In this post: Visit to the Holocaust museum and comparisons of what is going on in Israel today; Obama's visit; news story you won't see in the US
Today I had the opportunity to visit the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem, as some people I knew were going on a tour there. Coincidentally, my visit came one day after Obama's visit to the same place. I'll comment further down about Obama's latest visit, but I first want to write about my time at the museum today.
One of the first things I was struck by at the museum was that there are absolutely no signs or information in Arabic, despite Arabic being the other official language in Israel. All the signs and information were given in Hebrew and English only. This is the case with most of the National Parks I've visited in Israel too.
Next, I was impressed with how much time the museum spent on describing the Nazi regime, its rise to power, the intracasies of German politics in the 1930s and 40s, etc. All of this indirectly relates to the Holocaust, of course, but the time spent on it seemed quite imbalanced to me, as little was actually said about Jews during all the descriptions of the Nazis. I guess the museum wants to impress upon visitors the evilness of the enemy.
I was also struck by how much commonality there is between the racist actions of the Nazi regime and some actions done by Israel. For example, the museum pointed out how, several times, there were Jews who did certain crimes against the gov.'t, and the gov.'t used these isolated incidents as an excuse to herd the entire Jewish population of a region into a ghetto. Of course, this is collective punishment, which the museum deplores. However, I wish they could apply the same abhorence to the collective punishment Israel now does to the Palestinians. Several of the cases are almost identical--examples of the entire population being punished because of the actions of a few. I've even heard Holocause survivors comment on how similar the refugee camps in Palestine are to the ghettos in Europe during the Holocaust.
Of course, Israel has never tried to completely and utterly exterminate the Palestinians like Hitler did to the Jews. The Nazi's actions were quite quick and decisive, on a historical timeline (about 8 years total). The amount of death and destruction during that time was horrendous. But Israel has done some similiar action, just more slowly (over 60 years) and beaurocratically.
The museum described how some Jews decided to fight back violently agains the Nazis, and this was described in heroic terms. However, when Palestinians attempt to fight off the occuping power, they're labeled "terrorists."
There are many instances of Jews during the 1940s attempting to gain assylum as refugees. Often, they were turned back by gov'ts, including the USA. Unfortunately, the pity we should feel for the Jewish refugees, it doesn't apply to Palestinian refugees.
At the beginning of the museum, there was a quote by St. Augustine, where the museum was describing the anti-semetism of the early Christian Church. The large, bolded text quote read: Don't kill them (the Jews); only, do not allow them to go home, spread them abroad. This quote could, in its entirety, explain what the state of Israel is trying to do to the Palestinians.
It really was quite heavy, visiting the museum and contemplating all the violence and killing.
As most everyone knows, Obama visted the region here yesterday. He was here for about 24 hours; he spent 23 hours in Israel, and 1 hour in Palestine (actually, less than an hour). How's that for balance? The thing that surprised me the most was that Obama clarified and/or repeated a statement he made about Jerusalem earlier; he said yesterday that he does not support Jerusalem being the capital of Palestine (see: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30771). Again, this is a problem of him taking sides on something that is supposed to be on the negotion table between Israel and Palestine.
You can help form the political party platforms in the US this year. Here's a website that gives tips on getting involved and helping the parties to develop a more Palestine-friendly, balanced platform: http://ga3.org/btvshalom/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=28151174
Finally, here's a story you won't see in the US media. This event happened the same night after the "terrorist" bulldozer attack in Jerusalem this week. A mob of Jewish Israelis attempted to lynch two Palestinian men, and when one Jewish man tried to intervene, he was also stabbed. How would this story be covered in intl news if the roles were reversed? Should not this count as racism and terrorism as well? See http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331061642&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFul
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Move to Jerusalem / Bulldozer Attack
In this post: My move from Beit Ummar and PSP to work in a Jerusalem Palestinian hostel; reflection on today's bulldozer attack in Jerusalem, etc.
After consulting with my support committee and some others about my work in Beit Ummar with Palestine Solidarity Committee, we decided that it would be best for me to relocate to Jerusalem for the time being. There were a number of factors going into this decision.
One of the main reasons stemmed from my increased uncomfortability with the violent aspects of the protests. As I've already mentioned, the Israeli military uses actions such as rock throwing as an excuse to use harsh tactics. I am willing to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle against the occupation and make the sacrifices to do that, as long as the struggle is nonviolent. Problems, arise, however, when the protests turn into merely another way for people to wage a war for their nationalistic interests. Many of the protests I witnessed were quite patriotic, and I'm convinced that some of the people there would have used lethal force if they had the right weapons or if they thought it would benefit their cause. The language and attitudes at the protests also tend to be quite violent.
I still believe Israel uses a drastic disproportion of force on the protests, and it is a good idea to have internationals there for the protection of Palestinians. But, speaking for myself, I am not willing to give support to a violent resistance.
There are many ways to stand in solidarity with Palestinians against the occupation, and I'm currently going to explore more nuanced ways to do that. I doubt that I will neglect protests entirely, but I'm at least taking a break to figure out my stance on things.
Another reason for my leaving Beit Ummar was that I was having difficulty adjusting to some new leadership styles after coming from communities that use consensus.
I've now moved to the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem to work with a Palestinian older man who runs a hostel on a donation basis only. He's had some problems with people taking advantage of him lately, and he's needing someone to live in the house and act as a sort of dean/manager, so I'm going to try this out. All ready, I'm feeling good about the move, and I'm enjoying cleaning up the house, etc.
In some ways, my work here reminds me of Guadalupe House in Tacoma. After having an intense last few months, it's therapeutic to clean, tidy, and prepare the house for new guests. We're going to try to make more of a program for Ibrahim's house so that he won't be taken advantage of.
This work is fairly different from what I came to Palestine to do, but I'm trying this out and getting some much needed rest. I will still be involved in solidarity work with Palestinians, but perhaps in different ways and at different levels. I'm still living with Palestinians, too, as the neighborhood here and Ibrahim's family is thoroughly Palestinian.
As you can see from the news today, a Palestinian from E. Jerusalem rammed his bulldozer into a bus and several cars in downtown Jerusalem this afternoon. News sources and Israel immediately labeled the action a "terrorist act," despite the fact that no group has claimed responsibility for the action (as they normally do) and without evidence that the man acted with premeditation or that others were involved.
I'm growing quite weary of the "terrorism" hysteria that seems to intoxicate the masses of Israelis and Americans. Whenever there is any sort of violence against people of the West, the acts are immediately labeled terrorist and people talk about what they're going to do in response.
Over and over, I see people jump to conclusions and talk of retribution before they know the facts and without asking simple questions like, "Why did this happen? Could the person or group have any legitimate concerns? Is there anything that I or my government is doing that could in any way encourage or feed this sort of action." Until Israel, the US, and the rest of the West begin to realize what they're adding to the equation and how their policies of keeping people oppressed and impoverished are only making matters worse, I fear "terrorism" will only continue and rise. Israel will not see and end to terrorism by using it's military might; rather, it has to learn to integrate, not segregate, to treat their neighbors with equality, not inequality.
Israel says this is a copy-cat attack, but I'm also seeing a copy-cat response. Already, we have politicians calling to demolish the dead man's family home, so we'll create several more "terrorists" from the initial one by embittering his family, not to mention that collective punishment is illegal and morally despicable. The attacker's dead, for pity's sake! What more do we want to do???
Someone asked me today, Why is it that Israeli military and police always shoot to kill these people? Even from a tactical standpoint, wouldn't it be better to injure or arrest the person for questioning?
If this attack happened in the US, I doubt we would initially label it terrorist (unless we knew it came from a Muslim). Likely, we would say someone went crazy. And, we have our own history in the US of copy-cat school shootings, etc., which are treated as criminal acts, not terrorist ones.
The REALLY crazy thing about this incident is that a Palestinian friend walked in the house tonight and said he was friends with the "terrorist." My friend said there was no way the man was a terrorist, that he was one of the most relaxed, easy-going, hard-working people he knew. The man didn't have time to be involved in politics or scheming. He came from a poor family and worked all the time.
My friend said he has known this guy for over 20 years. He described to me that there is only one road away from the construction site where the man was working. My friend hypothesized that the brakes went out on the bulldozer, and after the machine hit the first car, the man was shot, so that his body slumped over and onto the accelerator, which made the machine continue doing damage. I'm not sure I buy this idea, but I doubt there will be much of an investigation into the incident.
