Why are they doing this to my country?

This is my thirty-nine day as a prisoner at my own house, curfew was imposed since the reoccupation of Bethlehem on the first day of April, that was when time and life stopped and God knows for how long this imprisonment will continue.

Looking at the window could be fatal snipers are everywhere and believe me they don’t have a problem shooting any one and calling him a terrorist later on.  We are out of bread almost running out of water and no phone line but we are lucky we still have electricity. They lift the curfew for three hours every four days to let people get their basic needs, the bread and water problems are solved but we still don’t have phone service.  The air is polluted with smoke that is coming from burning garbage heaps which makes it difficult to breath.

We wake up every day (if we had any sleep) at the sound of apache helicopters and tanks rumbling into town shaking buildings shooting at every thing that moves and provoking people by shooting in the air. Strange destruction machine tanks are, they actually roar and breeze fire like dragons it reminded me of the dark ages when man was controlled by beasts.

Fourteen days ago it was our neighborhoods turn to be searched house-to-house, they came with their heavy artillery and tanks harvesting the roads destroying every thing that came in their way simply because they can, that was when our phone line was cut off the phone pole went down. We were terrified that our turn will come and what will happen to us if they do come, we heard that they detain men from the age of 15 to 50 destroying personal properties and terrorizing civilians by pulling out people from their houses and executing them if they resist, luckily my brother was not in the house he work’s in Ramallah and was trapped there for almost five weeks now, we are worried about him but thank God he is away from the combat area and he is managing himself fine. I have a little sister 13 years old she is well aware of the situation some times she amazes me with her brave heart.

They say that they are combating terrorism but if they are against terror why they are committing crimes against humanity?

Before that we were suffering from the collective punishment we were prisoners in our own towns I thought things could not get worse now we are prisoners in our houses, 3,300,000 people under siege isolated from the world and from each other. They attacked our infrastructure our economy our holy places and I could go on and on for the atrocities against our people are practically endless.

For how long will the world ignore our cry all we want is our legitimate right (to be free).

This article is a modest contribution to show my protest against what is happening to my country and people, hope all my friends will do the sameé

Suzan Mourad is a banker at Jordan National Bank, Bethlehem, Palestine.