Let the Party Begin
By Carol Dabdoub
It was 8:45 pm when I heard Israeli soldiers going around town announcing: “Mamnou’ Al Tajawal,” literally “walking around is forbidden”. I have spent the whole day trying to find a baby sitter who would agree to spend the night with three kids (two of which are real devils!), figure out sleeping arrangements for them and rally people to get a break, accepting Johannes’ invitation to a New Year’s Eve party. I was not planning to easily give in to the Israeli Occupying Forces request to stay home and cancel our night out. So we got in the car and off we drove.
Johannes had everything ready: the food, the wine, the music. People were starting to flock in, most of them in a twisted festive mood sharing their experiences on how they have heard about the curfew and how they have decided to show up in spite of the fact. I have not before experienced such high spirits in the midst of curfew enforcement. It was if people had already something to drink before getting to the party! This excitement however did not last long. At around 10:30 pm, most of us packed and left the party since the news was that the soldiers were cracking down on parties, shooting and throwing tear gas at people who are out to celebrate.
I went back home with my husband, his niece and her husband from Haifa who came to Bethlehem with their two kids to spend New Year’s Eve with us. The rest of our Eve was spent discussing politics, eating cheese and smoking as many cigarettes as possible before midnight, as my new year’s resolution was to quit smoking.
Why did the Israeli Occupying Forces attack the parties? Did partiers cause a threat to the security of the state of Israel? Or are we guinea pigs subjected to Israeli experiments on behavior? I personally can not answer the above questions. But I know for a fact that if Israel continues to implement its consistent strategies in humiliating Palestinians in all sorts of ways and forms they will only manage to polarize us further.
We who attended Johannes’ party are more than ever determined to get together again and take a break from reality, in the hope that the high spirits will be carried on with us all through the coming year.