Hizma, Qalandiya
At the edge of the refugee camp stood a memorial wall dedicated to the five camp-born persons murdered by Israeli soldiers. The wall of martyrs.
The army destroyed this wall as well as the workshops and businesses standing next to it.
“They said shots were fired from the roof” told us one of the business owners there.
If indeed shots were fired form the roof, obviously they were not fired by the owners. But they are the ones to bear the punishment, as is wont under occupation.
**
Regardless of shots fired or roofs, and without any warning, in its capacity as demolition contractor, the Israeli army demolished – to the ground – the resting area of bus drivers.
The lavatories structure was ruined, the water cooler disappeared, and the coffee corner razed. They didn’t leave a single stone in place.
**
The soldiers at the checkpoints are like selectors at club entrances, only more so.’
Both types carry out racist profiling and discriminate between those eligible to enter and those who are not.
A Hebron resident who arrived at the checkpoint with two sacks filled with green almonds, 10 kilograms each, wished to sell the almonds at the Damascus Gate (of the Old City of Jerusalem) but failed the selection. “You can go through, not the sacks”.
The unwritten law stipulates: a few almonds, yes. A lot – no.
At Hizma:
“They have taken everything already. They have taken the lands, they have taken our livelihood, now they want to take my goats” said old Abu Raed, of whom people say his goats are his life.
The army has ordered Abu Raed to demolish his sheep pen.
A few months ago a soldiers’ outpost was positioned up the hill, near the sheep pen.
The four-legged neighbors must be disliked by the invaders.
