Ramallah Report

national | miscellaneous | news report Sunday June 08, 2003 22:09 by Brendan Young youngbren at eircom dot net Celbridge, Co. Kildare 085 713 1903

Daily report from Ramallah

what follows are 6 daily reports (more to follow in comments) by Tony Richardson - who works in the Rover car plant in Oxford and is a long-time trade unionist and internationalist He is at present in Ramallah with the International Solidarity Movement. They are written for the Oxford Mail, with whom he has an arrangement for daily publication. He is hoping to be in Palestine for another two weeks.

Dear Andy
Hear is my first 'Ramallah Daily' report. Sorry it is a bit long, but you will see why, edit as you require. I came through Qualandia checkpoint, to go to Ramallah last August, that time it took over an hour, so I thought things must be changing, when I walked through, and no checks were being made.

After checking in at my hotel I went to the offices of HDIP, an information centre, who were arranging some of my meetings. We then headed off to meet people at Bir Zeit University. This is the premier Palestinian University, with 5,500 students, and about 600 staff. Most of the Palestinian political leaders were educated here. It is situated not far from Ramallah, but that means nothing in toady's situation.

We first had to take a 'shared taxi' from the centre of Ramallah to a checkpoint at Surta, this in reality is a roadblock, without soldiers. We had to get out of our Taxi, walk 2 kilometres to another roadblock, and then get in to another 'shared taxi', to the campus. Previously there had been one roadblock, so this system is simply designed to make people walk. The students have to organise to help disabled get through, and it causes great problems for older people. I learnt later from staff member Mohamad Abu Zeid that they had just introduced a similar system coming to the university from his village, only in this instance, Einaric, it was about a 1 kilometre walk. One wonders how this helps anybody's security?

We then met representatives of the staff, and some academics. They told us how the checkpoint system was disrupting the universities work. Some students have to change transport at 7 places, most checkpoints will only let you walk through. This is bad enough if they let you through, but sometimes checkpoints are closed for a few hours, sometimes a day, and two weeks ago the whole university was closed for a week, because all the surrounding checkpoints had been closed for that period.

So dates for exams have to be constantly changed, and even then some students can't get to them. I asked how students managed, and was told that they were often very tired, with hours of travelling, very stressed, and had huge financial burdens. This meant they had difficulty concentrating on their studies. Bassma Khoury, who is in charge of women's studies in the university explained that she didn't have to just deal with the normal women's studies, but also had to organise to raise finance to keep women at the university, this being a patriarchal society women's education is sometimes seen as the first thing that can be dispensed with, when the money runs out. I also asked how did the students manage after they graduated, I was told very few got jobs in their discipline, and that recently when the Water Board advertised a single job, collecting bills, 700 graduates applied.

All of the people that I met at Bir Zeit were keen on the project of twinning with Oxford, both at a personal, and organisational level, and they would very much welcome visits. This is both with Brookes, where the staff have already agreed, and Oxford University.

On the way back, on the walk at Surta, I photographed 2 soldiers, checking papers, they demanded to see my passport, and said I was not allowed to photograph them.

I then headed back to my hotel, in central Ramallah. There I was met by vehicles desperately trying to escape from what I saw was 2 armoured vehicles parked outside my hotel. Young people were running towards the armoured cars, and throwing stones.

My decision to proceed towards the hotel was quickly changed, and I realised I could still run fast, when teargas shells were fired at us. Some of the young people are badly affected by these. I escape in to the only cafe, with its door still open. As I sit drinking coffee, and writing this piece I learn that Qualandia checkpoint is closed completely, and Ramallah is blocked off. So things haven't changed much.
Tony Richardson

