INTRODUCTION:
All hell broke loose in the wake of the September 1996 opening of a tunnel in Jerusalem. It wasn't so much the tunnel itself, just the political use that it was put to by the Israeli government. Over 80 Palestinians were killed in the ensuing clashes during which Israeli troops extensively used live ammunition against unarmed demonstrators, escalating the situation into a shooting war between themselves and Palestinian Police. This section of A Personal Diary is a vastly re-edited version of the photodiary from the On the Ground in Ramallah website constructed during the September clashes. With tanks and helicopters laying Ramallah to seige, we had quite an intense ten days that none of us will forget. Special thanks for photos, scanning, practical and other help must go to Kifah Al-Fani, Saleem Daoud, Yasser Darweesh, Hanan Elmasu, Cathi Grosso, and Marwan and Rania Tarazi.

DAY 1 - WEDNESDAY 25TH SEPTEMBER 1996:

• Rally at Birzeit University
• Demonstration at the Khammara Checkpoint
• Israeli soldiers open fire
• Casualties
• Aftermath of the first shootings
• At Ramallah Hospital (Some images may be disturbing)
• Intensive Care Unit, Ramallah Hospital (Some images may be disturbing)

DAY 2 - THURSDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER 1996:

• The seriousness of things
• At Khammara checkpoint in the late afternoon
• The face of war
• Palestinian Police confront Israeli snipers
• Helicopter gunships open fire on homes
• Ammunition used

DAY 3 - FRIDAY 27TH SEPTEMBER 1996:

• Tanks surround Ramallah
• Midday around Khammara checkpoint
• Stone throwing at Khammara checkpoint
• Casualties at Khamara checkpoint (Some images may be disturbing)

DAY 4 - SATURDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER 1996:

• Generally a quieter day. Demonstrators were turned back from the checkpoint by Palestinian police. We worked on getting the photographs and information ready for the "On the ground in Ramallah" website.

DAY 5 - SUNDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER 1996:

• Discovering what lay on the hills of Ramallah

JUNE 1997: THINKING BACK

• Creating the /war/ website

RELATED SITES:


• The original "On the ground in Ramallah" website - the website constructed at the time by myself and a group of Birzeit staff and students. Includes the original photodiary (unedited for historical purposes), as well as overviews, commentaries, press releases and links prepared by the others who worked on the project.
• September 1996 Memorial Project - One year after the September clashes, in September 1997, members of the same group from Birzeit that constructed the original website got together with Palestinians from around the West Bank and Gaza Strip to tell the life stories of some of the Palestinians killed in the clashes. A moving project to work on, it includes around 20 personal stories, based on interviews with the martyrs' families and friends.