Updates

We have been on the go for the past few days so I haven't had a chance to post many updates. Right now i am in Ramallah where we are going to a demonstration since Kofi Annan will be in town.

Yesterday we went to Bethlehem and saw how the wall is preventing people from going there easily as well as discouraging their largest income generator-tourism. We visited the church of the nativity and saw the bullet holes and damage done when the Israeli military trapped people in the church and shot at them for a long while. Right across the street, was the Bethelhem Peace Center which is funded by a Swedish NGO (non-governmental organization). Ironically, the Peace Center was where the Israeli military holed up while keeping the Palestinians trapped in the church.

We then went to Hebron which is one of the tensest places we have been. We went to the center of town which is controlled by 400 settlers who are mostly Americans Jews who are extremists and have taken houses, religious sites, and the center of town from the Palestinians. We went into the center of town to go to a religious site for both Muslims and Jews. It felt like a war-zone---it is a war zone. All of the once-bustling store fronts are now all closed. The settlers walk around with more power than the Israeli military that "protects" them. So walking around, you see these settlers carrying guns who can do whatever they want to whomever they want. And they are mostly American. The feeling I got there from these settlers is like they are almost a cult, like David Koresh at Waco, that is how uncontrolled it is. But these 400 people control movement on behalf of the 120,000 residents of Hebron. What is most interesting is that Hebron prior to 1948 was a town where Jews and Palestinians lived side by side as neighbors. Now the atmosphere is completely the opposite where you readily find grafitti in Hebrew that says "Kill All Arabs."

Hope all is well. I can't believe I leave this place tomorrow.

Peace,
shelley