Ausstellungen > Das vergessene Volk
"You're mad!""You're mad!" - was the first reaction my friends had, when they heard that I had just bought my flight to Amman, from were I was hoping to go to Palestine. Two of my friends and I had decided to travel to Palestine to see for ourselves what was happening. The news which we had seen on TV and read in the newspapers were not encouraging - we were expecting the worst. But let's start at the beginning. The journey to Palestine was an adventure in itself. Because of previous experiences we had decided to take the indirect and longer route via Amman. Two of us had never used the Allenby Bridge, which is a border crossing between Jordan and Israel We took a taxi from the hotel in Amman to the border. Now, as an far travelled but still spoiled European I was expecting to see some signs that would help us to find our way around. But I have to say, if you are ever planning on crossing the border that way, don't just read the Lonely Planet, take somebody with you or try to follow somebody that looks if he/she knows what to do and where to go. After being stripped of our passports for inspection we could only sit down and wait patiently. Our names obviously didn't come up on their „black list" so that we were allowed to step into the bus that was supposed to take us across the bridge. The river Jordan - a mighty river - that has found its place in all history books is in fact such a tiny rivulet that if you are not looking for it you will most certainly miss it. The bus took us across the bridge and stopped in front of one of many yellow metal gates. Then the door opened and we drove into Israel - or should I say - into the occupied Palestinian territory. The exterior of the bus was then checked by Israeli soldiers using mirrors in the 007 fashion. Since nobody was hiding underneath the bus we were allowed to continue our journey. The bus took us to the building where we and our
baggage were inspected. Now, I have to explain that if you have ever
travelled abroad you had to answer some security questions regarding your
baggage. If you want to go to Israel, questions concerning your job, your
family, and your friends become a security issue. So don't be surprised if
they ask you the name of your boy friend, and why he lives in another
country, and how you can have a relationship with him over that
distance!!!! I have to add that Palestinian have to approach the border from a different point, take another bus across the bridge, are questioned at a different place and met us for the first time in this second bus. Sitting in the bus I was under the illusion that we had actually left all control points behind us. But I was wrong. A few minutes after the bus had started his journey to Jericho, we saw our friend on the side of the road waiting for us to pick us up. The bus stopped, I got up, took my bag - and - sat down again. We were not allowed to leave the bus. Not only felt I disappointed - I hadn't seen my friend for months - but also imprisoned by this silly stupid bus. After that I stopped counting the gates that were laying ahead of us before we could say: ’We are in!’. If you ever want to visit the Holy Land, I can only hope you are a person with a lot of patience and no pride. "Do you know what your kids do at this moment?"Take a minute and try to answer these questions: Do you know where your children are and what they do at the moment? Are they in the room next door and watch TV, or do they play with friends outside? When did you ask them the last time, what games they are playing? The last few days in Palestine have shown us that the Palestinian children are the real losers in this conflict. These children are the most effected people - yes, the kids that the world believes are sent into war by their parents. Show me the parents that want to see their children being killed, permanently disabled, injured or suffering from psychological problems. Palestinian parents are no different from you. They love their kids. But you don't have to believe me - read these stories that we were told and form you own opinion: A mother of two told us that her 7-year-old son is only playing war these days. That seems to be his way to deal with his anxieties. His sister - a 4-year-old lovely girl - is behaving differently. She doesn't move from her mums side. She doesn't want to play with her friends anymore and has become rather quiet over the last few months. But both have the same in common: they can't sleep on their own anymore. Most nights they come into their parents bed so that they can find a few hours of rest. When the Israeli army was bombing Ramallah one night, a family had to leave their home because it wasn't safe anymore. They took a few cloths and their baby boy and went to stay with some friends. When they got there the mother wanted to feed her boy only to realise that they had forgotten the milk bottle. He, not understanding the situation, demanded as spoiled kids do, his bottle. What were the parents to do. The father and his friend decided to risk going back to their flat to get the milk bottle. They were doing this while the bombs were still falling on Ramallah, which meant they were driving, stopping, switching on and off their car's light, trying not to be detected. These people have never been trained in combat, but they some how managed to get uninjured to the flat and back. When they finally returned with the milk bottle, one of them could only say that that could have been the most expensive bottle in the whole world. And then there were the kids in the kindergarten in the refugee camp we visited. The girls and boys were drawing and it was a joy to observe them - until