Departures

(This is a short extract is from a diary entry I wrote exactly a year ago today) 

It is late morning in Nablus, the market is busy as usual. A group of nine ISM activists are being led through the crowded streets  by my Palestinian comrade Wael, as I sit on the roof of our apartment writing I can just see the top of Wael's head receding into the distance. Walking briskly through the center of town, they will soon arrive beside a fruit stall piled high with watermelon, bananas and fresh green almonds - ten volunteers awaiting a ride into the unknown.

From where they gather a battered old van will arrive as usual to take them - Israeli checkpoints permitting - to a prearranged meeting point near the Palestinian village of Kafr Qaddum. From there they will be smuggled into the town on the back of a series of pickup trucks working in tandem. The journey is hot and uncomfortable as the skilled local drivers make use of the old sheep trails winding there way through the olive groves.

Kafr Qaddum is located to the north of Nablus, with a population of approx 3,500 inhabitants. More than half of the village’s land - about 11,800 dunams (one dunam equals 1000 sq meters) - is situated in area C; which means that the Palestinians must be given permission to work there from the Israeli District Coordinating Office. The villagers from Kafr Qaddum have often complained about harassment and violence from the nearby illegal settlement of Qadumim ( built in 1976).

As with all demonstrations that the ISM attends, the popular committee of Kafr Qadam (The Palestinian equivalent of a local council) had requested our attendance at what has become a weekly demonstration in their village, after more than six years of protracted legal arguments before the notoriously one-sided Israeli High Court. The attempts to gain justice through legal recourse were motivated by a unilateral Israeli decision in 2003 to block the main arterial road linking Kafr Qaddum with Nablus.

A number of ISM representatives had visited the village in the days running up to the planned protest, to discuss with the popular committee the specific problems they were having with the Israeli occupying forces and the possible ways in which the ISM could be of use.

Abdul Ra’ouf Hamsa, a representative of the local council, and his assistant, Saqer Obwed, had explained to the ISM forward party that the main problem confronting the village was the loss of this key road - which up until 2003 had been the principle means of access to Kafr Qadam from Nablus - a journey of only 15 minutes now closer to forty.

The road was initially obstructed (without explanation) by members of a local illegal Israeli settlement at Qadumim, but responsibility for the occupation of the road quickly became a matter requiring the repressive potential of the Israeli armed forces, together with the notoriously brutal (and Arabic speaking) border police force.

For the past eight years the villagers have been utilizing other routes to travel to and from Nablus. As a result, their expenses have increased markedly and their lives have become significantly more difficult. As is usually the case with incidents of this kind, (which are unfortunately all too common) it is the most vulnerable who suffer first and most. The cost of transportation increasing for students studying daily in Nablus, the chances of serious injury or death increasing with a long and circumspect route to Nablus hospital (two Palestinians have died in recent years after failing to reach the hospital in time), the anti social impact of increased journey times between family members and their loved ones, etc.

Hamsa explained to the preliminary ISM delegation that they used to organize demonstrations against the blockade of the road more than six years previously, but were forced to stop when they decided to take the issue to the Israeli high Court.

After awaiting the court decision for many years, just eight months ago the popular committee of Kafr Qadam received a rare ruling in their favor - allowing them legal access to this vital stretch of road. Despite the court's decision in their favor, it simultaneously ruled that the villagers could not use the road until 2012 after claims (made by the Israeli's) that the road was not "suitable" or "safe". (edit: The road remains closed to Palestinians. as of 28/4/13) 

Thus the establishment of a weekly non-violent demonstration was agreed upon and international observers and participants from the ISM were requested. With Israel demonstrating a complete lack of will in granting the villagers their rights, it was decided by the popular committee that peaceful demonstrations were the only viable option left to them.