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‘I’m an Irishman in the West Bank helping kids get to school through checkpoints’
Alex Dunne has been in the West Bank for over 40 days now, collecting stories of stories of military incursions, night raids, and settler attacks.
“WHAT ARE YOU doing? Why are you here?” The soldier asks. “I’m keeping an eye on the children getting to and from school” I replied. The soldier blinks in disbelief. “Do children not go to school in Ireland?”. “Of course they do” I replied, “But not in the presence of an army. Not in the presence of tear-gas, rifles and jeeps”.
“Ah”. A smile crept across his face as he looked down, shaking his head. “So you’re watching me”.
I’ve been in the West Bank for nearly 40 days, travelling from Ireland as an ecumenical
accompanier (human rights monitor) with the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). In this piece of land, smaller than Galway, the abnormal has become normal, the wrong has become right, and the profound beauty of the land has been muted by sirens, demolitions, stabbings and shootings.
My days are filled with travel and sweet tea. I accompany children to school, and collect stories of military incursions, night raids, and settler attacks – filling report after report, which are shared with UN bodies, and others needing such testimonies.
Israel’s military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank is more than 40 years old and continues to hurt both Palestinians and Israelis to this day. EAPPI believes it is the keystone to the long-term resolution of conflict in the region.
The Oslo Accords of the early 1990’s, an interim agreement for the establishment of a Palestinian state, are now 23 years old and 17 years overdue, and are seen by many Palestinians as the second occupation. With the Accords’ establishment of Areas A, B and C, the hope of achieving a functioning contiguous Palestinian state has never seemed further from reality.
Philosophers stone – selected views from the boat http://philosophers-stone.co.uk
Source: http://www.philosophers-stone.co.uk/?p=8095
