Dear Friends, From Bethlehem, the besieged city, we send you this short message so that you can hear our story, which has been silenced by the international media. Over the past few years, we Palestinians have exerted all efforts possible in the peace negotiations, hoping that they will lead the region to peace and prosperity. Yet, since the Madrid talks and after ten years of negotiations, the situation has not improved for Palestinians, but rather has been deteriorating rapidly. The visit of Sharon to the Al-Aqsa Mosque was the last straw that brought to the surface the frustration and disillusionment of the Palestinian people who for the last ten years were anxiously waiting for peace to bear fruits. The brutal response of Israel to the Palestinians' peaceful demonstrations helped to escalate the situation even further. In the last two weeks, the reaction of Israel to Palestinian demonstrators has taken on new dimensions. On the one hand Israel is not only using live ammunition but also bombing Palestinian city centers with tanks and Apache Helicopters. Yesterday, October 12 th, the bombing escalated when Israel bombarded the main centers of the Palestinian National Authority in Gaza city, Ramallah and Jericho. Moreover, in the last few weeks we are in a situation where not only are we attacked by the Israeli army but also by Jewish Israeli settlers. These settlers are trigger-happy and have been organizing night attacks on unarmed civilians while being protected by the Israeli army. Not only are these settlers attacking us Palestinians in the occupied territories, but they are also attacking the Palestinian Arabs in Israel, who are Israeli citizens.As a result of the attacks by the army and settlers on the Palestinians more than 107 Palestinians are dead and more than 3750 injured. Among those injured, a large number will be permanently handicapped. The tragedy of the situation in which we are is not only due to the use of heavy weapons against us, but to a great extent is also due to the siege under which we are now. For the past two weeks, the Palestinian Autonomous areas, which makes up 3% of the land area of the West Bank is totally closed off. Our freedom of movement is limited to a two-kilometer radius. As a direct result of the siege, we are suffering a shortage of food supplies, and most importantly of medical supplies. In addition, Israel has cut off electricity as well as water supplies in many Palestinian areas, especially in Gaza. Therefore, we are now fighting for both our safety and daily survival. As the International Center of Bethlehem, whose work revolves around the local community, we are mainly worried about the young children, who constitute up to 60% of our population. They are traumatized by the experience and are constantly worried for their safety and that of their parents. Many of them are having nightmares, which has led some organizations to establish hotlines offering counseling for them and their parents. The image of Muhammad, the 12 year-old boy who was killed execution style by the Israeli soldiers, is haunting both Palestinian children and parents, who watched the helplessness of Muhammad's father and his inability to protect his son from Israeli bullets, that killed the son and left the father permanently paralyzed. In the midst of all our sorrow and pain we feel that we are being forgotten by the world community. However, we thank God for all the friends who have been continuously calling us and sending us messages of support. It gives us hope to know that while we are silenced, there are those who are articulating our voice and lifting up our worries in front of God. We would like to take this opportunity to ask you to continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers and to continue your struggle for a just peace for all God's children.
General Director and Staff of the International Center of Bethlehem |