Even if the act was deliberate, that doesn't mean it was terrorist. We could have here merely an example of a copy-cat psychological breakdown. God knows the Palestinians have plenty to break down about anyway.
I'm certainly not trying to justify, IN ANY WAY, what happened today or to say Palestinians have a right to kill Israelis (any Israelis). I feel really bad for those random people walking or driving down the street who are now having to deal with injuries, fear, etc. I've walked on that street, so I can imagine a little why people get scared. They have some decent reasons to feel afraid.
I only fear that people's reactions to their fear will make the situation worse.
I mentioned integrating, not segregating earlier. I feel completely safe, living in this Arab neighborhood, and in some ways, I'm safer than if I lived in West Jerusalem, separate from the Palestinians. I wonder, if Israel really tried to integrate, would it not make them safer?
After consulting with my support committee and some others about my work in Beit Ummar with Palestine Solidarity Committee, we decided that it would be best for me to relocate to Jerusalem for the time being. There were a number of factors going into this decision.
One of the main reasons stemmed from my increased uncomfortability with the violent aspects of the protests. As I've already mentioned, the Israeli military uses actions such as rock throwing as an excuse to use harsh tactics. I am willing to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle against the occupation and make the sacrifices to do that, as long as the struggle is nonviolent. Problems, arise, however, when the protests turn into merely another way for people to wage a war for their nationalistic interests. Many of the protests I witnessed were quite patriotic, and I'm convinced that some of the people there would have used lethal force if they had the right weapons or if they thought it would benefit their cause. The language and attitudes at the protests also tend to be quite violent.
I still believe Israel uses a drastic disproportion of force on the protests, and it is a good idea to have internationals there for the protection of Palestinians. But, speaking for myself, I am not willing to give support to a violent resistance.
There are many ways to stand in solidarity with Palestinians against the occupation, and I'm currently going to explore more nuanced ways to do that. I doubt that I will neglect protests entirely, but I'm at least taking a break to figure out my stance on things.
Another reason for my leaving Beit Ummar was that I was having difficulty adjusting to some new leadership styles after coming from communities that use consensus.
I've now moved to the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem to work with a Palestinian older man who runs a hostel on a donation basis only. He's had some problems with people taking advantage of him lately, and he's needing someone to live in the house and act as a sort of dean/manager, so I'm going to try this out. All ready, I'm feeling good about the move, and I'm enjoying cleaning up the house, etc.
In some ways, my work here reminds me of Guadalupe House in Tacoma. After having an intense last few months, it's therapeutic to clean, tidy, and prepare the house for new guests. We're going to try to make more of a program for Ibrahim's house so that he won't be taken advantage of.
This work is fairly different from what I came to Palestine to do, but I'm trying this out and getting some much needed rest. I will still be involved in solidarity work with Palestinians, but perhaps in different ways and at different levels. I'm still living with Palestinians, too, as the neighborhood here and Ibrahim's family is thoroughly Palestinian.
As you can see from the news today, a Palestinian from E. Jerusalem rammed his bulldozer into a bus and several cars in downtown Jerusalem this afternoon. News sources and Israel immediately labeled the action a "terrorist act," despite the fact that no group has claimed responsibility for the action (as they normally do) and without evidence that the man acted with premeditation or that others were involved.
I'm growing quite weary of the "terrorism" hysteria that seems to intoxicate the masses of Israelis and Americans. Whenever there is any sort of violence against people of the West, the acts are immediately labeled terrorist and people talk about what they're going to do in response.
Over and over, I see people jump to conclusions and talk of retribution before they know the facts and without asking simple questions like, "Why did this happen? Could the person or group have any legitimate concerns? Is there anything that I or my government is doing that could in any way encourage or feed this sort of action." Until Israel, the US, and the rest of the West begin to realize what they're adding to the equation and how their policies of keeping people oppressed and impoverished are only making matters worse, I fear "terrorism" will only continue and rise. Israel will not see and end to terrorism by using it's military might; rather, it has to learn to integrate, not segregate, to treat their neighbors with equality, not inequality.
Israel says this is a copy-cat attack, but I'm also seeing a copy-cat response. Already, we have politicians calling to demolish the dead man's family home, so we'll create several more "terrorists" from the initial one by embittering his family, not to mention that collective punishment is illegal and morally despicable. The attacker's dead, for pity's sake! What more do we want to do???
Someone asked me today, Why is it that Israeli military and police always shoot to kill these people? Even from a tactical standpoint, wouldn't it be better to injure or arrest the person for questioning?
If this attack happened in the US, I doubt we would initially label it terrorist (unless we knew it came from a Muslim). Likely, we would say someone went crazy. And, we have our own history in the US of copy-cat school shootings, etc., which are treated as criminal acts, not terrorist ones.
The REALLY crazy thing about this incident is that a Palestinian friend walked in the house tonight and said he was friends with the "terrorist." My friend said there was no way the man was a terrorist, that he was one of the most relaxed, easy-going, hard-working people he knew. The man didn't have time to be involved in politics or scheming. He came from a poor family and worked all the time.
My friend said he has known this guy for over 20 years. He described to me that there is only one road away from the construction site where the man was working. My friend hypothesized that the brakes went out on the bulldozer, and after the machine hit the first car, the man was shot, so that his body slumped over and onto the accelerator, which made the machine continue doing damage. I'm not sure I buy this idea, but I doubt there will be much of an investigation into the incident.
Even if the act was deliberate, that doesn't mean it was terrorist. We could have here merely an example of a copy-cat psychological breakdown. God knows the Palestinians have plenty to break down about anyway.
I'm certainly not trying to justify, IN ANY WAY, what happened today or to say Palestinians have a right to kill Israelis (any Israelis). I feel really bad for those random people walking or driving down the street who are now having to deal with injuries, fear, etc. I've walked on that street, so I can imagine a little why people get scared. They have some decent reasons to feel afraid.
I only fear that people's reactions to their fear will make the situation worse.
I mentioned integrating, not segregating earlier. I feel completely safe, living in this Arab neighborhood, and in some ways, I'm safer than if I lived in West Jerusalem, separate from the Palestinians. I wonder, if Israel really tried to integrate, would it not make them safer?
Monday, July 21, 2008
Soldier shoots detained prisoner @ Na'lin
As I've mentioned in previous blogs, I've been to the Na'lin demo many times. Yesterday, an Israeli peace group who distributes camera's to Pal's so that they can catch the occupation on film published this amateur film on their website. The girl who took the film is 14 yrs old and shot it from a window in her house.
The film shows an Israeli soldier shooting an unarmed Palestinian in the foot. The Pal. is in handcuffs and being held by a high-ranking officer. The man was shot with a rubber coated steel bullet at extremely close range.
You can watch the film here. You can also read a report about the film at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1003717.html
I don't need to remind you that this is a crime, even by Israeli law.
The film shows an Israeli soldier shooting an unarmed Palestinian in the foot. The Pal. is in handcuffs and being held by a high-ranking officer. The man was shot with a rubber coated steel bullet at extremely close range.
You can watch the film here. You can also read a report about the film at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1003717.html
I don't need to remind you that this is a crime, even by Israeli law.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Talking with Soldiers / Cultural Frustrations
In this post: an addition to last conversation with a solder; a contrasting talk with a soldier who had invaded Beit Ummar last night; and a reflection on cultural observations/frustrations here.
I want to add something to my last post when I talked about the conversation with the soldier at Umm Salamuna protest. When the soldier said he could not share his opinion with me about the Wall, etc. and whether these actions were good for the state of Israel, the Palestinian leading the group said, "If you met this soldier in Jerusalem or some other place in Israel and he had plain clothes on, he would share lots of opinions with you about the occupation, maybe many negative opinions about what's going on here, but right now, he's on duty and not allowed to speak about these things." At this, the soldier shook his head in agreement and seemed to say that he really did want to share his opinion but couldn't. Then, the Palestinian went on to say how the circumstances aren't the soldiers fault as much as the people in gov.'t, and again, the soldier shook his head in agreement (see my last post for more details on the discussion).