we realised what they were drawing: an Israeli soldier with a gun, a Palestinian boy with a stone in his hand and similar topics. These are pictures from the nightmares the kids have every night. Children are our future and all kids have the same rights: to grow up in peace and freedom and with a smile on their face - the Palestinian children too... "A rather unusual Xmas present"What did you get for Xmas last year? I had the usual gifts like too much chocolate. The people in Bet Jala had rather unusual presents. They had grenades, shells, bullets and other ammunition for Xmas. Now, somebody could say that everybody gets what they deserve, but tell me, what unforgivable crime must the people have committed to be punished this way? On our journeys through Palestine we saw again and again evidence of the destructive force of the Israeli army and the settlers. During our visit of Bet Jala we saw a couple of houses that were nearly completely destroyed by the bombardment of their city. One of the two houses was still under construction when the army, which is protecting the opposite situated settlement of Har Gilo, decided that the danger that was coming from this building site was uncontrollable and needed to be eliminated. One can only image what the owner must have felt when he saw the leftovers of his house. I ask you what were his „crimes"? Well, apart from the fact that he had the cheekiness to build his house in 1-2 km distance of the settlement I could see no other crime. Or the 72-year-old lady, what had she done? She showed us her and her families house, which was covered in holes from bullets. The house looked more like a Swiss cheese than like a house. There very uncountable holes in the walls and the ceiling, the windows were broken, tiles in the kitchen and bathroom damaged, the water tanks on the roof looked more like a sieve and the sun reflectors were unusable. In a moment of despair she had collected all the ammunition that she had found in her house and it filled two boxes. In order for them to feel safe they protected the windows in the kitchen and in the bedroom with sand bags. In our discussion she told us that she had never been so afraid in all her life - and she had seen and lived through a lot. Their neighbour was already a celebrity, or shall I better say his destroyed staircase was. Only was he quite surprised to see that on a German news program his house was located in Har Gilo and not Bet Jala, where he had believed it was. Now this is „press freedom". When he showed us the remains of the grenade that had hit the staircase it seemed to be a miracle that he hadn’t been injured in the attack. Another example of this treatment we saw in Alkhader where we visited the Flower Hope School. This school teaches 4 to 11 year old girls. I wonder what they did to annoy the opposite situated settlement and military post that the school was twice under attack. After the first time the headmaster went over to speak to the settlers and to tell them that there were only young girls in the school. But either didn't they believe him or they were frightened of these girls that they had to attack them a second time. One can imagine what an everlasting effect these events have on the girls. The main destruction we found in the windows and the walls of their guesthouse on the second floor. Just as an interesting point: in this guesthouse German exchange students lived just a few months ago. I wonder what the German government would have said if a German student had been injured. And furthermore, when the school is under attack the teachers have to send the kids home, because they don't have a shelter in the school. That means little girls are walking around when the army is firing with life ammunition. Not a pleasant thought for any parent. In Nablus in one of the refugee camps we visited a man that was supposed to get married. Everything was prepared: the money saved, the house build, the rooms decorated - when in a flush of a second everything had gone. A grenade had hit the house and burned everything down to the ground - including the bedroom furniture that had not even been paid for. One must ask what this man had done to deserve this, or was it just the fact that he had built his house at the wrong place, but then it seems there is no right place in the West Bank for the Palestinians. We all know that we have to treat the people around us the way we want to be treated. That is nothing new. We also know that the second intifada was started by stone throwing Palestinians. But is it excusable to answer with grenades, shells and bullets? If someone would say to me: ‘Make a wish!’, I would ask for a more peaceful Xmas this year combined with freedom and equality. "When you see your life flashing in front of your eyes"I am not a brave person. I am rather afraid of everything and everybody. So that, when I went to a demonstration in Ramallah today I had that huge shadow of mine following me around at all times. It's Friday - Sunday for the Muslims - in Ramallah. The atmosphere is heated and tense. Rumour had it that there would be yet another demonstration after the Friday service. So, since I didn't have anything better to do than to endanger my life, I decided to join the demonstration. It all began in town. Young people from various parties and groups found their way into town. It was an ocean of flags and banners. When the mass of people started their way through town, I could feel and hear what their main purpose was - not that I speak a word of Arabic, but that wasn't necessary. The energy between these people was overwhelming and was telling their own story. They want their freedom, they want equality, they want East Jerusalem as their capitol, they want their state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but most of all they look for peace, even if that means through confrontation, fighting, war, and possibly death of many people. After having walked through the city the demonstrators went to the cemetery where a martyr funeral was taking place. I personally have never attended such an event, so that I didn't quite know what to expect. It was not just a sad moment but it was also used to motivate the people with speeches - unusual for a cemetery I thought. One should not forget that the society views these martyrs as heros which makes it difficult for the families to grief and put them under additional stress. One could feel a different atmosphere after the
