Recent Israel/Palestine News

So I like to try to stay informed about what happens in the Holy Land.  Here is a playlist of recent news videos, in case you also care to stay informed:

Post Palestine: Grief and Meaning

After returning from Palestine, I struggled with a sense of grief.  I felt like my heart and mind were still there.  The real world was hard to navigate and I sunk into a type of numbness.  I had little patience for the trivialities of life and could hardly take my mind away from the Palestinian struggle.

Above:  From the church where Jesus is said to have wept for Jerusalem. Trying to remember the difference between hope and optimism. (at Mount of Olives)

I think that many of us lack the background necessary to understand the hearts and minds of those who are tied up in the conflict for land.

One of our tour guides, whose name I cannot use, told us a little story:

A Palestinian man and an Israeli man were arguing about the land.  "This is my land!" said the Israeli.  

"Surely not!  It is clearly mine!" said the Palestinian land.  They argued endlessly over the land and eventually thought to ask the land itself.   

"Whose land is this?"  they asked.

"I do not know," said the land, "but I know one thing: you will both be in it soon enough."

It is difficult to understand the thoughts and experiences of Israelis and Palestinians.  In a sense, you feel deep sympathy for both sides.  But it is also clear, once one opens their eyes and starts talking to people away from watchful eyes of Israeli authorities, that there is a clear imbalance of power and rights.

Above:  Sometimes my brain feels about as chaotic and seemingly disorganized as children’s artwork. It is helpful to remember that sometimes disorder makes sense. Sometimes what appears as chaos is the forming of a more concrete reality. Just as a child’s artwork will mature and eventually better communicate their intentions, so will the chaos of unrefined thoughts and feelings settle into a message. On that day… 

Here is a good video series that is fairly short and attempts to break down to conflict between the two peoples into historical periods:

Israeli Settlements, Palestinians, and You (link)

Written by a woman who was doing a tour with Chicago Theological Seminary while we were in the Holy Land.  They visited many different groups than we did, but we crossed paths more than once.

Immersion Day 10: Jerusalem

Our first activity on the 10th day was a meeting with a government official.  I am not going to say anything more about that due to safety concerns.

After that meeting, we went to Rawdat al-Zuhur primary school, which is a school for Palestinian youth, including many refugee children.  They work to create hope and opportunity in the lives of these children. 

Above:   (at East Jerusalem)  The “values tree” at Rawdat El Zahur, the school for Palestinian children we visited. Each graduating class (6th grade) adds another word to the tree. Such a lovely idea. 

 

Above:  Group Shot at the school with one of the teachers.  

Our last activity was time at Yad Va Shem:

Above:  (at Yad Vashem - The Holocaust Remembrance)  One of the other things we did today: the Holocaust Remembrance Museum. We were not allowed to take pictures inside.  

Above:  (at Bethlehem, West Bank)  In some of my communities at home, you often hear things like, “dream big.” It is such a tragedy to see what small dreams children in Palestine have. They dream of the simple things that many of us take for granted. So while we dream of peace, I hope that those of us capable of more than dreaming will do our part to make this world the kind of place where no child, no matter their religion, language, gender, or the color of their skin, has to dream of forgetting a wall.

Our trip is getting close to its end.  Our next day will hold meetings with the U.N. and a Christian Zionist organization.

Check out this half hour documentary:

Immersion Day 9: Refugees Since 1948

Our next day began with a meeting with the Y.W.C.A. in Palestine.  Their work is impressive.  They do much to empower young women in Palestine and work to create hope among Palestinian youth, who often feel like there is no future for them or their people.  After meeting with some of their leadership and learning about some of the work that they do, they took us to a preschool they operate in a refugee camp.

We next visted Jalazone, a Palestinian refugee camp.  The conditions there were terrible and they lacked basic infrastructure.  There was severe overcrowding and unemployment.  This, like many camps, has been here since 1948.  This community has been displaced for a very long time and has been living in poverty and under oppression the entirety of most of their lives.

In Jalazone, we visited a preschool started by the W.Y.C.A. in Palestine.

