Today we travelled to Ramallah, a bustling and thriving Palestinian city inside the West Bank. We traveled past the separation wall and through “no man’s land”, a buffer zone between E. Jerusalem and the West Bank and on into Ramallah, passing the Qalandria refugee camp on the way. We had a very full day of meetings with a variety of Palestinians.
First we met with Omar Baghouti and Dr. Gabi Baramki, both with the Palestinian Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PCABCI). Dr. Baramki is the retired president of Bisreit University, the premier university in Palestine. He spoke both from his professional experience as the president of a university, trying to run a university in an occupied country and from his personal experience as the son of a Palestinian refugee, whose home was taken by the Israelis in the 1967 war and turned into a museum, with no compensation to the family and no concept of any right of return on the part of that family. Under occupation, the university in Palestine has had a very hard time managing to stay open due to the various ways the Israelis have made it difficult if not impossible for professors and students to get to school. In some cases the Israelis have simply closed the school for periods of time, in others, they have de facto closed it by putting up such complicated and cumbersome and arbitrary roadblocks that neither the professors nor the students can get to school on time for classes and the school has to shut down. Omar Baghouti, a Palestinian who spent many years in the US, getting his undergraduate degree at Columbia, and Dr. Baramki spoke at some length about the way this terrible conflict plays out in academia. Baghouti stated bluntly that there are no “liberal” or “left wing” academics in Israel and, notwithstanding the Jewish value system in which education is revered, the Israelis have done everything to make the operation of the Palestinian university difficult and at times impossible. His organization polled all the academics in Israel shortly after the second Intifada in 2000 regarding the problems students and professors were having crossing the checkpoints to get to school. Many of them lived in E. Jerusalem, not far from Ramallah as the crow flies, but literally light years away once you throw in the ordeal of getting past checkpoints. When they tried to get the support of Israeli academics to institute a policy allowing university students and professors some kind of preferred status for getting through checkpoints, only 400 professors out of 9000 in the country expressed support.
Omar spoke at length about the policies of the Israeli government towards the Palestinians, making a strong case that what is happening is apartheid, plain and simple. The whole foundation of Israeli society as he sees it is based on racism, the privilege and preference for one group of people at the expense of another. He works for an organization that is trying to tackle the apartheid in Palestine much the same way that apartheid in South Africa was handled, by instituting boycotts, sanctions and divestiture. His organization is seeking the support of organizations around the world to boycott Israeli products, to divest from companies doing business in Israel and the imposition of sanctions to pressure the Israelis to begin to honor the human rights of the Palestinians in the occupied territories. The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, which is a co-sponsor of this trip, is spearheading a boycott of Motorola products, since Motorola does a huge amount of business with Israel. The campaign is dubbed “Hang up on Motorola.” Omar exhorted us to participate in the boycott, to go to the website of his organization, www.PACBI.org to find lists of companies to boycott. As I listened to these two men, I heard a lot of frustration and pain, anger at the Israeli policies and no patience whatsoever with the Israeli party line about security concerns. Omar, who lived in the United States for 8 years, also stated quite bluntly that there is no freedom of the press in the US, that US media completely parrot the Israeli party line and never report accurately on what is really going on in Palestine. This was to be a theme echoed by everyone we met today. For me it is becoming the theme of this whole trip – US complicity in the human rights violations being carried out here by Israelis against Palestinians and complete distortion in US media when reporting on the conflict in the Middle East. Americans are basically clueless about what is really happening over here and both our government and our media make sure we don’t know the true story.
Next we met with a Palestinian American businessman, Sam Bahour. He was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio and moved to Palestine as a young adult because he wanted to reconnect with his family roots and was concerned about the conditions over here for Palestinians. He basically reiterated what we have been hearing from everyone else about the human rights violations carried out by Israel against Palestinians, and as a businessman, the ridiculous number of obstacles, roadblocks (both literal and figurative) that he has to go through to conduct business here and his total disgust with the US where this conflict is concerned.
After lunch we went to Al Haq, a Human Rights activist organization that documents human rights abuses by Israeli and Palestinian authorities and engages in advocacy for Palestinians. We spoke with a young researcher in their office who is writing a paper on the extent to which current Israeli policies constitute a regime of apartheid, as defined in international law. It is a compelling argument and one that is being articulated by academics around the world (outside the US and Israel to be sure).
From there we went to a coffee shop where we had the wonderful experience of meeting with two young Palestinian women. Tala Abu Rahme, a Palestinian student, 24 years old, currently doing a Masters in Fine Arts at American University in Washington DC, an accomplished poet, and Sanabel Hassan, a 26 year old who works for human rights organizations in Palestine, a graduate of Bisreit University in Ramallah. These young women were eloquent in talking about their experiences growing up in Ramallah under Israeli occupation. Both have experienced the humiliation of the checkpoints – Sanabel told us that until two years ago her face was badly scarred from the tear gas an Israeli soldier sprayed on her when she was going through a checkpoint. She has also been used by Israeli soldiers as a “human shield” three times in her short life, standing between the soldiers and Palestinians as bullets whizzed past her face. Both of these girls have experienced a level of violence and humiliation at the hands of a hostile authority the likes of which students their age in the United States could not even imagine. In 2002, shortly after the Second Intifada began, the Israelis invaded Ramallah with tanks and guns and stayed in the city for 28 days during which time the Palestinian citizens were under house arrest 24 hours a day for 28 straight days. Tala was confined to her home with her family, unable to leave except for three hours a day every so often to get food, with Israeli tanks right outside their home and the sound of bombs exploding all around her neighborhood. Sanabel, whose family live close to the E. Jerusalem border, was unable to return home when the invasion began, and wound up spending that 28 days all alone in her student house, cut off from her family, without sufficient food, with no electricity and forced to fend for herself as she spent 28 days in a form of solitary confinement. Tala spoke of her experiences as a student in the US, and of the complete ignorance and insensitivity of American students who have absolutely no idea what her life in Palestine has been like nor any comprehension whatsoever about the Palestinian side of the conflict. She was very eloquent about her rage every time she goes through the checkpoint, and how she constantly tells herself to remember that those Israeli soldiers, who are all of 18 or 19 years old, are human beings and that she must never forget her humanity even as she finds them forgetting hers. We asked these girls about the arguments we heard from the Hebrew University students last night re this conflict and Tala in particular just exclaimed in disgust about the ignorance of these young Israelis who have no idea at all what the Palestinians are going through and no appreciation whatsoever of the privileged status that they enjoy in their own country and the world. She is a remarkable young woman – articulate, smart, funny, artistic, expressive, optimistic and determined not to let the forces of occupation rob her of her humanity and dignity, no matter how hard they try. It was sobering to listen to the experiences these girls and their families have lived with for so many years. In a lot of ways, an entire population is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and they don’t even know it.
