Schwartz - IDF

9.8.2004

"In Israel, all land belongs to the military"- Ruti, manager of the Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salaam Guesthouse

I did some snooping around yesterday about the police and soldiers. The police who came to the pool were in fact on a routine patrol of poolsites throughout the Latrun region. That doesn't mean that if they came upon a Palestinian they wouldn't react; hence the reason our Palestinian crew disappeared for the afternoon. As Black Americans had to be wary of cops in the days of Jm Crow, the Palestinian workers from the West Bank of the village, the local kibbutzim and moshavim, and even the monastery, whether they be illegal or legal (licensed to work in Israel), must always be wary of law enforcement agents. Racism and legitimate fear of terrorism have led to much in the way of abuses by the police: detainments that stretch for days, even weeks, in sweaty prisons, and on-the-spot confiscations of possessions, including licenses, are, according to claims by Palestinians, unfortunate common occurences.

As to the presence of soldiers in the area, apparently the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) use Latrun regularly for "field excercises." I find this to be strange. For one thing, they are landing troops on private farmland (admittedly, the notion of "private" in Israel is a funny notion because so much of the land is directly owned by the state or indirectly through the JNF/KKL, the Jewish National Fund). Furthermore, why choose an area with such proximity to the Green Line (and such apparently high amounts of illicit border-crossing) to train army troops... unless it's not truly training? Nevertheless, there may not be ulterior motives. After all, Israel is a ridiculously tiny country, and especially thin at the waist, so one would be justified to ask, 'Where else would they train?' Incidentally, most of the Negev is military property, used to tests and excercises. However, most of the Middle East is not desert, and so a military force, especially one for an isolated country such as Israel, would naturally want to have some experience with more lively terrain.

I took photographs of the helicopters, but unfortunately my digital camera is lousy. The helicopters were no more than 200 feet away from me at one point, flying directly over the village's main office, but in the photographs they appear as though they were on the other side of the planet.

Update: I did some research this weekend on the Battle of Latrun and the Burma Road. Also, the village has information pertaining to the possible clearing of Arab villages from this region as late as 1958 and 1967.

In the extended entry is my original entry from yesterday.

In the future I will try to restrain myself from outbursts unbecoming of a (would-be) journalist. I am reminded of the idiot American journalist who has inadvertently sabotaged Ben's research into the Kashgar cattle markets. Journalism is a craft, an art, like football (soccer), not an American pigskin game where you can sloppily throw your weight around and still make a touchdown.

Original entry:
"8.8.2004 Soldiers have landed near village"
Police came to the village earlier today and black hawk helicopters are at this moment depositing soldiers on an olive farm down the hill from Neve Shalom. The village's Palestinian workers have gone into hiding. I don't know if the police and the soldiers are connected, but the Green Line is only a few kilometers away from the village and illegal Arab workers litter the region. The helicopters, from a nearby base, are also circling the village. The locals go about their business undisturbed, but this is a chilling reminder that I am now living in a warzone... I'll update this entry with more information as it comes to me.