Sho’afat refugee camp, 29.11.05, PMObservers: Norah O., Iris B., Roni H., (reporting)New battlefield against the building of the wall in Jerusalem, Sho’afat (Qalandiya revisited) We decided to get updated on the construction of the Jerusalem Envelope wall in the refugee camp Sho’afat and visited our friend Muhsein N., whose house is threatened with this eight-meter-high concrete wall being built only three meters away from his windows. A couple of days ago Muhsein has received a house demolition order. The house is the last one of the camp in the valley between Sho’afat and Pisgat Zeev and at 14:45, when we walked down to the house we felt all of a sudden the sharp smell of teargas and the biting pain in our throats and eyes. At the beginning we could not make out from where the teargas came, but from Muhsein’s roof we detected 4 border police soldiers, who were positioned about 20 meters from the house at the edge of the camp and were shooting persistently teargas cartridges into the camp. We did not see on whom. Later we learned that since about a month ago, every day a “fighting ritual” takes place between the youngsters of the camp and the soldiers, who guard the machines. The bulldozers level the ground for the concrete wall, which will encircle Shoafat with it’s 40.000 inhabitants (80% children) and turn it into a Ghetto. After school, the children meet on the slopes of the camp and throw stones on the bulldozers. The distance is great and the stones do not reach the machines, but for the bored soldiers every pretext is good enough to contribute on their part to the action and shoot teargas or bullets on the children. Only yesterday four children were hurt by these bullets! What amazing resemblance to the manner in which the children of Qalandiya have been fighting the construction of the wall! From Muhsein’s roof we could oversee the whole valley and follow with our own eyes every stage of this ritual, so dangerous for the unarmed children. At about 15:15 the construction machines were about to leave the area and were escorted by 4 jeeps and 2 mounted policemen! The path for the machines goes along the opposite side of the valley. The children burned tyres on the Sho’afat side of the valley and threw stones, which could not possibly hit either the soldiers or the bulldozers. Nevertheless the soldiers accompanied this “exodus” with incessant shooting of teargas and bullets. The valley was filled with black smoke of burning tyres and white smoke of teargas. A life horror reality show of about 15 minutes, which paralyzed our energies completely! Again we will have to warn of the moment when a child will be killed in this unequal battle! Background to Muhsein’s plightMuhsein is one of the many victims of the policy that guides the Israeli government in determining the route of the wall, in Jerusalem and elsewhere: annex as much as possible land and exclude as many as possible people. The Sho’afat camp lies within the municipality borders of Jerusalem. Because of its large and mostly poor population it will be cut off from Jerusalem and encircled by the wall, although 90% of the inhabitants carry Jerusalem IDs. The Israeli master plan is to turn it into a large ghetto and demand from every person who needs to go out a special permit, the receiving of which will be conditioned on having paid all taxes and fines and on security clearance. Muhsein has built his house 10 years ago on the margins of the camp. About 5 months ago, when the foundations for the wall were being laid, he has been approached by a municipality employee, who offered him a passable sum of money if he leaves his house. Muhsein rejected the generous offer and shortly after he received a house demolition order. At court the order was overturned because the IDF has promised that no house in Jerusalem will be demolished because of the building of the wall. However, a couple of days ago Muhsein received again a demolition order, this time on grounds that his house was built within the last half year, in the two months from 30.6.05 to 24.8.05!!! It seems that no efforts are spared, untrustworthy or illegal, in order to get Muhsein out of his house! He is being threatened and was beaten several times by the soldiers, taken by force to the police and intimidated there. Today in the morning, 30.11.05, he was beaten up again by the soldiers, when he took pictures of the building sites, his camera was confiscated and he received threats that his house will be demolished immediately, if he will not present within an hour and a half a court order to stop the demolition!! Nothing is illicit or condemnable to clear the way for the overall objective of making the life of Palestinians unbearable and thus to cause them to abandon their homes! This is transfer!!!