Brazilian Palestinians residing in the West Bank, despite being far from the Gaza Strip, have been directly affected by Israel’s war with Hamas.
Since the explosion, they have been unable to leave their cities, as ordered by the Jewish state, which has blocked all sites in the territory.
In peacetime, Palestinians in the West Bank can only move between cities by passing checkpoints on the streets, checkpoints where they are searched and forced to give interviews at gunpoint.
But at least they were able to overcome these barriers. Well, not even that.
Locked in a room designated by the Jewish state, they hear the hellish noise of Israeli warplanes flying over their homes, carrying bombs dropped a few kilometers away in the Gaza Strip where they have friends and often family.
However, unlike the Brazilians who were in Israel, people from the West Bank are now avoiding interviews for fear of suffering relentless persecution at the hands of the Jewish state they face.
Some who dared to speak had their cellphones blocked the fact has already been reported to Brazilian diplomats, who can do little about it.
After much persistence, the column managed to speak to a PalestinianBrazilian who has lived in the West Bank city of Ramallah for almost 30 years.
HF (she will be identified by her initials for security reasons) is just over 50 years old and has children born in Palestinian territory.
Her first response to the interview request was: “Hello, I apologize, but I am not doing any interviews at the moment. I am sorry, but the situation in the Palestinian territories is very critical and tense.”
He continued: “We all gave interviews to the international press until unfortunately our cell phones were hacked and we could no longer use them. That’s our reality here.” At least four Brazilians she knows have their phones blocked.
HF only agreed to his statement after he had been assured that his identity would be protected. “I could be followed,” she says. “We are locked up. It’s a collective punishment, as if we deserve punishment,” she says.
Read his story below.
ABOUT THE PLANES
These conflicts [entre israelenses e palestinos] They have been around for over 70 years and I have experienced several of them. But I have never seen such violence as in this war declared on October 7th.
We hear the sound of F16s, the world’s most advanced fighter jets, flying into Gaza to kill women, children and the elderly. They do not spare any houses, hospitals, schools. Nothing nothing.
They are the ones who die, not the Hamas leaders.
Entire families are being wiped out, they no longer have a civil register, there is no one left to carry on their last name. There are already 50 families in which parents, children, grandparents, uncles, everyone has died. There’s nothing left.
And the world watches this horror in silence, as if it were a movie in the cinema where you later go home to sleep.
We are outraged, frustrated and outraged by so many innocent deaths.
She [moradores de Gaza] They don’t care who supports them or not. They just want to live.
Ramallah and all other surrounding cities are blockaded by Israel. Nobody comes in, nobody leaves. We cannot move in any way
DAILY
Just come to the West Bank, to Gaza, and just see it with your own eyes to understand the Palestinian cause. I live in Ramallah and have to travel to different cities for work reasons.
There are checkpoints [pontos de controle] throughout the West Bank.
Even to visit relatives in the village of Koformalek, my parents’ hometown, 15 minutes from Ramallah, I have to pass them.
If they are open, everything is fine. But they are often closed with iron gates or concrete blocks. And you have to wait in the car for up to six hours to be searched and overcome this hurdle.
You have to give an interview and explain where you are going and what you are going to do. And they can simply prevent you from continuing the journey. Without any explanation, just stating security reasons. It’s humiliating.
ABBREVIATION
It is possible to travel secretly. But you risk being attacked by the Jewish settlers who are in the settlements.
When we talk about settlements, people imagine tents and construction work. No. These are entire cities built on land confiscated from the Palestinians.
They are taking over your land without your permission. And they have the support of Israel.
Weapons were distributed to all settlers under the pretext that they had to defend themselves. They invade cities, set fire to cars and houses with people in them. The international press has already shown this.
I could be followed. We are locked up. It is a collective punishment, as if we deserve punishment
IN WAR
After the war, Ramallah and all other surrounding cities are blockaded. Nobody comes in, nobody leaves. We cannot move in any way.
People from other cities who work here are not allowed in. Life stands still. This is what is happening in the West Bank right now.
HAMAS
It’s not the combatants who die, but the civilians. And even if Israel manages to eliminate some of them, others will emerge.
In 2014 [quando Israel lançou uma campanha militar contra Gaza], several were killed. A new generation emerged from their descendants.
It is something that is passed down from generation to generation. And it will never end. It won’t stop until there is peace.
She [israelenses] They will always feel threatened because they are wrong. You won’t sleep peacefully. They can be attacked at any time because they have taken over other people’s lands.
WHITE FLAG
There will only be peace if Israel abides by the first UN resolution of 1948, which established the division of Palestine into two states.
Arab countries didn’t accept it? And truth. And they had the right not to accept it. How would you feel if they invaded your house, kicked you out and you no longer had the right to a house, land, anything, nothing?
This was the Palestinian diaspora [depois da criação de Israel].
We paid a bill that wasn’t ours. The Arabs never persecuted the Jews. They lived in harmony with the Jews. Those who persecuted them were the Europeans.
And even after all this, Palestinian leaders like Yasser Arafat reached out, recognized Israel and agreed to the two states [um judeu e outro palestino].
Even if we lost. And Israel has achieved nothing. They didn’t respect anything. Nevertheless, the country is not subject to sanctions or retaliation.
This is what causes so much outrage, revolt and frustration. This is what allows groups like Hamas to grow. No one will be able to control these feelings.
She [israelenses] They will always feel threatened because they are wrong. You won’t sleep peacefully. They can be attacked at any time because they have taken over other people’s lands.
THE ILLUSION
My parents emigrated from the West Bank to Brazil in the 1960s because life was difficult here.
When I was 13 I came here to visit. I liked it and asked to stay. I studied at an American school for three years. But the first intifada came [movimento de insurreição palestino]and they asked me to come back.
I lived in Brazil again, went to college and asked to return in 1994. It was the time of the Oslo Peace Accords [assinado por Israel e pelas lideranças palestinas e que previa a criação de dois Estados].
We dreamed back then that it would be possible to create a free and independent Palestinian state.
Many, many came here to invest in the Palestinian state. But it was an illusion. Israel’s rightwing, extremist, racist and fascist governments have exploded the agreements.
GAZA
Israel’s main goal now is to get the Palestinians to leave Gaza and go to Egypt. Israel wants to vacate the region in order to take over it. But that won’t happen.
Gaza has already been destroyed and rebuilt thousands of times. The people of Gaza are resilient, they have already been through five or six wars, they have nothing left to lose.
I never went there because Israel does not allow this movement. I asked a thousand times but I never understood. I wanted to see it with my own eyes, see what Gaza was like and talk to the people there.
We paid a bill that wasn’t ours. The Arabs never persecuted the Jews. They lived in harmony with the Jews. Those who persecuted them were the Europeans
BACK TO BRAZIL
I would only return to Brazil if the war escalates and reaches the West Bank. I would have to think about the safety of my family. But otherwise, I’ll stay here, defend myself and hope that one day we get our rights back.
I have seen conflicts in which Israel has even banned ambulances from traveling on the streets of Ramallah to deliver medicine.
There were days when I didn’t have a slice of bread to eat at home. And I stayed here. I do not go. We will resist.