This conversation contrasts with one I had last night with a soldier. I was notified around 9 pm that soldiers had entered Beit Ummar and were firing shots in the air and trying to declare a curfew. After consulting with some others, three of us decided to go see what the soldiers were doing; however, when we arrived, Pal's said the soldiers had already left, and things were back to normal on the St. The three of us then decided to walk down to the checkpoint at the entrance to the village to make sure the soldiers hadn't sealed off the road.
When we arrived, there was a military jeep there with it's emergency lights flashing, and some Pal's were standing around it; the jeep was not blocking off the road. We deiced to walk past the jeep and act as if we were leaving the village, to get a better idea of what was going on. Once we walked past the jeep, it started to pull away from it's parking place, then it drove over to where we were standing.
A soldier asked if he could see our passports, and I said, "If you like." He said, "I do like." I handed over our passports, and he said, "Why are you here? It is illegal for you to be here."
"Who says it's illegal to be here?" I asked gently.
"The Israeli army does."
"I don't know anything about that," I said. "I was allowed through the checkpoint into this area, and I have a stamp in my passport that says I can go anywhere in Israel."
"Well, this isn't Israel," he said. "It will be Israel, though."
I said, "As you like. I'm not going to argue with you about that."
"What is your business here?" he asked. "Why did you come here."
I told him we had met a family in Bethlehem who had invited us for dinner here, but we were unable to find them, so we were probably going back to Bethlehem. With that, he handed our passports back to us and drove off.
I explained to my companions, who had remained quiet throughout the exchange, that these soldiers were probably a little bored and wanted to have a little excitement in the village. I could have responded to his comment about "this isn't Israel" by asking, "Then why are you here?" and I could have chosen to argue with him about this land becoming Israel. However, I said that it wouldn't do anything except create more controversy by arguing with him; he obviously had his perspective, and I wasn't going to change it in that brief exchange. Sometimes, we have to choose our battles and decide when someone is open to hearing a different perspective and when disagreeing is only going to inflame the situation.
Just as with any group, movement, people, or nation, there are well-meaning, nicer soldiers in the Israeli military, and there are mean-spirited ones too. This last soldier I spoke with obviously had an agenda and was not interested in much other than taking over this land and making it Israel.
---------------
Over the last few months, I've come to really appreciate somethings about Palestinian culture, and I've come to really hate other things about it. One example of something that I dislike about the Palestinian culture here, in general, is it's hatred of homosexuals. I have had many people strike up conversations with me about this subject, and I generally try to not say much, as I don't want to alienate them. However, in one case, where I knew the Pal. better, I decided to respond a little after he made comments about how all homosexuals were going to burn in hell.
I explained to him that I had many friends in the US who were homosexual, and I said that I hoped that none of my friends burned in hell. I asked, "Do you want your friends to burn in hell?" He replied that he did not, so I said, "Then please don't tell me that my friends are going to burn in hell. We are not the ones to decide who will go to hell and who won't, and we don't know a person's heart. So, we can never say for sure that someone will burn in Hell. Allah is compassionate, oft-forgiving, and merciful" (to quote from the Qur'an). He seemed to really thing about what I said and didn't respond.
Another thing that really drives me crazy about Palestinian culture here (to make another generalization) is all the gossip. One Pal. said, We welcome everyone into our homes and will give them anything they like, but when they leave, we will talk behind their backs. This man said this, trying to defend the practice. Image is one of the most important things here. It doesn't so much matter what you do in private; all that matters is the public image that you present, which can shield you from harmful gossip if you present yourself correctly. I've personally seen some extremely ugly assumptions made by Pal's, and they turn around and talk to other Pal's about these completely false assumptions or information.
Pal's do, in general, practice an amazing form of hospitality. However, so far, I've had cause to wonder who far that hospitality goes. My impression is that Pal's are excellent with short-term hospitality, but after the initial newness wears off, I'm not so impressed that they continue offering the hospitality. I'm hoping to see evidence to the contrary of this.
There are many more things I could say about frustrations I've had with Pal culture, whether it's gender issues, ideas about sex, etc., etc. I think it's often the case that people under the boot of oppression often turn to religion as an outlet and comfort, and they often become more conservative and judgmental in the process (this is not to say that turning to religion in times of stress is a bad thing, or that religion necessarily makes people judgmental). Often, people under oppression who turn to religion use the religion as an excuse to practice oppression against other people. I've seen this happen, where men here hurt women, women hurt children, children hurt animals, etc. Those oppressed can often oppress others because they've learned all about the techniques from suffering themselves; they do not necessarily apply their desire for no oppression to others who might need freedom too.
BUT . . . Regardless of all the things I may dislike about Palestinian culture, regardless of how much oppression may exist within this society, Palestinians still deserve their freedom. They still have that basic human right to live without occupation.
I don't dislike everything about this culture. There are so many things (which for now I won't mention) that I love about being here and this culture. But, hypothetically, I could hate everything about the ways of a culture, and still, I would stand up for their freedom. And, I would challenge them to release the bonds of oppression from those who they may be oppressing as well.
I want to add something to my last post when I talked about the conversation with the soldier at Umm Salamuna protest. When the soldier said he could not share his opinion with me about the Wall, etc. and whether these actions were good for the state of Israel, the Palestinian leading the group said, "If you met this soldier in Jerusalem or some other place in Israel and he had plain clothes on, he would share lots of opinions with you about the occupation, maybe many negative opinions about what's going on here, but right now, he's on duty and not allowed to speak about these things." At this, the soldier shook his head in agreement and seemed to say that he really did want to share his opinion but couldn't. Then, the Palestinian went on to say how the circumstances aren't the soldiers fault as much as the people in gov.'t, and again, the soldier shook his head in agreement (see my last post for more details on the discussion).
This conversation contrasts with one I had last night with a soldier. I was notified around 9 pm that soldiers had entered Beit Ummar and were firing shots in the air and trying to declare a curfew. After consulting with some others, three of us decided to go see what the soldiers were doing; however, when we arrived, Pal's said the soldiers had already left, and things were back to normal on the St. The three of us then decided to walk down to the checkpoint at the entrance to the village to make sure the soldiers hadn't sealed off the road.
When we arrived, there was a military jeep there with it's emergency lights flashing, and some Pal's were standing around it; the jeep was not blocking off the road. We deiced to walk past the jeep and act as if we were leaving the village, to get a better idea of what was going on. Once we walked past the jeep, it started to pull away from it's parking place, then it drove over to where we were standing.
A soldier asked if he could see our passports, and I said, "If you like." He said, "I do like." I handed over our passports, and he said, "Why are you here? It is illegal for you to be here."
"Who says it's illegal to be here?" I asked gently.
"The Israeli army does."
"I don't know anything about that," I said. "I was allowed through the checkpoint into this area, and I have a stamp in my passport that says I can go anywhere in Israel."
"Well, this isn't Israel," he said. "It will be Israel, though."
I said, "As you like. I'm not going to argue with you about that."
"What is your business here?" he asked. "Why did you come here."
I told him we had met a family in Bethlehem who had invited us for dinner here, but we were unable to find them, so we were probably going back to Bethlehem. With that, he handed our passports back to us and drove off.
I explained to my companions, who had remained quiet throughout the exchange, that these soldiers were probably a little bored and wanted to have a little excitement in the village. I could have responded to his comment about "this isn't Israel" by asking, "Then why are you here?" and I could have chosen to argue with him about this land becoming Israel. However, I said that it wouldn't do anything except create more controversy by arguing with him; he obviously had his perspective, and I wasn't going to change it in that brief exchange. Sometimes, we have to choose our battles and decide when someone is open to hearing a different perspective and when disagreeing is only going to inflame the situation.
Just as with any group, movement, people, or nation, there are well-meaning, nicer soldiers in the Israeli military, and there are mean-spirited ones too. This last soldier I spoke with obviously had an agenda and was not interested in much other than taking over this land and making it Israel.
---------------
Over the last few months, I've come to really appreciate somethings about Palestinian culture, and I've come to really hate other things about it. One example of something that I dislike about the Palestinian culture here, in general, is it's hatred of homosexuals. I have had many people strike up conversations with me about this subject, and I generally try to not say much, as I don't want to alienate them. However, in one case, where I knew the Pal. better, I decided to respond a little after he made comments about how all homosexuals were going to burn in hell.
