[Reader-list] life in Ramallah

[Rana Dasgupta]

>From: Nada Al-Nashif [mailto:nada.al-nashif at undp.org]

>Sent: 04 April 2002 08:04 
>To: Omarlatifa at aol.com; Gabriele Accascina; James
Lemoyne; Robert Piper; 
>y at pobox.com; Sousou, Ramez; MCGiddens at aol.com; 
>sabi.kanaan at capitalprograms.com 
>Subject: Fw: "Alive from Ramallah", day 5 of the
siege, 
> 
> 
>I don't know why this particular message, but I think
it's of the more 
>poignant out of all the incredible testimonials being
circulated these days, 
>as the re-occupation continues ... 
> 
>Nada Al-Nashif 
>Deputy Resident Representative 
>UNDP-Beirut, Lebanon 
>tel. (961-1) 989 617/600 
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: Ramla Khalidi-Beyhum 
>To: ramla.khalidi-beyhum at undp.org.lb 
> 
>Sent: Wednesday, April 03, 2002 2:03 PM 
>Subject: FW: "Alive from Ramallah", day 5 of the
siege, 
> 
>Message from a classmate of mine living in Ramallah. 
> 
>-----Original Message----- 
>From: Adila Laodi-Hanieh
[mailto:adilalaidi at yahoo.com] 
>Sent: Tue, April 02, 2002 6:56 PM 
>To: manis at link.net 
>Subject: "Alive from Ramallah", day 5 of the siege, 
> 
> 
> 
>Dear all: 
> 
>I am the director of the Khalil Sakakini Cultural
Centre in Ramallah, 
>writing you from home, under siege. This is the 3rd
message i write you to 
>give a sense of what we are living under & to
hopefully provide material for 
>publication/broadcast. 
> 
>Please find below the chilling testimony in English
of the arrest of the 
>father of one of the children whose testimonies we
sent you a few days ago. 
>It was transcribed in Arabic by Ms. Manal Issa, the
Sakakini Center's 
>Administrative & Finance Officer, & translated into
English. She also has 
>scanned a number of drawings of children under siege.
Please contact her 
>(issamanal at yahoo.com) for the Arabic version of the
testimony & copies of 
>the drawings we hope you can publish. 
> 
>Monday April 1st, 2002 : I was arrested yesterday
with a number of young 
>men. Our hands were tied & we were blindfolded. We
were taken to an open 
>space where it was very cold and the rain was
pouring. We sat on the ground 
>hands tied, blindfolded & heads bent. We were
detained like that for 13 
>continuous hours in the same position. They would
beat us brutally, yell at 
>us and urinate on our heads. The blows were coming
from all sides, on our 
>faces and genitalia. One of us was taken away, we
asked about him after a 
>while & were told he had been taken home. After
midnight our heads were 
>covered with bags and we were told to go home. The
soldiers confiscated our 
>IDs and said they would kill us all, but three by
three. They said they had 
>already killed a number of us and would finish the
rest in the coming days. 
>The man who had been taken away is a 17 year old
neighbor of mine who has a 
>brain tumor. After we returned home, we were told he
had spent the whole 
>night under torture, as the neighbors had heard his
screams and cries for 
>help. In the morning, we found his naked dead body in
the street mutilated, 
>his head pierced, and his heart riddled with bullets.
They still have my ID. 
>I know they will come & get me. What I fear is not
death, but that I will 
>die in cold blood, without being able to do anything.

