peace

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Dear Peacemakers,
First of all I would like to express to you all my deepest gratitude and appreciation for your support to me and my family during the horrible days during my arrest and preventing demolishing my home . I am very thankful for your trust and your help to get me released from jail.

Dear peacemakers,
I was badly affected by the violence. I always knew that everyone could be a victim of the ongoing conflict. In the past the victims were people that you and me don’t know; now I became myself a victim of this terror, Tomorrow will be other people.
I would like to share with you my experience;

On December 17th, 2002 at 5:00 in the morning I got awake of very hard noise of explosions and gun fire. The sound of the event was just under the window of my bed room. The Isareli army started then to call people by loudspeakers to leave the Home and to give themselves up. I thought in the beginning that they are shouting at someone else because I am not involved in anything against the Israelis, On the contrary, I am peace activist. Shootings continued. neither me, nor my wife and my mother knew what’s going on. Some neighbors started to phone us at home and ask what is going on, our answer was we do not know. Then my mother, I and my wife decided to leave the home to speak to the soldiers. I was in my pajama. It was a very cold morning.
The snipers were covering my body with red spots ready to shoot me, they asked me to take off my cloths as soon as I appear out of the door of my home, they asked me then to raise my hands up. I was very afraid and thought now the soldiers will shoot me.

When I reached the first soldiers, one of them identified himself as Israeli intelligence commander and asked me "Where are the Wanted persons?" I said I do not know, he repeated his question again and again, and I said always I do not know what he was speaking about. Then he asked me who lives in our home and who lives in the apartments next to my mother's home, I answered that me, my wife, my mother and my three months little daughter, also in one of the apartments downstairs next to us lives some one called "Bilal" who is working as a night guard in a company in Bethlehem and who have been renting here only two days ago.
One of the soldiers took me to my neighbors home. In my neighbors home I saw that the army had already arrested two young men and "Bilal". The same Israeli Intelligence major took me to one of the rooms in my neighbors home and started to ask me about explosive materials, I was in a shock because I do not know anything. The major started to threaten to demolish the home if I do not admit where the explosive materials are and the bulldozer is on its way coming to demolish my home. and my answer was always I do not know what he is speaking about, he mentioned to me that he found weapons in my home (he meant in the apartment where "Bila" was renting downstairs) and then the major from the intelligence said to me “you will live all your life in a tent, the home is gone”.

Then the soldiers tied my hands and my eyes were covered too, the tie of my hands was very fast and caused lot of pains, I started to shout for the soldiers to ease the tie, then one of the soldiers beated me. I have also a problem with my legs and I asked the soldiers just to allow me to set in another way because my leg started to have lot of pains at that moment, they simply refused and attacked me.

I was then transferred to some place I do not know and I remember that I have to get out of the car twice, the soldiers treated me very badly, in one occasion they hit my head against an iron fence while my hands were tied and my eyes were covered which caused pains to me for the next two days. I have the feeling that the soldiers enjoyed torturing me. My appeals were that I am a peace activist, but that did not mean any thing for the soldiers, the major from the intelligence said to me “I do not care”.
I was freezing in my pajama, I never complained again because I knew that even complaining is not allowed. I knew that I am not allowed to express any human value because simply I am Palestinian and Palestinians are all terrorists (in the eyes of the Israeli soldiers).

Please recognize that I did not knew until this moment what really happened, why they arrested me, the army kept me tied and eye covered from 6 o’clock in the morning until 5 o’clock in the evening, then at 5 o’clock in the evening I was interviewed by the Israeli intelligence (Shabak) and the detective asked me about my relation with someone called BAKER NAJAR, I said I do not know Baker Najar, But I know BILAL NAJAR and BILAL is the young man who rented from me an apartment, the detective did not believe me and I answered that this is the truth, and I told the detective that I am involved in peace activities and I am surprised why they are arresting me, the man started to laugh about my work and started to speak to me in an unrespected way. I told him that ” it is not strange to me that you are laughing because peace activists have to suffer from the Palestinian and Israelis alike”.

At 6 o’clock in the evening one of the soldiers took me to the jail where I stayed then the next four days. In one 3 by 4 room where 6 people sharing the ground, the room was so cold, the blankets were almost wet, It was rainy and the room walls lacking.
In the begging the soldiers allowed the prisoners to go there times a day to the toilet, at9:00, at15:00and at21:00, there are no exceptions, people should wait. Sometimes the soldiers did not really want any one to go to the toilet so you have to wait. Normally the breakfast was diary products and bread. The prisoners protested one day before I was imprisoned about the diary products and asked for something hot to drink (food strike), the army brought to them tee for one time and never did again. There is no hot water in the jail, when some one washes his face he got freezing. Taking douche is something very luxury, No one shaves so all bears are long. When I was in the jail for the first moments I thought that all prisoners are religious Muslim because everyone of them has a long pear. But I immediately recognized that this is not true and that the prisoners can not shave.
I sat in the prison for two days with the idea that the army destroyed our home. On the second day the army arrested some one from Al Khader, a village next toBethlehem, and he knows and saw on TV what the soldiers destroyed in my home, and he told me that the army destroyed only the garage, surrounding walls, the whole garden of the home before American officials intervened to stop destroying the home.

On the fourth day in the prison, Israeli soldiers did not allow any prisoner to go to the toilet until13:00 o'clock. On the fourth day (December 21st) I was released at14:15and the breakfast of the prisoners was not served yet. Prisoners whom were hungry and protested were isolated in unilateral prison chamber (Zenzana). The soldiers were very tough especially in the fourth day.
In the prison I remembered my father Hussein who was jailed also for several times because of his peace activities. Hussein told me once that he got his power to work for peace from the middle of pain; I understood that feeling only when I was in the prison.
My believe in peace was never wavered, on the contrary I got energy to work and to change. It is the first time in my life that I felt that Palestinian and Israelis need peace more than ever. I hated the terror of both sides.

At home (still on December 17th), the Israeli army had isolated my mother, wife and my 3 months old daughter in our neighbors home and searched everything for almost 6 hours. Alll furniture were turned upside down, there are some damages on the furniture and inner doors of the home. The refrigerator was damaged by the army, some windows were broken, the fax machine was through on the ground and damaged. My mobile, wallet and agenda were taken by the army and never given back to me.
The most terrible thing is that the army prevented my wife to bring any milk for my 3 months old daughter and she remained without milk from5:00-14:00 o'clock.

Dear Friends,
I believe that the Palestinians and Israelis are circulating in a spiral of violence since two and half years. There decisions are based on action and reaction while, I believe that every act of terror is a result of an unhealed wound. I believe also that I can deal with my wound and I can heal it in a peaceful way therefore, I have no plans to ask the Israeli authorities to pay for damages to our house, because it would be an adversarial move that would only engender more ill-will and I feel it will not be appropriate from me as peace activist.

Again many thanks for your support to me and my family during these horrible days.
In peace, Ibrahim Issa
Hope Flowers School, Bethlehem, Palestine

www.hopeflowers.org