A song for Ramallah

Wein a Ramallah Wein a Ramallah

One of the more popular Palestinian songs asks travellers where they are going, and the answer is always Ramallah. This town built on a hill north of Jerusalem has always been known as a Palestinian resort. Married couples from various Arab countries used to spend their honeymoon in this city. As children I remember fondly the picnic-like nature of our regular visits to this city.

Riding the swings in the Ramallah municipal park, renting bikes and eating Rukab's ice cream with its distinctive taste were among the happy memories of this town.

Ramallah this week is certainly not the destination of honeymooners or for picnics. Israeli tanks and soldiers armed to the teeth have turned this happy town into hell on earth.

Unlike what they have attempted to convince the outside world, the Israeli incursion has more to do with an attempt to demoralise Palestinians than to 'root out terrorism.'

Because how else can one explain the exaggerated Israeli use of force that has provoked angry responses from Israel's only remaining ally, the United States.

How can the shooting at foreign journalists, which has caused the death of an Italian photographer be explained? What has a hospital providing needed humanitarian and emergency services have to do with the declared Israeli claim of wanting to root out Palestinian terrorism? Shooting outside the Ramallah hospital was obvious to all television observers.

Television news spoke of hospital doctors and staff prevented from reaching their work destination.

Family and friends of a friend who had died after a long battle cancer were unable to get to the hospital to collect her corpse and give her a proper burial.

Being away from Ramallah this week made it even more difficult. When I called my friend Ayman, I discovered that he had been stuck in his home for three days. Essential food items are quickly running out. He told me that the opening of local shops on the second day of the Israeli reoccupation lasted only a few hours as the local population quickly bought everything available.

And with no supplies coming into the city to replenish shelves, storeowners had to close shop and sit at home waiting for the Israelis to allow the entry of basic food items and other essentials.
Electricity was out during the first day of the second Israeli occupation of Ramallah. But when the electricity was back, little of life in Ramallah returned to normal.

At Al Quds Educational Television, three members of the staff who were stuck in the office when the occupation began, had no choice but to sleep at the station and to try their best to keep the station running giving basic information to the population.

I was told by the station's director, Ayman Bardawil, that the staff spent most of time re-broadcasting news reports and short service announcements from the governor of the city. Ayman told me that they played many times the 13 television spots created with Unesco with the aim of helping parents and children dealing with times of extreme stress and instability.

Local radio and television stations were used by local government to help deal with the difficulties on the ground. On a local television station in Bethlehem I noticed that an announcement by the local civil defence department listed only a cellular phone number. This was a reflection of the fact that the Israelis had bombed the civil forces premises where land lines are located thus forcing the directors to announce their personal cell numbers as a reference point for the public.

On another station, I noticed a flash announcement informing the Palestinian public of the location of the Israeli sniper. "Israeli snipers located on top of the Orphanage Home in Beit Jala," read the television announcement.

This latest Israeli incursion into Ramallah has been described as one of the largest Israeli military operations for some time. Sending tanks to a populated area, cutting supplies and shooting at journalists is not something any military would like listed as its accomplishments.

For Palestinians, however, they understand that the Israelis are playing in lost time as the visit of General Zinni and the resolutions of the Security Council will certainly ensure that Israel leaves the Palestinian territories permanently.

With or without Zinni and the Security council, the determination and will of the Palestinian people has not been shaken by the Israeli actions, on the contrary. They know that the days of the Israeli occupation are numbered. They are just as certain that the lyrics of Wein a Ramallah will soon be ringing in the restaurants and parks in and out of Ramallah.

Daoud Kuttab is a leading activist in Jerusalem and a respected commentator on Palestinian matters.