I explained to him that I had many friends in the US who were homosexual, and I said that I hoped that none of my friends burned in hell. I asked, "Do you want your friends to burn in hell?" He replied that he did not, so I said, "Then please don't tell me that my friends are going to burn in hell. We are not the ones to decide who will go to hell and who won't, and we don't know a person's heart. So, we can never say for sure that someone will burn in Hell. Allah is compassionate, oft-forgiving, and merciful" (to quote from the Qur'an). He seemed to really thing about what I said and didn't respond.
Another thing that really drives me crazy about Palestinian culture here (to make another generalization) is all the gossip. One Pal. said, We welcome everyone into our homes and will give them anything they like, but when they leave, we will talk behind their backs. This man said this, trying to defend the practice. Image is one of the most important things here. It doesn't so much matter what you do in private; all that matters is the public image that you present, which can shield you from harmful gossip if you present yourself correctly. I've personally seen some extremely ugly assumptions made by Pal's, and they turn around and talk to other Pal's about these completely false assumptions or information.
Pal's do, in general, practice an amazing form of hospitality. However, so far, I've had cause to wonder who far that hospitality goes. My impression is that Pal's are excellent with short-term hospitality, but after the initial newness wears off, I'm not so impressed that they continue offering the hospitality. I'm hoping to see evidence to the contrary of this.
There are many more things I could say about frustrations I've had with Pal culture, whether it's gender issues, ideas about sex, etc., etc. I think it's often the case that people under the boot of oppression often turn to religion as an outlet and comfort, and they often become more conservative and judgmental in the process (this is not to say that turning to religion in times of stress is a bad thing, or that religion necessarily makes people judgmental). Often, people under oppression who turn to religion use the religion as an excuse to practice oppression against other people. I've seen this happen, where men here hurt women, women hurt children, children hurt animals, etc. Those oppressed can often oppress others because they've learned all about the techniques from suffering themselves; they do not necessarily apply their desire for no oppression to others who might need freedom too.
BUT . . . Regardless of all the things I may dislike about Palestinian culture, regardless of how much oppression may exist within this society, Palestinians still deserve their freedom. They still have that basic human right to live without occupation.
I don't dislike everything about this culture. There are so many things (which for now I won't mention) that I love about being here and this culture. But, hypothetically, I could hate everything about the ways of a culture, and still, I would stand up for their freedom. And, I would challenge them to release the bonds of oppression from those who they may be oppressing as well.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Protests, Invasions, Swaps, & Thoughts
In this post: Protest in Na'lin on Sun., Tues., Thurs.; protest in Umm Salamuna and conversation with soldier today; invasion in Beit Ummar; Israel's prisoner swap; thoughts on protests and Beit Ummar living; article on man injured at protest; etc.
Most of this week I have spent attending protests in Na'lin (north of Ramallah, where the Israeli Wall construction threatens to take much of the village's land). I went to demo's there on Sun., Tues., and Thurs. It takes at least 7 hours, round trip, for me to travel to Na'lin for the approx. 2 hr protest, so I'm quite tired after arriving back home.
Below my comments for this post, I'll paste what I wrote for PSP's report about the Na'lin demo this last Sun. & Tues. On Thurs., the protesters in Na'lin received a large amount of tear gas, rubber bullets, and possible live fire from the soldiers. The tear gas started on the unarmed protesters while we were standing and chanting. As has been the case with most protests in Na'lin, I only saw rocks thrown by kids near the end of the protest, after we had received beatings from the soldiers for doing nothing. Some activists neared the working bulldozers during the demo but never completely stopped the bulldozer's work. One tear gas canister landed near my feet and skipped around on the ground, hissing. I danced around it to keep from getting hit and burned, then I ran from the gas. However, I still received a big douse of tear gas and had trouble breathing for a few minutes.
Today, I went to the demo in Umm Salamuna, between Bethlehem and Beit Ummar. The protest was much smaller and there was no direct violence from the demonstrators or the soldiers. However, the soldiers did set up the razor wire in the middle of the St. to keep us from reaching the wall, and they broke into a families house near the demonstration to monitor the situation from the roof top (while occupying the house, they keep the entire family in 1 or 2 rooms of the house). Several of us tried to talk to the soldiers, but mostly they wouldn't communicate. I asked one of them if he was allowed to share his opinion with us about the situation, the Wall, and whether this kind of action was good for the state of Israel. The soldier shook his head, that he could not share his opinion (sometimes they do anyway). Then, one of the Palestinians who was leading the protest said to me, "It's really bad for the soldiers, because if they defy orders, they'll be jailed. It's not their fault, what's happening. If we really want to change things, we need to change the government, the leadership, not just in Israel, but everywhere." Hearing this, the soldier nodded his head in approval. I was surprised and happy to hear the Palestinian say this, as too often, the soldiers are demonized in Palestine, both by the locals and intl's.
Yesterday at 2 a.m., the military invaded Beit Ummar and fired shots in the air to declare that they were imposing a curfew. I didn't wake up during the incident, and only read about it later on Thurs. (see http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30610 for detials).
Most people are probably aware of the prisoner swap Israel did with Hezbollah this week. It's too bad that it took Israel two years and over 1,000 lives (both Israeli and Lebanese) to be able to make the offer, which is what Hezbollah demanded from the beginning. Israel waged a useless war over the prisoners, which has haunted the Israeli conscience for the last two years.
Now that Israel has handed over one of it's most infamous prisoners, though, the Israeli intelligence service is threatening to assassinate him (see Haaretz or http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30624). What Israel couldn't get done the legal way (through its own courts), it may try to do illegally.
I'm feeling a fare amount of stress after attending so many intense protests recently. It is quite frightening to have tear gas, rubber bullets, sound bombs, and possible live fire shot at you frequently. I see people carried away in stretchers at every protest. And, I'm starting to ask myself whether I want to continue taking these specific risks. I'm not really interested in getting pelted, injured, etc., partially because kids are throwing rocks. I feel differently about making the sacrifice if the conditions are different (i.e., a truly nonviolent struggle). The rocks the kids throw give the soldiers an excuse to fire on us. In that way, the rocks are like the katyusha rockets fired from Gaza: both have little effect on the enemy and give the Israeli military an excuse to exact harsh punishment. Perhaps the soldiers would fire on us anyway, even if there were no rocks and we had a very nonviolent protest, but I would feel much better about making the sacrifice in that case. As it is, the protests really resemble small battles or wars, and many of the ideas present in them (national pride, anger, hatred of the enemy, etc.) are no different from any other war.
I'm growing weary of the disorganized, undisciplined nature of the protests. The soldiers can fire on us and disperse the crowd quite quickly because there's no clear leadership, not always a clear objective, and often no discipline for those who violate rules of nonviolence. Do I really want to continue participating in the protests when they happen in this way?
The town of Beit Ummar is nice, considering where I was living before. I can actually see trees from my window, and all around the house are small fields of wheat, grapes, tomatoes, plum trees, etc. There are about 10,000 people living in BU, but it's rural, really, and a farming community. The weather is cooler because we're not surrounded by asphalt and buildings. The 10,000 people are spread out across a few hills, so that we're not living on top of each other (compared with the intense over-crowding in refugee camps).
Here's an excellent article about someone who was injured recently at a protest I was at: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9687.shtml
And, one person's thoughts on Israel's recent prisoner exchange:
"The Israeli apartheid regime finally agreed to exchange Israeli with Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners. This exchange could have been done before the summer 2006 massacres of Lebanese civilians which Israel launched claiming it is to liberate the two Israeli soldiers held by Hezbollah. This exchange shows the bankruptcy of the political and war making Israeli regime. That summer an Israeli chief of staff called his broker and sold his stocks an hour after getting out of a cabinet meeting that decided to launch that offensive (in every sense of the word) war. In that summer, Israel dropped millions of cluster bombs that are still killing and maiming Lebanese children today. That is the war than both Obama and McCain supported and our government funded and that is the war that now has been proven pointless. Despite AIPAC and its cronies in the media, that and many other truths remains clear to all who want to see. The overriding fact also remains that Zionism is the main cause of wars and conflict throughout the region from Palestine to Afghanistan. Peace is possible and it must start with ending US support for that apartheid regime and bringing peace to Palestine (where Jews, Christians, Muslims and others are then allowed to build a democratic country of all its people). That is the real road map to peace in Western Asia and indeed key to US economic recovery." Mazin Qumsiyeh
Here's my summary of Sun. & Tues.'s protests in Na'lin (posted in different format on PSP's website):
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---------------------------------
Most of this week I have spent attending protests in Na'lin (north of Ramallah, where the Israeli Wall construction threatens to take much of the village's land). I went to demo's there on Sun., Tues., and Thurs. It takes at least 7 hours, round trip, for me to travel to Na'lin for the approx. 2 hr protest, so I'm quite tired after arriving back home.
