This is a piece I wrote about Palestinians who illegally work in Israeli settlements. In terms of the article and topic, I'd have to say that this is the piece I've been the most excited about so far.
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At the peak of the second Intifada Mahmoud Hilu’s homemade bee-bee gun sparked allegations that he possessed larger weapons and connections to the militant wing of Fatah. The Israelis arrested him for questioning, kept in solitary confinement and usually questioned him for about nine-hours a day. Twice they interrogated him for three days straight without letting him sleep. After forty-five days and a brief court case he was fined 2,500 NIS and sentenced to a year in prison.
One might imagine that after such an experience Mahmoud wouldn’t aid the Israeli presence in the West Bank, but two months after his release he began risking his safety and imprisonment to work illegally in Bethlehem’s Har Homa settlement. Mahmoud’s brothers Hassan and ‘Ala sometimes work there as well.
The Hilu brothers are part of a number of Palestinians who work in Israeli settlements. While at least 13.6% of West Bank Palestinians work in settlements and Israel, it’s impossible to know the exact number. Few Palestinians possess the necessary travel and work permits, so many illegally enter settlements and get paid under the table. On Mahmoud’s work crew of about fifty workers, he says that only ten hold permits to enter Har Homa legally.
Over a hundred Palestinian workers leave for Har Homa around 3:00AM to arrive there by 6:00AM. Walking to the settlement on the direct roads would take about thirty or forty minutes, but to avoid detection the workers slink along a winding path that can take anywhere from an hour and half to three hours.
The path to Har Homa begins at an opening in the separation barrier around Bethlehem. Workers can’t avoid passing through it. “If they wanted to stop the workers from coming, they could just put two guards at the opening in the wall twenty-four hours a day,” says ‘Ala. Presently soldiers monitor the opening, but only sporadically.
Like his brothers, ‘Ala complains that the arbitrary Israeli policies for dealing with Palestinian workers. An Israeli soldier caught ‘Ala once and before sending him back to Bethlehem the soldier gave him tips for how to pass unnoticed. Other times soldiers have chased after his brothers on horseback. “It all depends on the soldier’s mood,” he says.
When workers get caught, most often they’re sent to the Gilo checkpoint separating Bethlehem from Jerusalem, briefly questioned and forced to wait in silence for one to fifteen hours before they’re released. Although workers can face three months in prison, most of the time they’re set free after several hours. Occasionally they’re beaten.
While evading the Israelis Mahmoud’s friend broke his leg. Unable to continue, Mahmoud helped his friend back to Gilo hoping to take a taxi from there to a hospital. At the checkpoint a soldier tried to detain them and when Mahmoud started to argue the soldier punched him. Mahmoud hit back. A group of soldiers intervened and beat Mahmoud before separating him from the other soldier. After some deliberation the soldiers had Mahmoud sign an agreement saying that he wasn’t beaten, told him he could take his “dog” to the hospital.
To ensure that detainees aren’t mistreated, the Israelis require all detainees to sign a document stating that they weren’t abused. Workers complain that soldiers often strike them and refuse to release them until they sign the document.
Inside the settlement, Israeli soldiers conduct random searches for illegal Palestinian workers. Hassan was caught laying tile in Har Homa, handcuffed, and made to sign a document stating he’d illegally entered Har Homa to work. The soldiers were about to take Hassan to the Gilo checkpoint when their superior officer appeared. He ordered the soldiers to tear up the arrest papers and let Hassan return to work. As the soldiers left, one shouted that he’d cut Hassan’s throat if he saw him in Har Homa again.
For the Hilu brothers the inconsistencies are so absurd they say you have to laugh sometimes. “It’s hard, but it’s funny,” chuckles Mahmoud.
Managed by Israeli-Palestinians most workers have limited interaction with Israelis and the settlers. Mahmoud consciously tries to avoid contact with them. When he had to make basic repairs on a settler’s home she refused to let him in the house without a supervisor present. She told him that left alone with her he might try to kill her. Mahmoud tried to make light of the situation, but eventually had to get his supervisor. When he entered the house the settler’s children screamed “Arab!” and hid.
At home the workers are met with a mixture of understanding and disappointment. Mohamed, the Hilu father, describes the settlements as a cancer. “I am against building the settlements, but this is a critical situation,” he says. Mohamed used to be a construction contractor in Jerusalem, but now travel restrictions prevent him from working there. In Bethlehem he found ten months of work over the last five years. Now three of his sons support the household of ten.
“I’d prefer to die rather than work in a settlement,” says Ba’ha Hilu, one of the brothers. Although he understands why his brothers work in Har Homa, he won’t compromise his beliefs to work there. Presently Ba’ha is unemployed and like the rest of his family, he’s supported by his brothers’ work in the settlements.
“I was like my brother, just thinking politically,” says Ala. “But my political beliefs will not feed my family.” Mahmoud says he doesn’t mind supporting his brother, because he knows he’d do the same for him.
All of the Hilu brothers believe that working in the settlements is wrong, but they feel like there’s no other choice. Before the Intifada Mahmoud had a job in Bethlehem that paid about 100 NIS a day. A friend offered him a chance to work in the settlements for 300 NIS per day, but he refused because he opposed their existence. But without work, he grimly accepts working in Har Homa for 150 NIS a day. If he could find a job in Bethlehem that paid 70 NIS a day he would stop working in Har Homa.