Our last event of the day was going through the Qalandria checkpoint on foot. This checkpoint is at the border of East Jerusalem and the road leading to Ramallah, all of which is part of the West Bank. But E. Jerusalem is considered by the Israelis to be part of Israel and so those who have identity cards allowing them to enter are a privileged group. The Wall goes right through this area, cutting Palestinians off from other Palestinians, and making it difficult if not impossible for Palestinians to get to their jobs, or to doctor’s appointments and the like. The Qalandria checkpoint is one of the newest and most up to date checkpoints. When you enter, it looks like the entrance to a prison. You walk through a narrow passage, literally no wider that an average adult, with bars on both sides and a roof of metal bars/slats overhead. It is truly like walking through a cage. You then enter an area where there are a series of iron turnstiles that are electronically operated by Israeli soldiers on the other side of the turnstile, inside soundproof, bulletproof rooms. While waiting to go through the turnstile, you are closed in another prison like room, with metal bars for walls on all sides, penning people in like cattle. Those wanting to go through the checkpoint gather in crowds around these turnstiles which are operated by the guards, whom you cannot see, who only allow three people through at a time. When you get through the turnstile, you put your bags, belt, etc on the belt to go through the scanner like at an airport, you walk through the scanner, (again like at an airport) and put your identity document on the window for the guard to see. Palestinians all have identity cards and only certain kinds of cards permit access into E. Jerusalem. Those who don’t possess the right kind of card can apply for permission to pass on a particular day, but even that pass may not be honored. The checkpoints are supposed to be open at certain hours, but the Israelis will close various checkpoints with no warning, arbitrarily, forcing Palestinians to go miles to another one. If the guard feels so inclined he may detain a person at the checkpoint and interrogate them, holding them sometimes for hours. For us, the experience was painless. With American passports and visas, obviously tourists, the guards had no interest in delaying us at the checkpoint. But when we talked to Palestinians for whom crossing that checkpoint is a twice daily ritual, sometimes taking hours, making them late for work or school or causing them to miss medical appointments, we understood how completely abominable is this system. One member of our group later remarked, “that whole checkpoint has the architectural feel of Auschwitz.” Very true indeed. It was creepy and depressing. We were all so aware of our own privileged status, but heartbroken at the ordeal that these innocent Palestinian civilians deal with every day of their lives. And I could not help but think again, “those who have been abused become abusers” and that is what Israel is doing here. Those checkpoints are like the concentration camps of Europe. They rob Palestinians of human dignity, treat them like cattle or prisoners, make their lives impossible, complicated and stressful and send a constant message to the Palestinians that you are not equally human with us Israelis. It is truly a travesty.
We did have some time during the middle of the day to walk around Ramallah. I must say, it taxed my Manhattanite skills for navigating urban crowds! The streets are very narrow and the crowds are intense. Music blares from shops, merchants call out to passersby, people are coming and going in every direction and the streets are very narrow yet crowded with cars, trucks and buses. The smells and sounds and hustle bustle atmosphere is electric although somewhat exhausting! Ramallah is the most prosperous city in the West Bank and yet to Western eyes, it is dirty, run down looking, gritty, grimy and worn. And yet, despite its less than elegant appearance there is an energy and vitality that is inescapable. There is life and energy and excitement in the city and we found, as tourists, that the people in the city were very interested in welcoming us and engaging us in conversation. A number of women asked us where we were from and welcomed us to their city and wished us a good day. Street vendors bantered with us and we had a great time walking around and soaking up the local atmosphere. We all noticed how very different was the atmosphere from that in Jerusalem. More relaxed, more friendly, more engaging.
So, there was our day. Very full, very rich, really way too much to digest at once. So much to think about. So much to pray about. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, says the psalmist. Amen.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Religion and Politics in the Holy Land
Another unbelievably full day. We started our day walking through the Old City of Jerusalem. Behind the ancient walls lies an ancient city, divided into four quarters – Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Armenian. We passed the Israeli guards as we entered through Herod’s gate and made our way through the Muslim quarter. The houses are small and inconspicuous from the outside – indeed, it is often hard to realize that you are standing in front of someone’s home. We saw Muslim homes decorated for those who had returned from the Haj. Of course, this is a typical Middle Eastern city and it is a major tourist attraction so the market is HUGE throughout the Old City. Stalls selling everything imaginable, from dollar store trinkets to textiles, wood carved religious items and electronic games and CDs, underwear and exotic Muslim dresses and headscarves, fruit, vegetables, spices, sweets, baked goods, ecclesiastical accoutrements, Jewish prayer shawls and kippahs, fez’, oriental carpets, prayer rugs and plastic souvenirs. You name it they’ve got it somewhere in the marketplace. I couldn’t help but think about the description of Woman Wisdom in Proverbs who is described as standing on the corner in the marketplace calling out to passersby, calling them to come to her, to come to wisdom. This place gives new meaning to what it means to be in the marketplace. Vendors hawk their wares loudly, young children careen around the crowds somehow managing not to knock anyone over.