Above:  (at جلزون Jalazun)  Y.W.C.A. has created an oasis for children in the midst of the terrible realities of life for refugees. The bright paint against the backdrop of wires and dirty, falling-apart buildings illustrates how hope and determination are in and of themselves forms of resistance.

Above:  Hope inside the YWCA preschool (at جلزون Jalazun)

 Images from inside the camp:

One of the community leaders gave us a power point presentation on the experience of this community.  They offered us coffee and gave us a tour of the community, where we met many people and were followed by a group of children.  We were clearly the excitement for the day.  As you can see, the conditions here are terrible.  The air quality is noticeably different.  Homes are small and crowded and there is no community space.  Everything is taken up by buildings.  

Despite the oppressive conditions and political realities that face this group of people, they are trying their best to meet the community's needs while advocating for change.  The people are under constant threat of violence, lack basic necessities, and have few prospects for mobility or agency.

Much of Western news media paints communities like these as extremist and terrorist.  Nonviolent protests are often met with police violence.  People in these communities should have the right to resist this kind of oppression.  We encountered nothing but hospitality and kindness.

Above:  Clearly they are raising children to hate Americans, right? (At Jalazone Refugee Camp)

"Our religion teaches us not to kill. We don’t kill children,“ says the mother of a child who was shot in the head and killed by Israeli forces during a nonviolent protest (to be clear, Judaism also preaches the sanctity of life). All he had on him was bread and a bag of chips in a backpack. They say they "accidentally” shot him in the head when he bent down to pick up a rock– they were aiming for his leg. As if it somehow makes sense to shoot a child with a rock, even if it is true. Her son is lost. Her land is lost. Her everything is lost. They have no justice for any of it. 

Above:  (at Jalazone) This child was also shot, simply walking to his U.N. school for refugee children. His ear is also bandaged. He wants me to take a picture (though not of his face), to show people what it is like to be under Israeli occupation.

After our time in Jalazone and a lunch in Ramallah, we met with a Quaker leader in Palestine, Jean Zaru.

This was on the wall at their facility:

Above:   This imagery is so intense. Over the past couple of days, we have spoken with Jewish, Christian, and Muslim activists, all of whom are disappointed with leadership on both sides. What is clear, however, is that all of them believe, although they disagree on many things, that continuing expansion and human rights abuses must stop. 

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.

Immersion Trip Day 7: Kairos Palestine and the Wall (Part 2)

As I mentioned, much of our trip was dense with information and informational presentations from faith leaders and others in the Palestine region.  After meeting with Diyar, a Lutheran organization based in Bethlehem that works with people of all faiths in Palestine (and elsewhere) to help keep people living under occupation hopeful, cultured, and rooted in their identity.  Not only does their work ignite passion in youth who feel hopeless about their situation, but it helps train young people for work in the stunted economy of Palestine and roots them in their cultural identity.

Kairos is a Christian organization that works with Palestinians in a different way.  Much of what they do is advocacy and awareness.  Here are some links that might be useful:

Welcome to Kairos Palestine | Kairos Palestine (their website)

Kairos Document | Kairos Palestine

The Kairos Document was a cry in the wilderness for compassion and solidarity with Palestinian Christians.  While the conflict is often framed as one between Muslims and Jews, the reality is that there is some mix.  Israel is 20% Arabic citizenship and Christians make up about 15% of the Palestinian population.  Part of the message control about what is happening in Palestine is the use of religion.  Westerners already make associations between Islam and terrorism, so to continue suggesting that narrative furthers the Israeli cause.  What such implied associations fail to acknowledge is how the severity of Israeli policy and action affects the Palestinian community and how their continued occupation, abuse, discrimination, and displacement of Palestinians foments the resistance (largely unarmed) which the West likes to call "terrorism."  If the British came back to the U.S. tomorrow and said, "we were here before and want this land back, you Americans can all go live in the Dakotas, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado under our control, with limited movement, access to resources, and a closed economy without opportunities for export and limited opportunities for imports, WOULD WE NOT REBEL?  Come on.  

Anyway, I will try to tease out some of the information we got in these meetings, but as with every experience we had, the second hand telling does not do justice to the experience.  The passion and lived experiences of those we met with was hard to deny and hard to accept.  

