Immersion Day 8:

The next day of our trip began with a 4-hour tour with ICAHD-USA.  Our guide showed us what tourists don't normally see and also pointed out the areas that are Israeli settlements.  It is difficult to discern whether you are in Palestine or Israel, whether you are in an illegal settlement or an area that is recognized by the international community.  This tour pointed out the disparity in living situations, the ongoing effects of occupation, as well as how invisible many injustices are.  It also pointed out how sprawling and unjust the illegal settlements are.

Here is a Palestinian neighborhood we drover through.  The area is dilapidated; things are made of trash; the roads are terrible; there is trash everywhere (there is no trash pick-up).

In the middle of this area is an illegal Israeli settlement (below):

Among a clearly impoverished community of Palestinians is this illegal Israeli settlement that the military has built walls around and protects with cameras and military servicepeople.  

They have trash bins with recycling and compost bins.  Fifty feet away are Palestians who have no trash service and are forced to burn their trash.  Their community now has higher cancer rates because of this kind of thing.  The Israeli government says they don’t offer trash service because the roads are too bad.  Then build roads!  They have built new roads to and from the walled settlement.

Hopefully you watched some of the videos I have posted about the illegal settlements and how extreme the Israeli settlers often are.  As you can see, this settlement looks quite different than the majority of the community it is built within and has very different levels of support from the Israeli government, who is in control of the area.  

We also saw another wall built to separate communities:

Above: (at East Jerusalem)  "We are humans.“ On the wall built straight through Jericho Road, which had been open for 4000 years prior. Much of the grafitti ("Free Palestine” and such) is scribbled out. The disparity between Israeli living areas and Palestinian living areas is striking. It is clear who the tax money is supporting and who is actively being neglected and oppressed. We must stand with our Christian and Muslim (and Palestinian Jewish! They exist, too. And non-religious) brothers and sisters in this place. They are suffering. They have no agency. Israel must be held accountable for its human rights violations. 

Demolished homes.

Homes are demolished for a variety of reasons.

Under Israeli occupation, homes of those who commit violence (as we might call “terrorists” or “violent resistance”) are demolished– and the homes of their families, whether or not they were involved or knew.

If you build without a permit, your home will receive a notice for demolition.  The problem is that only 1.5% of permit requests are approved for Palestinians, who are constantly growing in population and constantly losing land.  Where are they supposed to go?  Well, that’s the thing, isn’t it?  When the people can’t get permits to build, they often do anyway, because what else can they do?

If you build above 4 stories, you will receive a notice for demolition.  It is Arabic custom to add more stories to a home for more generations.  Also, it makes sense to build up in Palestine since, as mentioned, they are a growing population on shrinking land.  Nope, Israel says your tall home is a security threat.

Homes are demolished for other reasons, too, like Israel determining to use an area as a nature preserve or to build more apartheid wall.

There are many reasons.  

It’s also worth knowing that one has to PAY FOR THE HOME DEMOLITION and clean-up. This leads many to simply demolish their own homes, because at least then they have more control over when it will happen and the cost.

This is the world we are funding.

This is how you create terrorism, not fight it.  This kind of stuff IS TERRORISM.  

Above:  (at East Jerusalem)   Demolished homes in Palestine. I can’t even begin. When South Africans tell us this is worse than apartheid, we have to know something is gravely wrong. When Israel plans to erect a “center for tolerance” on top of a Muslim cemetery, how do we not detect the disingenuous sentiment? These are the not front lines of terrorism, but of human rights violations.

After our tour with ICAHD, we had a briefing with B’Tselem—the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.  We discussed further how the State of Israel abuses Palestinians and continues to violate human rights and expand land.

After this, we headed to a university to speak with a Rabbi there who I will not name.  This Rabbi talked to us about their vision for Israel and the type of Zionism they invisioned.  I had some trouble imagining this vision realistically, but I suppose it is hard to imagine much other than the kinds of hostility that currently exist.

After this conversation, we made our way to a place I will not name to meet with  Mr. Omar Barghouthi, a leader of the Palestinian Civil Society BDS Movement.  I was very impressed with his vision and message.  The BDS Movement (which stands for Boycott, Divest, Sanctions) is one that attempts to impact change in Palestine through economic pressure on Israel by private citizens who object to Israel's human rights abuses.  There are different levels of BDS.   Some folks boycott all things made in Israel, others only items from settlements, for instance.  Check out this interview with Omar Barghouti for more information.

That wrapped up Day 8.  Day 9 soon.

Above:  This is the version of history that many Zionists believe.  It is a misrepresentation and hardly a balanced look.