RAMALLAH DIARY
From: Anthony Richardson
To: Andy
Date: 11 June 2003 07:18
Andy
Edit as necessary
Day 9
Out to a checkpoint, near a small village, on the outskirts of Nablus.
This is a different checkpoint than I have seen before. It is possible to
walk through, but as soon as you get through the soldiers shout for you
to get back. The soldiers are situated in an occupied house, overlooking
the road from about 50 metres away. They have occupied part of the house,
and are using the house as a checkpoint. The first family we try to walk
through, decide to go back, when threatened by the soldiers. The second family
keep going, and luckily the soldiers don't shoot. We go back to our house,
to decide what to do at a later point.
Welcome to hell, that evening as we discuss, we are told that the bulldozers
are replacing the earth and stone blockages, at all the entrances to Balata
Camp. We put on our fluorescent yellow jackets, and rush down to the main
entrance, we are too late the barricade is already there, so we head to
the next entrance. We are there before the bulldozer. We stand in front
of the earth, that the bulldozer will use. But this is easier said than
done, the soldiers start firing in the air, the bulldozer starts to move
towards us then stops just in front of us, then it moves back, and sounds
its horn and moves determinedly forward, at that point some of us crack,
and the bulldozer has won. We withdraw to discuss where we went wrong, and
then head for the next entrance, but we are too late.
We return to our house to discuss what to do next. We decide to knock down
the barricade to the main entrance. As there is a lot of shooting still
going on, as well as constant flares, we decide to do this in the morning.
We get up at 5.30, and by 7.00 we have broken down enough of the barricade
for the fruit vans, and taxis, but more importantly for ambulances to get
through. The people are very happy at our action, and we sit drinking tea
feeling that we have done something useful
How on earth can it be useful to barricade all the entrances to a refugee
camp, other than as an illegal act of collective punishment? We watch a
constant stream of people, who would have had to climb a great mound of
earth, and stone, what is the point of making them do this?
