Tel Aviv – December 27, 2002

Today, I am in Tel Aviv for a Women in Black demonstration and to take a break.

My group was being called to an emergency in a village called Es Bet Salman, just as I was leaving to go to the Qalqilya checkpoint to meet up with other internationals going to Tel Aviv. In the village, it was said, soldiers were massed and attacking property, busting up things. It is not clear exactly what is going on but the remaining seven of my group headed off there. There is a demonstration being planned for Sunday, I mentioned before. It is coming from the villages and is protesting the “security fence”. Perhaps this attack has something to do with that or just with the resistance the villagers and farmers are making to having the fence constructed across their property. The land is fertile here, many greenhouses, too, and their business of these farmers is being undermined.

I must go now.

Marie

Marie Campbell is a retired University of Victoria professor who left on December 12, 2002 to spend a month in Palestine doing observational work with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Observers from Europe and North America act not only as witnesses, but also provide a measure of protection and emotional support to Palestinians.