Lucy Garbett writes:

Sheikh Jarrah today smells of dirty socks and rotting flesh. Israeli police vehicles, known as “skunk trucks”, have been spraying Palestinian homes, shops, restaurants, public spaces and cultural institutions with putrid water at high pressure. The water causes vomiting, stomach pain and skin irritation, and was originally developed by an Israeli company to repel protesters. The stench lasts for days on clothes, skin and homes, leading Palestinians to joke that Jerusalem all smells like shit. Protesters are also targeted in other ways. They are brutally beaten, arrested by the police, some on mounted horses, attacked by settlers and sprayed with rubber bullets.

These forms of collective punishment aim to stop the growing movement to save Sheikh Jarrah and halt the dispossession of 27 Palestinian families of their homes there. My family has lived in Jerusalem for several generations since they fled the Armenian genocide in 1915. In 1948, during the Nakba, they were expelled from their home in West Jerusalem and found refuge in the city’s eastern part. Now we live in Sheikh Jarrah and my neighbours are about to be expelled from their homes.

Every day for the past month, Palestinians from all walks of life have gathered in the neighbourhood to share iftar, the breaking of Ramadan fast, outside homes that are under threat: laughing and sharing jokes, together despite the gravity of the situation. Chants and singing start after prayers, only to be met by settlers’ taunts and police repression.

Now the neighbourhood has been transformed into a military zone. Checkpoints at every turn allow residents only into the area, blocking us off from the world. We must endure this harassment from settlers and police alike for simply living in our homes. [Continue reading…]