Living with fear http://asp.alhaq.org/zalhaq/site/eDocs/txtDocs/News%20Items/news_010503.htm 01-05-2003 Al-Haq Kavitha S. Daniel meets Palestinian human rights activist who describes life under occupation There's a sense of urgency in her voice. She talks at a furious pace as she describes what it is like living in the shadow of a big brother. She talks of being stalked by this entity that is so much part of life. And for no apparent reason, could take away loved and cherished ones. This is how the Palestinian human rights activist from the West Bank, Randa Siniora, depicts life in the Occupied Territories today. She is in Abu Dhabi to deliver lectures on the Palestinian situation. She spoke to Tabloid about a human rights activist living under occupation. Randa heads one of the oldest human rights organisations operating in the West Bank, Gaza strip and Occupied Jerusalem. Her organisation, Al Haq, established in 1979 with the goal of protecting and promoting human rights and respect for the rule of law in the Occupied Territories, is not just a watchdog. It also documents Israeli violations of the basic rights of people, pinpoints trends in human rights issues, launches campaigns based on its findings, provides legal and medical aid to individuals, and does extensive legal research. For instance, the Ramallah-based Al Haq recently identified the issue of collective punishments meted out by the Israeli soldiers on Palestinians. Punishments range from harassment of Palestinians through random killings, arbitrary detentions, demolition of homes to economic repression. These atrocities are a gross violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, of which Israel is a signatory, says Randa. Al Haq highlights these facts to the world and brings pressure on governments to persuade Israel to end these illegal activities. Most recently, Al Haq has been conducting legal research into the eight-metre-high apartheid wall being erected through the West Bank and Gaza Strip, cutting these areas off from Israel. But Al Haq also takes up cases against the Palestinian Authority (PA). That makes our work all that more difficult because we are criticised by both sides, says Randa, a social science graduate with a passion for women's causes. In the case of PA, Al Haq has questioned the legality of courts that have been set up to try alleged Israeli collaborators. A person could be accused of an act of treason and brought before the court to be sentenced and executed within hours, she says. This goes against the basic human right to life. Randa gives a chilling account of an execution by hanging of a collaborator on a busy street in Ramallah. This happened after an incursion by the Israelis. The people chased away the journalists and gathered around the man to spit on him even as he lay dying, she says. More determined There are many such episodes Randa narrates from her diary where she has jotted down experiences in Palestine. Such experiences have only made her more determined in her struggle for human rights. It is a challenge working as a human rights organisation, but we continually make internal contacts with the authorities on both sides, visit prisons, write letters, use international institutions such as voluntary groups, governments and the United Nations to intervene on our behalf, she says. Al Haq is an affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists – Geneva and is an NGO with a consultative status on the Economic and Social Council of the UN. Having taken over the directorship of Al Haq in November 2001, Randa says she is proud of being involved with such a worthy cause to liberate her country. She says Al Haq has been most effective in locating the sons of families taken away by the Israeli soldiers. The repeated Israeli incursions in villages are followed by arbitrary detentions and arrests. That's when we open hotlines and quickly inform families where their men have been detained. This may be a trivial matter to an outsider, but they should remember the agony families undergo when members are suddenly arrested. They don't even know if they are alive. We have located more than 2,000 such people, she says. Another important achievement of Al Haq has been to bring four Israeli Border Police to book in the death of a 17-year-old Palestinian teenager in Hebron. It was Al Haq that pushed for an investigation and convinced the families to exhume the body and with the help of organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, applied pressure on the government to arrest the offenders, Randa says. However, it would be difficult to oversee the punishment meted out to these soldiers by Israeli courts, she admits. The end of the occupation, which has remained elusive due to lack of political will, is our ultimate aim, she says. Until then, Randa Siniora and her compatriots continue living in the eye of a storm. Crossing Israeli checkpoints takes them hours to reach their workplace, a fear of incursions and attacks on offices and homes (Al Haq was once attacked and their equipment stolen and ransacked) haunt them and the threat of being shot while outside is always there. There was a time during the beginning of the Intifada when I used to tell my husband and children that we might not see each other by the end of the day. That's how dangerous the situation was, she says. Sometimes I feel is it a blessing or a curse that we adapt and live in such an environment? Women's role Palestinian women have been at the forefront, trying to protect their children from being killed by Israeli soldiers, she says. Moreover, the women are in a position of strength in Palestine. The national struggle has empowered them. They are in the labour force and are politically mobilised. But the violence in the society has affected family life, with rise in domestic violence, honour killings, etc. It has had a tremendous psychological impact on women. Despite these problems, our women are strong and for us Algerian women are a role model. We continue to fight for a decent life and for dignity and respect, Randa says. For a Palestinian woman to be involved in human rights, especially in an atmosphere so full of violence, is a bit unusual, she says. It all started with a research on Palestinian women during her graduation. Al Haq, which was observing the 20th year of Israeli occupation, asked her to document human rights violations in the area. According to her, it was around 1986 that human rights groups started bringing a gender perspective into their movements. In 1997, she left the organisation to work with the Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling and returned to take up the post of director of Al Haq in November 2001. Unfair criticism She feels hurt by Western criticism that Palestinian women have been uncaring by putting their children in harm's way in the current Intifada. We are talking of a situation where the children are restrained in a refugee camp. The playgrounds are the streets and they are restricted from what children anywhere in the world would normally do. Can we prevent them from going out to play and somehow stop them from being instigated to throw a stone at an occupying force? It's very insulting to say Palestinian women and mothers do not care. How can they make an accusation like that? Is there any mother who will willingly send her children to fight? This is another fear women in Occupied Territories have to live with – children picking up a stone only to end up with a bullet in their body. This situation cannot last forever, Randa says. All we want is people to stop thinking of us not just as victims, but as people with rights. Sixty-five per cent of the Palestinian population lives below the poverty line and earns less than $2 a day. These issues need to be addressed urgently. But, even in the worst of times, Randa, her husband, who is a professor, and their only son have never thought of packing up their bags and leaving Palestine. We  have to stay. Love your land, stay where you are – this is something we instil into our children.