The
Palestinian leader had a slight tremor but did not look to be in as poor
condition as recent media reports have suggested.
As we asked questions, Arafat seemed to be a resilient survivor. He said he believes
in Palestine and Palestinians and he expects them to survive.
His contention that Israel is trying to destroy the infrastructure of Palestine
to force his people out was supported by a number of other people I interviewed.
The pilot
One evening, members of our team had hoped to walk on the Mediterranean beach
that was a few blocks from our hotel in Gaza. Hotel security told us that Israeli
tanks were in that area and that it would not be safe. Instead of the walk, three
of us were driven to a beachfront hotel. For our safety, a Palestinian security
man accompanied us. When we asked about an explosion earlier in the evening,
he said it was from a rocket fired from a helicopter in a village 10 kilometers
away.
As we sat sipping tea and looking out at the dark sea, our protector told us
he had been a captain for a small commercial airline that the Palestinians had
started. The airline had four commuter planes for flying passengers around the
gulf area. He said that Israelis considered the airline a threat to their security
and destroyed the planes.
He said the lights we saw offshore were on Palestinian fishing boats that were
required to stay close to shore. This means that Palestinians have to buy fish
from Israel because close-in fishing was not sufficient for their needs.
The Lutherans
At breakfast in Jerusalem, I met two men from the International Solidarity Movement.
They were part of a team protesting Israeli occupation of Palestinian settlements.
Most members of the international team were from the Lutheran Church, and some
were ministers. These volunteers stay as guests in Palestinian towns that are
under attack and act as human shields. Robert Smith, a team member from St. Paul,
Minn., said they hoped that their actions would attract attention to the conflict.
In several areas, bulldozers were destroying olive trees that villagers depend
on to make ends meet. The team hoped to stop some of the destruction and was
picking olives with the villagers as a way of protecting them. They had previously
formed a human chain to protect the grove from the bulldozers, which backed off.
The next day troops with tear gas arrested 10 group members, including three
Americans.
Meanwhile, Israeli troops destroyed 200 greenhouses, 15,000 olive trees and 50,000
other trees. Seven groundwater wells were taken over as was the livestock pasture,
Smith said.
" The Israelis are building a security wall between Palestine and Israel," he
said. "We also went to protest this wall because it is being built six kilometers
within the green line. The wall is going to be three times as long and twice
as high as the Berlin wall."
The Red Crescent director
The local director of the Red Crescent Society reported that Israelis have done
everything they can to ruin the self-esteem of Palestinians. "They make
us wait or turn us away from checkpoints. We are treated as non-persons. If we
leave the country for a year, we lose not only our citizenship but all of our
property as well. Israel would like to see the land vacated.
" We are a hindrance to them."