We walked to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the church that houses, according to Catholic and Orthodox Christian legend the place where Jesus was crucified and the tomb in which he was laid. We first passed through an Ethiopian Orthodox chapel that is immediately next to Holy Sepulcher. As we were making our way to that church, we could hear a group singing hymns behind us, and shortly an African American church group who were clearly making a pilgrimage appeared, with a woman carrying a cross leading the way as the others followed behind singing, “He went to Calvary for me”. They stopped and their leader read from the passion story and then they moved on again. The walk to Holy Sepulcher goes along the Via Dolorosa where pilgrims come to walk the way of the cross and this group was clearly doing that.
We didn’t have time then to go inside the church, although I went back later with some others from the group and we did go inside. It is an amazing old church, with many small chapels, each maintained by a different sect of Orthodox Christians. The sepulcher itself is right in the middle of the church, very ornately adorned, and pilgrims are allowed in 5 at a time to pray at the place where Jesus was buried. It was wonderful to be in this historic place of Christian pilgrimage, although I was not as moved by it as I was when I visited Rome some years ago and saw the catacombs and St. Peter’s basilica. I think because I am too aware that so much of the story of Holy Sepulcher is legend.
After we left there we went to the Wailing Wall. That did move me almost to tears. To stand next to that wall, the last remaining piece of the Temple that was destroyed in 70 AD had a profound influence on me. Watching the Jews as prayer at that holy place was also very moving. Despite the enormous crowds, it was quiet and reverent at the wall. I had to go to the women’s side, which is smaller than the men’s side, but I was moved to see the women praying at the wall, placing their prayers in the cracks, bringing their children to kiss the wall. I went to the wall, prayed one of the psalms “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper that love thee”, touched the wall and felt strongly the presence of the holy in that place.
After that we had a brief lunch, and then went down a narrow street in the Muslim quarter where we met with Ali Jiddeh, a famous, Afro-Palestinian activist whose story was spellbinding. We entered his home, crowding into his very small living room. I was aware of how very small the homes are in the Old City, where families live in quarters a fraction of the size of what most Americans consider adequate. While Ali was talking to us, his youngest child was darting through the room and Dad ultimately dispatched him and his twelve year old brother out the front door. Ali Jiddeh is a Palestinian of African descent. He is now an older man, but in his youth, at the age of 18, he set off a bomb in Israel in protest against the Israelis and spent 17 years in jail. He has five children and now works for Palestinian freedom and is a leader in the small Afro-Palestinian community. He spoke of the double racism that these black Palestinians face under Israeli occupation. In explaining why he set off the bomb, he said simply that he had suffered years of being robbed of his individual dignity, being treated badly by Israelis as an individual man of African descent, but also because he felt strongly that his people, his heritage was being denied dignity by the Israelis and he wanted to fight back. He admitted that he would not resort to such tactics now, because now he has children, and becoming a father made him unwilling to commit acts of violence because he would not want to take the chance of harming anyone’s child. He pulled no punches whatsoever when speaking about our American government, calling Bush an idiot, Cheney a madman and Condoleeza Rice a “coconut” who is useless! He expressed astonishment and disgust that the American people would even have elected Bush and commented that he couldn’t understand how we could tolerate such an idiot for a president. He noted that under the Bush administration, respect for the United States has plummeted all over the world, and among Arabs hatred for the United States has increased exponentially.
After we left Ali Jiddeh’s home, we took our van to the United Nations OCHA office here in Jerusalem. This is the branch of the United Nations that works on humanitarian issues related to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. We had a briefing by a woman who is now an Israeli citizen, but who is originally from New York. She is a well known lawyer, who some years ago won a landmark human rights case against the Israeli government regarding their torture of certain prisoners. The briefing was an amazing explanation of the extent of the structural oppression of the Palestinians by the Israeli government. OCHA documents all checkpoints, all obstacles to movement within the occupied territories, they monitor all settlements and the continued building thereof. She gave us extensive briefing packets as well as DVDs detailing the effects of the structural barriers that are all over the occupied territories and the humanitarian issues that arise as a result of those Israeli policies. The briefing was remarkable in its detail and specificity, and we were lucky to walk away with briefing packets containing a wealth of detailed information that the UN has accumulated on the ground here. One of our delegation has been video taping all our sessions, but our presenter asked her to turn off the camera, stating that this briefing was “off the record.” We realized that she was giving us the same information she gives high level government and United Nations officials about what is really going on here.
After that meeting we had “free time” and four of us returned to the Old City to spend more time. This was when we made the time to visit Holy Sepulcher. I also managed a little shopping in the marketplace, getting the opportunity to bargain long and hard with a vendor for a mezuzah which reminded me how much I hate bargaining!!
This evening we engaged in dialogue with 5 students at the Hebrew University here in Jerusalem. They were all young Israelis, in their mid 20s with varying opinions about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. It was fascinating to have a chance to challenge some of them about Israeli policies in the West Bank and Gaza and to ask them what they think might work as a solution. All but one of them stated that they wanted to see a two state solution, one said he’d like a one state/binational state solution, but realizes that it simply will not happen because the level of trust required to make it work isn’t there. It was interesting to hear these young Israelis spouting the version of history that justifies Israel’s violence against Palestinians. One young woman said she would not support a binational state because she would never feel safe as a Jew in a country governed by Palestinians. The numbers work against Jews if the two states were to combine and this young woman wants nothing to do with a state not run by Jews. It’s all she’s ever known, of course, but she has heard a lot about the holocaust and integrated that narrative of “Jews need a safe place, their own country in order to live their lives freely and fully.”
What do I take away from today? Two different narratives – Israeli and Palestinian. A great deal of emotion going along with those narratives. The Israeli government’s actions towards Palestinians bears remarkable resemblance to the human rights abuses of which our own government has been guilty. The American involvement in the situation on the ground here is more critical to the success of the Israeli government than we are allowed to believe. This entire conflict is complex, nuanced and multifaceted. More tomorrow. I’m exhausted at this point – not completely over jet lag yet!