Day 2
Andy
Edit as you require, but not so long today, for obvious reasons. If anything happens later I will send you supplemental report
I was woken several times during the night, with the sound of gunfire. At 8.30 I left my hotel, the streets were almost deserted. I walked to Al Manara Square, which is the centre of Ramallah. Here I learnt that the Israelis had declared total shutdown for the day. I brought a croissant off a man with a barrow, and joined the only other people who were about, at a tea stall. The mint tea at these stalls is sweet, and unbeatable. There were also 2 taxis in the square. It is always possible to tell if the military are about by seeing if the taxis leave without customers. Sure enough the taxis go, the man with the barrow disappears, and the tea stall owner turns his music off, and we all hide. The armoured vehicles appear, I am sure they see us, but they have made their point, by simply circling around.
I go to the office, to find that my first meeting, and possibly the rest of the day's schedule has had to be cancelled. It isn't just the problem of closures, but its not knowing when they are to take place, nothing can be planned.
Those workers who were told that they could start working in Israel again would have missed their second day at work. What employer would accept this? And how could they plan their finances?
In looking around the streets the only vehicles about are ambulances, always busy here, but more so during closures, because people need to be dealt with in their homes, fire engines, and taxis.
I should mention that I rarely use taxis in Oxford, because the bus service to Blackbird Leys is good, but here the shared taxis are cheap, and the only real form of transport. The problem is that with the destruction of the Palestinian Authorities structures anybody can now run a taxi, without registration or licensing, so safety is an issue.
Kids are playing in the street, they can't go to school so they are bored, they just broke one of the windows of the office I am working in. I think I will try walking around, which I can probably get away with, not being Palestinian. Although I am not too sure as I have just learnt that Richard Gere is stuck at Qualandia checkpoint, on his way to meal with some of Ramallahs civic leaders.
Tony Richardson
PS did the other pictures get through?
I have some of deserted streets, the main square, of ambulance, of fire engine
Tony

Day 3
Woken at 8am by traffic, knew that Ramallah was open again. I learnt later that this had not applied to Bir Zeit, where at the same time they were using live bullets, as well as tear gas at the checkpoint, needless to say closing down the university for a second day.

My First visit today is to the Mayor of Ramallah, Ayoub Rabah, Eng, I present to him the resolution passed by Oxford City Council. He says "We are sympathetic to any links people to people, with Oxford, any friendship, we like to expose our people to other cultures, and societies. He expressed support for the way 'Oxford Ramallah Friendship Association ' was proceeding. He agreed to send a message of greetings to Oxford City Council, and we agreed to keep him in touch with how the process was going.(picture to follow).

Then to the 'Society of Ina'sh Usra'. This was an organisation set up in the 1950s to help refugees, and had developed nurseries etc. It now deals with female children, mainly of 'martyrs' (these are anybody who has been killed by the Israelis). When their is great poverty, it is usually the young girls who suffer first, usually by having to go in to early marriage, with little or no education. This organisation tries to stop that by housing, and seeing the girls through the early education, and then giving them higher education in nursing, computing etc.

People abroad can financially adopt these girls, and for a relatively small monthly amount see them through their education. Clearly they would like to relate to Oxford organisations, and if anybody meets the girls they would see how they benefit, like Fatem, who I met who had been their 11 years, and who was only last able to visit her family in Nablus at Christmas, because of the difficulty of checkpoints.

Next to the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre, where we met the director Adila Laidi. This is in a beautiful old building, that the Israelis violently raided last April,, breaking down doors and shooting in to walls, some of the bullet holes are still there, and on one of the walls is a painting by English artist Elizabeth Harden with bullet holes in it. The centre has exhibitions of paintings, puts on Plays, Music, and generally is an arts centre, they are working on having a place for sculptors, as there is not one in Ramallah. It is clear to me and Adila that a cultural relationship with Oxford would be very useful, to both sides.

Our final visit is to 'The Palestinian Working Womens Society' This came out of an organisation formed in the 1980s, the 'Union of Palestinian Working Women', and it now has a number of branches in the West Bank and Gaza. One thing that is becoming clearer to me as I talk to Manal Abdullah PCA, at the centre, that the lack of a state is adding to the problems of women, in a strongly patriarchal society. How do you deal with violence in the home? this organisation provides coucilling, but how do you stop it happening.

In reality it is NGOs like this organisation that provide many of the services that in Britain are provided by the Health, and Social Services. Manal explains that this is only part of their work, they have projects to get women voting, and standing for elections. They want to get involved with any new states legislation, for example where women at the moment only inherit half of what the male descendants inherit. They also see a major role in stopping the trap of early marriage. This organisation would love to twin with Oxford Womens organisations.

