flyingears
flyingears
green laser
I was in Askar camp two nights ago, staying with friends. We went to a small store to buy some bread and hummus to eat back at my friend’s house. It was late in the evening, maybe 10:00, and very dark. As we began to leave the store, a very large beam of green light shot into the street of the camp. I could see its origin on a hilltop above the camp and quite a ways away. The Israeli military was shooting an intense green laser into the camp; sometimes the laser erratically jumped through the streets and other times it seemed to probe an area or go up and down the street. I hurried back to my friend’s place and got my camera. When I returned to the street, the laser was still being shot into the camp. I got behind a crate of oranges, so that I could steady my camera on something solid to help get a clear photograph in the darkness. I took a few photos and then the laser was pointed directly at me and held there. Those with me yelled at me to move. Everyone jumped into the street and ran into the alley. It was really sickening. This is psychological war. Just totally fucking with people’s minds, saying ‘we have total and complete power here; we can see your every movement, we can target you at any time, and we can kill you at any moment we want.’ The military could obviously see me and see what I was doing. And it was from a long distance and from above. Like people say here, it is a prison. Total observation and power; fear and anxiety are constant.
I asked today in a class I had in Askar about the laser, if it happened every night. Everyone in the class said that yes, it happened every night. I asked if bullets ever accompanied the laser, I was told yes; for example, if the soldiers see a ‘wanted’ person they shoot them.
I really can’t imagine what it would be like to live under these kinds of conditions. Can you understand this? Can you imagine what it would be likely to be living constantly and with no choice with this? And this, the laser, is just one of many, many things that happen every single day here. It is like a prison.
I mentioned earlier about the two men killed about a week ago. I learned more about the circumstances. From what I hear, including statements from the medics who were on the scene and an international who saw and photographed the bodies, the two men were chased down and killed unarmed in an abandoned building in the village. One was shot three times in the chest with an M-16 and probably was killed almost instantly. The other bled to death. He was shot in the foot and leg. And, at some point, was stabbed with bayonets. He was stabbed in the anus with a bayonet. A large chunk of flesh had been cut off of his shoulder as well. After the men were shot in the house, the bodies were taken by the Israeli military into the mountains beneath a settlement. The army then called the medics and told them were to find the bodies. Everyone here knows that the military operation began at about 7:00 pm; there was a tank in the village backing up the soldiers. The men were killed between about 7:30 and 8:00. The bodies were picked up by the medics at about 11:00 pm, after the soldiers kept them and did what they did. Then the military released a statement that the men had been killed in the mountains on their way to attack a settlement.
green laser
I was in Askar camp two nights ago, staying with friends. We went to a small store to buy some bread and hummus to eat back at my friend’s house. It was late in the evening, maybe 10:00, and very dark. As we began to leave the store, a very large beam of green light shot into the street of the camp. I could see its origin on a hilltop above the camp and quite a ways away. The Israeli military was shooting an intense green laser into the camp; sometimes the laser erratically jumped through the streets and other times it seemed to probe an area or go up and down the street. I hurried back to my friend’s place and got my camera. When I returned to the street, the laser was still being shot into the camp. I got behind a crate of oranges, so that I could steady my camera on something solid to help get a clear photograph in the darkness. I took a few photos and then the laser was pointed directly at me and held there. Those with me yelled at me to move. Everyone jumped into the street and ran into the alley. It was really sickening. This is psychological war. Just totally fucking with people’s minds, saying ‘we have total and complete power here; we can see your every movement, we can target you at any time, and we can kill you at any moment we want.’ The military could obviously see me and see what I was doing. And it was from a long distance and from above. Like people say here, it is a prison. Total observation and power; fear and anxiety are constant.
I asked today in a class I had in Askar about the laser, if it happened every night. Everyone in the class said that yes, it happened every night. I asked if bullets ever accompanied the laser, I was told yes; for example, if the soldiers see a ‘wanted’ person they shoot them.
I really can’t imagine what it would be like to live under these kinds of conditions. Can you understand this? Can you imagine what it would be likely to be living constantly and with no choice with this? And this, the laser, is just one of many, many things that happen every single day here. It is like a prison.
I mentioned earlier about the two men killed about a week ago. I learned more about the circumstances. From what I hear, including statements from the medics who were on the scene and an international who saw and photographed the bodies, the two men were chased down and killed unarmed in an abandoned building in the village. One was shot three times in the chest with an M-16 and probably was killed almost instantly. The other bled to death. He was shot in the foot and leg. And, at some point, was stabbed with bayonets. He was stabbed in the anus with a bayonet. A large chunk of flesh had been cut off of his shoulder as well. After the men were shot in the house, the bodies were taken by the Israeli military into the mountains beneath a settlement. The army then called the medics and told them were to find the bodies. Everyone here knows that the military operation began at about 7:00 pm; there was a tank in the village backing up the soldiers. The men were killed between about 7:30 and 8:00. The bodies were picked up by the medics at about 11:00 pm, after the soldiers kept them and did what they did. Then the military released a statement that the men had been killed in the mountains on their way to attack a settlement.
posted by matt iv at 12:57 PM
3 Comments:
Matt, this is very interesting, I hope you keep writing while you are over there. How long are you going to be there?
What is with the title, Flying Ears????
I leave in the middle of March, so not very much longer. Time has gone so fast while I have been here.
Matt, thanks for sharing your experiences. It frustrates me to no end, that if one wishes to visit Palestine to see how the people there are really doing, Isreal denies entry. They have created their own version of forced ghettos, but refuse to admit that this is wrong, ignoring their own history. Keep up spreading good will and stay safe, Tom.
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