Etzion DCO
The usual sort of day but how much human misery and frustration we hear of in one and a half hours in a usual day.
We always wonder how they still manage to smile...and to thank us even though we have actually done nothing except to listen and give advice as to whom they can turn.
The Israeli Palestinian woman who lives in the old city and has an autistic child of four. Her husband gets an occasional permit to visit her and help. This was the document which she found on the internet but did not understand where to send it. She was told she had to go to Tel Aviv. It is also so difficult for them to get the information they need.....both because of the language difficulty though she spoke fairly good English .....and also because of the indifference of the Israelis with whom they have to deal.
Another case of a winch being confiscated. He did not know the reason. So easy just to confiscate without giving a reason. Sometimes they are told ....you know the reason.....and in this case not even given a receipt for the vehicle. |Sometimes they are told that they are in area A and we have good reason to know ....as happened with Hanna Barag and I ....that the soldiers have no idea where they are and even their superiors don't know the difference between A, B and C. Or the soldier who, at one of the demonstrations, asked someone why we were demonstrating.
But even though there is so little that we can do....except for Amira Hass to whom we sometimes send a particular case or Gideon Levy ......these are not the human stories which reach the public.
This morning I cannot refrain from putting in a personal note.....Yesterday at Sheikh Jarrah was one of the most violent demonstrations I have seen there. At Balfour I saw violence, but this was in a very concentrated time space and area and I was right next to it. I have often seen police violence but today at Sheikh Jarrah was the worst in a long time. As we walked from the car, I said to Varda, "You can see that they are gearing up to attack''and I was correct.