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Sunday, 2 June 2002
Monday, 3 June 2002
Wednesday, 5 June 2002
Thursday, 6 June 2002
Friday, 7th June 2002
Saturday, 8 June 2002
Sunday, 9 June 2002
Monday, 10 June 2002
Tuesday, 11, June 2002
Sunday, 2 June 2002
I feel tired, frustrated and depressed. I feel I cannot survive this any more. There are no moral values and ethics under the occupation. There is no justice in this world. The IDF soldiers kill my hopes, my dreams and my future. I cannot survive this. It's difficult for me even to write my diary and express my self in such words. To live in the face of the evil is something, but to write about it is some thing else.
The soldiers cause trauma for me-the trauma of injustice. For the last couple of days I stayed home, crying in my bed. I didn't want to work or write. Crying is the only way to cleanse my feelings.
Monday, 3 June 2002
When there is no Law, there is no justice and when there is no justice there is no peace.
Today I'm writing about the injustices in my homeland, the injustices under the "Liberation War."
I don't think we can build our Palestinian State under this terrible culture with insane men. While we must have our Palestinian State, we must plan how to build the State based on Criminal Law and Civil Law.
During the Intifadah, my people reversed 50 years of progress against women. They permitted a doctor to marry a 14 year-old girl last week. How can anyone support the marriage age in Hebron for females 14-18 years old, when the percentage of young divorced marriages is increasing?
Violence against women is also increasing inside families and in the streets. Women are not allowed to file complaints against the violence of the police. There is no Civil Law against such violence. Anyone can insult a woman in the street for any reason such as her attire or if she is not covering her hair. Traditionalists believe that young girls in the age range of 5 or 6 must cover hair with scarves in childhood.
The fundamentalist religious people are growing and violence against women accompanies them. They are teaching the new generation that women should be covered and controlled by men. Young boys learn to be violent men. Small children asked me why I don't cover my self. They said, "It's ‘haram’ to look like this.” The youths shout at me in the street to cover myself. They claim that the occupation resulted from disobeying God’s word of covering women. This is what the fundamentalist religious people teach the young generation in the mosques. Women are always the close line to hang the problems on.
Wednesday, 5 June 2002
It was very quiet when IDF soldiers drove war tanks into Hebron at 11 AM. Palestinians were shopping in the center of the city. The soldiers ordered everybody to return home. They were firing their guns without knowing whom they were shooting. Some IDF soldiers broke into the villages surrounding Hebron. They killed a young boy 15 years old at the entrance of Beit Ommar village when they shot at a crowd of youths playing in the streets. His name was Morad Alqam. He was killed playing with his friends. His friends told me that the ambulance arrived 45 minutes late. The IDF soldiers prevented the ambulance from reaching Morad and he died.
Thursday, 6 June 2002
Israel the State of the Injustice
Does the State of Israel observe the Law? This is Israeli Law. Today, I received a letter from the Ministry of justice. They informed me that they were closing my complaint against the IDF soldiers because I did not assist them with the investigation. I'm very concerned that the military police investigator lied about me.
On 30 May 2002, the military police sent a soldier to investigate my lawyer’s complaint against the IDF abuses toward me in my house. The investigator arrived the DCO office at 12 PM to listen to my testimony. However, the DCO officer protested. He didn't allow the investigator to begin his work. He claimed that he had not received any information about the investigation. The DCO officer ordered me to leave his office and wait until he spoke to the military commander Colonel Dror Wienberg.
The military investigator went with the DCO officer. They spent one hour together prior to the investigation. At one o'clock, they called me. I went with Rick Polhamus, an American observer. The investigator told me that he didn’t understand Arabic or English and that the DCO officer should be my translator. It appeared to me that the investigator was here only to close the file of my complaint against the IDF soldiers. He kept looking at his watch and talking on his cell phone. When I start talking to him, he said, “No I don't want to hear this, I want to hear about that.” When I began talking about “that,” he said, no I want you to tell me about this!” I told him, “Look, If you don't want to investigate me correctly, you can be assured that even after 10 or 20 years, I will file a complain against the IDF soldiers in the International Court in Belgium. I will file a complaint against the military commander himself- Dror Wienberg.”
A half an hour passed and the DCO officer decided to leave us. The investigator told me that he couldn't continue investigating me because the time was over his schedule. He had to return to his office. He asked me to give him a copy of the material that I had sent to my lawyer in order to help him conduct the investigation. He said that he was going to translate the material that I gave him and that he would call me to continue the investigation. Needless to say, I am not hopeful. The investigator took the letters and a videocassette of the IDF damage to my home.
On 6 June 2002, his office sent me a letter informing me that they had closed my complaint file because I didn't assist them with the investigation. I sent the letter to my lawyer to have her take her legal steps concerning the matter.
This is the statement of Rick Polhamus:
| "I went to the DCO
to be an observer of the process in the
investigation of Kawther's complaint. We had to wait while the
inspector talked to the military commander for about one hour.
