Summary of the meeting "For the earth and the life. The incredible human story of the hills south of Hebron
Photo: source http://humanitytogether. wordpress.com
Arcore, November 22, 2008. Last night the association Paciamoci non-profit organization organized to Arcore meeting "For Land and Life. The incredible human life in the hills south of Hebron "to give voice to Hafez Huraini member of the South Hebron Hills Committee, coordination of non-violent Palestinian shepherds. Among the guests
Piergiorgio Rossetti volunteer in the Palestinian territories with "Operation Dove" and Gianluca Mazzini Mediaset journalist expert on the Middle East.
Daniel Biella, Paciamoci , introduced the evening explaining that the association was founded in 2006 by a few guys who have shared the experience of volunteering with the white helmet in some countries of Latin America and Africa. Paciamoci members intend to continue raising awareness on human rights and non-violence here in Italy, also through pathways proposed to the schools, conflict management aimed at children and teenagers.
In this perspective, the evening was meant to be, and was a "moment of peace and hope to witness complaint that the tragic reality of the poorest families in the area of \u200b\u200bthe West Bank."
Piergiorgio Rossetti illustrates with photos, the context: You are talking about the South Hebron Hills, the area south of the West Bank, where a thousand people living in poverty and who daily suffer harassment by settlers and Israeli soldiers.
International volunteers are next to these people in their everyday resistance. Volunteers
risk what they risk every day the Palestinians of these areas. The aim is to share and say so every day the value of the lives of others is even, identical to the value of our lives.
Huraini Hafez, a tall, serious, but who can indulge in wide smiles. E 'arrived yesterday in Italy, has a tired face. He risked in Turkey and in Italy to be sent back because despite all the documents they were regular, he had forgotten at home the letter of invitation. After all we are not surprised to encounter resistance checks at airports since the generalization that if you pass then you are Palestinian terrorist. Fortunately, those who went to the airport to receive him he was carrying an original letter of invitation and the situation was resolved.
Huraini Hafez, a wife and five children, he says, in English, as he lives and how they live the people of those hills. Meanwhile, scroll through the photos. A landscape that seems endless desert. Gray and brown rocks and dust. There are services: there is no light, no running water. The water you drink the rain water is collected in cisterns dug into the ground. There are many families who have not home (and home here means poor development of stone) and then living in caves. of live sheep, and of the poor harvest of the field of a land fertile. Hafez says
Huaraini who live according to the old fashioned way: with the agricultural rhythms of yesteryear. Since 1967 are under Israeli military occupation whose purpose is evacuation of the Palestinian inhabitants. This objective is pursued by soldiers and settlers. Surely it is a long history which can not picked up completely on this occasion, but the summary is just the job.
And images clarify the concept of this goal, and how it is pursued. Miserable
sheaves hay burned. Cattle poisoned (it was 2005), sheep are killed by gunshots, a picture of a mangled body of a donkey that he could not escape the fury of the settlers, luckily the pastor was saved with all the sheep.
And then the photos that you can not see: a girl and a boy injured by the blows of the settlers.
It must know that children who live in the caves of Tuba and At Magayer Abeed, twenty children between 5 and 12 years, every day should be taken to school by Israeli soldiers because they were repeatedly attacked by extremist Israeli settlers . Now it happens that the military does not always do their duty and the children lose the lessons. Or, and are not rare, soldiers arrive later so the kids lose hours.
Every day a climate of war. An official Israeli settlement, barren fields, woods, and other settlements, this is not official. The way to school along the forest, close to the settlers. Every day is a risk to children, not just for them.
Not to mention the other means to destroy the resistance of Palestinian land confiscation, house demolitions orders (best cabins), with huge boulders blocking roads, setting up checkpoints that restrict or prevent access to roads , the creation of closed military areas not authorized.
Hafez shows us the photos a concrete wall. E 'high between 60 and 80 cm, 14 Km long, if not end in sight. E 'was built by the army in 2006 to separate the South Hebron Hills area of \u200b\u200bthe town of Yatta. The aim was to isolate the villages, denying access to services to the residents and businesses, making it difficult to survive.
