061

Ush Ghrab, West Bank, Occupied Palestine

Ush Ghrab is a decommissioned Israeli military base within the outskirts of the Beit Sahour municipality. Most of the major Israeli invasions into Beit Lehem were staged from this military base. The central square structure pictured formerly had another structure on top of it that acted as an observation and sniper tower from which all of Beit Sahour and lower Beit Lehem as well as many of the outlying villages could be monitored and attacked from. The land surrounding Ush Ghrab has been converted into a recreation center for local Palestinians and visiting internationals and includes a climbing wall, a bar/restaurant, a large playground, a futbol pit, and extensive area for barbecues and concerts. A communique that was printed and then distributed all over the site reads that the: "land was purchased by the Jordanian government and is now owned and controlled by the municipality of Beit Sahour...we welcome Israelis who come in peace to work with us, to dialog, and to coexist in peace...settler activities are against peace because the parameters of peace includes ending the occupation of the Palestinian territories and living as neighbors not as occupier/occupied."

Since Ush Ghrab was abandoned by the Israeli military Jewish Israeli settlers from nearby settlements illegally built in the West Bank in areas surrounding Beit Lehem, have begun illegally coming to Ush Ghrab in order to communicate to the Palestinians of Beit Sahour that they intend to build a settlement there. Meanwhile a group of international donors working with local Palestinians are planning to build the first full scale children's hospital in the West Bank on the lands of the former Israeli military base, pictured here.

Again I repeat the prophecy of Basel Mansour:

“we will continue in our struggle, until the occupational government destroys the wall and the settlements in all of Palestine, and we will build together, with our bodies, real bridges of love and security and peace, in order to conquer the wall. And we will crush all of the machinations of the occupation, until we reach the ocean that knows no border -- and on its safe shores, we will sing the song of freedom and peace, together -- far from the injustices of the occupation, and its roadblocks and barriers.”

~representative of the Popular Committee of Bil'in, Basel Mansour

May your liberation and return come swiftly!

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Nikon D200
Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8
Two horizontal shot panorama