>----------------------------------------------------------------------------

>------------------------------------- 
> 
>Other day to day news to round up the image of what
we are living: Ramallah 
>woke up at 4am today with the non stop 2 hour long
pounding by helicopter & 
>tank of the headquarters of the Preventive Security
headquarters in the 
>adjacent Beitunia Road (off from Ramallah's
industrial zone). That complex 
>housing a hotel, a restaurant and day care center had
400 people inside it 
>at the time of the bombing. We do not know how many
casualties there are 
>since ambulances were prevented from entering. 
> 
>There was more shelling yesterday evening in
different parts of the town, 
>including the breaking into, & destruction of part of
the Qassaba 
>cinematheque & theater in downtown Ramallah. This
theater which was home to 
>an extraordinary evening last Thursday night of
poetry and music and dance 
>with Mahmoud Darwish, Nobel laureates Wole Soyinka &
Jose Saramago & other 
>writers on a solidarity mission with Palestine.. More
information on this 
>destruction can be obtained by calling the theater
director, Mr. George 
>Ibrahim, at: 00 972 52 617 819 or 00 970 59 200 640. 
> 
>A 2 hour break in the curfew was announced today by
the Israelis, this is a 
>bad sign as it means the siege will last a long time.
People who went out 
>described a scene of desolation: Tanks at every cross
roads closing access 
>to major roads, trees and electricity poles broken,
traffic lights broken, 
>scores of destroyed cars, most roads' asphalt is dug
out, making the roads 
>unusable. All this destruction in a few hours of the
proud achievements of 
>the Ramallah municipality in the last 4 years. The
municipality itslef 
>having been occupied also on Saturday. During the 2
hour break, the call to 
>prayer -Adhan- was heard for the first time in five
days from Mosques' 
>minarets.. 
> 
>People in downtown Ramallah-ElBireh continue to be
suffering the most from 
>lack of electricity and water. My brother in-law i
wrote you about was into 
>his 5th day without electricity & phone. The break
allowed him to leave on 
>foot & walk to my mother in law's home where they
will live at 8 to a 3 
>bedroom apartment for God knows how long.. My
neighbor's relatives are 
>suffering the same fate, with the added trauma of
having a teenage son 
>arrested by the Israelis on Friday in their mass
arrests & with no news of 
>his whereabouts. So far about 700 young Palestinian
have been arrested in 
>these racist & senseless mass arrests in the
Ramallah-Bireh metro area 
>alone. 
> 
>Health wise, garbage goes uncollected. More
importantly, tanks fired on the 
>building of the Medical Relief Organization where a
number of Italian peace 
>activists are barricaded there in solidarity, & on
the doorstep of which the 
>corpse of an executed Palestinian man was thrown
yesterday. The 28 bodies of 
>killed Palestinian that had been piling up at the
Ramallah hospital morgue, 
>were buried today in the hospital's courtyard, as
Israelis did not allow the 
>bodies to be returned by ambulance to their families
& receive proper burial 
>for the last 5 days.. More information can be
obtained from the Ramallah 
>hospital by calling 00 970 or 972 298 22 20. 
> 
>In my neighborhood, a group of Israeli soldiers went
into a number of homes 
>yesterday, & searched them room by room. In one home,
they stole $2500 in 
>cash & lacerated with a knife all the living broom's
sofas.. 
> 
>In conclusion, these are the sociocidal facts, &
small traumas of daily life 
>under siege. As you see, this is a sample of the the
daily lot of big and 
>small crimes committed against a small segment of the
Palestinian 
>population. A fraction of these crimes committed
against any other people 
>would have elicited condemnation & foreign
intervention. But our plight is a 
>war of perceptions and images. We are portrayed as
fighting the heirs of 
>Anne Franck, while in fact we are being turned into
the decimated native 
>americans of the digital age. 
> 
>We are grateful to the generous individuals & private
and non governmental 
>organizations who are petitioning their governments &
media & who get our 
>message out. Please please, try to use these emails
in letters to officials 
>in the US or to the media for publication, not for
us, but in the name of 
>our shared humanity. We thank you & hope to hear of
your efforts, Adila 
>Laidi. 
> 
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------

>----------------------------------------------------------------------------

>-------The Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre is located
in Ramallah in a 
>renovated traditional mansion, it focuses its work in
three fields: 
>Nurturing & developing the visual arts, organizing
projects on Palestinian 
>cultural identity & narrative, & holding regular
public events such as: Art 
>exhibits, concerts, literary events, film screenings,
lectures, & children's 
>activities. The Sakakini is a non-governmental &
non-profit organization 
>founded in 1996. Http://www.sakakini.org. 

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax
http://taxes.yahoo.com/