Thursday June 27 2002 Balata Refugee Camp by the Titi Family

The D9 Caterpiller bulldozer, tank, and APC were parked just beyond the south end of the camp this early morning about 2:30 AM, but the D9 Cat seemed to be doing some dozing, so the first thing this morning I went out to see what had been done. Not much, a bit of scraping to prevent auto traffic from easy access. I took a tour around the camp so see what new damage the debabe Yahoudi (tanks) had done. The usual almost petty things, that are not serious unless it your front walk destroyed or your canopy torn down. It was on this walk that I was told of a death in the camp this morning. It wasn’t clear to me just where the death had occurred nor the circumstances. Later I asked Omar to show me the spot.

While the dozer was working at the south end across an open field where a few animals are kept and a few vegetables raised, a curious 17-year old had stepped out into the street—not the main street, but one of two side streets running parallel to the main street. It was dark so maybe he thought the tank would not see him. I suspect the Israeli Army has night vision scopes and precision sniper rifles. The first shot severed his head and blew it up onto a ledge on the wall above him. The body was then drilled with additional bullets. There was still blood on the pavement when Omar and I got there. I had been curious also and had wanted to look over the edge of the balcony to try to see what they were up to. Good thing I didn’t lean to far, or I could have been a victim.

Just down the street from where the youth had been killed a few hours earlier there was a bunch of kids playing basketball, or what they considered to be basketball. They were using a soccer ball and had painted a rectangle on the wall of a building. If a kid shot the ball and hit the rectangle it was a score. I asked Alaa if there was a real basketball hoop and real basketballs in the camp. Not as far as he knew. I decided then to give Alaa some of the money that my good Christian friends in Athabasca had sent with me. I asked him to use the money to get a hoop and ball someplace in the camp. I have confidence that he will get it done.

Back at the house the talk was of a funeral procession through the camp and subsequent visits to the parents of the boy who was killed. Usually the body would be taken to the mosque and then carried by friends and relatives on a sort of bier to the cemetery. As we walked toward the mosque there was a stream of people coming toward us. There would be no funeral today. Israel would not release the body, for whatever reason. Neta told me earlier that Israel keeps the bodies of suicide bombers, if there is anything left, and puts them into refrigeration for a period of years to punish the family of the perpetrator. I don’t want to believe this, but Neta should know. But this young man was not a suicide bomber, more like a murder victim. I heard later that Israel did release the body for burial a few days later.

Liz and Arthur Muller (brother and sister) from New York, whom I had met in Arafat’s compound in Ramallah, arrived from the UPMRC (United Palestine Medical Relief Centre) in Nablus with the news that a demonstration against curfew will be tomorrow, Friday, morning. They walked over and reported it takes about 15 minutes. The plan is to meet at 0930 here at the Titi residence and walk over in a group. The Mullers plan to hire a taxi back to Jerusalem after the demonstration and I might share the fare with them.

Later in the day, Omar took me to the Internet Café but also showed me the site of another demolished house . On January 1 of this year, the Israeli Army appeared with dynamite to blow up two houses separated by a narrow pathway between them. I am not familiar with the background events, but 40 people from three families shared the first house. There are now three tents set up and dirty kids playing in the rubble.

What does this say about a Israel's moral position in the world?

I saw this quote in Ha'aretz, the Israeli newpaper which is against house demolitions.

Ezekiel 18:20, The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.