Our suffering is from Bush

When Marilyn, a visiting journalist from Chicago, asked if she could witness, some of the activities of Hebron's Jewish Community (the Israeli settlers) in contact with local Palestinians, I invited her to loin me in a Saturday school patrol with the Palestinian elementary girls at Qurtuba School located between Beit Hadassah and Tel Rumeida, two of the militant settlement enclaves of the Jewish Community.

Marilyn and I arrived at the school about a half hour before school dismissal, and I introduced Marilyn to the headmistress Ferial Abu Haikel. I remembered the many times I had talked with Ferial, and the many incidents where settlers had harassed children and teachers in the school.

"Marilyn wants to witness how you are suffering from the settlers," I explained to Ferial. "We are suffering from Bush," she replied.

I nodded slowly. Her statement was not meant to be directed against me; she still had her warm welcoming smile.

For the past nine years, members of our team have witnessed vicious attacks by settlers on Ferial, her family members, the staff at the school, and the little girls who attend the school. We have documented these attacks in our reports. But I understood Ferial's words: "We are suffering from Bush." The recent letter from Bush to Sharon has undermined United Nations resolutions and shattered any hope Palestinians have for their future. And the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the massacre in Falluja has increased the hatred of America throughout the world.

After we walked some of the children to their homes. Israeli settler children once again pelted us with stones. Then we visited with the Abu Aisha family whose two young boys had been beaten by settlers the previous Tuesday. We have quickly forgotten the stones, and the children hardly remember the attack. They now talk about the Americans. Even the children say their suffering is from Bush.

Christian Peacemaker Teams is an ecumenical initiative to support violence reduction efforts around the world. http://www.cpt.org.

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