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An American teacher in Nablus
By Calista Weichel
The April issue of The New People
carried two dispatches by Calista Weichel, dated March 9 and March 13, prior to the
massive Israeli invasion of the West Bank on March 29. Those were the last received from
Calista. The following dispatch is an earlier one,
describing an Israeli bombing of Nablus. We publish it with the prayer that Calista is well,
and that we will soon receive up-to-date
dispatches for future issues.
March 6, 2002
Salaam Aleikum & Good Morning,
Wednesday—Six deaths in Gaza early
this morning, three deaths in Nablus and Hebron
from previous injuries. The siege continues. . . .
Yesterday, as I was lecturing for my
English class, the Israeli Army bombed Nablus.
Ironically, I was lecturing about stress and more
specifically "job-stress" with one of the indicators
being "physical danger" on the job.
I was naively speaking about policemen
and soldiers. . .and then BOOOOOOOOOOM. . .the first bomb was dropped. Then before I could
catch my thoughts, the second. We evacuated the
University because at the time, no one knew where the targets were. But we knew they were close.
When we left the building, we looked up and there were American-financed Apaches
and many "tails" of smoke left by the dropping of
eight bombs. There was a sense of urgency and uncertainty of what was being hit. We all looked
up, wondering "what next?"
It was around 3:45 p.m. when this
happened. As I learned since, the target was the police
station in downtown Nablus. The Israelis dropped eight bombs in Nablus center at a time when
there are many, many people in the streets. Then,
as quickly as it began, it was over.
The feelings I experienced were intense.
I arrived home and my hands shook and even my lips, even though I did not feel emotionally
afraid. I suppose my physiology is smarter than my
emotions....
There is a sense of continuous tension
among the students and professors here. Who knows when the target will be the University?
Perhaps the Israelis will "mistakenly" hit us as we
are reviewing nouns and verbs.
Sharon has since restated that he intends
to kill more Palestinians. As I said yesterday, this
is nothing new. This is his number one aim. . .to eliminate as many Palestinians as possible. .
.in order to make room for more settlers. . .in
order to have a purely zionist land in Palestine.
As I write now, the planes have resumed
their playing in the skies overhead.Last night
Ramallah was bombed. Perhaps today we will be hit again.
Some more information from Palestine. . .
The Jewish Group "Nikema" (Jewish word for "revenge.") planted three bopmbs at the
Sur-Baher Primary school in East Jerusalem. 12
children and two teachers were injured. The blast occurred around 9 o'clock as the children
were playing outside their classrooms.
Israeli medical teams were slow to arrive
at the scene, Palestinians charged.
The "Nikema" group stated that it would
seek to kill more non-Jews "until the land of Israel
is made pure of gentiles."
HELLO GENTILES IN
AMERICA!!!!!!!! Does this even affect you even in the least?
I mean, really, do you like for your tax dollars
to support this? Maybe you can find no sympathy for the vow to kill Palestinians. . .but what
about the vow to kill all gentiles?
I am thinking now of the man who killed
the Israeli soldiers the other day. He had 25
bullets. One archaic gun. Twenty-four bullets hit their
target. I think seven were fatal shots and the
rest injurious. Then he disappeared into the hills
leaving behind the spent weapon.
Until the world gets in step with the reality
of the situation here, this is all the people have
to hope for. I would appreciate it if President
Bush and his minions would stop saying "Arafat
should do more to prevent. . . ," while at the same
time they support the bombing of his facilities.
Well, it is time to make my way to the
downtown. I hope the planes take a coffee break
until I can return to the university.
LONG LIVE PALESTINE
Calista Weichel
sisyphus_in_hijab@hotmail.com
The New People
Table of Contents, May 2002
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