Day 1

The bad news is that I was detained today for nearly eight hours at the border with Jordan. I was interrogated by two different border security officials and in the end given an entry visa. I held to a rather plausible story throughout the interrogations about meeting two friends from Scandinavia (Stefan and Magnus) in Tel Aviv tomorrow, and I assured them I had no intention of going into Palestinian areas. I mean really, those areas are so dangerous anyway!

At one point I counted seven border police going through my things at the same time. Needless to say, it gives me a small glimpse of what life is like for Palestinians under Israeli occupation. It also makes me think there must be some pretty nasty things going on here that they don't want human rights workers like myself to get their eyes on.  One of the security officials was pretty clear:  "Look Thomas. We know exactly why you are here. If you cause any harm to Israel, that will be it".

Day 3

We arrived this morning in the stunning village of Azzoun, a couple of hours from Jerusalem, to find the Israeli army firing sound bombs and provoking schoolchildren. Last night the soldiers had occupied the room above ours and set it up as a sniper post across from the town square.

Mohamed, one of the local boys, tossed a rock at a heavily armoured Israeli army jeep and was shot in the leg with live ammunition from close range. The soldiers then drove up to Mohamed while he was screaming, unarmed, already injured, and shot him again. He still tried to crawl away but had lost the use of his leg. Another boy, Othman, was shot about five minutes later, one bullet in each leg, and they are both in Nablus hospital as I write. Unfortunately Mohamed may lose a leg. One of the local co-ordinators said that the Israeli army commander told him this morning that “Yesterday we shoot in the legs, today we shoot to kill."

Day 8

George W Bush left here yesterday. I was happy to be away from Ramallah. I heard reports that there was a ridiculous amount of security for the Bush visit, including 250 snipers on roof-tops in Ramallah. I said to people here, “You would think that with 250 snipers, someone would have shot him.”

He was basically asking the Palestinians to accept their prison, but with really nice, new, expensive curtains. People in Azzoun compare Bush to a donkey, but donkeys likely cringe at the comparison. Bush brought his own chef on his Middle East tour, while so many Palestinians are faced with bullets, walls, and electric fences as they try to reach their own crops and olive groves.

Day14

A few minutes down the road in Azzoun is a huge playground funded by US AID and built by the YMCA. The playground used to include two swimming pools as well. The Israeli army demolished the swimming pools and have scheduled the demolition of the rest of the park for March 15th. The playground is now too close to an illegal settlement, so it needs to go. Is the playground expanding or is it the illegal settlement? I find it odd that the same US government that funds the Israeli military occupation (with billions of dollars a year) also funds both the playground and it's demise.

Some good news under the circumstances: the doctors say today that they can likely save Mohamed's leg, but he will need some reconstruction because the knee was shot to bits. Since the shootings were captured on video, there could be an army investigation. Maybe, just maybe, there will be yet another Israeli military officer who cannot travel abroad because of war crimes charges waiting for him as he steps off a plane in London or Paris. But not likely in Canada. 

Day 19

Here is a typical discussion I had the other day with a soldier at a gate near the village of Isla, where they are not allowing Palestinians access to their lands:   Me: This gate or wall is on Palestinian land. Why will you not open it? Soldier: We will open it. Just wait. Me: Who travels this road? Illegal settlers or army? Soldier: Not the settlers, just the army. Me: Oh, so the illegal settlers have their own illegal roads? Soldier: Yes, that's right. No wait, I think I may have said that wrong. Me: No, I think you said it perfectly.   At one of the gates in the wall, we watched as Israeli soldiers checked men, women, children, and their donkeys before they let them pass onto their own land. The poor donkeys. First they are compared to George W, then hassled by soldiers on their own land!

Day23

At around 3 PM, one army jeep and one Humvee, with six to eight soldiers inside, entered the village. Sound bombs and smoke bombs were thrown at the entrances to two buildings. After circling the village several times, the army occupied an apartment in central Azzoun which they had invaded two nights previously. The residents, husband, wife and elderly mother, entered their home with Ana and I to find three heavily armed soldiers using the bedroom as a sniper post. The bedroom overlooked the town centre where young children were congregating. The soldiers detained the family and us in one room for approximately an hour while the commander remained at the bedroom window in sniper position.

The scarier part for me was two hours later, after dark. The Israeli army returned to the village shooting live ammunition at rooftops, cars, etc. Luckily the village had made sure most everyone was getting out of the way. We approached the soldiers "demanding" they leave the area, but they then aimed at Ana and I. At one point I saw the red laser on my stomach. It was a crazy night for us, but more so for the Palestinians. It reminds me of the privilege we have here: our passports, light-skin and the political space that allows us to get out of these situations.

Day27

I heard last week about an odd Israeli tour experience, so I went to the Jerusalem tourist office this afternoon to see if it was true. It's called "Learn to Shoot," and it's "an attractive, compelling program that the entire family can enjoy. An action-packed two-hour session." The premise is training the family to shoot and "defend their towns against acts of terrorism. Receive professional M16 and 9mm handgun training.” Their e-mail address is, believe it or not, moraltours@gmail.com. I think the sickest part of this is that they brand themselves as non-profit and apolitical. Luckily the woman in the tourism office was looking the other way, so I scooped up all the brochures and tossed them in the trash outside. I saved one of course.

We have had a few nights where the temperature has dropped below zero. I have many times been standing with Palestinians around their fires outside their homes, chatting, sharing Arabic coffee, tea, sweets, stories, jokes and meaningful handshakes. The old sweater I brought smells like these fires, so I may be a bit like Linus from Charlie Brown when I return to Vancouver. Clash of civilizations this is not. Defence from terrorism this is not. Jews versus Arabs this is not. To quote the singer David Rovics: “The word you need to know is ‘occupation.’”

Thomas Feakins is a local social worker and member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Contact him at robin_the_brave@hotmail.com