"Since 1967, 650,000 to 700,000 Palestinians have been arrested and detained. That totals 20% of the total population and 80% of all adult Palestinian males have been arrested. Most of these arrests occur after midnight when large numbers of IDF [Israeli Defense Force] storm into neighborhoods or refugee camps, horrifying everyone and arresting anyone 14 years or older. Sometimes they storm into business offices and arrest the breadwinners of the families without any charges.
"These arrests and detentions are based on military orders; we live under a kind of Marshall Law which rules every aspect of Palestinian life: where we live, our license plates that restrict our movement and limited voting rights. Under these military orders the Israeli government is free to hold anyone eight days without accusations or charges. They can hold anyone up to 180 days for interrogation and up to 60 days without benefit of a lawyer.
"The Israeli government never agreed to the Second Geneva Convention, the Knesset never ratified it, and when it comes to the Occupied Territories they totally ignore it. Israel is the only State that approved torture of detainees. I know there are dictators who use torture, but Israel is the only State that supported torture until 1999. That is when International, Israeli and Palestinian pressure groups forced the issue and Barack was confronted about it when he visited the United States.
"The IDF will round up and arrest family members and use threats against their relatives to force confessions. The interrogations lead to Military Trials which is theoretically like court with three Judges presiding but only one is required to have an education and a law degree is not at all necessary. The Military Commander appoints the translators, issues all orders, assigns the judges, and has total control. One appeal is allowed, but if the judges are settlers the Palestinian is in deep shit!
"Administrative Detentions are issued by the Military Commander for a period of six months and the reason is always labeled 'Security' and the charges can be renewed indefinitely. One Palestinian spent eight years under Administrative detention and hundreds have endured four or more years. Today fifty are being held for the past four years. They may be released for a day or two and then they are rearrested because they are social or political activists but reasons are not given by the Israeli government.
"At any given moment 10% of those in prison are under Administrative Detention. There are currently 8,000 prisoners and 800 of them are under Administrative Detention. The government does not have to inform anyone about these arrests except the Red Cross and only if they are imprisoned over two weeks, but most arrests go unreported.
"Any Palestinian under the age of 16 is tried as an adult, but for an Israeli Jew it is 18 years of age. Under 12 years old the child can be arrested but not detained. Over 12 they can be arrested, detained, interrogated, prosecuted and sentenced for throwing stones.
"Most of the Israeli Jews that are imprisoned are in for violent crimes against society and they are mixed in with the Palestinian population. The guards encourage them to do what ever they want to do against the Palestinian population. This is an open invitation by the Israeli government to incite violence and terror in the prison system. We have sworn affidavits from Palestinians claiming it was the guards who encouraged the violence inflicted upon them.
"In August 2004 the Palestinians went on a hunger strike to raise awareness of this problem and the Minister of Health who is responsible for them stated publicly: 'Our hospitals are off limits to them they can all starve themselves to death.'
"No human rights organizations are allowed access to the prisoners. Only lawyers and the Red Cross can visit them but have no access to the facilities where they are detained.
"The methods and photos from Abu Grahib and Guantanamo were no shock to any Palestinian who had been in prison between 1967 and the '80's. All the methods used in Abu Grahib were normal procedures against Palestinians. In 1999 Internationals, Palestinians and Israelis for human rights threatened a boycott against Israel and that is what forced the Supreme Court to address the torture issue. They did not ban torture and the General Prosecutor can choose not to prosecute those who still use it."-Ala Jaradat
A sacred hush filled the cypress canopied stone streets of The Noble Sanctuary that lead us to the Dome of The Rock, the site where Abraham offered to sacrifice his first born son Ishmael and where it is reported Mohammed ascended to heaven. We all remove our shoes and all the women cover their hair with scarves, then we silently tread the crimson carpet inside the Mosque. I am awed by the domed mosaic ceiling, geometric designed stained glass and massive crystal chandeliers above my head and silence is the only sound I hear although the mosque is filled with people.
Our group is split into two: some take the basic tour but a few Dutch, Japanese, Canadians, two Brits and I go the political route. Our guide is Mahmoud whose father was from Chad, his mother is Palestinian and he was born in Jerusalem.
Mahmoud tells us with a smile, "I was at the Ambassador Hotel for the public meeting the other day and was arrested and detained for eight hours. The Israelis will not allow Hamas and the PFLP to have public meetings at all. At that same time they claim this is a democracy, but how can that be if they do not allow political groups to meet and discuss the situation and search for solutions?
"When I was nineteen I was arrested for being a member of the PFLP/Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and spent the next 17 years in jail. I was nervous when I got there and tortured for months. Then a strange thing happened they gave me a shower, clean clothes, put me in a clean room and spoke to me like a human being. Then the French Ambassador came in and told me he could get me out because my father had French citizenship. He asked me where did I want to go and I answered; Jerusalem! He said it was impossible, I was not allowed. I told him I would rather remain in prison if I could not go home and so I spent 17 years and that is where I learned there is no justification for anyone to take another life. Those who kill are not true Muslims.
