From Occupied Palestine

The village against the fence
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 11 February 2004

A serious-looking black dog, whose eyes looked almost hollow, freely crossed the naked strip of land west of the villages of Qibiya and Budrus, which stretches from the village of Rantis, about five kilometers to the north.

A young resident of Qibiya guiding the visitors among the olive groves and fruit orchards of his village, up to the route of the fence, hastened to cross the ditch that has already been dug on both sides of the route, and to disappear among the trees. It was soon clear why - an Israeli security vehicle was approaching from the north toward those walking on the exposed strip, as soon as it detected them.

Sacrificing the holiday at the Erez checkpoint
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 4 February 2004

Political consultations after Thursday's terror attack in Jerusalem produced headlines declaring that alleviations in the territories were not being canceled. However, Israeli residents and citizens who, following prior planning and coordination with authorities, traveled to the Erez checkpoint Sunday morning with the hope of celebrating Id al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice) with family members in living in Gaza were informed that there would be "no entry."

The youngest Palestinian under arrest
AMIRA HASS
Haaretz, 24 October 2003

A Palestinian boy, not yet 13 years old, transferred arms to Hamas. When the person who employed him failed to pay as promised, the child turned him in to soldiers at a roadblock. Now he is on trial in an Israeli military court.

Conversations with History: Amira Hass interview
AMIRA HASS and HENRY KREISLER
Institute of International Studies, 24 October 2003

Background

Amira, welcome to Berkeley. Where were you born and raised?

Jerusalem, Israel.

And looking back, how do you think your parents shaped your thinking about the world?

Expulsion, little by little
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 22 October 2003

The fears and suspicions, as usual, came true - and very quickly. Hiding behind security rationales and the seemingly neutral bureaucratic language of military orders is the gateway for expulsion. Not massive expulsion, heaven forbid, not on trucks, and not far. Drop by drop, unseen, not so many that it would be noticed internationally and shock public opinion; with the proper measure so the Israelis can continue saying it's justified for security reasons, with the appropriate modesty in the media so the information doesn't reach the consciousness of even those who are dealing with the details of a permanent agreement, with their love of peace, while a wave of anti-Semitism sweeps the world.

Jabara residents struggle to deal with fence
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 21 October 2003

Up until October 9, the inhabitants of the village of Jabara thought that their main challenge now was the locked gate in the separation fence. The separation fence - two barbed wire fences and between them ditches, trackers' paths, an asphalt road and another electronic fence - passes to the east of their village and their lands and cuts them off from the very nearby villages to the south of Tul Karm.

The army will decide who's a resident
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 15 October 2003

The route of the separation wall in those areas where it has already gone up and where it is planned proves once again that the Israeli security-settlement establishment never misses an opportunity to exploit the self-evident need of Israelis to feel safe in their state to expropriate huge tracts of Palestinian lands and annex them de facto to the state of Israel.

IDF redefines Palestinians west of the fence
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 14 October 2003

One of the questions raised immediately after it became clear that for the most part, the separation fence would not be built along the length of the Green Line, but in fact somewhere to the east of it, was the fate of the Palestinians living to the west of the fence. As of now, this fate is shared by approximately 12,000 persons living in 15 Palestinian villages and towns, from Salim in the northern West Bank to Mas'ha, to the south of Qalqilyah (near the settlement of Elkana). They are shut in between the separation fence to the east, and the Green Line to the west. As construction of the fence continues, deep into the territory of the West Bank, more Palestinians will find themselves in this situation.

Explaining The Occupation To The Occupier
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 9 October 2003

By How can a tiny Palestinian organization like Islamic Jihad produce so many walking bombs, suicide bombers who choose babies in strollers and their grandparents as targets? And how does an organization that once declared it would only target soldiers send its latest suicide bomber to a mixed Jewish-Arab city, to sow death and sorrow in a restaurant whose owners, workers and customers are Jews and Arabs, old and young.

Don't make me laugh
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 26 September 2003

The immediate reaction of all those questioned was a great laugh and astonishment. The astonishment was over an unexpected question that seemed to come from some imaginary scenario totally detached from reality. That question was: "Under what conditions could Israeli settlers continue to live within the borders of the future Palestinian state?"