We walked to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the church that houses, according to Catholic and Orthodox Christian legend the place where Jesus was crucified and the tomb in which he was laid. We first passed through an Ethiopian Orthodox chapel that is immediately next to Holy Sepulcher. As we were making our way to that church, we could hear a group singing hymns behind us, and shortly an African American church group who were clearly making a pilgrimage appeared, with a woman carrying a cross leading the way as the others followed behind singing, “He went to Calvary for me”. They stopped and their leader read from the passion story and then they moved on again. The walk to Holy Sepulcher goes along the Via Dolorosa where pilgrims come to walk the way of the cross and this group was clearly doing that.
We didn’t have time then to go inside the church, although I went back later with some others from the group and we did go inside. It is an amazing old church, with many small chapels, each maintained by a different sect of Orthodox Christians. The sepulcher itself is right in the middle of the church, very ornately adorned, and pilgrims are allowed in 5 at a time to pray at the place where Jesus was buried. It was wonderful to be in this historic place of Christian pilgrimage, although I was not as moved by it as I was when I visited Rome some years ago and saw the catacombs and St. Peter’s basilica. I think because I am too aware that so much of the story of Holy Sepulcher is legend.
After we left there we went to the Wailing Wall. That did move me almost to tears. To stand next to that wall, the last remaining piece of the Temple that was destroyed in 70 AD had a profound influence on me. Watching the Jews as prayer at that holy place was also very moving. Despite the enormous crowds, it was quiet and reverent at the wall. I had to go to the women’s side, which is smaller than the men’s side, but I was moved to see the women praying at the wall, placing their prayers in the cracks, bringing their children to kiss the wall. I went to the wall, prayed one of the psalms “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper that love thee”, touched the wall and felt strongly the presence of the holy in that place.
After that we had a brief lunch, and then went down a narrow street in the Muslim quarter where we met with Ali Jiddeh, a famous, Afro-Palestinian activist whose story was spellbinding. We entered his home, crowding into his very small living room. I was aware of how very small the homes are in the Old City, where families live in quarters a fraction of the size of what most Americans consider adequate. While Ali was talking to us, his youngest child was darting through the room and Dad ultimately dispatched him and his twelve year old brother out the front door. Ali Jiddeh is a Palestinian of African descent. He is now an older man, but in his youth, at the age of 18, he set off a bomb in Israel in protest against the Israelis and spent 17 years in jail. He has five children and now works for Palestinian freedom and is a leader in the small Afro-Palestinian community. He spoke of the double racism that these black Palestinians face under Israeli occupation. In explaining why he set off the bomb, he said simply that he had suffered years of being robbed of his individual dignity, being treated badly by Israelis as an individual man of African descent, but also because he felt strongly that his people, his heritage was being denied dignity by the Israelis and he wanted to fight back. He admitted that he would not resort to such tactics now, because now he has children, and becoming a father made him unwilling to commit acts of violence because he would not want to take the chance of harming anyone’s child. He pulled no punches whatsoever when speaking about our American government, calling Bush an idiot, Cheney a madman and Condoleeza Rice a “coconut” who is useless! He expressed astonishment and disgust that the American people would even have elected Bush and commented that he couldn’t understand how we could tolerate such an idiot for a president. He noted that under the Bush administration, respect for the United States has plummeted all over the world, and among Arabs hatred for the United States has increased exponentially.
After we left Ali Jiddeh’s home, we took our van to the United Nations OCHA office here in Jerusalem. This is the branch of the United Nations that works on humanitarian issues related to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. We had a briefing by a woman who is now an Israeli citizen, but who is originally from New York. She is a well known lawyer, who some years ago won a landmark human rights case against the Israeli government regarding their torture of certain prisoners. The briefing was an amazing explanation of the extent of the structural oppression of the Palestinians by the Israeli government. OCHA documents all checkpoints, all obstacles to movement within the occupied territories, they monitor all settlements and the continued building thereof. She gave us extensive briefing packets as well as DVDs detailing the effects of the structural barriers that are all over the occupied territories and the humanitarian issues that arise as a result of those Israeli policies. The briefing was remarkable in its detail and specificity, and we were lucky to walk away with briefing packets containing a wealth of detailed information that the UN has accumulated on the ground here. One of our delegation has been video taping all our sessions, but our presenter asked her to turn off the camera, stating that this briefing was “off the record.” We realized that she was giving us the same information she gives high level government and United Nations officials about what is really going on here.
After that meeting we had “free time” and four of us returned to the Old City to spend more time. This was when we made the time to visit Holy Sepulcher. I also managed a little shopping in the marketplace, getting the opportunity to bargain long and hard with a vendor for a mezuzah which reminded me how much I hate bargaining!!
This evening we engaged in dialogue with 5 students at the Hebrew University here in Jerusalem. They were all young Israelis, in their mid 20s with varying opinions about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. It was fascinating to have a chance to challenge some of them about Israeli policies in the West Bank and Gaza and to ask them what they think might work as a solution. All but one of them stated that they wanted to see a two state solution, one said he’d like a one state/binational state solution, but realizes that it simply will not happen because the level of trust required to make it work isn’t there. It was interesting to hear these young Israelis spouting the version of history that justifies Israel’s violence against Palestinians. One young woman said she would not support a binational state because she would never feel safe as a Jew in a country governed by Palestinians. The numbers work against Jews if the two states were to combine and this young woman wants nothing to do with a state not run by Jews. It’s all she’s ever known, of course, but she has heard a lot about the holocaust and integrated that narrative of “Jews need a safe place, their own country in order to live their lives freely and fully.”