When we were finally heard, they admitted that they had told
Kawther they would translate her statement because the investigator
didn't understand Arabic or English. However, he asked questions
and
spoke most of the time in English. The investigation was interrupted many times by the inspector leaving the room to take calls on his cell phone. In the hour we were there he talked with us for about only 20-30 minutes. He would ask Kawther questions and when she would start to answer he would interrupt saying things like, 'I already know about you. I don't want to hear all about this.' When he asked what evidence Kawther had to offer, she started to play him tapes of the soldiers harassing her, but the inspector would prevent Kawther from playing them. Finally, he received a call and said that he would have to stop the investigation for that day. He said he would download her diary from www.gush-shalom.org. He took a copy of Kawther's complaint from her lawyer and videotape. He said that he would have them translated so he could study them. He would contact Kawther in about one week to continue the investigation. This a summary of what I observed. I can be contacted about this while I am in the area at 02-222-8485 or in the US at 973-368-2221." |
Friday, 7th June 2002
Today, I sent my diary dated 6 June 2002 to Mr. Iran Shindar, the Officer of the Military Police Investigation Unit. I wrote him that
| “I hope you will be
able to read the investigation made by your
military police investigators in order to close my file complaint
against the atrocious IDF practices towered me in Hebron. I
believe
that if all the investigations made by your police staff are handled in
the same way that I was investigated, then your staff is highly
unprofessional. Perhaps, it's better that you change occupations. You
might consider selling tomatoes in the Mahni Yoda vegetable market." The testimony below in my diary dated 6 June 2002 is the way I was investigated by your police. |
======================================
On a daily basis, I'm receiving a great deal of different international support by the people in the world. Ramin was the one who supported me in such of different way that I cannot write about it now. I will write about it in the July 2002 Diary.
This is what I was received from a Mrs. Marisa, a citizen of Spain, but who resides in the United States. Mrs. Marisa said that she has been reading my diary since it was first posted in Gush Shalom. It managed to touch her heart many times over. Mrs. Marisa sent me a long letter and I'm rewriting part of what she wrote.
The glorious sound of silence. (Thinking of Kawther Salam of her woes)
No, I don't hear the scary sounds
Of bullets swishing by my ear
Or bombs falling from the skies
And the starting voices of soldiers...
...Nor do I have to stoic endure
Lewd comments from anyone
Or the cutting off, of anything
Or the stomping on my rights...
...Life 'tis, merely, as should be
With mornings filled with dew
And nothing, out of the ordinary
Such as the hazard of falling houses
Or the rumpling of evil bulldozers
_Alters, what every soul yearns...
...For the bulldozers are, solely
For building houses and roads
And the plows prepare the fields
For tomorrow's, welcome bread...
...And the flowers can rise up lazily
Aware that little shall ravage them
Noises don't obliterate their chants...
...Palestine, teeming with evil noises
My wish may be simple yet, grandiose
And the shrill sound, of peaceful doves...
2-190"ecos..."(31) Por, Quidam - April 2002)
======================================
To Kawther from A Friend "..." 7, June 2002
Maybe it's the color of the sun cut flat
And covering these crossroads I'm standing at.
Maybe it's the weather or something like that
But Kawther, you've been on my mind.
Though you think my mind is hazy and thoughts might be narrow,
The things that happen to you bring me down in sorrow.
I pray that things will be much better for you tomorrow
Because Kawther, you've been on my mind.
When you wake up in the morning Kawther, look into your mirror.
You know I won't be next to you. You know I won't be near.
I'd just be curious to know if you can see yourself as clear
As someone has had you on his mind.
Rick
Saturday, 8 June 2002
It was very hot today. The temperature reached 37 degrees centigrade (98 Fahrenheit) when the Jewish settlers and the soldiers broke into the old market of the city of Hebron. They damaged Palestinians shops and were shooting everywhere. The Palestinians in the old buildings were screaming. The soldiers were protecting the settler’s rampage. They assisted them and threw sound bombs. Palestinians were injured. One was injured seriously. The settlers were screaming “Death to Arabs” and “We don't want to see dogs in Hebron that means, Arab dogs!” The settlers closed the old market which had been under military curfew for 523 days.
The old market is the only part of the city of Hebron that Palestinians are allowed to live after the military closed Al-Shuhade and Al-Shallaleh Streets because of the Jewish settlers presence in the city. Palestinians are not allowed to marry, celebrate events or use the transportation system. They are forbidden to possess donkeys to help them to carry items in their daily life.
Some Palestinians carry the gas pipes on their shoulders, walking many kilometers around the city in the mountains in order to reach the center of city of Hebron. They could reach their homes in three minutes if the military would open Shalaleh and Shuhada streets like it was before.
Sunday, 9 June 2002
The testimony of the children made me cry. It was very difficult to control my tears in front of them. It's very difficult for any one to hear children expressing their fears. I love to talk to children, and I want to make them happy, I don't have a child, but many times I have shortened my tour to give them some sweets and speak with them.