Now they're breaking down after strong protests. Hafez Huraini also had participated in a demonstration, not violent, and for this he was arrested by Israeli authorities. The demolition of the wall Israel has been ordered by the High Court in December 2006
E 'Huraini Hafez in 2000 and the inhabitants of those lands begin hope to see. This hope is born of activism and Israeli peace activists and international. Their presence forces the military and settlers to be less violent, though not always the case.
Hafez Huraini begins to discuss it with other people together to find a way to resist that simply does not give voice to the desire for revenge.
fact, according to Hafez, violence is the game of employment, provides grounds for more violence. Non-violence is the real winning strategy. Today, he says, all the inhabitants of the area agree with this kind of nonviolent resistance.
resistance is the refusal of leave, for example, is reconstructing destroyed the barracks, seek, groped a dialogue with the military, with the settlers is very difficult. This with the support of Israeli and international activists.
And since children are the first victims of this absurd situation is very important to try to let them know the differences between Israelis and Palestinians in an equal footing. For are organized summer camps where there are children and educators Palestinians and Israelis. The latest initiative was a partnership between a football team and a Palestinian Israeli. They are naturally
initiatives that require funds, which are always insufficient.
Huraini Hafez says its mission is to tell what happens in his land, because it remains a truth that applies only to the inhabitants. In fact it is a human issue that must concern all of each.
"From tonight, what I told you, respect you".
A strong applause from the audience and a sense of responsibility more. So the journalist
Gianluca Mazzini involved answering the question he put to him. "For us the story of Hafez we know nothing, because on TV and media is hard to hear about these issues?"
Giuanluca Mazzini is well aware of the issue, probably now without any illusions that something can change.
First note that the information is the western part. In part because journalists are usually sent contacts with people of Jewish extraction. And then pass that information are also in good faith, that part.
Second Arab-Israeli conflict has lasted for 60 years: it is an old story. The Italian public opinion difficult to implement because they're tired. Tired of the topic.
Third, Italy does not have an international flair as it can in England. And remember, for example, that there are two thousand Italian troops in Lebanon to maintain peace and nobody talks about it.
Fourthly: send journalists in war costs a lot of places, too. Only the insurance costs € 10,000 a day to send.
Finally, Italy is run by an old political class. A generation that does not look at You Tube, a generation not interested in events whose information do not travel over traditional media.
says he admires but the Israeli press that provides the correct information.
And to give an idea of \u200b\u200bhow difficult do the real job of a journalist Gianluca Mazzini tells us that during a meeting between Ariel Sharon and Silvio Berlusconi, the Israeli prime minister had expressed little sympathy for the corresponding three RAI, probably to their way of presenting the facts. After a few months correspondents have been removed.
Gianluca Mazzini said to admire the choice for non-violent resistance, the real hope for those territories.
Violence and abuse of power said to be the result of a lack of balance. You can find balance through a mutual recognition of two parts: the mutual recognition of their history. But one wonders if Israel really wants peace. A country that feels at war, where public opinion in general is hardly sensitive to others and is brought to a racist attitude. For example, in Israel the Arabs can not vote and are excluded from many activities. says that the real goal would be to bring Israel to be a normal country.
More about how part of the information points out that Syria is considered a "rogue state". He has visited and found people who simply want to live in peace. The Syrian population has no desire to go to war. It 's a country open to tourism, modern enough, and where minorities are protected enough. Syria, "rogue state", in reality turns out to be a virtuous example of tolerance in the Middle East. Meanwhile
"in Gaza do not know anything. It 'a concentration camp in the open. "
it was from the November 5, by order of Minister of Israel's security, all access points to Gaza are blocked: they can not move people or goods or fuel. E 'humanitarian crisis.
Many changes were made to the public and applause. For those who want to continue to be interested in the cause of resistance Hafez Huraini and tell her the question you created the blog: http://humanitytogether.wordpress.com
Monica Mazzoleni
