- Children’s Party
ISM activist Janet, along with others, decided tothrow a party for the children in Balata campessentially in response to hearing a child tell her:”My mother has been crying for 4 days. I just want herto stop crying. ” Adults dressed up in clown costumesand entertained the kids at one family’s home. Wepainted designs on their faces, made animals out ofballoons, and generally goofed around all afternoon.
Pictures are available – see contact details below
- Tour of Damaged/Destroyed Homes
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Three ISM activists visited an area of Balata campthat had been seriously attacked during March andApril of this month. Two stories seemed to be behindthe damage we saw. First, there was the man who wasshot and killed by soldiers as a result of acollaborator putting a powder on his back, during agreeting, that is only visible to the army. We saw theman’s completely demolished house, next to agraveyard, and the two adjacent buildings which werepartially destroyed. In one kitchen, an entire wall ismissing. Because of this attack, all 3 families livingin the buildings have to live on one floor.Secondly, we saw a row of three houses that were worsthit during an April 6th attack this year largelythrough the use of Apache helicopters and tanks. As aman who lived through the attack told us, on that daythe army came to the hill near the houses and detainedall of these families. In all, 5-6 homes wereattacked, consisting of about 20 families.
Twenty-three men were taken away, interrogated andtortured, and brought back the next day. We saw andphotographed incredible damage to these homes, andheard about serious injuries suffered by thePalestinians. One woman lost an eye, another had halfher face destroyed, two lost their hearing, and two” lost their minds, ” in the words of the man telling usthis story. Two pregnant women lost their babies; oneimmediately (two months early), and one later. We saw
a huge crater in a kitchen floor, a massive holethrough a stairway, and an entire metal doorway blownaway. These are just a few examples of the damage wesaw. Our host told us that the Palestinians sensedthat the army knew they had done something wrong here,because they had actually treated some of the injuredpeople. In one home, a mother described having nowhereto go when the attack was happening, and hiding behinda wall, huddling over her children to try to protectthem. Our host said he did not know why the armyattacked them: ” Why, why, why. We did not doanything. “
Contact in Balata camp: A. LaVita (972) 56 389 317