Below my comments for this post, I'll paste what I wrote for PSP's report about the Na'lin demo this last Sun. & Tues. On Thurs., the protesters in Na'lin received a large amount of tear gas, rubber bullets, and possible live fire from the soldiers. The tear gas started on the unarmed protesters while we were standing and chanting. As has been the case with most protests in Na'lin, I only saw rocks thrown by kids near the end of the protest, after we had received beatings from the soldiers for doing nothing. Some activists neared the working bulldozers during the demo but never completely stopped the bulldozer's work. One tear gas canister landed near my feet and skipped around on the ground, hissing. I danced around it to keep from getting hit and burned, then I ran from the gas. However, I still received a big douse of tear gas and had trouble breathing for a few minutes.
Today, I went to the demo in Umm Salamuna, between Bethlehem and Beit Ummar. The protest was much smaller and there was no direct violence from the demonstrators or the soldiers. However, the soldiers did set up the razor wire in the middle of the St. to keep us from reaching the wall, and they broke into a families house near the demonstration to monitor the situation from the roof top (while occupying the house, they keep the entire family in 1 or 2 rooms of the house). Several of us tried to talk to the soldiers, but mostly they wouldn't communicate. I asked one of them if he was allowed to share his opinion with us about the situation, the Wall, and whether this kind of action was good for the state of Israel. The soldier shook his head, that he could not share his opinion (sometimes they do anyway). Then, one of the Palestinians who was leading the protest said to me, "It's really bad for the soldiers, because if they defy orders, they'll be jailed. It's not their fault, what's happening. If we really want to change things, we need to change the government, the leadership, not just in Israel, but everywhere." Hearing this, the soldier nodded his head in approval. I was surprised and happy to hear the Palestinian say this, as too often, the soldiers are demonized in Palestine, both by the locals and intl's.
Yesterday at 2 a.m., the military invaded Beit Ummar and fired shots in the air to declare that they were imposing a curfew. I didn't wake up during the incident, and only read about it later on Thurs. (see http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30610 for detials).
Most people are probably aware of the prisoner swap Israel did with Hezbollah this week. It's too bad that it took Israel two years and over 1,000 lives (both Israeli and Lebanese) to be able to make the offer, which is what Hezbollah demanded from the beginning. Israel waged a useless war over the prisoners, which has haunted the Israeli conscience for the last two years.
Now that Israel has handed over one of it's most infamous prisoners, though, the Israeli intelligence service is threatening to assassinate him (see Haaretz or http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30624). What Israel couldn't get done the legal way (through its own courts), it may try to do illegally.
I'm feeling a fare amount of stress after attending so many intense protests recently. It is quite frightening to have tear gas, rubber bullets, sound bombs, and possible live fire shot at you frequently. I see people carried away in stretchers at every protest. And, I'm starting to ask myself whether I want to continue taking these specific risks. I'm not really interested in getting pelted, injured, etc., partially because kids are throwing rocks. I feel differently about making the sacrifice if the conditions are different (i.e., a truly nonviolent struggle). The rocks the kids throw give the soldiers an excuse to fire on us. In that way, the rocks are like the katyusha rockets fired from Gaza: both have little effect on the enemy and give the Israeli military an excuse to exact harsh punishment. Perhaps the soldiers would fire on us anyway, even if there were no rocks and we had a very nonviolent protest, but I would feel much better about making the sacrifice in that case. As it is, the protests really resemble small battles or wars, and many of the ideas present in them (national pride, anger, hatred of the enemy, etc.) are no different from any other war.
I'm growing weary of the disorganized, undisciplined nature of the protests. The soldiers can fire on us and disperse the crowd quite quickly because there's no clear leadership, not always a clear objective, and often no discipline for those who violate rules of nonviolence. Do I really want to continue participating in the protests when they happen in this way?
The town of Beit Ummar is nice, considering where I was living before. I can actually see trees from my window, and all around the house are small fields of wheat, grapes, tomatoes, plum trees, etc. There are about 10,000 people living in BU, but it's rural, really, and a farming community. The weather is cooler because we're not surrounded by asphalt and buildings. The 10,000 people are spread out across a few hills, so that we're not living on top of each other (compared with the intense over-crowding in refugee camps).
Here's an excellent article about someone who was injured recently at a protest I was at: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9687.shtml
And, one person's thoughts on Israel's recent prisoner exchange:
"The Israeli apartheid regime finally agreed to exchange Israeli with Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners. This exchange could have been done before the summer 2006 massacres of Lebanese civilians which Israel launched claiming it is to liberate the two Israeli soldiers held by Hezbollah. This exchange shows the bankruptcy of the political and war making Israeli regime. That summer an Israeli chief of staff called his broker and sold his stocks an hour after getting out of a cabinet meeting that decided to launch that offensive (in every sense of the word) war. In that summer, Israel dropped millions of cluster bombs that are still killing and maiming Lebanese children today. That is the war than both Obama and McCain supported and our government funded and that is the war that now has been proven pointless. Despite AIPAC and its cronies in the media, that and many other truths remains clear to all who want to see. The overriding fact also remains that Zionism is the main cause of wars and conflict throughout the region from Palestine to Afghanistan. Peace is possible and it must start with ending US support for that apartheid regime and bringing peace to Palestine (where Jews, Christians, Muslims and others are then allowed to build a democratic country of all its people). That is the real road map to peace in Western Asia and indeed key to US economic recovery." Mazin Qumsiyeh
Here's my summary of Sun. & Tues.'s protests in Na'lin (posted in different format on PSP's website):
------------------------
On July 13, PSP attended a nonviolent demonstration against the illegal construction of the Israeli Wall on the village of Ni'lin's land. Approximately 150 locals from Ni'lin and Israeli and international activists walked unarmed toward the checkpoint the Israeli military has erected on the edge of Ni'lin. As the demonstrators neared the checkpoint, waving flags and chanting, a group of about 10 Israeli soldiers opened fire on them without warning or provocation. Initially, the military threw sounds bombs and tear gas, but as the nonviolent demonstrators scattered and withdrew, the soldiers fired rubber coated bullets and tear gas canisters from their rifles.
The majority of demonstrators were pushed back toward the town, while a small group of activists remained to the side of the soldiers. The two groups of demonstrators were split in two by the soldiers, and the smaller group witnessed a Palestinian Red Crescent medic fall to the ground due to difficulty breathing from tear gas inhalation and a possible wound to the chest from a rubber bullet or butt of a rifle. International activists attempted to help the medic receive aid and transport from a Palestinian ambulance. Israeli soldiers attempted to arrest the medic, and then one soldier ripped the medics ID from his chest and said, "If you want this back, you have to come with us." Eventually, activists agreed to allow the army to take the medic, as there was no other way for him to receive aid.
As the larger group of activists was pushed back toward the village, soldiers continued to fire tear gas and rubber coated bullets at them. Palestinian youth threw large rocks into the street to impede military jeeps trying to enter the village. About a dozen youth also stood in the middle of the street and either taunted the soldiers or hurled rocks at them.
Eventually, the smaller group of activists was able to rejoin the larger group and retreat into the town. Despite sustaining several injuries and retreating back to the village, the demonstration was a success, as it continued to emphasize that the people of Ni'lin will not sit quietly by while their land is confiscated by the Wall, the soldiers, and the nearby settlements.
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PSP traveled to the village of Ni'lin on July 15 to take part in the demonstration against the illegal construction of Israeli Wall of the village's land. Approximately 250 locals, Israelis, and international activists marched through the olive groves toward where the Israeli bulldozers were working. As the activists neared the bulldozers, the military began to move the equipment, and the demonstrators moved to intercept the bulldozers. The soldiers began firing rubber coated bullets, tear gas, and sound bombs, and Palestinian youth responded by throwing rocks.
