David Rolstone's Letters from Palestine

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Tuesday, 9 December 2003 - News from Nablus

Hi All,

Have just finished my walk around Nablus and visited some of my friends here. Last time that I was here we removed the Iron Gate that was blocking Amman street and threw it down a nearby ravine were I'm glad to say that it is still resting! Shortly after that we removed two huge roadblocks on Jerusalem road, the good news there is that they have not been renewed and that the local administration has resurfaced the road were they had been.

Also the road that I tried to prevent being destroyed last December has been repaired and resurfaced; this was the time that I was hit on the head with a rock while trying to stop the solders shooting at the stone throwing children. A lot of things have been repaired since I was last here but a lot of things have been destroyed and new roadblocks erected. The people are still working hard at rebuilding their society, during my first time here there was no talk of business or the economy only of the destruction and killing. During my second visit the economy was becoming more of a topic of conversation, now it is the main subject. Every one is suffering from the lack of business and the huge unemployment; no one can pay their rent or afford to buy anything but the essentials. My friend who ran and owned a pharmacy has closed up and moved to Jordan to work for some one in Amman, he is lucky that he has a profession that is much sort after. Others are not so fortunate and have great difficulty making ends meet. My friend the barber has redecorated his shop and bought a new chair. He also has a new apron for the customers to wear with Japanese writing on it and graphics showing people having their hair cut and he also now wears a very Japanese looking tunic while working. This is all to enhance his chances of business and to look more desirable to the passing clients. Not sure if it is working but you must admire him for his tenacity.

Last night I heard gun fire for the first time during this visit, I guess it was too much to expect the quiet to continue. There was considerable heavy machine gun fire at around 10:30. It seemed to be some way off and I thought that it was probably coming from Askar, but it turned out to have been in Balata, at the opposite end of the camp from were I was staying.

Apparently many people were arrested including a woman.

That's it for now, thanks for listening, Dave.

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