What do I take away from today? Two different narratives – Israeli and Palestinian. A great deal of emotion going along with those narratives. The Israeli government’s actions towards Palestinians bears remarkable resemblance to the human rights abuses of which our own government has been guilty. The American involvement in the situation on the ground here is more critical to the success of the Israeli government than we are allowed to believe. This entire conflict is complex, nuanced and multifaceted. More tomorrow. I’m exhausted at this point – not completely over jet lag yet!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Jerusalem
July 29 – First Day in Jerusalem
Well, after our long and exhausting journey, we hit the ground running today. After sleeping in after following a 3:30 am arrival, we took a short tour of the local neighborhood. We are staying at St. George’s Cathedral guesthouse, right in E. Jerusalem, in the Palestinian section of Jerusalem. The city is clearly an old city, with very narrow streets, crowds of pedestrians coming and going in every direction, garbage, graffiti, car horns honking and some white knuckle close calls with trucks and cars on streets not made to accommodate them. As we walked around the neighborhood and over to the Damascus gate to the old city, we passed hundreds of Palestinian Muslims, the women attired in their long dresses and headscarves, some in simple hijabs, others in veiling that covers most of their face. I was reminded of Istanbul. As we are in the height of tourist season, tour buses are everywhere and crowds of visitors pour off them at every turn.
After we had lunch we met with Jeff Halper, founder and Executive Director of Israeli Citizens Against House Demolition (ICAHD). He has written a number of books on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and has been working for peace in this troubled place for going on thirty years. His talk was about what he calls the “matrix of control” meaning the structural ways in which the Israeli government carries out policies of discrimination against Palestinians. He compared current Israeli policies and their effects on the local population to apartheid in South Africa noting that what is happening here is very similar to the apartheid structure of South African society, but also distinguishing this situation. The Israeli “apartheid”, like South Africa, exists because there is both separation of one people from another and also domination of one people by another. Although technically there is not the distinction of “race” in the biological sense as there was in South Africa, the effect here is the same – those of Palestinian, non-Jewish heritage are treated very differently from Jewish Israelis. There is a physical barrier – the Separation Wall or “security barrier” which in Jerusalem cuts Palestinian neighborhoods in half generating problems for those Palestinians who happen to live on one side of the wall and work on the other. Unfortunately the Israelis do not see the Palestinians as people who have a right to self determination and so they do not see a problem walling them off from Israelis. Halper also noted that along with the wall goes control of important and vital resources – water, health care, access to jobs in Jerusalem, identity permits that allow for free travel between East and West Jerusalem and the like. Life for Palestinians on both sides of the wall is immensely and unnecessarily complex. As Halper discussed the second aspect of apartheid as it is applied here, he noted that the domination of one peoples by another is embedded in the very fabric of Israeli society. When the state was founded a fundamental principle was segregation of the Jews from the other people living in this region, both Christian and Muslim. Because segregation is a given, Palestinians who feel discriminated against by Israeli policies have no legal recourse, because the system that administers “justice” is operating from a worldview that sees the separation and the domination as normal and justified.
Halper spoke about what our speaker yesterday in Vienna also observed about the role of the United States in this conflict. Both these men state unequivocally that the continued oppression of the Palestinians by the Israelis could not succeed as it is without the unwavering support of the U.S. Government, particularly the U.S. Congress. Halper said he doesn’t even think it is the President that matters much, rather it is our congress and the extent to which they are, across the board, in a unique bi-partisan way, completely supportive of Israel. This U.S. congressional support of the domination and oppression of Palestinians enables the situation to continue, indeed facilitates the actions of the Israeli government. All the more reason for those of us who find this situation untenable to lobby our congressional representatives to take a different position vis-à-vis Israel.
After meeting with Jeff Halper, a guide from ICAHD took us to see settlements and the Separation Wall. What a trip that was! We first stopped by to visit a Palestinian family in Sheik Jarrah in E. Jerusalem, a small compound where Israeli settlers have moved into a block of buildings belonging to Palestinians, relying on a centuries old claim to the land. Systematically, Palestinian families have been driven out of that compound and Jewish families have moved in. One Palestinian family is still there, having lived in that house since 1956. Just last week, they were issued an eviction order by the Israeli authorities. They are protesting that edict of eviction and their case has spawned a flurry of international media attention. During our visit, there were other tour groups there, and a group of Israeli peace activists were literally camping out on the family’s porch to protect them from violence at the hands of the Israeli army. A Palestinian woman was translating for the family, saying all they want is to stay in their home, to live peaceably with their Jewish neighbors. It was an eerie experience to walk through the compound past apartments that belong to Jewish settlers, adorned with Israeli flags and then to arrive at this Palestinian home, which, thanks to the media attention given to them in the past few weeks is deluged with visitors who want to hear their story and express support. The compound itself is urban and looks like a place that would qualify for some upgrading and renewal. The further irony is the extent of argument and fighting over homes that are far from luxurious. The compound itself looks like a place at war – Israeli flags and Hebrew phrases on the closed doors of the Israeli homes, signs and protest banners plastered all over the walls of the Palestinian home. The Palestinian anguish at the very founding of Israel was expressed in the cries of the Palestinian family to be allowed to keep their home. As the spokeswoman reminded the crowds of us who were there, “The Israelis say that they moved into places that were empty. That is a lie. We were here, we had homes, and we were forced out of them. Now they are still doing it, forcing this woman out of the home she’s been in since 1956, after she was forced out of the home her family originally had in Gaza. Please tell the people back in your country what the government here is doing to innocent people.”
After that emotional experience, we went to the Separation Wall in E. Jerusalem, where Palestinian neighborhoods are sliced in two by the wall. There truly are no words to accurately describe the impact of that enormous, concrete barrier, topped with barbed wire and now covered in graffiti. We all went silent as we gazed at this ugly symbol of the domination and oppression of one people by another. I was saddened at the sight – such a visible symbol of the extent to which human beings are capable of demonizing and dehumanizing one another. The wall is ugly and what it is doing is uglier still.