A PSP activist witnessed one Palestinian man walking toward the soldiers with his hands raised in the air, and the soldiers shot him with a rubber coated bullet in the shoulder.
Eventually, the military removed the bulldozers from the scene, but they continued to fire tear gas and rubber coated bullets. As the majority of demonstrators prepared to leave the area, an Anarchists Against the Wall member stated, "We prevented them from completing one hour's worth of work. They usually stop work at 4 pm anyway, but our actions here forced them to remove the bulldozers early than they wanted."
Monday, July 14, 2008
The Move; More Protests, Etc.
In this post: Move to Beit Ummar; Protest yesterday in Na'lin; Settlers return to Beit Ummar; Obama's clarification, etc.
I moved down to Beit Ummar this weekend to begin work with Palestine Solidarity Committee. Yesterday, we helped paint a mural in Beit Ummar municipality building, then traveled to Na'lin to participate in the demonstration there.
Yesterday's demo in Na'lin was smaller than Thur's, but maybe a little more intense. About 200 people, mostly locals, marched from the village toward the Israeli checkpoint near the settlements. As soon as we left the village, the soldiers opened fire with sound bombs, rubber coated bullets, and tear gas. No one had thrown rocks before the soldiers opened fire, but after the first fire, there were lots of exchanges of stones and bullets, etc. One rubber coated bullet hit a sign about 10 ft away from where I was standing.
The Israeli soldiers were successful in pushing the crowd back into the town. They also abducted a Pal. paramedic who was having difficulty breathing because of the tear gas. Intl's reported that one soldier grabbed the paramedic's ID from his chest and said, "If you want this back, you have to come with us." Since we could not get other medical treatment for the man, the soldiers eventually took him (they're supposed to call an Israeli ambulance for him, but this didn't happen).
Traveling to the villages for the protests can be really interesting or boring and long. I use the time to mentally, emotionally, and spiritually prepare for what's coming and to study Arabic. Sometimes, we have to take alternative routes because of checkpoints the army puts in place to keep intl's out. Often, we bump along rural dusty, pot-holed filled roads in beat up buses or cars, and we always have to have an excuse ready to give about where we're going, in case we're stopped by the military.
Last night, on the way back from the protest, we passed a checkpoint where the soldiers were not stopping anyone. As we drove past the checkpoint, I could see in the darkness a cell phone light, and then I made out the silhouettes of two soldiers. One soldier was pointing his assault rifle at the other soldier, and as we passed, I saw the latter soldier's cell phone camera's flash go off. Apparently, they thought it was cool to be toting around their assault rifles in the wild, wild East.
When we arrived back in Beit Ummar, soldiers had set up a checkpoint at the entrance to the village and were stopping everyone going and coming. They yelled at us because they thought we exited the taxi at the wrong spot. It seems they were looking for someone from the village (at 10 pm); at least they weren't inside the village . . . yet.
Tonight, settlers will go back to Oush Grab (near Beit Sahour) to sleep over and try to start a permanent presence there (i.e., an out-post of a settlement). Intl's and locals have planned a party at the bottom of the hill, which will go on all night. We plan to not allow the settlers to sleep or relax while they are stealing other people's land (however, we have agreed not to speak to the soldiers or settlers--except for one person designated as a spokes-person).
Also, I see this morning that Obama is not back-tracking on statements he made about Jerusalem remaining only the capital of Israel (against Intl law). You can read about this here: www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1001635.html
I moved down to Beit Ummar this weekend to begin work with Palestine Solidarity Committee. Yesterday, we helped paint a mural in Beit Ummar municipality building, then traveled to Na'lin to participate in the demonstration there.
Yesterday's demo in Na'lin was smaller than Thur's, but maybe a little more intense. About 200 people, mostly locals, marched from the village toward the Israeli checkpoint near the settlements. As soon as we left the village, the soldiers opened fire with sound bombs, rubber coated bullets, and tear gas. No one had thrown rocks before the soldiers opened fire, but after the first fire, there were lots of exchanges of stones and bullets, etc. One rubber coated bullet hit a sign about 10 ft away from where I was standing.
The Israeli soldiers were successful in pushing the crowd back into the town. They also abducted a Pal. paramedic who was having difficulty breathing because of the tear gas. Intl's reported that one soldier grabbed the paramedic's ID from his chest and said, "If you want this back, you have to come with us." Since we could not get other medical treatment for the man, the soldiers eventually took him (they're supposed to call an Israeli ambulance for him, but this didn't happen).
Traveling to the villages for the protests can be really interesting or boring and long. I use the time to mentally, emotionally, and spiritually prepare for what's coming and to study Arabic. Sometimes, we have to take alternative routes because of checkpoints the army puts in place to keep intl's out. Often, we bump along rural dusty, pot-holed filled roads in beat up buses or cars, and we always have to have an excuse ready to give about where we're going, in case we're stopped by the military.
Last night, on the way back from the protest, we passed a checkpoint where the soldiers were not stopping anyone. As we drove past the checkpoint, I could see in the darkness a cell phone light, and then I made out the silhouettes of two soldiers. One soldier was pointing his assault rifle at the other soldier, and as we passed, I saw the latter soldier's cell phone camera's flash go off. Apparently, they thought it was cool to be toting around their assault rifles in the wild, wild East.
When we arrived back in Beit Ummar, soldiers had set up a checkpoint at the entrance to the village and were stopping everyone going and coming. They yelled at us because they thought we exited the taxi at the wrong spot. It seems they were looking for someone from the village (at 10 pm); at least they weren't inside the village . . . yet.
Tonight, settlers will go back to Oush Grab (near Beit Sahour) to sleep over and try to start a permanent presence there (i.e., an out-post of a settlement). Intl's and locals have planned a party at the bottom of the hill, which will go on all night. We plan to not allow the settlers to sleep or relax while they are stealing other people's land (however, we have agreed not to speak to the soldiers or settlers--except for one person designated as a spokes-person).
Also, I see this morning that Obama is not back-tracking on statements he made about Jerusalem remaining only the capital of Israel (against Intl law). You can read about this here: www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1001635.html
Friday, July 11, 2008
Big Protest in Na'lin; Settlers in Oush Grab
I went to a protest in Na'lin on Thurs., after the military released its siege of the town, which kept out medical supplies and food for days. There were hundreds of locals and intl's at the protest, and the energy was high as we walked toward where the military continues construction of the Wall that annexes much of the villages land and places Israeli settlements on the Israeli side.
As we neared the bulldozers, the military lambasted the peaceful protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets, and some people were clubbed and hit with the soldiers' rifle butts. For almost the entire demonstration, I saw no rocks thrown by Palestinians (until the end). Initially, I think the aim of the protest was to walk to the bulldozers and try to halt construction (standing in front of bulldozers, etc). I personally got within about 100 yds of the bulldozers, but for some reason, the protesters stopped short of their goal and eventually retreated.
After about 1.5 hrs, we started to walk back to the village, and this is when I started seeing Pal. youth throw rocks at the soldiers (during the rest of the protest, leaders had kept the youth from throwing rocks). At one point, I saw kids running beside an ambulance and throwing rocks at soldiers (using the ambulance as cover from the soldiers).
After we returned to the village, a friend of mine from Bethlehem said he had been on another hill during the protest, and he had followed the soldiers around, telling them to stop shooting and asking them why they were doing this. The soldiers eventually responded by hitting them with the butts of their rifles, knocking him to the ground, and trying to arrest him (they were unsuccessful because several other protesters latched on to his body to keep the soldiers from arresting him). The soldiers ripped his shirt and told him, "You haven't seen anything yet. We're going to arrest you and F*** you up." My friend, who's report I trust very much, said that more than anything, he felt sad that this happened. He said, The soldiers are the ones most hurt by this violence, because their actions show their spiritual void. If I didn't feel sorry for them, I would just be angry and hate them.
Here's a link to a newstory about the event: www.imemc.org/article/55945
Today, I went to Oush Grab, which is land near Beit Sahour (just outside Bethlehem) that settlers (mostly from the US) are trying to take over. The military allowed the settlers to come to Oush Grab today and spray paint buildings, etc., and the settlers say they will return to spend the night there Mon. night. The soldiers told us that the settlers have permission from the military to be there.
