CPTnet
December 3, 2003
HEBRON: Remembering Sue Rhodes, The Woman Who Heard the Tree Scream

by Greg Rollins

[CPTer Sue Rhodes died of cancer early on Sunday morning, November 30, 2003.
She had been a full time CPTer since August of 2002, and spent her time
working in Hebron before she fell ill is past summer.

 Sue will be cremated on December 12th in the manner according to the
Friends tradition. A full thanksgiving memorial meeting for the life of Sue
will be held at Swarthmore Hall, near Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, United
Kingdom on December 13 at 12 noon to be followed by a shared lunch when
friends and family can meet to exchange memories. To view pictures of
Rhodes, go to the Hebron photo gallery at www.cpt.org/gallery.]

Sue Rhodes. The Woman who Heard the Tree Scream. There was a Palestinian
family in Hebron who called Sue that. It started in November 2002 after
three Palestinian gunmen shot and killed twelve Israeli soldiers and settler
security men in the Jabel Johar neighbourhood of Hebron. In reaction, the
Israeli government drew up a plan to destroy many of the Palestinian homes
in the area so they could widen the road the settlers used when walking from
Abraham's Tomb. We in CPT responded by sleeping in many of the homes that
were endangered.

     One night Sue and several others were sleeping in a house that had
already had its kitchen destroyed by an Israeli bulldozer. There was a fear
that the Israelis would return at any moment to destroy the rest of the
place. Sue had troubles sleeping so she got out of bed and stared out the
window. Not far away from the house, the Israeli army was bulldozing the
land. Sue stood and watched as the bulldozer tore up an old olive tree. As
the bulldozer tore the tree's roots from the earth, Sue heard the tree
scream.

     The next morning Sue told her hosts what had happened during the night.
How she watched the tree torn out of the earth and how she heard it scream.
The family fell silent. One of them then told Sue that when their ancestors
had planted that olive tree years and years ago, they said that if that tree
were ever pulled from the earth, it would scream. After that, the family
called Sue The Women who Heard the Tree Scream.

     Sue Rhodes died this past weekend in The Lakes District of England of
cancer. We worked together in Hebron for a year before she fell ill this
past summer.

     I will miss Sue. I will miss the strength, energy and wisdom she
brought to CPT. I will miss how she fussed over each and every one of us as
if we were her children. I will miss how she was always giggling. I will
miss the confidence and the casual way in which she did the things that most
people would have thought were odd or even crazy. Things like shaving
poodles or campaigning for the protection of badgers. But most of all I will
miss my friend Sue Rhodes. We all will in CPT because we lost a dear family
member.

     The Palestinian house in Jabel Johar that Sue stayed in still stands.