Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/594552
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 2015 10 ON a daily basis Palestinians suf- fer vexatious indignities that go largely unnoticed by the rest of the world. What makes it to the news is the consequence of such humili- ations – desperate and brutal acts of violence which are countered by greater force by Israel's security forces. Critics of Israel's illegal occupa- tion of Palestinian land often call for a campaign of boycotts, divest- ment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with inter- national law and upholds Palestin- ian rights. Others take a more direct ap- proach. Alex Caruana is one of two Maltese activists who are cur- rently in what some still refer to as the Holy Land, carrying voluntary work in Palestinian refugee camps and in the occupied territories. Together with fellow Moviment Graffitti activist Ruth Chircop, Caruana is experiencing the daily toils and woes of Palestinians. Her first reaction upon reaching the occupied West Bank is one of rage. "I felt sorry and angry. Sorry for the Palestinians who are victims of the Zionist project of displace- ment and colonisation, and angry because of the international com- munity's inaction in face of this in- justice," she says of her short visit to Hebron. The city, situated 30km south of Jerusalem, is the place where you can most tangibly feel the occupa- tion, Caruana says. "I went there with an Italian friend who lives in Palestine, her co-worker and a friend of mine. They were going to Hebron to visit a family because the week before, the father of the family, who was also a friend of theirs, had died." She explains that the man suf- fered from heart problems and died after inhaling tear gas fired by the Israeli security forces. "The soldiers blocked the en- trance to the ambulance, so he had to walk for some time to reach the ambulance at the checkpoint and he didn't make it to hospital in time. These are common stories here," she says with a hint of res- ignation. "When my Italian friend's co- worker found out that I was going to Hebron with them, she asked me whether I was really going, due to the very bad situation. Just the day before, the soldiers had killed a young woman during the clashes. I felt unease. I didn't know what to expect," Caruana adds. The 26-year-old activist recounts that as soon as she arrived in the old city of Hebron, "I could feel the tension in the air. We started walking through an empty market – a market with no people." Opposite the empty and silent market stands an Israeli settle- ment, the only settlement in the West Bank that is located in the middle of a Palestinian city. "We continued to walk down until we stopped at a shop and my nose began to burn. There was tear gas in the air. It was a strange feeling walking down an old Arab city, with your nose burning and a fence above you." A shopkeeper stopped Carua- na and her companions begging them to buy something because he hadn't sold anything in three days. Palestinians do not dare to ven- ture outside their homes and the clashes are keeping the tourists away. "He explained to us that Pales- tinians had put up a fence because the Israeli settlers threw stones at them. In fact, I could see the stones on the fence. On the right, he pointed out to us a soldier in his tower, ready to shoot, and the same thing was on the left," she says. Palestinians deprived of water Caruana is planning to stay in the occupied territories for a month, the duration of the Visa she got from Israeli authorities. However, in her first two weeks, Caruana has already visited numerous towns and camps, including the Jordan Valley, which she describes as "very shocking." At first sight the desert was bare but the guide told her that after the rainy season, the valley is full of trees and life. But life for Pal- estinian Bedouins who live in the valley is anything but easy, with their main cause of concern being water. There, she encountered two con- trasting realities on the very same road. "On the right side, I could see a (Israeli) settlement and their agri- cultural land, full of tall, big trees of dates and on the left, dry land with Bedouins on it." The Israeli settlers have their own modern water pumps while the Palestinians are prohibited from pumping underground water for their own land. Palestinians need to apply for a permit to dig a well and if they manage to get one, they cannot dig a well as deep as the Israelis. With their wells being shallow, the Bedouins and farmers find it dif- ficult to pump enough water for their crops and land. As a result, "the Israelis, whose presence there is already illegal under international law, are steal- ing all the water that Palestinians used to have access to," Caruana says. "One evening, I joined the Jordan Valley Solidarity Movement, which is made up of international citizens and Palestinians. Their leader told us that they had devised a machine that creates bricks. The Israeli military demolishes Palestinian houses and destroys them to the point that the materials can never be used again. With the help of this machine, they manage to build a house in 24 hours," she said. She later visited a Bedouin fam- ily living in the middle of nowhere. "After serving us tea and coffee, the father of the family explained to us that their tent-cum-house had been destroyed twice but they always built it again. What struck me most was their spirit. A spirit of resistance. They are militarily occupied by the same people who took their land, they are facing at- tacks every day, and yet, they re- sist." The Bedouins believe, Caruana News WIN a copy of the newly launched book To win a copy of this unique book tick the right answers: Tick all the Maltese products: ❒ Lacto ❒ Ilma żahar ❒ Red Leaf ❒ Għażżiel ❒ Hopleaf Send your answers by 10 November to: MediaToday, WIN A BOOK FROM BDL, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann The winners of the last competition, and who won the book, 'Wild flowers of the Maltese Islands' are Ms R Brincat from Rabat and Mr Emanuel Muscat from Mosta. The correct answers were: Maltese Fleabane, Sulla and the Giant Fennel By Charles B. Spiteri, published by BDL Drawwiet u Tifkiriet All walls will fall Maltese activist Alex Caruana is volunteering in the occupied territories to help Palestinians resist what she dubs the apartheid regime. She speaks to JURGEN BALZAN about her fears and her hopes for the oft-forgotten people A Palestinian Bedouin riding a donkey in the arid Jordan Valley Alex Caruana (centre) with two Palestinian kids she met during the olive picking PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALEX CARUANA