One soldier said, "If there's land here that's unoccupied, the settlers say the Bible says it's theirs; the Pal's say they've been living here for hundreds of years. You might as well flip a coin to see who should get the unoccupied land." I didn't talk to the soldier, but I wanted to say, "You forget that the land you are standing on is recognized as Palestinian by every intl. law. The settlers have no legal right to this land. The settlers' own Scriptures tell them to live in peace with their neighbors, not steal from them. Perhaps every occupying power has used religion to justify taking over the land, and this includes the USA's use of religion (i.e., Manifest Destiny) to snatch land away from Native Americans. It is up to the Palestinians to decide how they want to use their own land, and who gets it. If they want to leave some land unsettled or not build on, that is their decision, and you have no right to take that land away from them."
See this link for more info from today's action: http://www.imemc.org/article/55963
As we neared the bulldozers, the military lambasted the peaceful protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets, and some people were clubbed and hit with the soldiers' rifle butts. For almost the entire demonstration, I saw no rocks thrown by Palestinians (until the end). Initially, I think the aim of the protest was to walk to the bulldozers and try to halt construction (standing in front of bulldozers, etc). I personally got within about 100 yds of the bulldozers, but for some reason, the protesters stopped short of their goal and eventually retreated.
After about 1.5 hrs, we started to walk back to the village, and this is when I started seeing Pal. youth throw rocks at the soldiers (during the rest of the protest, leaders had kept the youth from throwing rocks). At one point, I saw kids running beside an ambulance and throwing rocks at soldiers (using the ambulance as cover from the soldiers).
After we returned to the village, a friend of mine from Bethlehem said he had been on another hill during the protest, and he had followed the soldiers around, telling them to stop shooting and asking them why they were doing this. The soldiers eventually responded by hitting them with the butts of their rifles, knocking him to the ground, and trying to arrest him (they were unsuccessful because several other protesters latched on to his body to keep the soldiers from arresting him). The soldiers ripped his shirt and told him, "You haven't seen anything yet. We're going to arrest you and F*** you up." My friend, who's report I trust very much, said that more than anything, he felt sad that this happened. He said, The soldiers are the ones most hurt by this violence, because their actions show their spiritual void. If I didn't feel sorry for them, I would just be angry and hate them.
Here's a link to a newstory about the event: www.imemc.org/article/55945
Today, I went to Oush Grab, which is land near Beit Sahour (just outside Bethlehem) that settlers (mostly from the US) are trying to take over. The military allowed the settlers to come to Oush Grab today and spray paint buildings, etc., and the settlers say they will return to spend the night there Mon. night. The soldiers told us that the settlers have permission from the military to be there.
One soldier said, "If there's land here that's unoccupied, the settlers say the Bible says it's theirs; the Pal's say they've been living here for hundreds of years. You might as well flip a coin to see who should get the unoccupied land." I didn't talk to the soldier, but I wanted to say, "You forget that the land you are standing on is recognized as Palestinian by every intl. law. The settlers have no legal right to this land. The settlers' own Scriptures tell them to live in peace with their neighbors, not steal from them. Perhaps every occupying power has used religion to justify taking over the land, and this includes the USA's use of religion (i.e., Manifest Destiny) to snatch land away from Native Americans. It is up to the Palestinians to decide how they want to use their own land, and who gets it. If they want to leave some land unsettled or not build on, that is their decision, and you have no right to take that land away from them."
See this link for more info from today's action: http://www.imemc.org/article/55963
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Jordan; Bulldozers; Curfews; US aid; Pop of Beth; etc.
In this post: Travels in Jordan; Bulldozer in Jerusalem; Na'lin curfew; US aid to Israel; Population of Bethlehem; Water Crisis Report; etc.
I recently arrived back in Bethlehem after successfully renewing my visa. To renew my visa, I stayed in Jordan for several days, visiting an archeology dig site in Amman and Petra and Wadi Rum. In a few days, I'll move down to Beit Ummar to begin living and working with Palestine Solidarity Project.
To get to Amman, I had to take a shared taxi from Jerusalem toward the Jordan border. At one point before the border, I had to switch to another taxi, since the one I was in was taking longer (intl's and people with Israeli ID aren't held up as long at the checkpoint we were at). Once I cleared through Israeli inspection, I had to take a fairly long bus ride to the Jordanian side for inspection. Then, I had to take another bus into Amman, and finally a taxi to where I would stay in Amman. This crossing into Amman is a very big hassle, compared with Israel's other crossings, but it is the only one that Palestinians with W Bank ID can use. It takes hours and hours (5-7) and is very frustrating. If there were no security checkpoints, you could drive from Jerusalem to Amman in 1-2 hours.
I have been wanting to visit the dig site in Amman for several years. My professor and college adviser for five years has been excavating at the site in Amman for a number of years, and I have several friends that have dug there with him over the last 8 years. I wasn't disappointed in the site, even though I had to get up at 4:15 each morning I was there to help with the excavation. Actually, I wasn't allowed to do much digging, as I was only there for a short time and wasn't able to fill out the paper work for security clearances. But, I enjoyed talking with the local Bedouin and other Jordanians who were helping on the site.
One of the locals I spoke to was Palestinian, and he is part of the Jordanian Dept. of Antiquities (or something like that), and he talked about the plight of Palestinians in Jordan. Jordan has the largest number of Pal's outside of Palestine (60-70 % of the population in Jordan is Palestinian [see www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/04/07/MN40838.DTL for info on that]). This man boasted that Palestinians have made Jordan the successful country it is today, and that Pal's have especially helped to make Amman into the modern city it is.
After spending over two days at the dig, I traveled from Amman to Petra. The first day in Petra, I spent over 13 hours in the park, hiking and seeing the sites, etc. All the rocks, buildings preserved from thousands of years ago, etc. were incredible. With someone I met at the hostel, I watched the sunset from one of the high places.
The next day, I traveled with several people from the hostel near Petra to Wadi Rum, which is a big desert park with lots of Nabatean ruins, Bedouin dwellings, neat rocks and sand dunes to climb, and the place where Lawrence of Arabia hung out. We spent most of the day on a tour, then slept at a Bedouin camp inside the park. All of the traveling, hiking, visiting, etc. was very refreshing after living in Palestine for the last three months. I felt a lot of tension and stress release while I was in Jordan, but I'm afraid it resurfaced soon after I returned to Pal. I suspicion that Jordan is an example of what Palestine could be like if it were not for the Occupation. (Side note: I really enjoyed hanging out with the Bedouin, since they seem to be practice a more laid back, hippie version of Islam).
While I was away from the area in Palestine, a lot took place. First, there was the bulldozer incident in Jerusalem. I've personally walked the streets where this crime occurred, so it was quite upsetting to me. However, if the loss of life wasn't bad enough, Israel's response to it was almost more upsetting. Israel's own intelligence agencies said that the man who used the bulldozer probably acted alone and wasn't connected with terrorist organizations. Yet, despite these statements, Israeli media and politicians insisted on labeling the incident a "terrorist" act.
Terrorist??? Excuse me. If this incident took place anywhere else in the world, we would call it a criminal act, probably carried out by someone who had a psychological break down. One of Israel's Vice Presidents came out and said that Israel should demolish the criminals house, strip his entire neighborhood of Israeli ID, then move the Wall to put the neighborhood on the West Bank side (see www.haaretz.com for this story). This kind of collective punishment is not only disgusting, but it is illegal and morally depraved. This is like the US responding to the shooter at Virginian Tech by marching into his neighborhood, demolishing his family's house, stripping his entire neighborhood of US citizenship, then exiling all those people to Cuba or somewhere.
There are over 20 people living in that criminal's house, and it doesn't appear that any of them knew of the man's plans. The actions Israel takes will only help create more people who hate and might do harm to Israel. Israel (and the US?) continue to refuse to ask "Why?" things like this happen. They only respond to terrorism by making more terrorism (war), and usually, the gov'ts take no time to ask if any of their policies are encouraging this kind of action.