______
At the peak of the second Intifada Mahmoud Hilu’s homemade bee-bee gun sparked allegations that he possessed larger weapons and connections to the militant wing of Fatah. The Israelis arrested him for questioning, kept in solitary confinement and usually questioned him for about nine-hours a day. Twice they interrogated him for three days straight without letting him sleep. After forty-five days and a brief court case he was fined 2,500 NIS and sentenced to a year in prison.
One might imagine that after such an experience Mahmoud wouldn’t aid the Israeli presence in the West Bank, but two months after his release he began risking his safety and imprisonment to work illegally in Bethlehem’s Har Homa settlement. Mahmoud’s brothers Hassan and ‘Ala sometimes work there as well.
The Hilu brothers are part of a number of Palestinians who work in Israeli settlements. While at least 13.6% of West Bank Palestinians work in settlements and Israel, it’s impossible to know the exact number. Few Palestinians possess the necessary travel and work permits, so many illegally enter settlements and get paid under the table. On Mahmoud’s work crew of about fifty workers, he says that only ten hold permits to enter Har Homa legally.
Over a hundred Palestinian workers leave for Har Homa around 3:00AM to arrive there by 6:00AM. Walking to the settlement on the direct roads would take about thirty or forty minutes, but to avoid detection the workers slink along a winding path that can take anywhere from an hour and half to three hours.
The path to Har Homa begins at an opening in the separation barrier around Bethlehem. Workers can’t avoid passing through it. “If they wanted to stop the workers from coming, they could just put two guards at the opening in the wall twenty-four hours a day,” says ‘Ala. Presently soldiers monitor the opening, but only sporadically.
Like his brothers, ‘Ala complains that the arbitrary Israeli policies for dealing with Palestinian workers. An Israeli soldier caught ‘Ala once and before sending him back to Bethlehem the soldier gave him tips for how to pass unnoticed. Other times soldiers have chased after his brothers on horseback. “It all depends on the soldier’s mood,” he says.
When workers get caught, most often they’re sent to the Gilo checkpoint separating Bethlehem from Jerusalem, briefly questioned and forced to wait in silence for one to fifteen hours before they’re released. Although workers can face three months in prison, most of the time they’re set free after several hours. Occasionally they’re beaten.
While evading the Israelis Mahmoud’s friend broke his leg. Unable to continue, Mahmoud helped his friend back to Gilo hoping to take a taxi from there to a hospital. At the checkpoint a soldier tried to detain them and when Mahmoud started to argue the soldier punched him. Mahmoud hit back. A group of soldiers intervened and beat Mahmoud before separating him from the other soldier. After some deliberation the soldiers had Mahmoud sign an agreement saying that he wasn’t beaten, told him he could take his “dog” to the hospital.
To ensure that detainees aren’t mistreated, the Israelis require all detainees to sign a document stating that they weren’t abused. Workers complain that soldiers often strike them and refuse to release them until they sign the document.
Inside the settlement, Israeli soldiers conduct random searches for illegal Palestinian workers. Hassan was caught laying tile in Har Homa, handcuffed, and made to sign a document stating he’d illegally entered Har Homa to work. The soldiers were about to take Hassan to the Gilo checkpoint when their superior officer appeared. He ordered the soldiers to tear up the arrest papers and let Hassan return to work. As the soldiers left, one shouted that he’d cut Hassan’s throat if he saw him in Har Homa again.
For the Hilu brothers the inconsistencies are so absurd they say you have to laugh sometimes. “It’s hard, but it’s funny,” chuckles Mahmoud.
Managed by Israeli-Palestinians most workers have limited interaction with Israelis and the settlers. Mahmoud consciously tries to avoid contact with them. When he had to make basic repairs on a settler’s home she refused to let him in the house without a supervisor present. She told him that left alone with her he might try to kill her. Mahmoud tried to make light of the situation, but eventually had to get his supervisor. When he entered the house the settler’s children screamed “Arab!” and hid.
At home the workers are met with a mixture of understanding and disappointment. Mohamed, the Hilu father, describes the settlements as a cancer. “I am against building the settlements, but this is a critical situation,” he says. Mohamed used to be a construction contractor in Jerusalem, but now travel restrictions prevent him from working there. In Bethlehem he found ten months of work over the last five years. Now three of his sons support the household of ten.
“I’d prefer to die rather than work in a settlement,” says Ba’ha Hilu, one of the brothers. Although he understands why his brothers work in Har Homa, he won’t compromise his beliefs to work there. Presently Ba’ha is unemployed and like the rest of his family, he’s supported by his brothers’ work in the settlements.
“I was like my brother, just thinking politically,” says Ala. “But my political beliefs will not feed my family.” Mahmoud says he doesn’t mind supporting his brother, because he knows he’d do the same for him.
All of the Hilu brothers believe that working in the settlements is wrong, but they feel like there’s no other choice. Before the Intifada Mahmoud had a job in Bethlehem that paid about 100 NIS a day. A friend offered him a chance to work in the settlements for 300 NIS per day, but he refused because he opposed their existence. But without work, he grimly accepts working in Har Homa for 150 NIS a day. If he could find a job in Bethlehem that paid 70 NIS a day he would stop working in Har Homa.
posted by Tom | 5:52 AM
1 Comments:
Tom!!!!
Check your email, punk.
Mwah,
Miss you, my long lost PARC buddy,
Jacki
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