We then went to a Jewish Settlement, Ma’ale adummin, inside the West Bank, on a hilltop in the desert outside the city. Our guide explained that there are different kinds of settlements in Israel – those that are “economic” in motivation and those that are ideological. The settlement compound in the city that we had just left is an example of ideological settlement activity – motivated by Zionist beliefs and ideology about the destiny of the Jewish people and the role that Israel and Jerusalem play in that destiny. Ma’ale adummin is an economic settlement – Israeli Jews move there to have a better life, to give their children a nice, safe, secure environment in which to grow up. As our guide pointed out, the Jews who move into that settlement are not primarily well to do European or American Jews, but rather Middle Eastern Jews, Ethiopian immigrant Jews and Russian immigrants. These groups of Jews are lower on the economic scale than European Jews, they have less economic opportunity, less money, less education and generally are trying to adapt to a new country and to deal with their own displacement. As he pointed out, any solution to the Israeli/Palestinian crisis has to deal with those settlers and their fate and the fact that it is unlikely that the Israeli government or anyone else will want to have to deal with resettling 40,000 people in that settlement somewhere else. They have homes, shopping centers, medical centers, library, schools – all the elements of a community and ripping that away doesn’t seem likely.
On our way back to the city, we passed a checkpoint and to our surprise our bus was pulled over. We all got out our passports, prepared for the Israeli soldier to come aboard the bus and check us out. Fortunately, our guide was Israeli and he spoke briefly with the soldier and we were released.
Our guide, a young Israeli Jew who served in the Israeli army, but quit before his time was up, a “refusenick”, and who has dedicated his life since then to being a peace activist, talked quite frankly about the role of the United States in this conflict. He reminded us that our country as the most powerful and richest nation on earth leads by example and exports its culture to the rest of the world. Our unwavering support of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians is only a part of the problem – the fact that we as a country do the very things that many of us condemn the Israeli government for doing is even more critical. He noted that the world looks to us as a model of how to be a well to do, affluent, successful modern society. What they see is a country that rules by force, war, domination, economic inequalities, a country that also builds walls to keep out undesirables while exploiting their labor, a country that marginalizes many parts of its own population and sees no way to stop doing so, or simply lacks the will to do so. We support Israel and its policies not only politically but by being the very thing we see Israel having become. If we want Israel to do differently, if we want the world to be different, then we Americans need to change the way we operate in the world, modeling a society built on compassion and justice rather than oppression and violence. I couldn’t help but think of Rabbi Michael Lerner’s Global Marshall Plan as I listened to our young guide.
When we got back to the hotel, I met with Dr. Shehadeh Shehadeh, a Palestinian Episcopal priest who is the Canon to the Bishop for Peace and Reconciliation. He is working here to encourage dialogue and peace activism among those Israeli Jews who want peace and are willing to countenance the existence of the Palestinians in this country and the Palestinian Christians and Muslims who also want to find a peaceful solution so that everyone can live harmoniously together. His stories of his own experiences working for peace in this region underscore the importance of finding ways for people to encounter one another in a personal way, so that the “other” becomes a real person, with a real story and a face and family. He said that the Christian communities do not work all that well together here and that is a problem that Christians need to address here in the Holy Land. He also noted that the Christian communities here need the help and support of Christian communities outside this region if they are to be able to do the peace work that they must do here on the ground.
It was a full and rich day. The complexity and nuance of this situation is more and more apparent to all of us as we listen and observe and hear people’s stories. And the connections between what we are seeing here and what is happening in our own country in different contexts is sobering.
Well, after our long and exhausting journey, we hit the ground running today. After sleeping in after following a 3:30 am arrival, we took a short tour of the local neighborhood. We are staying at St. George’s Cathedral guesthouse, right in E. Jerusalem, in the Palestinian section of Jerusalem. The city is clearly an old city, with very narrow streets, crowds of pedestrians coming and going in every direction, garbage, graffiti, car horns honking and some white knuckle close calls with trucks and cars on streets not made to accommodate them. As we walked around the neighborhood and over to the Damascus gate to the old city, we passed hundreds of Palestinian Muslims, the women attired in their long dresses and headscarves, some in simple hijabs, others in veiling that covers most of their face. I was reminded of Istanbul. As we are in the height of tourist season, tour buses are everywhere and crowds of visitors pour off them at every turn.
After we had lunch we met with Jeff Halper, founder and Executive Director of Israeli Citizens Against House Demolition (ICAHD). He has written a number of books on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and has been working for peace in this troubled place for going on thirty years. His talk was about what he calls the “matrix of control” meaning the structural ways in which the Israeli government carries out policies of discrimination against Palestinians. He compared current Israeli policies and their effects on the local population to apartheid in South Africa noting that what is happening here is very similar to the apartheid structure of South African society, but also distinguishing this situation. The Israeli “apartheid”, like South Africa, exists because there is both separation of one people from another and also domination of one people by another. Although technically there is not the distinction of “race” in the biological sense as there was in South Africa, the effect here is the same – those of Palestinian, non-Jewish heritage are treated very differently from Jewish Israelis. There is a physical barrier – the Separation Wall or “security barrier” which in Jerusalem cuts Palestinian neighborhoods in half generating problems for those Palestinians who happen to live on one side of the wall and work on the other. Unfortunately the Israelis do not see the Palestinians as people who have a right to self determination and so they do not see a problem walling them off from Israelis. Halper also noted that along with the wall goes control of important and vital resources – water, health care, access to jobs in Jerusalem, identity permits that allow for free travel between East and West Jerusalem and the like. Life for Palestinians on both sides of the wall is immensely and unnecessarily complex. As Halper discussed the second aspect of apartheid as it is applied here, he noted that the domination of one peoples by another is embedded in the very fabric of Israeli society. When the state was founded a fundamental principle was segregation of the Jews from the other people living in this region, both Christian and Muslim. Because segregation is a given, Palestinians who feel discriminated against by Israeli policies have no legal recourse, because the system that administers “justice” is operating from a worldview that sees the separation and the domination as normal and justified.