cemetery. We went back to the city and made our way down to the „City
Inn Hotel", which, if you are an insider you know, is the focal point
for all clashed in Ramallah. The hotel is situated at an important
strategic point in the town and was therefore straight from the beginning
the place where Israeli army met Palestinian youth. My friends, that had bravely followed me around all day, stood in the background and I wanted to test how fast my adrenaline could be produced by my body – and it was flowing. I have to say, the situation was just as you can see it on the TV: 4 Israeli army cars were fighting off about 200-300 Palestinian youth. On the Israeli side you had bulletproof vests, guns, and tear gas, and on the Palestinian side you had stones, stones, and some more stones. Is that fair I have to ask? There were very young kids throwing stones in the direction of the Israeli, who were not even strong enough to get them half way down that road. There were three burned out cars that were used by the young people to protect themselves from the tear gas and the rubber bullets. There were women collecting stones for the boys and giving out tissue paper that was soaked in perfume to protect the boys from the effect of the tear gas. Have you ever seen a tear gas bomb exploding near you and everybody running your way? Well, I can tell you that is an experience. Have you ever seen a rubber bullet - which is in fact a steal bullet covered in some rubber - which doesn't make it less effective, flowing towards you? I have, today I say a bullet coming my way and I now know that my reaction time is pretty good. This war is unfair and I have never seen that clearer than today. It is a fight of frustrated, angry, disappointed kids under occupation against an enemy that is much stronger, has much more experience and is willing to kill – even children - without a second thought. I wonder how many people got injured today - may be 30 maybe 40, and was somebody killed - I don't know. All I know is that it was an uneven fight that could not be won by the Palestinians. "The Wild Wild West"When I had finally arrived in Palestine I was under the illusion that I could move freely between cities and villages in the West Bank. Soon I should realise how wrong I was. In the 8 days that I have been travelling through Palestine I have never come across so many checkpoints in all my life - and I have been around. Alone on the way between Jerusalem and Ramallah - which takes 30 minutes on a good day and up to several hours on a bad day - you have to pass three checkpoints each way: two of which are Israeli and one Palestinian. Depending on whose shift it is on the Israeli checkpoints the traffic is rolling or not. These checkpoints are on all main arteries in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, dividing the occupied territories into very small pieces, and succeeding thereby in following Israel's isolation policy. This policy aims at separating families and friends, hurting local businesses and bringing the whole infrastructure to a standstill...if there weren't the Palestinian taxi driver. If you dream of having an old fashion adventurous job like the cowboys in the Wild Wild West, you have to become a taxi driver in Palestine. These people are amazing. If the main streets are closed, they find side roads, if they are closed, they take smaller side roads, if they are closed, they find dirt tracks, and if they are closed they just drive through somebodies backyard or over somebodies field. Everything is allowed in this „Tom and Jerry game" between Israeli army and the Palestinian people. So, you could now wonder where the problem is. Why do the people complain? Well, not only is it a time consuming adventure to get from A to B, because you just never know when you'll arrive, and it's also expensive. Since many people commute to work every day, it became very quickly too expensive, so that a good percentage turns their work place also intro their home, trying to save a bit of money. Many stories are told about people being attacked by settlers on their way to work or back. So that a lot of them are now using a cap rather than facing confrontations on their own. That you are not 100% safe in a taxi a friend experienced in Hebron. He was in a taxi with 3 other people passing a bus stop when the car was attacked by several stone throwing Jewish settlers smashing all windows. The driver managed with a lot of luck to bring the car to a stop without hitting anything. And people think only Palestinians know the art of throwing stones! Another „amusing" story happened when I took the taxi from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. Since I was naive, I expected to be on time for my appointment - only I hadn't planned on being kicked out of the cap outside Bethlehem and having to walk along the street just because the guys from the Israeli checkpoint had