In the evening I went for a drink, in one of Ramallahs beautiful coffee bars, with Emma from the 'Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees'. This is another NGO which is one of the main medical facilities of Palestine. Emma agreed to discuss with nurses, and ambulance drivers a linkup.

Day 4
Things are really getting normal for me, last night I went to a movie (National Security), at the Al-Kasaba 'Theatre & Cinematheque'. This morning I am off to see the General Director of this establishment. It is a theatre, as well as having a cinema screen in the modern complex.(photo to follow) They are installing a second screen in the theatre, this doesn't sound much except to say that these are the only screens in the whole of Palestine. George Ibrahim, who also told me Richard Gere had been sympathetic, explained that his establishment puts on theatre, childrens theatre, and music events, as well as the cinema. He is working on a project to tour films around Palestine.

His problems again centred on closures. The cinema would have expected to have been full, but was only about a quarter so. On the previous day they had no takings because of the closure. Yet he has to pay the full price of $2/5,000, for the use of the films. I was able to bring him a strong message of support from the 'Phoenix' cinema in Oxford, and he looked to develop a relationship with the theatres of Oxford. There might be the possibility of translation of plays etc. to be put on in Oxford.

In the afternoon we go to the 'Democracy & Workers Rights Centre' where I met the General Director, Hasan Barghouti. I should explain that these organisations have these positions because they are NGOs. I met him last year, and he and his staff are very supportive of "people getting together at grassroots level". He argued that the lessons of recent struggles are that people will defend democratic organisations. He is strongly involved with the 'International Federation of Workers Education Associations', and he hopes the Oxford branch becomes involved with the twinning. As we leave the building we see the huge banner, that calls for the release of Marwan Barghouti, and the thousands of other political prisoners, held by the Israelis without trial.
This is the end of todays business. Now to rest.

Day 5

Last night, I sat talking in a popular bar, 'Sangrias' with a lecturer from Bir Zeit. He told me that his lecture, that morning, had started late because there had been shooting on the checkpoint coming from Bir Zeit village, one student had been wounded. The students had discussed having a strike, but were persuaded it would be counter-productive.
He also told me about a student of his, who was not doing very well. When he discussed his problems with him he found that his mother had cancer, and the only treatment centre in the whole of Palestine, they are not allowed to go to Israel, is in Beit Jahour, near Bethlehem. But this student lives north of Bir Zeit village, so to take her for treatment they have to go through several checkpoints, getting out of one vehicle sometimes, walking through the checkpoint, and getting in another vehicle. Not only can't they afford this, but the Palestinian roads are heavily potholed , so the journey is painful. The consequence is that she only gets occasional treatment. He is having to do the housework, and his dying mother is feeling guilty.

Of course if they had lived in one of the settlements, one of which overlooks part of Ramallah, they would have been sped on beautiful settler roads to hospital in Jerusalem, and would have had daycare as well. The other point the lecturer made to me was that I should not take this bar as normal. Ramallah contains many of the richer Palestinians, and so much of what I am learning is even worse in most of the country, and in the refugee camps, one of which is right next to Ramallah.

The lecturer himself lives on the Ramallah side of Qualandia checkpoint, but his area is considered a part of Jerusalem District, and he pays taxes to that municipality, but gets no services. Fridays are a holiday for many people here, so only a few of the shops are open, and there obviously aren't any tourists. This creates a problem for my meeting people, so I take a chance to look around.

The tanks have taken a toll on the roads, curbs are broken and there are potholes, as well as rubble in the roads from the confrontations. So apart from dodging other cars, and pedestrians they face a kind of obstacle race. The pedestrians, have similar problems, and often have to walk in the road. But considering there is no police force,, the solidarity of their predicament keeps things functioning, no looting here.

The Palestinians are friendly at all levels, I keep finding myself starting conversations with people who only speak about three words of English, which is three more than my Arabic. When we went earlier in the week to Vera Tamaris house, in a wealthy district, we got the wrong house. We had been inside, and talking for 15 minutes, had a glass of water, and started a cup of coffee before our host, or us realised our mistake, I am sure he would have offered us a bed for the night if we had asked. Sitting in the cafes, has given me the chance to think about the Oxford Ramallah twinning project. The response is so good here that it is becoming clear that people are grasping for the opportunity to break their isolation.