Halper spoke about what our speaker yesterday in Vienna also observed about the role of the United States in this conflict. Both these men state unequivocally that the continued oppression of the Palestinians by the Israelis could not succeed as it is without the unwavering support of the U.S. Government, particularly the U.S. Congress. Halper said he doesn’t even think it is the President that matters much, rather it is our congress and the extent to which they are, across the board, in a unique bi-partisan way, completely supportive of Israel. This U.S. congressional support of the domination and oppression of Palestinians enables the situation to continue, indeed facilitates the actions of the Israeli government. All the more reason for those of us who find this situation untenable to lobby our congressional representatives to take a different position vis-à-vis Israel.
After meeting with Jeff Halper, a guide from ICAHD took us to see settlements and the Separation Wall. What a trip that was! We first stopped by to visit a Palestinian family in Sheik Jarrah in E. Jerusalem, a small compound where Israeli settlers have moved into a block of buildings belonging to Palestinians, relying on a centuries old claim to the land. Systematically, Palestinian families have been driven out of that compound and Jewish families have moved in. One Palestinian family is still there, having lived in that house since 1956. Just last week, they were issued an eviction order by the Israeli authorities. They are protesting that edict of eviction and their case has spawned a flurry of international media attention. During our visit, there were other tour groups there, and a group of Israeli peace activists were literally camping out on the family’s porch to protect them from violence at the hands of the Israeli army. A Palestinian woman was translating for the family, saying all they want is to stay in their home, to live peaceably with their Jewish neighbors. It was an eerie experience to walk through the compound past apartments that belong to Jewish settlers, adorned with Israeli flags and then to arrive at this Palestinian home, which, thanks to the media attention given to them in the past few weeks is deluged with visitors who want to hear their story and express support. The compound itself is urban and looks like a place that would qualify for some upgrading and renewal. The further irony is the extent of argument and fighting over homes that are far from luxurious. The compound itself looks like a place at war – Israeli flags and Hebrew phrases on the closed doors of the Israeli homes, signs and protest banners plastered all over the walls of the Palestinian home. The Palestinian anguish at the very founding of Israel was expressed in the cries of the Palestinian family to be allowed to keep their home. As the spokeswoman reminded the crowds of us who were there, “The Israelis say that they moved into places that were empty. That is a lie. We were here, we had homes, and we were forced out of them. Now they are still doing it, forcing this woman out of the home she’s been in since 1956, after she was forced out of the home her family originally had in Gaza. Please tell the people back in your country what the government here is doing to innocent people.”
After that emotional experience, we went to the Separation Wall in E. Jerusalem, where Palestinian neighborhoods are sliced in two by the wall. There truly are no words to accurately describe the impact of that enormous, concrete barrier, topped with barbed wire and now covered in graffiti. We all went silent as we gazed at this ugly symbol of the domination and oppression of one people by another. I was saddened at the sight – such a visible symbol of the extent to which human beings are capable of demonizing and dehumanizing one another. The wall is ugly and what it is doing is uglier still.
We then went to a Jewish Settlement, Ma’ale adummin, inside the West Bank, on a hilltop in the desert outside the city. Our guide explained that there are different kinds of settlements in Israel – those that are “economic” in motivation and those that are ideological. The settlement compound in the city that we had just left is an example of ideological settlement activity – motivated by Zionist beliefs and ideology about the destiny of the Jewish people and the role that Israel and Jerusalem play in that destiny. Ma’ale adummin is an economic settlement – Israeli Jews move there to have a better life, to give their children a nice, safe, secure environment in which to grow up. As our guide pointed out, the Jews who move into that settlement are not primarily well to do European or American Jews, but rather Middle Eastern Jews, Ethiopian immigrant Jews and Russian immigrants. These groups of Jews are lower on the economic scale than European Jews, they have less economic opportunity, less money, less education and generally are trying to adapt to a new country and to deal with their own displacement. As he pointed out, any solution to the Israeli/Palestinian crisis has to deal with those settlers and their fate and the fact that it is unlikely that the Israeli government or anyone else will want to have to deal with resettling 40,000 people in that settlement somewhere else. They have homes, shopping centers, medical centers, library, schools – all the elements of a community and ripping that away doesn’t seem likely.
On our way back to the city, we passed a checkpoint and to our surprise our bus was pulled over. We all got out our passports, prepared for the Israeli soldier to come aboard the bus and check us out. Fortunately, our guide was Israeli and he spoke briefly with the soldier and we were released.
Our guide, a young Israeli Jew who served in the Israeli army, but quit before his time was up, a “refusenick”, and who has dedicated his life since then to being a peace activist, talked quite frankly about the role of the United States in this conflict. He reminded us that our country as the most powerful and richest nation on earth leads by example and exports its culture to the rest of the world. Our unwavering support of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians is only a part of the problem – the fact that we as a country do the very things that many of us condemn the Israeli government for doing is even more critical. He noted that the world looks to us as a model of how to be a well to do, affluent, successful modern society. What they see is a country that rules by force, war, domination, economic inequalities, a country that also builds walls to keep out undesirables while exploiting their labor, a country that marginalizes many parts of its own population and sees no way to stop doing so, or simply lacks the will to do so. We support Israel and its policies not only politically but by being the very thing we see Israel having become. If we want Israel to do differently, if we want the world to be different, then we Americans need to change the way we operate in the world, modeling a society built on compassion and justice rather than oppression and violence. I couldn’t help but think of Rabbi Michael Lerner’s Global Marshall Plan as I listened to our young guide.
When we got back to the hotel, I met with Dr. Shehadeh Shehadeh, a Palestinian Episcopal priest who is the Canon to the Bishop for Peace and Reconciliation. He is working here to encourage dialogue and peace activism among those Israeli Jews who want peace and are willing to countenance the existence of the Palestinians in this country and the Palestinian Christians and Muslims who also want to find a peaceful solution so that everyone can live harmoniously together. His stories of his own experiences working for peace in this region underscore the importance of finding ways for people to encounter one another in a personal way, so that the “other” becomes a real person, with a real story and a face and family. He said that the Christian communities do not work all that well together here and that is a problem that Christians need to address here in the Holy Land. He also noted that the Christian communities here need the help and support of Christian communities outside this region if they are to be able to do the peace work that they must do here on the ground.
