Life went on as normal. I still remember that night Saturday 23 September, 2000. My friend called and told me,"Come with us to Calia.” Calia is a resort on the Dead Sea shore. You can swim there in the Dead Sea, cover yourself with mud, swim in pools or join water games. I never took a decision so quickly. I couldn't refuse the offer of having fun and spending some time to relax in the sun. Next day we went to the resort. We really had fun that day and laughed all the time. On our way back we were talking and planning to come back before the resort closed for the winter season. We came home at 20:00 and I told my mother about our wonderful day. We didn't think what would happen.

Days went on. Thursday 28 September is my cousin's birthday. His mother prepared a nice party. My cousin's name is Saliba, he is 3 years, and very clever. At night we (the family) watched the news. It's not my favorite programme but it happened that I sat in the same room. We heard about Sharon's visit to Al-Aksa and about what happened that day in Jerusalem. We understood that the Palestinians expressed their right to defend their holy place. It is their right, isn't it? But none of us thought that it would end this way. There were an unbelievable number of injured people and martyrs.

I want to tell you some stories about my friends, and how the situation affected them. I start with the story of my little cousin Saliba and I. I was at home watching the news because it became part of life after all what happened and all the martyrs. We saw the pictures on TV and all the fatal injuries. 

“You didn’t drink the milk this morning”

My little cousin did not go to school after it was closed because of the situation. My cousin is like any other kid who wants to play and have fun. But at the same time he asked a lot of question about what he saw on TV: "Why is this boy throwing stones? What is this man (Israeli soldier) carrying in his hands? Where did they put that dead man (the martyr)?" These kinds of questions come out of a three-year old kid's head. He noticed every single detail. What could we say to him? What kind of answers could we give him as a child? His parents, my aunt, my mother and I told him: "These injured people didn't listen to their parents’ advice and so they got shot or were injured." But these answers were not convincing to him. He said to me: “You didn't listen to your mother, and you didn't drink the milk this morning and nothing happened to you.” As I said, he is a smart little boy. I decided to tell him what was really going on. I said the Israelis took our land. “These men and youth you see are defending the right to take back our stolen land. Because it's our right to have an independent country.” I explained it in a way that his mind could understand it.

A few days later there was a martyr in Bethlehem. He was the first martyr from our town. A serious injury in the right side of his body caused his death. The next day I participated in the funeral ceremony. I took my little cousin with me. The mosque wasn't far from our house. My cousin carried a Palestinian flag and tried to repeat the slogans about the martyr. Many others followed. Two or three martyrs from Bethlehem were children between 12 and 14 years old. My little cousin  used to come with me to these funeral ceremonies, which succeeded each other for nearly a month. When there were no new 

martyrs in Bethlehem in the few following days, my cousin asked why this was so. He asked: “Are the Israelis still shooting?” Poor kid, he thought that because the Israelis were shooting at Palestinians, there must be martyrs. Do you understand what kind of mentality will grow among his generation? How many children will be affected by the situation?
These questions we can't answer right now or even a few years later. The effects will not show up now but they will come when the youth grow up.

Dunyaz

Dunyaz. This is the name of my friend. She is a university student and she lives in an area from where you can view Beit Jala and Ayda refugee camp. When the Israelis started shooting and bombing Beit Jala and the refugee camp, she and her family could watch the shooting through the window. She told me, "It's hard to watch shootings, to live so close." Some bullets reached her house. My friend and her family learned how it was to live under this situation and how dangerous it was. When the shooting started they stayed under their beds. The university administration delayed the semester. The university has been closed for a long time and now Dunyaz and other students have to make up for the lost lessons. My friend’s aunt lives in Beit Jala. Her house was seriously damaged by bullets entering the wall or the window. During this period they lived outisde their home with other relatives. I still don't know if they returned to their house or not.

Jobs 

Different events happened to two other girls who are my friends. One is called Shireen. She was working in the"Bethlehem Hotel" located in downtown Bethlehem. She was very happy and enjoyed her job their. But when the Al-Aksa Intifada started, all the tourists left the hotel. The manager didn't need more than two or three employees. Of course he chose the older and experienced employees to stay. Now my friend is at home waiting for the situation to get better and to go back at work. I tell her to wait with looking for a permanent job till the situation gets better. 

My friend Fatin graduated from Bethlehem University as an accountant. She applied to the Italian visa office in Jerusalem. They accepted her for an interview. She was happy; it was the first step. She could get the job if she succeeded in the interview. But she could not go to the interview in Jerusalem because the checkpoints were closed. She can't go to Jerusalem without a permission from the Israeli authorities. And even if she received that permission, as a Palestinian from the West Bank she would not be allowed to enter Jerusalem in situations like now. So she lost the job opportunity. Now she's at home taking care of her little sisters' and brothers homework and helping her mother.

The youth here loose their jobs because of the situation. How many people work in the tourist industry? How many people have graduated in different fields and applied for jobs, but lost them because of the situation? If I would write about every story I heard my diary would be longer than a newspaper.

Now I'm going to tell you about me. I felt desperate. The situation was really getting on my nerves. I was angry about what is going on and feeling sorry about the killed youth, children and men. I participated in the funeral ceremonies, which took place in the city center of Bethlehem. I spent a month after I came back from Europe looking for a job. I held that time a valid multi-entry Schengen visa to Europe. I discussed with my mother the possibilities of leaving the country, but she didn't agree with me. And when the Israelis started shooting Beit Jala and Beit Sahour I changed my mind. I couldn't leave. My mother and my aunt would stay with the shooting going on while I would be safe somewhere else. No, of course it's now impossible to leave. A few days later the Israelis closed the checkpoints. No one could travel to Jerusalem or enter Bethlehem. My mother who works in Jerusalem, spent a week sleeping there because of the situation. Then I found a job at the institute (AEI). I was very happy to find a job in this difficult situation. How lucky am I? I still feel angry about the situation but not like before because I have something else to think about, my work.

Once I went with my friend Karishma to Hebron. Karishma also works at the institute. She got an invitation to participate in a demonstration of internationals (foreigners) living in Palestine. I joined her that day with a bit of fear. I'm Palestinian. How are the foreigners going to deal with me? But at the same time I was happy to watch the situation in Hebron closely. This demonstration allowed the foreigners to learn about the situation and to show their sympathy to the Palestinian people. We reached Al - Ibrahimi Mosque area in Hebron. There were many settlers in the streets preventing the Palestinians from going or coming. I felt angry, especially when the Israeli soldiers explained that they would protect us. In fact, the foreigners refused their protection. Similar demonstrations are happening in Jerusalem and other cities of the West Bank.

This is our situation and we are used to it now. But in fact it is not normal to get used to this kind of situation. The six million dollar question is when will this land have peace?