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EYEWITNESS FROM JERUSALEM |
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A WEEKLY JOURNAL WRITTEN BY SISTER MARY |
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EYEWITNESS FROM JERUSALEM |
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A WEEKLY JOURNAL WRITTEN BY SISTER MARY |
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Jerusalem
Journal # 21 June
15, 2001 |
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In
some of the European countries and in the United States the month of June is the
month of weddings, and the month of May is a time when many young women
look forward to being a June bride. So even when 22 yr. old Majdaleen
Alrai from Al Aroub refugee camp north of Hebron was in the hospital for a
treatment for diabetes last May, she was still looking forward to being the
June bride of 25 year old Mohammed Rageb Silmi, and the wedding was just a
couple of weeks away. At
11:30 Sunday night, May 20th. heavy gun and tank fire from the Israeli Army
could be heard throughout Hebron where an army camp was guarding four caravans
that comprise the Israeli settlement on Tel Rumeida, a Byzantine monastery,
which is being destroyed by the settlers. Then, for the sixth time since
September, the hospital was again hit by Israeli gunfire. A live bullet pierced
the window near Majdaleen's bed and she was shot with extensive damage to
her liver, kidney and intestines. The doctors at the Hebron hospital operated
for three hours before bringing her to ICU. When Mohammed, her fiance, got
the news he went to Al Aroub refugee camp to tell Majdaleen's family, only to
discover that the family home had been completely damaged by Israeli tank fire
at 12:30 that same night. And
now it is the month of brides.... Majdaleen has finally been released from the
hospital and returned to the remains of her home in the refugee camp north
of Hebron, but due to the strict closures of this past week, even the
"Doctors without Borders" were unable to check on her condition.
Neither is there any wedding in sight.... Meanwhile,
the Israeli Army is forcing its way into every Palestinian house in the Old City
of Hebron: opening all doors and drawers, searching everywhere in the house, and
then photographing and sketching all the rooms. The Palestinians don't
know what this is all about, but it can't be for good. Can you imagine
this happening in your home? The
Israeli occupation and Israeli military agression continues to invade all areas
of Palestinian life, shattering dreams, but not breaking the spirits of these
dauntless people who want to shake off the control that the Israeli government
has imposed over their lives for the past 53 years. |