They have great difficulty travelling abroad, Israel controls all borders, and therefore all the issueing of travel documents. People I have talked to about coming to Oxford have explained their difficulties. One of them had an Israeli Arab identity card, and even he would have to start queuing at the office in Jerusalem, if he could get there, 12 hours before they opened, in the hope that he would be one of the people they saw. Even then there could be problems coming back, Jordan is even making things more difficult. So to relate to people, and take them away from their immediate problems

Palestinians are really grateful, for this opportunity. But it can go even further as Hasan Barghouti, from the Democracy and Workers Rights centre said, "twinning people to people could be a model for our relationships all over the world" he said that he was going to talk to his friends in Oslo about a similar thing.
Tony Richardson

Day 6
This morning I met Khaled Daoudi, of the Ramallah Co-operative organisation. I wanted to discuss with him the twinning, with Oxford Co-ops. He explained to me that the Co-ops in the UK were mainly consumer based, whereas in Palestine they were on the produce side. In the Ramallah area the main part of the Co-op movement are the farmers. When, showing my ignorance, I asked if that meant that the farms were co-operatively owned, he laughed, and said that ownership of the land was a holy thing, and this was what the struggle in the region was all about.
In reality the farmers get together at the co-operative level in order to get cheaper seeds, pesticides, glass for greenhouses etc., in other words it is generally a purchasing co-operative. the co-operative also provides agronomists, training, and other such services. Only in one place do they have a processing co-operative, for olive oil, which is one of the best in the world, but quite expensive.
A major problem apart from the closures etc. is the fact that the Israeli Government subsidises their farmers, and they are able to flood the Palestinian market. Again he was very keen to relate to Oxford Co-ops, but their only real commodity would be Olive oil, and that would have to be sold on a solidarity basis.
Khaled lives in Jerusalem, and I found out from him that apart from closures, the Qalandia checkpoint is only ever open between 6 in the morning, and 9 at night. My next step was to go to a meeting with Mohammet Aruri, he is on the Executive of the Palestian Federation of Trade Unions, and is the Ramallah Area Secretary. I have met Mohammet before, but this time my discussion was quite different. At several of the meetings I have had with other groups they have told me the Trade Unions were not democratic, and that they never have elections.
It is clear that this democratic mood in Palestine is gathering pace. Mohammet immediately said to me that the biggest help the British Trade unions could give would be to help in the training of the PGFTU members for democratic elections. They are hoping to hold elections in the next three months or so. He said no elections have taken place for 10 years, for obvious reasons of logistical difficulties, but also because some people don't want to lose their positions.
He is part of the 'Democratic Workers Movement' in the PGFTU, and says he doesn't want to sit in an unelected position any longer. He would like sympathetic British trade unions to hold training sessions on elections because his members have never seen any. Obviously it would not be able to hold postal ballots, because the letters to the house system is non existent.
As far as individual Trade Unions in Oxford twinning with their opposite number, then he would prefer to wait a short while until the elections, rather than give us a name of somebody who might not be there in three months. Go for final ice cream at Rakubs, 'the finest in the hemisphere' according to my guidebook, and get my stuff and head for Qualandia, and Jerusalem.

Day 6.5 supplementary.
As I set off for Qualandia people in the office said that it had just been closed. I still thought I would take a chance. The service taxis told me it was closed, so I got an ordinary taxi. When I arrived there were about 200 people waiting, and the soldiers were letting them through slowly. Some young people said I should use my english passport to ask the soldiers to let me through, I said I felt embarrassed, they said "so you are going to share our suffering". What a joke, me one day them every day. After a little over an hour I got through, in the humiliating crush that included young women, and small children, the remarks made by the people to me about the Israelis do not bear repeating. The young man next to me in the taxi going to Jerusalem had waited 2 hours. I am reminded of what Mohammit Aruri had said to me. He, and the union Executive representatives from Jerusalem, had taken 6 hours getting through all the checkpoints, on the way to a meeting in Nablus, yet at the final one, Hawarra the Israelis had refused to let them through. So they had to go home, so much for democracy. To plan anything is almost impossible.
Tony Richardson