decided to spoil my day by blocking the street off. Well, I know a bit of exercise is good for me - but I rather decide when and where! On the way back I had it better, I could stay in the taxi, which took a „road" that was used previously by sheep - at least that was how it felt for my backside. If that wasn't bad enough, on the way to Nablus I nearly made it on a normal road until an oncoming taxi driver signalled to change streets. Why - I don't know, but usually these systems of communication between the taxi drivers are very effective and fool proof. So we changed direction and went around Nablus on a road that allowed us to enjoy the countryside a bit longer. Thank's! By the way, if you pass a checkpoint and see 15-40 year old male Palestinians standing around looking bored, don't wonder, that is just another way of humiliating the Palestinian people. During their routine checks of the passing cars the soldiers decide who will and who won't pass their checkpoints. This is not done by any logical system but rather by their mood, the weather or your face. A friend of mine - who has by the way a European passport - didn't have the face of the day and was therefore asked to leave the taxi. His passport was taken away and he was left standing in the pouring rain. I guess it helped that he had a foreign passport so that he was allowed - no, not to pass - but to go back to where he came from after 30 minutes. Other people that he had met while he was waiting were not so lucky and had already been standing there for 2 hours. For tourists all this might just add to the adventure Palestine, but for the people living there it is a nightmare. They have to cope with daily humiliation, being stripped of their basic human rights, not to speak about loss of income, money, time and added physical and psychological stress. Why does the world keep silent in view of these obvious human right violations? Is it allowed to treat people like that just because they life in Palestine. I wouldn't have thought so. "Where hell becomes part of the daily life"Hebron is one of those cities that if visited ones becomes part of your soul. I don't really know why. It's not a particularly beautiful city, I've seen more lively markets, the countryside has nothing special to offer and the people are rather strange - but still - after I had been to Hebron in 1997 for the first time, I wanted to go back. My first encounter with this unusual city was marked by the presence of two military jeeps - one in front and one at the back of our bus. That is a feeling that a tourist can do without, but that's Hebron! In comparison to other cities in the West Bank Hebron it’s split into different sections like H1, H2, etc. There are about 120 000 Palestinians and 400 Jewish settlers living in the city. The Jewish settlement is not as in other Palestinian cities on the outskirts but directly in the city centre. That leads to bizarre topographical structures, for example, a Palestinian family can use the ground floor of a house and an Israeli family can live on the first floor. But these are just the facts let's talk about the feelings: When I visited Hebron in 2000 - this time equipped with my camera - I felt rather watched. There were probably more Israeli soldiers than Israeli settlers in and around the settlement and they were watching me like a hawk. I pointed my camera at something or somebody and their eyes were following me - maybe they just admired my artistic capabilities or was it the fact that two Palestinians accompanied me? I desperately tried to take revealing pictures - unsuccessfully - I was under constant supervision. It even came to the point that an Israeli soldier felt so intrigued by me and my work that he had to take a closer look at me and since he was obviously shortsighted he just used his gun to keep a close eye on me. Now, that was a feeling having a gun pointed at me. Luckily he didn't have a nervous finger. This time everything was different. The streets were painfully empty. The normally so noisy market was silent. People - if they were talking at all - were just whispering. The whole atmosphere was tense and the air could be cut with a knife. While I was walking very slowly through the deserted streets I was counting more soldiers than stones - and we all know there are plenty of in Palestine. I should have felt worried but I didn't. I developed a theory that allowed me to take all the pictures I hadn't dared to take before: I just looked my opponent in the eyes - assuming that that would stop him from getting on my nerves, and to much of my surprise, it worked. But one thing became very obvious to me in Hebron - the occupation of Palestine through Israel. There I was standing in the centre of a square looking up a side street. In the middle was a military checkpoint - a cylindrically shaped shelter for the soldier and he himself was patrolling grimly faced up and down. His equipment didn't leave any doubt in my mind that he meant business: bulletproof vest, helmet and gun. On his requests people had to show him their ID. At that moment I felt the occupation. If he felt watched by me or if he had just had enough humiliating people, I don't want to speculate, but while I was standing at his checkpoint - taking pictures and even changing my film - he didn't bother anybody. If you see guns pointing at civilians, if you see soldiers marching down the streets - being frightened themselves - one has to wonder if Israel really believes that it has the right to occupy this country. The occupation is being felt by the Palestinians every day and can be seen by the willing visitor. When does the world open its eyes to this injustice I wonder? |