Another event that happened while I was gone was that the Israeli military put the village of Na'lin under strict curfew. Na'lin is where I have attended several protests, and now, the military has not allowed in food or medical supplies into the area, but instead, is going house to house and shooting and gassing people (a 10 day old boy suffered from tear gas inhalation). Activists tried to break through the siege to take the villagers food and medical supplies, but they were unsuccessful. Finally, today, it sounds like the military lifted the siege (see: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30390). All this action took place because the village was successful in nonviolently (for the most part) halting construction on the Wall, which is annexing 90 % of its land).
Also, the Israeli military has now exported their war on "supporters" of Hamas in the West Bank by closing down a shopping mall and businesses in Nablus and other Northern cities. You might recall before that the military had already shut down some orphanages in Hebron, and now they are using those tactics (and the same shaky evidence) to shut down businesses across the West Bank. Now that the Israeli military has more time on its hands (i.e., isn't murdering people in Gaza), they can cause more problems and incite more violence in the West Bank. See http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30395 for more info.
And, if all this wasn't bad enough, the US just voted to give Israel more money. At a time when everything else in the US budget is being cut, we vote to increase aid to Israel. For an article on this shameful act, see: www.forward.com/articles/13709/#. You can also take action and write the appropriate US leaders about this heinous act at: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1664
Here's a few other sites worth taking a look at:
http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/populati/pop10.aspx
This site gives the stats on Bethlehem's population (both Bethlehem proper and surrounding area--Bethlehem municipality).
www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gcis&lng=en&des=wg&geo=-176&srt=npan&col=abcdefghinoq&msz=1500&pt=c&va=&srt=pnan
Here's a breakdown of Pal city populations, showing which cities are largest, and which smallest, etc.
Here is the story of a world-renowned reporter that tried to cross back into Israel at the same border I crossed at recently: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43005
Finally, here is a report by an Israeli rights group about the water shortage problem in the West bank (note, it's way worse in Gaza!): http://www.btselem.org/english/water/2008070_acute_water_shortage_in_the_west_bank.asp
I recently arrived back in Bethlehem after successfully renewing my visa. To renew my visa, I stayed in Jordan for several days, visiting an archeology dig site in Amman and Petra and Wadi Rum. In a few days, I'll move down to Beit Ummar to begin living and working with Palestine Solidarity Project.
To get to Amman, I had to take a shared taxi from Jerusalem toward the Jordan border. At one point before the border, I had to switch to another taxi, since the one I was in was taking longer (intl's and people with Israeli ID aren't held up as long at the checkpoint we were at). Once I cleared through Israeli inspection, I had to take a fairly long bus ride to the Jordanian side for inspection. Then, I had to take another bus into Amman, and finally a taxi to where I would stay in Amman. This crossing into Amman is a very big hassle, compared with Israel's other crossings, but it is the only one that Palestinians with W Bank ID can use. It takes hours and hours (5-7) and is very frustrating. If there were no security checkpoints, you could drive from Jerusalem to Amman in 1-2 hours.
I have been wanting to visit the dig site in Amman for several years. My professor and college adviser for five years has been excavating at the site in Amman for a number of years, and I have several friends that have dug there with him over the last 8 years. I wasn't disappointed in the site, even though I had to get up at 4:15 each morning I was there to help with the excavation. Actually, I wasn't allowed to do much digging, as I was only there for a short time and wasn't able to fill out the paper work for security clearances. But, I enjoyed talking with the local Bedouin and other Jordanians who were helping on the site.
One of the locals I spoke to was Palestinian, and he is part of the Jordanian Dept. of Antiquities (or something like that), and he talked about the plight of Palestinians in Jordan. Jordan has the largest number of Pal's outside of Palestine (60-70 % of the population in Jordan is Palestinian [see www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/04/07/MN40838.DTL for info on that]). This man boasted that Palestinians have made Jordan the successful country it is today, and that Pal's have especially helped to make Amman into the modern city it is.
After spending over two days at the dig, I traveled from Amman to Petra. The first day in Petra, I spent over 13 hours in the park, hiking and seeing the sites, etc. All the rocks, buildings preserved from thousands of years ago, etc. were incredible. With someone I met at the hostel, I watched the sunset from one of the high places.
The next day, I traveled with several people from the hostel near Petra to Wadi Rum, which is a big desert park with lots of Nabatean ruins, Bedouin dwellings, neat rocks and sand dunes to climb, and the place where Lawrence of Arabia hung out. We spent most of the day on a tour, then slept at a Bedouin camp inside the park. All of the traveling, hiking, visiting, etc. was very refreshing after living in Palestine for the last three months. I felt a lot of tension and stress release while I was in Jordan, but I'm afraid it resurfaced soon after I returned to Pal. I suspicion that Jordan is an example of what Palestine could be like if it were not for the Occupation. (Side note: I really enjoyed hanging out with the Bedouin, since they seem to be practice a more laid back, hippie version of Islam).
While I was away from the area in Palestine, a lot took place. First, there was the bulldozer incident in Jerusalem. I've personally walked the streets where this crime occurred, so it was quite upsetting to me. However, if the loss of life wasn't bad enough, Israel's response to it was almost more upsetting. Israel's own intelligence agencies said that the man who used the bulldozer probably acted alone and wasn't connected with terrorist organizations. Yet, despite these statements, Israeli media and politicians insisted on labeling the incident a "terrorist" act.
Terrorist??? Excuse me. If this incident took place anywhere else in the world, we would call it a criminal act, probably carried out by someone who had a psychological break down. One of Israel's Vice Presidents came out and said that Israel should demolish the criminals house, strip his entire neighborhood of Israeli ID, then move the Wall to put the neighborhood on the West Bank side (see www.haaretz.com for this story). This kind of collective punishment is not only disgusting, but it is illegal and morally depraved. This is like the US responding to the shooter at Virginian Tech by marching into his neighborhood, demolishing his family's house, stripping his entire neighborhood of US citizenship, then exiling all those people to Cuba or somewhere.
There are over 20 people living in that criminal's house, and it doesn't appear that any of them knew of the man's plans. The actions Israel takes will only help create more people who hate and might do harm to Israel. Israel (and the US?) continue to refuse to ask "Why?" things like this happen. They only respond to terrorism by making more terrorism (war), and usually, the gov'ts take no time to ask if any of their policies are encouraging this kind of action.
Another event that happened while I was gone was that the Israeli military put the village of Na'lin under strict curfew. Na'lin is where I have attended several protests, and now, the military has not allowed in food or medical supplies into the area, but instead, is going house to house and shooting and gassing people (a 10 day old boy suffered from tear gas inhalation). Activists tried to break through the siege to take the villagers food and medical supplies, but they were unsuccessful. Finally, today, it sounds like the military lifted the siege (see: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30390). All this action took place because the village was successful in nonviolently (for the most part) halting construction on the Wall, which is annexing 90 % of its land).
Also, the Israeli military has now exported their war on "supporters" of Hamas in the West Bank by closing down a shopping mall and businesses in Nablus and other Northern cities. You might recall before that the military had already shut down some orphanages in Hebron, and now they are using those tactics (and the same shaky evidence) to shut down businesses across the West Bank. Now that the Israeli military has more time on its hands (i.e., isn't murdering people in Gaza), they can cause more problems and incite more violence in the West Bank. See http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30395 for more info.
And, if all this wasn't bad enough, the US just voted to give Israel more money. At a time when everything else in the US budget is being cut, we vote to increase aid to Israel. For an article on this shameful act, see: www.forward.com/articles/13709/#. You can also take action and write the appropriate US leaders about this heinous act at: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1664
Here's a few other sites worth taking a look at:
http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/populati/pop10.aspx
This site gives the stats on Bethlehem's population (both Bethlehem proper and surrounding area--Bethlehem municipality).
www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gcis&lng=en&des=wg&geo=-176&srt=npan&col=abcdefghinoq&msz=1500&pt=c&va=&srt=pnan
Here's a breakdown of Pal city populations, showing which cities are largest, and which smallest, etc.
Here is the story of a world-renowned reporter that tried to cross back into Israel at the same border I crossed at recently: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43005
Finally, here is a report by an Israeli rights group about the water shortage problem in the West bank (note, it's way worse in Gaza!): http://www.btselem.org/english/water/2008070_acute_water_shortage_in_the_west_bank.asp
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Arrived in Jordan
I arrived in Jordan ok after a long but normal hassle at the borders, etc. I will stay in Jordan for a few days or a week, then head back to Palestine, as long as I'm granted another visa.