Following the latest re-invasion of Beit Sahour and the district of Bethlehem, we are still under curfew, this being the fifth day in a row. Every two hours Israeli tanks and jeeps patrol the city to make sure that we know the curfew is still imposed and that we dare not go out of our homes for fear of being killed.

Following the latest re-invasion of Beit Sahour and the district of Bethlehem, we are still under curfew, this being the fifth day in a row. Every two hours Israeli tanks and jeeps patrol the city to make sure that we know the curfew is still imposed and that we dare not go out of our homes for fear of being killed. Each day Israeli forces invade a new town or village in Palestine and impose curfew, and the Israeli Defense Ministry have declared that their troops will go wherever they need to go and stay as long as necessary to dismantle the Palestinian “nests of terror” to prevent suicide bombers from going into Israel. The Israeli military are carrying out intensive searches throughout each town. All people are talking about is that the Israeli troops are planning on reoccupying the whole of Palestine, they are staying longer than their previous invasions. We fear that this has now become our new routine, to be prisoners in our own homes and only let out to buy food and other necessities when Israeli troops allow it by lifting the curfew. We feel that we are experiencing a slow and painful death. We are animals caged like in a zoo, dependent on our captors to allow us to live. Thank God that the schools are out, but I feel sorry for our high school students who are doing their Tawjihi exams. Each day we see announcement on TV asking the Tawjihi students to be prepared to take the exam once the curfew is lifted, or students must try to get to the nearest hall near their village and try to take the exam. What future do these students have to look forward to after their high school year?

There is really not much to tell, because I myself do not know much about what is going to happen to us. I also do not need to talk about the continuation of the Israeli destruction to our lives, because it has become a routine for you as well. The people of Palestine are living in dark and sinister shadows and we have no glimmer of light to look forward to. Our resistance to the illegal occupation of our land is legitimate, we are struggling to achieve justice, freedom and peace for all the people in the region, but Israel does not want this. As long as they send in their army and continue to oppress, brutalize and humiliate us, steal our land and destroy our homes, then we have little hope for the future of peace between us.

Suzan Sahori
International Public Relation Office
Beit Sahour Municipality
Occupied Beit Sahour
Palestine