding reception, fifteen minutes down the road, 'Have you heard? We're not sure we'll be able to get back, but we're leaving now. There are tanks coming in by the hotel'. Heard what? There'd been another 'amaliyya' or operation inside Israel. Sharon's government assassinated Ra'ed Karmi on Monday, knowing full well that this would provoke an attack from extremist groups, the excuse Sharon needed to escalate and consolidate his occupation of the Palestinian territories: Sharon is not interested in peace, and the calm from extremist groups in the last month has not been in the interests of the current, war mongering Israeli right-wing government. So, Israeli tanks were already moving around the outskirts of Ramallah. Muna switched the video off. We waited. Tamara arrived home. We waited some more. The waiting game. Now, or later? While we are awake, or when we are sleeping? Tanks or helicopters? Short, quick intrusion, arrests and withdrawal, or long, drawn out, invasion and more waiting? We turned the video back on. May as well watch Brad Pitt and forget about the tanks. The video over, I decided to stay the night - comfort and a feeling of security in numbers. Several hours later, the deep rumbling woke me. Drugged by sleep, I thought, 'oh, the tanks' and turned over, too tired to react. Hearing Tamara moving around, though, I got up. With Muna, we edged towards the window, peeking out of a small side window, where the blind was open. One tank and an armoured personnel carrier (APC) were rolling past. Immense military power. I thought of the little plastic tanks children play with. Felt oddly detached from what I was seeing. Israeli occupation. Now no longer up the road. Israeli occupation, several feet away. I felt surprisingly calm. We went into the kitchen to make coffee. 5.30 a.m. The phone rang, reports from round Ramallah - they were coming in also at El Tireh and Grand Park. Drinking coffee the deep rumbles again. Back to the window. Another two APCs and a jeep. The first vehicles had moved on down towards Arafat's headquarters. The next APC stopped a couple of hundred yards down the road. I thought of toy tanks again. Kids and metal toys, targets hit at whim, the coil of the tank chains clicking over metal. The APC on the road edged forward. Then I thought of Bethlehem. Indiscriminate tank fire. 7 a.m. I went back and sipped coffee. Morning sun through the blinds played out patterns on the floor. Our vulnerability stares us in the face: what resistance to this tank deployment? None - what are the pathetic automatic rifles Arafat's men have going to be able to do faced with this show of American sponsored and supplied might? More grinding from outside. Back to the window. Another tank in from a side road further down, heading up the road towards us. A mangy looking cat scrambled out of a rubbish dump opposite and paused. A still point in the turning world. Then ran on down the road. The tanks have moved further in. The stronghold on Palestinians tightens, the occupation - the root cause of the problem - has moved up yet one more notch. For how much longer will life just continue to push on, creating another new level of normality? Amy Gibson Ramallah, Occupied Palestine 18 Jan 2002 Jacky All truth goes through three steps: First, it is ridiculed, Second, it is violently opposed; Third, it is accepted as self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer
