David Rolstone's Letters from Palestine

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Friday, 2 January 2004 - Return to Nablus

Hi all,

Yesterday (Thursday) I travelled back to Nablus with 4 new activists. The journey from Ramallah to Huwwara was fairly uneventful but from then on it deteriorated. Huwwara check point is still closed to internationals so we did not try to enter but took a service taxi that was going to take us to Tell. After waiting some time for other Palestinian passengers we finally set off. As we arrived at Burine a bulldozer also arrived with an accompanying jeep and started to construct a new road block on the road we wanted to pass along. There was some debate amongst the Palestinians as to where we should now go and it was eventually decided to go around Huwwara and take a new road to Madam. Gerry and myself were asked to sit in the front seat so if we came across soldiers they would see internationals and not fire on us, we learnt later that this was a dangerous road and that taxi drivers had been shot on it before.

Unfortunately we ran in to soldiers with two jeeps, who were very aggressive. As we came round a corner going quite fast the soldiers appeared and aimed their guns at us, not the best feeling as we did not seem to be slowing down as quickly as I would have hoped!

The soldiers were very aggressive with the driver and questioned us at some length but we had a good story and were all singing from the same song book. Even the Palestinians said that they knew the fictitious Doctor we were going to see!

The soldiers then said that we were all in big trouble and that we had to follow them together with two other cars that they had stopped. Previously our taxi had caught fire when some wires had shorted out, now the battery was flat and it would not start! Eventually the driver managed to bump start it and we drove off in convoy. The Palestinians thought that we were being taken to Huwwara military base but eventually we turned off on to a small road and some small military encampment. Our taxi failed to get up one hill so Gerry, the Palestinians and myself walked up the hill to explain to the soldiers that the taxi had no first gear and could go no further. After a lot of confusion the soldiers said that the internationals and Palestinians could go but the driver had to stay. I could see Iraq Burin in the distance where Jenny and I had walked in to Nablus two years ago, so we set off walking. We had about 3 miles to walk and eventually reached Nablus by mid afternoon. Nablus was under curfew but we managed to find a taxi and get to Balata without further incident.

Today (Friday) Balata was free of the army and working as usual, but Nablus old city was still under curfew. The new group and I walked in to Nablus and through part of the old city that we had been told was free of soldiers and went to the Yasmin Hotel. There we met up with the other internationals and divided up in to teams. Gerry, one other international and myself worked with the UPMRC volunteers who wanted to take food and medicine to people in the area of the old city that was cut off by the soldiers. The first time we tried was not successful as we had not formed any plan before approaching the soldiers.

For the next time we talked through what we wanted to do and I went forward on my own and managed to get close enough to speak with them. After some negotiation I managed to persuade them to allow the UPMRC volunteer to come forward and talk to the people in the house. One woman was then allowed to come out of the house and take the medicine that we had brought. Our first success! The next thing we tried with another lot of soldiers was not so successful. A family in a house near one that had been blown up wanted to leave as they were afraid that their house might fall down on them from all the damage. Again we talked through what we wanted to do and this time it was decided that two of us would go forward and negotiate so Marie an Italian woman and myself went forward. Unfortunately just then a large group of internationals and UPMRC volunteers arrived in the passageway behind us and were all talking so loud that I could not hear what the soldiers were saying to us. Also the soldiers could not hear what we were saying, and were agitated by all the noise. One soldier leveled his gun at us and fired a single live round in our direction hitting the wall just in front of us. Marie who had turned to walk away when he fired was hit in the back by shrapnel. She reacted very calmly and we both walked away. The injury was not very serious though it had torn her clothing and cut her across the spine. My third go at negotiation was again successful working with a French lady whose name I don't remember. We managed to get food into an occupied house. The soldier at that house was particularly obnoxious and said to the French woman 'don't come in here or I'll fuck you'.

Yesterday and today a lot of people were injured and one person killed. Some of the old city has been destroyed, there was one very large explosion shortly after we started to work from the heart of the old city, these are historic buildings going back many hundreds of years that they are willfully destroying. Also the large road block that we removed in January has now been rebuilt cutting the city in two once more. So much damage, so much violence, all I can wish you is bright moments, Dave

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