Dear all:
This is the 7th day of the siege of the inhabitants of Ramallah-El Bireh, and the grip is now complete on most cities of the West Bank. We are not victimized by this aggression and oppression: Despite all the traumas, people’s spirits are high, people are steadfast and resist with all the means at their disposal: The banal, the heroic, and the tragic. This resistance and steadfastness takes the form of people organizing study groups and play groups for children and teenagers in their apartment buildings, it takes the form of people baking bread and cooking manaeesh & distributing them to their neighbors in need, it takes the form of people stocking rain water and distributing it to their neighbors in need, it takes the form of the resistance to the invasion of Nablus & Bethlehem, and it also takes the form of the man who buried his relative in the front yard of his house in Nablus this morning, so as not to let him be victimized in death by the Israeli refusal to bury him.
We thank the hundreds of people all over the world who are supporting us in our own work of resistance to death and fear, in raising our voice and getting our testimony out; spontaneously, tirelessly and systematically. We also thank those who try to get our word out of the comfortable confines of pro-justice & pro-peace circles to the real world of mainstream media, congressmen, prime ministers and decision makers, through their emailing, translations, demonstrations, and publications. Please continue your work as this struggle is long, and is for our common humanity.
This Email features new short testimonies by children from the Ramallah area, a testimony from the Bethlehem [cultural] Peace Center, and a few short news.
The new testimonies by children were gathered in Arabic by Ms. Manal Issa, the Sakakini Admin. & Finance Coordinator, & may be found in Arabic tomorrow at the websites mentioned above, thanks to our webmaster, Ala Alaeddine.
Tuesday April 2nd, 2002.
Alayyan Zayed, 9: I went with my father to the store. We found an Israeli jeep. I got scared, and we ran away.
Sara Atrash, 6: I want to buy a lollipop and some chips.
Rana Burqan, 9: I ask for the world’s help. I want to be liberated. I cannot go to my grandmother’s in Jerusalem.
Ahmed Atrash, 8: I am bored, because everything is prohibited. Prohibited to play in the neighborhood, prohibited from going to the park.
Lama Zayed, 11: Because of the situation I did not have a birthday party. Because the Israelis invaded Ramallah and my birthday was on Thursday. I am very sad because I did not celebrate my birthday.
Umayma, mother of three: I am sad for my children, because I had a happy and joyous childhood. I am not able to provide a happy & joyous atmosphere to them. War, shelling, tanks, rockets, are words they use frequently. I wished they didn’t as they are killing their childhood and innocence, & children look at the future with fear instead of hope and love. A generation grows up thinking of war and killings and death. I hoped of raising a creative, inventive and intellectual generation, a generation with a bright future. This is the first war I witness in my life and I am very tense and worrisome. I hope it ends, I hope to see flowers and trees and greenery and smiles on the faces of my children, and hope. Wednesday April 3rd:
Haneen, 9: Whenever I hear the shelling I feel afraid and hug my mother and father because I feel very afraid, as we live in darkness due to the cut in the electricity and water.
Khadija, 8: I feel afraid when I see Israel soldiers walking by my house, & sometimes I get sick and hide in my mother’s lap. InchAllah we liberate Palestine, and Jerusalem is ours.
Mohammed, 12: I feel terrorized, scared and sad when they shell, and I cry from the attacks on homes, and I pray to God that He removes the occupation from us, and I seek refuge with my mother and father form bullets and bombs.
Shorouq, 14: At the time of the shelling, we feel fear & terror and pain that no child in the world feels. And we find nothing that protects us from this unjust aggression at all time and place.
[A friend writes these lines from Bethlehem, about daily life & unreported issues there. Names are withheld to protect sources.]
X. lives in Bethlehem near [..] and has been the scene of the heaviest fighting in Bethlehem. He and his family have been holed up in one room since the invasion of Bethlehem began. X reports that from that day he has been living without electricity and his water supplies could run out at any moment. The main water line near the house was ruptured during the fighting and water is gushing through the streets. The residents only have the water left in their personal water tanks that usually last 2-3 days, depending on the use. He still has enough food and gas because he stocked up a little before the trouble began. There is heavy machine gun fire and all types of explosion very close to his house and they don't dare go close to a window or the door. Since they don't have power they don't listen to radio or watch TV and don't exactly know what's going on outside. They rely on information that is given to them over the phone.
According to reports by neighbors, troops were seen on the outside balcony of the Bethlehem [cultural] Peace Center. The ramp leads to a door that goes to the auditorium. The neighbor then reported a loud explosion. It is now confirmed that the Isrealis blasted the door off the balcony and had entry to the Peace Center. It is not clear, however, if they actually entered. It would be assumed that they did or they wouldn't have blasted the door.
As you know, the Bethlehem Peace Center is on the site of the old Israeli Civil Administration and is very strategically situated. Its position right on Manger Square and its high vantage point from the roof gives optimum position for eventual snipers, etc... The Peace Center was entered either to turn it into a military base or just for vandalism.
We fear for the exhibits and the contents of the Bethlehem Peace Center. Obviously, there are the offices downstairs with valuable equipment and a library, but there were also three exhibits ongoing in the galleries upstairs: The Crèche exhibit, an exhibit on Palestinian Cultural Heritage and another exhibit that was in preparation, photographs by Saudi photographer Reem al-Faisal, [a collection sent & donated by the artist to the Sakakini Centre].
The Bethlehem Peace Center was a gift of Sweden to the Bethlehem Municipality. It appears that the Swedish Ambassador in Tel Aviv tried to meet with Ariel Sharon to protest the incursion into the Peace Center. [The director of the Peace Center, Mr. Michel Nasser may be reached at: 972 or 970- 274 38 75.]
Another acquaintance living in Beit Jala in relative safety has told me about other incidents on Star Street, which is also in the old part of Bethlehem. Star Street was renovated at high cost for the Millennium celebrations with grants from Spain. It is reported that tanks blasted every single door on that street to gain entry to the homes.
In other news from Ramallah, Israeli troops for the 3rd day in a row prevented a convoy of UNRWA, UNICEF & UNDP cars with food supplies form entering Ramallah to provide food to a local women’s dorm, a handicapped rehabilitation center, and a rehabilitation home for juvenile delinquents.
Arrests and home incursions continue. Israeli troops entered the ministry of education offices yesterday, trashed it, & destroyed documents and furniture and are now using it as base of operations. They also entered today the Red Crescent-maternity, pediatric & emergency- hospital, searched every ward, arrested four male medical personnel, & stole some belongings.
Adila Laidi, KSCC Director.

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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.