The occupation's toll on children

Children ready for the party

Drum band

Palestinian children in a neighborhood just southeast of the old city of Jerusalem enjoyed a party today, hosted by the neighborhood cultural committee. They need some fun because of all the anxiety and stress they suffer daily because of the Israeli occupation.

Partial view of Al-Bustan

The event took place in the tent erected for the Friday prayers in Al-Bustan, a neighborhood of Silwan (see Feb. 15 blog). There were songs, poems, speeches, and skits dealing with the occupation. No police or soldiers came to mar the event.

A teenage drum band paraded down the hill and through the community, past many homes that are threatened with demolition by Israeli authorities to make way for an archeological park and more homes for Jewish settlers.

Fakhri Abu Diab and granddaughter Mirna

A member of the Al-Bustan Committee, Fakhri Abu Diab, says that every day his children and grandchildren ask him, "Are they going to come today to demolish our house?" He said that one child packed a bag with clothes and favorite toys to be ready. The children are frightened when they hear gunfire and police raids in the middle of the night.

Fakhri says this past week police arrested seven boys, and their parents had to pay fines of about $500 each to get them released. Two of them were restricted to their homes, so they could not attend school. Fakhri says the boys were falsely charged with throwing stones at police. They were only playing football, he said.

Amani Mousa Odeh 

One of the organizers of today's party, Amani Mousa Odeh, says her 13-year-old brother was arrested 33 times in the past four years! Part of the reason may be that her father is on the Al-Bustan Committee.

Ghaleb shows us new Jewish house in the Christian
Quarter. Palestinians across the street could
not get a permit for renovations.

Earlier today, we had a briefing and tour of the old city with Ghaleb Nashashibi, programs coordinator of the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center. The group is fighting demolitions, rezoning, and revocation of Palestinians' Jerusalem residency rights. He said Jews have been buying houses in the Muslim and Christian quarters and now account for about one-fourth of the old city's 55,000 inhabitants.

House bought (but not occupied) by
Ariel Sharon in the Muslim Quarter

The Arabic signs for this street in the Muslim Quarter call it the
 Shabi family compound, but Israeli authorities changed the name
in Hebrew and English to Little Western Wall, and Jews pray there

Beit Yakov Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter, destroyed by Jordan
in 1948, was rebuilt and reopened in 2010. But authorities have
refused permission to restore the adjacent mosque