"I was an eyewitness on October 8, 1990 when a group came to put a cornerstone where they want to rebuild the Temple. The Dome of The Rock is also what the Israelis call The Temple Mount, [the site where Abraham went to sacrifice his second born son, Issac]. They want to destroy our Holy site but no archeologist has been able to say exactly where The Temple had originally been and they have been digging for seventy years.
"On that day they came I heard women shouting and crying, they were fainting from the tear gas! People got angry and threw stones at the soldiers and guards. Then hundreds of guards came onto The Noble Sanctuary and started shooting and 17 people were killed and 1,500 injured. They claimed we were throwing stones at the Wailing Wall but a Rabbi who had been over there said it wasn't true at all."
We walked the narrow stone streets that wind around and into an alley and come to a site known as the "Little Western Wall", which is in the heart of the Muslim quarter. Construction has begun for a synagogue for women that will also prevent access in and out of the inner area, which is an apartment building where two or three Muslim families share one toilet.
Throughout the tour of the Muslim quarter Mahmoud points out the many cameras on the ancient stone walls and where the colonists/settlers have illegally confiscated Palestinian homes. "Within the Muslim and Christian quarters there are 70 locations where 1,000 Jews now live. We are under occupation and trying to have a better life and we have had some success. Before 1967 we had no universities and now we have twelve in the West Bank. I am a citizen of the Universe, but I live in Jerusalem."
We climb to the roof of Al Quds University in Jerusalem where short courses in Arabic are taught. The ancient stone buildings are marred by satellite dishes and lookout towers.
In the afternoon of the eighth day of our Reality Tour, sixty international ecumenical Christians were introduced to Sabeel's Contemporary Way of Cross. The Sabeel way, transforms the traditional Christian tradition of meditating upon the journey that Christ took after his condemnation as he carried his cross to where he was crucified with an updated meditation on empire and occupation.
In Jerusalem there are fourteen plaques along The Via Delorosa hanging on the walls of buildings depicting where Christ may have fallen three times, meets his mother, is stripped, nailed and dies.
The Contemporary Way suggests fourteen reflections beginning with 1948, The Nabka: The Catastrophe which followed the failure of the UN partition plan of '47 when the Irgun and Stern Gang [Zionist terrorist groups] depopulated 400 villages and forced 726,000 Palestinians to flee to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt.
Station Two reflects on those refugees and the 460,000 more that fled during the War of 1967. Currently there are 675,670 registered refugees in the West Bank, 938,531 in Gaza and over two million in Arab countries who have never received compensation and have been denied the right to return as guaranteed in Articles 13 and 15 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights* and in UN Resolution 194.
I was astounded to learn that in Natna, the Jerusalem refugee camp has The Wall butted up to the boy's high school. The 'playground' where 780 adolescents gather is in reality a cement ground about the square footage of a basket ball court. There is no view as it is walled in on all four sides by the high school, The Concrete Wall and two smaller cement walls.
A refugee informed our group that on a daily basis, "The Israeli Occupation Forces show up when the children gather in the morning or after classes. They throw percussion bombs or gas bombs into the school nearly every day! The world is sleeping; the world is hibernating and is allowing this misery to continue."
I wander around taking photos and am warmly greeted by a teenage boy who asks my name and where I am from. I cringe when I say America, for I am ashamed that over one billion USA dollars since 1948 has supported violence and helped build The Wall which has been deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice, for it does not follow the Green Line.
A few miles from the refugee camp, is the green grounds of the Jewish settlement of Pizgatzeev. I was sick at heart and in my gut when we drove less than a mile into the colony and in less than a miles drive; I counted three playgrounds and a swimming pool. I wonder how many USA tax dollars helped to build them, and why the same was not done for the refugees.
As our group is praying a gun shot issues from the Natna refugee camp, then another and another in rapid succession. I am told that the Israeli Defense Force is showering the refugees with gun fire and terror, which is a normal daily occurrence. I loose it completely then, and sob uncontrollably and feel like the Magdalena when she could not find her Lord. Then I think of Jesus, and how he cried over Jerusalem.
I am inflamed at what I have witnessed and I curse the empire that condones the violent terrorizing of innocent people just because they are Palestinian. I wonder when all the Israelis will wake up and see they too are victims of the occupation for many have lost their humanity.
I pray the Jewish state would indeed be a democracy, but if they want to be a theocracy, fine with me if they would only just follow Micah 6:8: "What does the Lord require? Do justice, be merciful and walk humbly with your God."
When Israel became a state in 1948, it was contingent upon upholding the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 13 affirms: (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country
Imagine what a world it could be when every democracy honored the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Law.
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Eileen Fleming has sinced written about articles on various topics from Education Toys, Religion and Education Toys. Eileen is a retired RN, activist, author, poet, reporter and editor of WAWA:Ei. Eileen Fleming's top article generates over 246000 views. to your Favourites.