Here is my group with the folks from Kairos:

After visiting with folks from Diyar and Kairos, it made the experience of the Bethlehem wall very real.  We went to look at the wall, then cross it as a Palestinian might.  Here are some images:

Above:  (at Bethlehem, West Bank)  The wall in Bethlehem. The conversations we got to be a part of ignited hope. Experiences like this trip always manage to couple hope and despair as yin and yang. As Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb says, we are not optimistic, but we are hopeful. There is a difference.

Above:  (at Bethlehem, West Bank)  More of the wall.

Above:  (at Bethlehem, West Bank)  The things some of us take for granted are denied so many of our brothers and sisters around the world.

Above:  (at Bethlehem, West Bank)  "We are one" And yet…

 

Above:  (at Bethlehem, West Bank)  "You may be blind, but we are NOT.“

Above:  (at Bethlehem, West Bank)  "END ISRAELI APARTHEID" My experience here illustrates how much misinformation is spouted in our media. The narratives floated by the dominant voices in American media are pretty much the exact opposite of what is happening on the ground. Across the street from this (on the side “controlled” by Palestians), in a dilapidated neighborhood, a little boy (his name was Ahmed) waved hello to me and my classmates. He and his father asked if we had time for coffee. Tell me again who the terrorists are. 

 

Above:  (at Bethlehem, West Bank)  "There is but one coward on this earth, and that is the coward that dare not know.“ W.E.B. Du Bois          Where is the truth? It is here. It is plain. And it is hidden from those who do not look for it. The truth alone may not set us free, but we cannot be free without it. None of us are free until all of us are free.

We crossed the wall on foot, through gates that Palestinian laborers cross between 2:30 and 4:30 in the morning.  I cannot imagine when they sleep.

We entered a dark, ramped hallway.  It was pitch black and covered in trash.  After making it up the dark ramp, we entered a brightly-lit room with florescent lights that seemed blinding after dark-hallway-of-trash.  It was metal, concrete, and wire everywhere.  Yet again, I felt like an animal.  The design is clearly made to dehumanize and be unpleasant.  Our leader told us that in the mornings, when it is full, guards are everywhere.  Faith groups also stand in the line to intervene when Israeli soldiers mistreat Palestinians.

As we approached a metal turnstyle to get to the next area, a man was standing in front of the gate, yelling down the empty hallway, trying to get someone's attention.  He was standing in front of the gate, belt in hand, ready to go through security.  As we walked up (a group of Americans), he pointed up at the camera directly above his head.

"They can see us," he pointed out to us.  How long had he been standing there, waiting for someone to acknowledge him and let him through?  It wasn't even busy.

Momentarily, perhaps with the arrival of we Americans, a guard spoke over the loudspeaker.  "Go to Gate 3." There were 3 gates.  We looked around.  None were labeled.

"Which is Gate 3?"  We asked and walked over to a different one.  Nope, not the one.  We walked to the third gate.

A couple followed us and we let them go ahead.  We were tourists after all, and they were probably trying to do something more important.  The woman, in a long skirt and holding a plastic shopping back, went through security, taking off her shoes and placing her bag on the x-ray machine, walking through the metal detector.  This is the second place we needed to be approved to move forward.

We got to the last point, where we were to show our passports and visas.  The Palestinian woman who we let in front of us spoke to the guard for quite some time.  She had her documents, but there was much talking back and forth.  I could only imagine how often that happened when the facility was packed with folks trying to get through to work, to see family, or to get to their land.  I don't know why they questioned her for so long, but they did.

After we got back to Area B on the other side of the wall, our guide told us that a group of Jewish grandmothers stands there every day to yell at the Israeli soldiers for doing a poor job.

The night was dark.  We were tired.  We returned to the hotel; I was feeling helpless.  How terrible the situation is for so many Palestinians.  They are not animals.

We cannot cage them in and treat them so.

None of us are free until all of us are free.

Here are some videos.  I recommend the following explanation of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Above:  This is a fairly good explanation of the history of events in Israel and Palestine.

Above: Building Peace