Equal human beings

East Jerusalem, 9 May 2002) - I just spoke with my sister over the telephone. Of course as everybody and always we talked about the situation here. We got into a debate about why it seems so difficult to present the stories behind the headlines and the numbers of casualties when it comes to the Palestinian side of the story in the western media. We did not come to a conclusion, but now I finally do feel motivated to write about the stories I heard in Nablus when I visited the city a couple of days ago.


At first side, the city center looks the same as before, crowded and full of activity. I did see damaged buildings and a lot of construction work going on. Besides that life seems to continue as if nothing has happened. Only when talking to people it becomes clear that the horrors of the past month are far from forgotten.

'Soldiers told me to stay in my house,' says an old woman. 'That is all! No further warning before they exploded the building next door. The blast was so immense. First I thought my home including me would collapse as well, then I thought I became deaf. Now, I know I am lucky to be alive and that only my home is badly damaged,' she says. She shows the cracks in the walls, the broken windows, and burned and destroyed furniture. 'The day after, soldiers did come back to my house to check if we survived the explosion.' She asks: 'Why? Why did they explode the building? It was a bakery and empty at that time and they knew it. Why did they not evacuate us as they knew our lives were going to be in danger?'

Two other women, who live at the side where the resistance surrendered, have similar stories. 'Look here! You see the bullet holes, the damage? Here a missile struck our home. You see what happens when I push against this wall? Yes, it is dangerous to stay inside the house, it could collapse. Where to go? No we have no other choice that to stay here. We, twelve family members, now live in one room downstairs. No, we know that it is not suitable for living, but what to do?' says the oldest one. Her voice is quivering. I wonder if this is because of her anger and fear or because of her old age.