I cover my grace–
a gift I run from.
Trapped in the air of my mind.
Do I mind?
Scream and shake
Quietly, smoothly, seamlessly like water
Poured into a smile that covers the cover.
I undo the world and the words that make the sun rise.
We are asked to open our minds to new imaginings of our traditions that ask where feminine perspectives are and to open all aspects of praxis to women, but furthermore to do so in a way that not only addresses such issues “technically,” but spiritually. We need to go beyond reforming practice and dialogue to adopting repentant attitudes toward the transgressions of our institutions and the ways we have been complicit.
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.
It’s good to feel good, but churches that are all about feeling good about oneself can neglect the challenge that our faith should be in our lives– the challenge to examine our lives, to do good in the world, to Love the stranger and the other. To feel challenged can’t mean that we are beaten down all the time, either. There needs to be a balance that satisfies our need for safety and happiness, but also helps us grow. A hymn might be really nice and personally rewarding, but if our church is only personally rewarding, it’s more of a book club than a church. In dealing with issues of justice, the hope element is so important. It is the hope that can make justice celebratory and can make us feel safe in our challenges.
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:
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 BoisWhere 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.
As much as Jesus’ actions were calls against systems of dominance, they were also rooted in the Inter-Being of life. God makes the rain fall and the sun shine on all of us, right? That sense of Inter-Being and Love should be at the core of the Christian message, as I see it.
Much of our trip was heavy with meetings. We had the privilege of meeting with many activist organizations, the U.N., a university professor, a leader of the BDS movement, Christian religious leaders from Lutheran, Orthodox, the Y.W.C.A., and Quaker organizations, the leader of a Christian Zionist organization, and a tour of the city that brought us to Palestinian neighborhoods unseen by most tourists and Israelis and Israeli settlements of varying size, Ramallah in Area A, another refugee camp, a member of Palestinian parliament, and other meetings. It was heavy with head-stuff, heart-stuff, and spirit-stuff. I'll divide these days up more, since they are heavy with information.
Our hotel was in East Jerusalem, so we began our day, as we did most days, by getting in our van for a small drive. Here is what it looks like to drive into Bethlehem:
Our day began in Bethlehem. It was Armenian Christmas and the Patriarch was coming to town, so there was lots of security for a parade. We first went into the church, which was heavily under construction, to visit the spot that is supposed to be the birthplace of Christ:
Above: (at Church of the Nativity) Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem at the spot some believe Jesus was born.
Seeing the church under construction was an interesting experience:
After wandering the church, we went to see the parade and procession of the Patriarch. I loved how different the Armenian Christmas was from my Christmas experience. The festive parade full of youth was amazing.
Above: (at Church of the Nativity) Armenian Christmas. We saw the patriarch process into the Church of the Nativity, preceded by their equivalent of boy scouts and girl scouts. This doesn’t quite capture the festive energy. The sense of joy was palpable.
After visiting the church and viewing the parade, we went to Diyar, an organization based in Bethlehem.
From their pamphlet:
“Diyar is the plural of Dar, which means “home” or homeland” in Arabic. Diyar is a Lutheran-based, ecumenically-oriented organization serving the whole Palestinian community, with emphasis on children, youth, women and the elderly through unique programs that are contextual and holistic in nature. Founded in 1995 as the International Center of Bethlehem, Diyar Consortium serves several thousands of members and reaches to more than 60,000 people annually.”
We met with Rev. Mitri Raheb, the author of Faith in the Face of Empire: Reading the Bible with Palestinian Eyes, one of our textbooks for the class. I'm bummed that I didn't bring my book for him to sign. He is a leader at Diyar. You can find their website here: Diyar Consortium
Also from their pamphlet:
Our Vision
That We Might Have Life & Have it Abundantly
Our Mission
To build a country; stone by stone
To empower a community; person by person
To create institutions that give life in abundance
From their brochure:
Civic Engagement
The Civic Engagement Program seeks to empower Palestinian youth, women, teachers and future leaders, and transform them from spectators to actors by identifying, motivating, and developing their potential through a unique and holistic approach. The Program offers training in civic education and multiple civil society engagement initiatives.
Culture
Culture is often seen as a luxury, while in fact it is the art to breathe in a context of continuous conflict.
Diyar offers room for creativity, space for self-expression and venue for cultural exchanges on the local, regional, and international levels, thus making Bethlehem the cultural destination in Palestine.
From the Diyar brochure:
Diyar Art Center
“DAC seeks to empower Palestinian women by employing the arts as a vehicle for nurturing their creativity, enhancing their economic sustainability and giving a voice through advancing their productions as their personal unique expressions.”
From the Diyar brochure:
Diyar Publisher
Diyar publisher is committed to document the oral history of the Palestinian people, and to publish the works of Palestinian and international scholars on issues related to Palestinian art, social history, religion, Palestinian Christians, women, archaeology and civil society.
Ajyal
With no social security or health insurance for those who are above 65 years old, Ajyal Program is a comprehensive elderly care program that offers basic services, spiritual fellowship, social support system and opportunities for continuous education and growth.
Diyar is a wonderful organization and Rev. Raheb is an inspirational figure. His ministry is the kind that is truly the work of God.
Our next visit in Bethlehem was with Karios Palestine, another Christian organization. I'll share some about that next time.
