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 TERRORISTS
AMONG THE APPLES
by
Art Gish, Hebron, West Bank
January 30, 2003
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Art
Gish in front of tank
Jan 30, 03
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Woman
in destroyed Hebraon market
Jan 30, 03
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on each picture to view larger image
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All
of Hebron was under total curfew today. I could sense something
was wrong. As I walked up the street I soon realized there was
trouble at Al Manara. I was horrified at what I saw. There were
two tanks and two bulldozers leveling the produce market which
extended over two blocks. Produce lay scattered and smashed
everywhere, here in this city where many are hungry. Shop owners
were scrambling to save boxes of tomatoes, oranges, bananas,
and more.
My
first response was to just stand there, weeping and sobbing.
The scene was so horrifying, so disgusting, so depraved. I
could not emotionally bear it. I felt completely helpless.
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Soldiers
near Lutheran christmas church
Dec 4, 02
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The
produce market was at Al Manara because the Israeli military
closed the former produce market in response to the massacre
of Muslims in the Ibrihimi Mosque in 1994. In every peace
accord since then, Israel has promised to reopen the market.
It has never been reopened. Israeli settlers now live in that
building.
I
continued to feel helpless, but I also felt I had to do something.
I started carrying boxes of produce out of the way of the
bulldozers. I saved maybe 12 crates of produce from being
crushed.
I
began confronting soldiers. In a loud voice, I asked them
if they were proud of what they were doing, if this is peace,
if this is what they want Israel to become. I shouted, "Baruch
hashem Adonai" (Blessed be the name of the Lord).
The
soldiers tried their best to ignore me, but I am sure they
heard me. I ignored their commands for me to leave. One soldier
spit at me, so I walked right up to him and invited him to
spit on me. He declined the offer.
Three
soldiers aimed their guns at and moved toward a group of Palestinian
bystanders. It looked to me like they were going to shoot.
I quickly jumped in front of the soldiers, raised my hands
in the air and shouted, "Shoot me, shoot me, go ahead
and shoot me." The soldiers immediately left.
A
tank came roaring toward me, its big gun barrel aimed at me.
I raised my hands in the air in prayer, and shouted, "Shoot,
shoot, Baruch hashem adonai." The tank stopped within
inches of me.
I
then knelt in the street in prayer, with my hands raised.
I felt alone, weak, helpless. I could only cry out to God.
Later
this afternoon I went back to Al Manara and watched shop owners
dig through the huge piles of rubble, trying to salvage what
they could. What could I say?
The
Israeli military had put all of Hebron under total curfew
today, saying they were looking for terrorists. Now I wonder
if there really were terrorists hidden among the apples and
oranges. Or, are the Israeli soldiers committing acts of terrorism
against the civilian population of Hebron?
I
fear for what may come next.
Christian
Peacemaker Teams is an ecumenical initiative to support
violence reduction efforts around the world. To learn more
about CPT's peacemaking work, please visit our website at
http://www.cpt.org.
Photos of our projects may be viewed at http://www.clubphoto.com.
Login as 'cptheb@palnet.com'
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Middle
East Christians'
Comment
Comparing
apples to apples
A
student in China
A
child in Palestine
In
April, 1989, a massive student demonstration for democratic
reform, began on Tiananmen Square and was brutally repressed
on June 3 and 4, 1989. It was initiated to demand the posthumous
rehabilitation of former Communist Party Chairman Hu Yaobang.
The images of that one student standing in front of an enormous
military tank exemplified the concepts of freedom and liberty
which the United States so prided itself in embodying.
Today,
the US supports an oppressor and an occupier and could not
care less for who stands in front of tanks in a plea for justice
and peace, only to appease its 'ally'.
Why
is Art Gish, from Christians for Peacemakers Team,
seen in the picture standing in front of an Israeli tank that
is about to demolish the market of innocent Palestinians,
any less powerful or any less representative of the love of
freedom and justice? Is that indiciative of the moral decline
of the US under this present administration? How is the image
of a little child armed with a stone, standing in front of
an enormous, high-tech tank, any less powerful?
Read
Art Gish's article on the incident in his own words. Thank
you Art for your faith and for what you represent. We seem
to only see the likes of Falwell on American television and
never hear the voices of the truly faithful.
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Settler
Rampage: Ahmed al-Natsche, 6 yrs, stabbed by settler,
lying bleeding in his mother's lap
July 2nd, 02
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on picture to view larger image
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