It was a full and rich day. The complexity and nuance of this situation is more and more apparent to all of us as we listen and observe and hear people’s stories. And the connections between what we are seeing here and what is happening in our own country in different contexts is sobering.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Vienna
We've had a long day, arriving in Vienna this morning after flying all night (and not sleeping at all!!). We walked around this beatiful city and visited the Judenplatz where there is a Jewish museum that documents the history of Israel in photographs and where there are ruins of a 14th century Synagogue that was destroyed when the Jews were driven out of Vienna in the late 14th century. Reminds me of why they feel so attached to Israel - they have been chased around the globe rather a lot these past two thousand years!
We met with a man who works with an Austrian NGO on Middle East issues and he had some interesting perspectives on the role of American foreign policy in the continuing conflict in Israel/Palestine. Needless to say, he confirmed what most of us know, that Europeans are looking forward to a change in our administration, and he, and others who are working for a peaceful resolution in Israel/Palestine are hoping against hope that the new President will not fall prey to the AIPAC pressures, although they are skeptical about the likelihood of a candidate turned president being willing to stand up to them.
We are in the departure lounge getting ready to board the flight for Tel Aviv.
More tomorrow when I've had some sleep!
We met with a man who works with an Austrian NGO on Middle East issues and he had some interesting perspectives on the role of American foreign policy in the continuing conflict in Israel/Palestine. Needless to say, he confirmed what most of us know, that Europeans are looking forward to a change in our administration, and he, and others who are working for a peaceful resolution in Israel/Palestine are hoping against hope that the new President will not fall prey to the AIPAC pressures, although they are skeptical about the likelihood of a candidate turned president being willing to stand up to them.
We are in the departure lounge getting ready to board the flight for Tel Aviv.
More tomorrow when I've had some sleep!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
First Day - Orientation
Well, the adventure has begun. I've waited 52 years to go to the Holy Land and today I am beginning to sense that this dream will soon become reality. It's been a long day. Up at 4:00 am to get the first flight out of Rochester to JFK and then on to Dulles. I arrived two hours prior to the start of orientation, to a hot, muggy, Washington July day. Had some time to mosy through the Eastern Market before orientation began at the William Penn House, a hostel and Quaker meeting house near Capitol Hill. When I arrived, an assortment of young travelers were coming and going from the hostel, as we Interfaith Peace Builders travelers were beginning to arrive. At 2:00 we gathered - the 14 of us who will make this two week peace delegation together. We are a motley crew, to be sure. A number of 20/30 something young idealists, dedicated to peacemaking, interested in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict because of its complexity. Two of them speak Arabic, which may come in handy as we move along. We've got a young woman who works at the UN, a young woman who is a schoolteacher, a Roman Catholic lay man and his wife who are heavily involved in interfaith work, a singer/activist with waist length hair who looks like he stepped right out of the 60s. We're all passionate about this particular world situation but for very different reasons, which should make for some interesting conversation and interaction as we move into this experience.
We had a chance to look over the itinerary for the next two weeks. Not much room to breathe in this schedule, but it is very exciting as we will be meeting with some very prominent peace groups in Israel and Palestine, have the chance to visit the major religious places of pilgrimage, and get a mix of Israeli and Palestinian perspectives on the complex issues in this conflict. I did become acutely aware that this organization is secular, however, as I noted that on Sunday we are booked solid all day - no chance to attend church, even though we are spending most nights of this trip at the guesthouse of the Anglican Cathedral in Jerusalem!! If I want worship, I'm going to have to get to the 7:30 Daily Eucharist on some weekdays!
At this point, I'm ready to turn in for the night. It's been a full day and more is to come as this adventure unfolds. My first impression is that this will be a fascinating group to travel with, as we come from such varied backgrounds and perspectives. I am in the minority as one who comes at this from a religious interfaith perspective, but I'm thinking that will make for a very comprehensive experience. We're all looking at this through different lenses and will be able to bring our different perspectives to bear on our interactions with those we meet and with each other.
Tomorrow, it's off to Vienna, Austria, where we have a long layover on Monday. We'll be meeting with people there who are involved in Middle East issues to get a European perspective on things before returning to the airport for our flight to Tel Aviv. I expect I will not be near this computer again until some time Tuesday, in Jerusalem.
We had a chance to look over the itinerary for the next two weeks. Not much room to breathe in this schedule, but it is very exciting as we will be meeting with some very prominent peace groups in Israel and Palestine, have the chance to visit the major religious places of pilgrimage, and get a mix of Israeli and Palestinian perspectives on the complex issues in this conflict. I did become acutely aware that this organization is secular, however, as I noted that on Sunday we are booked solid all day - no chance to attend church, even though we are spending most nights of this trip at the guesthouse of the Anglican Cathedral in Jerusalem!! If I want worship, I'm going to have to get to the 7:30 Daily Eucharist on some weekdays!
At this point, I'm ready to turn in for the night. It's been a full day and more is to come as this adventure unfolds. My first impression is that this will be a fascinating group to travel with, as we come from such varied backgrounds and perspectives. I am in the minority as one who comes at this from a religious interfaith perspective, but I'm thinking that will make for a very comprehensive experience. We're all looking at this through different lenses and will be able to bring our different perspectives to bear on our interactions with those we meet and with each other.
Tomorrow, it's off to Vienna, Austria, where we have a long layover on Monday. We'll be meeting with people there who are involved in Middle East issues to get a European perspective on things before returning to the airport for our flight to Tel Aviv. I expect I will not be near this computer again until some time Tuesday, in Jerusalem.
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