|
|
|
|
|
TITLE: Police Raid Damascus Gate Market |
AUTHOR: |
PUB: |
DATE: February 28, 2001 |
|
It is 1:30 in the morning here, I am writing from a hostel across the street from Bab al-Amoud, or Damascus Gate. When I disembarked from a van tonight in front of the market that is situated outside the Gate, I found myself witness to a very shocking scene. It was clear something was wrong even before the van pulled over, because there were many people sitting on the grass where part of the market had stood earlier today, as if they were having a picnic. On the curb was a large - and I mean container-size - truck with a bulldozer type scoop that was crushing and picking up trash from an enormous pile on the lawn. Clearly everyone was watching it, but what made it obvious this was not just a better alternative to tv were the large numbers of police and soldiers present, some of whom were even involved in the debris removal. I was fortunate to have digital audio and camera equipment with me, so if I can get the sound downloaded you'll be able to get a fairly sensurround report of this on indymedia tomorrow. As has been my experience throughout the past month here, people in the market were extremely willing to talk about what was happening and why it was happening. Although a tv camera finally showed up around midnight, I was actually the only person there documenting the raid. It was for me one of these moments when I could think of no other way to describe the police except as pigs. This was the third time I've had the military get angry about my taking pictures, though tonight I was actually chased by a stick-wielding strongman because I took a flash photo of the police commander of the Old City, who was chirping away merrily among a group of soldiers and cops. There was no official Palestinian presence to challenge the raid, no record-keeping of damages incurred by the Palestinians - yet another demonstration of the lawlessness here by which every form of harassment is justified as a "security measure" and the people who are being victimized have no recognized means to challenge what is being done to them. To summarize what has occurred: Around 9:30 p.m. the military and police arrived with three large trucks and began tearing apart the market. They tossed out and destroyed everything: food, tables, stall coverings, baskets, chairs, and merchandise. Most of the people present were men, along with a few older women whom I was told sell vegetables, trying to salvage their things. There were police there not in uniform who were doing most of the strip-down work. Walkie-talkie cops were everywhere. Old men sat on the grass drinking tea and watching their livelihoods be transformed into unrecognizable garbage. As one young man told me, to try and stop them meant being arrested and possibly stay in jail for weeks or months. The Eid al-Adha begins on Monday, so the market was very busy today, it is a good time for business and the Israelis obviously didn't time the raid ignorant of this fact. One person I interviewed said this happens every few months, without any warning; another expanded on this, adding that they rotate the Old City forces every six months, and having recently done this, it is important to reestablish a relationship with the marketers that reminds them who is in control of their lives. Everyone I spoke with, in both languages, assured me this only happens because they are Arabs, offering detailed comparisons to how the market in West Jerusalem is maintained and respected, which is Jewish. Whether one agrees with this assessment or not, this is how the people living under occupation feel, and it is therefore extremely important to repeat. The perception of collective, racist-based punishment has everything to do with the spontaneity of the current intifada, and likewise with why Palestinians are determined to not run away with their tails between their legs. Many of us expected Sharon's victory to cause an escalation in the violence here, and the Israelis have gotten great media mileage from a bus driver who killed some soldiers. What is lacking continuously in the mainstream reporting and Israeli analyses is the extent to which the Israelis themselves are provoking violence and increasing anger towards them. The economic problems in East Jerusalem are extensive and filter through the society in subtle as well as not so subtle ways. Thousands of people outside the city depend on its commercial activities for their survival here. There are no Jews working in the Damascus Market I saw beaten to the ground this evening. It doesn't take a genius to figure this one out. END |