Sunday, September 26

Living under Israeli occupation-The Wedding

Here is an article of interest on the first hand experience of a Palestinian living under Israeli Occupation.


Ed CorriganYasmine Brighith

It's well known that the Israeli invasions of Palestine are not limited to specific cities or villages, and no town is safe from repeated invasions. The town of Beit Amer in Hebron District has been repeatedly subjected to attack.

These attacks target infrastructure such as the water and electricity networks, either through direct demolition and destruction, or by cutting residents off from them. The Israeli destructive hand also stretches into commercial areas, stores, houses, streets and farmland.

Beit Amer is an agricultural area where most residents work on the land. The town is located in the middle of illegal Jewish settlements Kfar Assioun in the south and Karmi Tsour, which was built on Beit Amer land, which is why soldiers and settlers frequently assault Palestinian farmers to prevent them from cultivating their lands.

During the morning of Aug. 21, 2007, the town’s residents were surprised by a deployment of large numbers of Israeli soldiers who besieged the town and occupied a number of the homes, converting them to military centers after evicting their owners.

The soldiers were deployed everywhere including on the roofs. That day coincided with the wedding of one of the town’s young men, Rami Hussein Brighith, my brother.

The troops placed roadblocks in the path of the young men and the wedding party families on their way to the bride’s house.

Israeli soldiers also tried to prevent wedding guests from reaching the wedding’s tent, tried to destroy the wedding celebration, and prevented the families from firing traditional celebratory fireworks.

The soldiers were not content with those actions.

At the moment the guests reached the wedding tent in the town centre, the army fired tear gas into the tent. This attack resulted in severe gas attacks affecting the bride and groom, their families, seniors, sick people and the children.

Everybody ran to hide at the house of the groom’s father, Hussein Mohammed Brighith.

After everybody calmed down, they tried to continue with the wedding to they would not be prevented from celebrating the marriage.

The guests went back to dance and sing and be happy, even if for only one hour. However, the happiness did not last.

After a short time the army fired more tear gas and sound bombs into the enclosed tent, which terrified everybody.

This attack was even worse than the first attack. Everybody ran out of the enclosed tent and dispersed into the streets in search of a safe place where they could breathe and to protect themselves and their children from the tear gas.

This second attack ended the wedding celebration. It was just another day under Israel’s military occupation.
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