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Dear
friends,
Many
of you have asked why I have not been writing as frequently
as I have been. The reasons are many, the least being
that one starts to feel--after weeks and months and
years of making the same case--that the message has
become a broken record. So I wanted to give you all
a rest from the daily pressures that we are facing.
However, my not sending messages is no indication
whatsoever that the conditions here have relaxed,
even though for the last 14 days we have had the day
curfews lifted. The killing continues, the tanks still
are rampaging, soldiers still firing, checkpoints
still are in place, and every so often we still have
to
rush to close our home windows from the Israeli tear
gas that positions our air.
I'll
give you a daily glimpse of a normal day, like today.
I was awaken by a tank and jeep screaming that today
was a closed/curfew day.one hour later the city ignored
the call and we went to work. It seems they were only
joking. Upon arriving at work I learned that one of
my best friends was detained by Israel (more
below and the reason for today's mailing). Also, in
Nablus a 60-yr-old Palestinian women, Shadin Abu Hijleh,
was killed by an Israeli solider last night who stopped
his jeep in front of her villa and open fired at the
veranda that she and her son and husband were having
coffee on. She died instantly and her husband and
son were rushed to the hospital for shrapnel wounds.
Her daughter Lana lives in Ramallah and is a good
friend of ours. Late morning, a close friend called
to advise that he has had enough and is in the process
of relocating to Amman or Dubai. Another friend called
later in the day to ask me what I thought about him
moving to Dubai. He asked why I was not considering
moving. During work I interviewed a 57-yr-old man
who was an executive in Kuwait before the first Gulf
War and after being forced to leave Kuwait with only
his clothes on his back. He is now working for the
Palestinian Authority and is no longer getting paid
after the IDF has destroyed the governor's office
where he worked. He said he would work for anything
that would give him enough stability to send his kids
to school. This man's entire honor has been reduced
to searching for his kid's tuition. Another unplanned
interview toady was a 63-yr-old mechanical engineer.
A father of six and out of a job for over a year the
man was desperate for work. I sadly had to turn him
away. He swore that he would show up and work tomorrow
even if for nothing. With every human story our feelings
become numb. All of this is happening as people mentally
start to brace for the US war on Iraq and the ramifications
that will strike here at home. People are scared.
I'll stop here in order not to bore you with the daily
tank encounters or explosions that still happen day
and night. With this glimpse I think you will start
to feel just how hard living is anymore. Sharon's
Israel has succeeded in making desperation a way of
life. The have perfected a silent violence like no
other.
Now
my reason for writing today. One of the reasons I
have not written as frequently is that I have been
working with the local YMCA which is planning to open,
for the first time, in Ramallah. The YMCA has run
a facility for 80+ years in E. Jerusalem and they
also have facilities in Beit Sahour (Bethlehem) and
Gaza. About a week ago, I met with the Associate Director
from the International Group based in Chicago. Thursday
(10/10) I met with the International Director who
also was visiting from Chicago. Three Palestinian
friends of mine were hosting our YMCA guest -- all
three long time YMCA staff members. One of them is
one of my best friends, Haytham Hammouri. We were
strategizing on how to raise the remaining $700K required
for the project. USAID has already granted the project
$1.0M. I offered to write you (my lists) an appeal
as well as personally contact potential Palestinian
friends here in Palestine and in the US that I thought
might help by making a donation.
This
morning, I called Haytham to get a copy of the project
feasibility study so I can finish my letter to you.
The YMCA secretary advised me that Haytham was arrested
yesterday from his office in the YMCA in E. Jerusalem
by the Israelis! Speaking to Haytham's wife, Malak,
she confirmed that he was taken by the Israelis from
his desk at work. She was emotionally upset and spoke
about their three girls, Majed (14), Dina (8), and
Rawda (4 1/2) who were taking the news of their father's
absence badly. During the first intifada Haytham spent
over one year in Israeli detention without being charged.
He was held by what Israel calls Administrative Detention.
International Law calls this ILLEGAL!
Haytham
Hammouri is not a politician and will not have an
international campaign call for his release. Haytham
has dedicated his life to bettering others peoples
lives and the community at large by way of serving
the YMCA. He is the Program Manager for the YMCA's
Community Development Program. He has been with the
Y for over 10 years and anyone who knows Haytham equates
him with the Y. At the end of the day, he is one of
5,000+ Palestinians that Israel has detained after
rounding up over 12,000 Palestinians over the last
few months. Nevertheless, I refuse to just keep adding
up numbers. We must stop and put faces and families
behind the names. I kindly request that we all take
immediate action. The first 48-72 hours of detention
is critical. This is where torture is the worse and
Palestinians are usually interrogated. Haytham is
being held in the Mascoubya Prison in W. Jerusalem.
Name:
Haytham Salah Husni Hammouri
Jerusalem
ID: 080053762
Date
of Birth: March 28, 1963
Employer:
YMCA
Position:
Program Manager, Community Development Program
Please
take action today:
1.
Send a fax/email to any/all of the Israeli officials
below and your local Israeli representative calling
for the immediate release of Haytham and all Palestinian
political prisoners.
2.
Contact your local YMCA and advise them that one of
their own has been hurt and remind them that an injury
to one is an injury to all. Ask your local YMCA to
send a fax/email to the numbers below and to your
local Israeli representative.
3.
Stand by for my upcoming email that will be an appeal
to support the Ramallah YMCA. We REFUSE to allow Israel
to stop our lives and development!
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
Office of the Prime Minister
Tel: 972-2-670-5555
Fax: 972-2-651-2631
E-mail: pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
Shimon
Peres
Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister
Tel: 972-2-530-3111
Fax: 972-2-530-3367
Email: sar@mfa.gov.il
Benjamin
Ben Eliezer
Israeli Minister of Defense
Email: sgansar@mod.gov.il
Meir
Sheetrit
Minister of Justice
Tel: 972-2-670-8511
Fax: 972-2-628-8618
Email: feedback@justice.gov.il
The
following are some reference sites on Palestinian
political prisoners:
http://www.freebarghouti.org
http://www.btselem.org
http://www.stoptorture.org.il
http://www.addameer.org
http://www.lawsociety.org
http://www.amnesty.org
http://www.hrw.org
http://www.icrc.org
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