Blessed
is the fruit of thy womb.
By Sean Hawkey, Bethlehem, 2
December 2002
When Nahed Fawaregh became
pregnant earlier this year she and her husband felt
blessed, she was due to give birth in the first days of
December and would travel to the nearby maternity
hospital in Bethlehem. Nahed and her family live
in a small village called Ma'sarah (meaning Olive Press)
where the countryside is spotted with olive groves and
vineyards. There is no maternity clinic in Ma'sarah so
she would travel to nearby Bethlehem to give birth. While
many of the villagers drive small herds of goats and
sheep, Nahed's husband drives a taxi, so getting to the
hospital wouldn't be a problem. Nahed, who just
turned 20, was the subject of family affection as her
baby grew, friends gave her small gifts, old ladies
knitted little jumpers and everyone made sure she ate
what she wanted. Nahed was a radiant picture of health
and happiness.
At midday on November 27 Nahed went into labour. She had
already prepared a bag and she set off with her husband
in the taxi for Bethlehem. They went on the only road
that isn't dug-up and blocked-off with piles of earth and
rubble by Israeli bulldozers. But only certain people are
allowed on this road: Jewish people who live in the
heavily guarded settlements. The innocuous term
"settlements" doesn't accurately describe the
expanding colonies: cities and towns built on the highest
land, taken by military force and inhabited by some
400,000 people, many of them east-European immigrants.
The local people are left with the ever-diminishing gaps
between the colonies and the roads that join them up, the
water they need for irrigation diverted to the
Israeli-occupied land. The Fawareghs knew they
were forbidden to travel on the Jewish-only road but it
was an emergency. They prayed that they wouldn't run into
an Israeli patrol, but they did.
A jeep with four soldiers of the Israeli
occupation forces caught them and held them at gunpoint.
The soldiers said nothing even though it was obvious that
Nahed was in pain. Her waters broke and Mr Fawaregh
pleaded with the soldiers, they told him to shut up.
Nahed began to bleed but the soldiers still said nothing,
they just kept them waiting. Finally, after two hours,
they let them go.
This was neither a mistake nor an isolated case.
This is part of the routine persecution of the Christian
and Muslim people of Palestine, it is Israeli policy. In
fact, this is so common that the Israeli occupation
forces are being issued with medical kits to deal with
women who "choose to give birth at
checkpoints". Bethlehem is under curfew, the
streets are patrolled by tanks. "This is a
prison" explains Mitri Raheb, a resident priest:
"if you leave your house you will be shot".
Tank crews shout through loudhailers as they roar past
the houses: "don't come out, you animals". The
afternoon that Nahed arrived in Bethlehem a Mr Rabayia,
who had gone to get some bread for his family, was shot
dead by occupation troops. He was shot in the back of the
head with an explosive bullet. Often such murders are
reported as crossfire, people here explain in despair ń
"that means that we cross and they fire".
Helplessly, I watched his mother and wife gnashing their
teeth and tearing at their hair and clothes with grief.
In Bethlehem, a statue of the Virgin Mary stands
above the entrance of the maternity hospital called the
Holy Family, she is riddled with Israeli bullets. When
Nahed finally arrived at the hospital it was clear that
the long delay had been critical. Her baby boy was dead.
Nahed tells me her story quietly, she is full of
grace, "I offer up my suffering to God" she
says. As I look at her I can't help thinking that you can
see the whole story in her face, not just her own story
but Palestine's story.
Sean Hawkey©2 December 2002 , Editor of Action and
Website Manager, WACC 357 Kennington Lane, London SE11
5QY, UK Email: sh@wacc.org.uk web: http://www.wacc.org.uk Tel: 44
(0)20 7582 9139
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