Rawan, Najwan and Suzan are three sisters who invited me to visit them. I always promised them that if they receive high marks in the school that they could visit me. They identify me easily. They call me by name, they imitate the way I work, dress and talk in the T.V. They have a dream to be a journalist like me.
For three days, I didn't see the three sisters sitting on the window behind the light curtain in the studio. “Oh God, what is happening?” I went to their house and knocked on the door. Their mother opened the door. She was very weak. Her face was yellow and her eyes tearful. Rawan broke the silence and said, "The Yahood shot my sister Najwan, and she is in the hospital." “Yahood” refers to Jewish people.
Najwan, who is five years old, was sleeping in her bed with her two sisters on when IDF soldiers and settlers broke into the old market on Saturday night. The mother heard the settlers shooting and screaming. She said, "I continued working in the kitchen, since I knew my three children were sleeping.”
Rawan woke up to have a glass of water. She asked me for help. Her pijama was covered with blood and she was crying.
Najwan was shot in her eye. She was bleeding and unconscious. Her two sisters were sleeping and covered with blood.
Naiwan had been shot through her open window. Her mother told me that she went to the hospital with her husband. As they carried the unconscious Najwan, IDF soldiers stopped them and didn't allow the ambulance carry their wounded child.
Rawan asked me to follow her. She took me to her bed where her sister Najwan was shot. Blood still covered the wall. Rawan wrote under the blood, "This is Najwan's blood, 7th, June 2002" She drew a picture of a black man holding big gun and shooting toward a small flower. This picture made me cry.
Monday, 10 June 2002
When I stopped to give the children in the old market some sweets, I asked them what they were going to do during the summer holiday? Spontaneously, they answered, "We have already started our course in the mosque. We receive money, food and study in the mosque." They told me about the Grave Torture after death. They spoke of how the angels 'Naker and Niker' investigated the people in their graves. They spoke about what they did in their life and how they tortured their bodies. They told of how the angels entered the bodies five times daily and forced the people to pray during their life in the middle of the fire in the hell. They spoke of women being hanged from the hair because they weren't covered. They told of "Al-Shaheed," and the martyrs. They said that suicide bombers were placed in a wonderful place in Paradise and could marry 70 beautiful women. They said Al-Shaheed forgives people in the suicides bomber’s family and allows them enter the Paradise to live with him.
Al-Shaheed mixes perfume with the blood of the suicide bomber’s body. That allows him to live in the garden of the Paradise with God at moment of death. Women’s nails covered with nail polish will be flamed, and the musicians ears will be closed with a lightening flame stick.
Such deplorable stories are told to children in the age of the flowers studied in the mosque. No one teaches these children that God is peace, love forgiveness and mercy. No one teaches them that life is very short and they should enjoy it. No one teaches them that God is not a list of threats and orders. These children should not go to the mosque to hear false tales and lies. I'm weeping for the future of this new generation. I am weeping for the terrible situation that is created by extremists using the name of God to exploit people in severe need.
Tuesday, 11, June 2002
| Who is this Israeli
soldier? Is he looking for his picture?
Why did the Israeli commander arrest this soldier after the Palestinian
Newspaper Al-Hayat showed a picture of him playing with a Palestinian
child? I was astonished when a PA employee from Bethlehem asked me
about the IDF soldier. I had photographed him in Hebron playing
with a
Palestinian child. He had taken his gun off his shoulder to play
with
the child. The PA employee said, "An Israeli soldier is looking for a picture published in my newspaper that resulted in his being arrested." The IDF soldier is now working as a metal constructor. A couple of days before the 'Intifada', he went to Hosan village and asked a PA employee to help him talk to me. He told him that he was walking in Hebron with a small child who was carrying IM16 plastic gun. He loved to play with the child. I took a photo of them. He asked for a copy of the picture if it was possible because he hadn’t seen it yet. The soldier said it was a surprise when his officer told him that the commander ordered him to prison for 21 days because he was playing with a Palestinian child. When I heard this. I decided to write the story in my newspaper and send the soldier a copy of his picture. While I prepared the story and the picture, the ‘Intifada’ had begun. I hope that any one who can identify this soldier will send him his photo through the Gush-Shalom web site and apologizes for me for the trouble it caused him. |
 |
The PA employee said, "An Israeli soldier is looking for a picture published in my newspaper that resulted in his being arrested." The IDF soldier is now working as a metal constructor. A couple of days before the 'Intifada', he went to Hosan village and asked a PA employee to help him talk to me. He told him that he was walking in Hebron with a small child who was carrying IM16 plastic gun. He loved to play with the child. I took a photo of them. He asked for a copy of the picture if it was possible because he hadn’t seen it yet. The soldier said it was a surprise when his officer told him that the commander ordered him to prison for 21 days because he was playing with a Palestinian child. When I heard this. I decided to write the story in my newspaper and send the soldier a copy of his picture. While I prepared the story and the picture, the ‘Intifada’ had begun. I hope that any one who can identify this soldier will send him his photo through the Gush-Shalom web site and apologizes for me for the trouble it caused him.
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