In this post: Big day of bailouts and holidays (in Israel-Palestine); storm clouds brewing; settler video, etc.
Today is a day of big events. I turned on the computer this evening to see that the US House voted down the bail out of Wall St. $700 billion package. Good for them. This idea was too hastily made, with too much money at stake. What the US doesn't need now is more rushed buying and selling--we've been trained to make quick, rash decisions with big money--hey, we have credit cards, loan agencies, etc., etc.
It's interesting to me that the US gov't (under both party administrations) complains that it doesn't have the funds to help pay for healthcare, education, etc., but as soon as rich people on Wall St. need a bail out, mysteriously, $700 billion falls out of the sky. I'm not saying that something shouldn't be done with Wall St., but these big wigs should also pay for their mistakes, not get bailed out every time something major goes wrong. I'm not convinced this bailout package had to be passed immediately. The debate around it reminds me of debates about war: people try to make you feel like you have no other option than to go along, that the costs would be too high not to act, and we have to act now. No we don't! Let's be wise and prudent about this for once. Take a deep breath, relax, and learn to trust in something other than the pocketbook.
The other big events for today, on this side of the world, are the ending of Ramadan and the beginning of the Jewish New Year. Ironically, they both fall on the same day this year. Tomorrow (Tues.) will be a major feast day for both Jews and Muslims. You can read a little about both celebrations here.
Unfortunately, Israel gave a present to the Palestinians today, announcing that no Palestinians will be allowed to cross back and forth from the West Bank and Gaza into Israel until the end of the Jewish holiday (Thurs.). Only emergency health situations have exceptions. You can read about the collective punishment here.
Today, the outgoing Prime Minister of Israel also came out and said that he thinks Israel will have to give back E. Jerusalem to the Palestinians in a final peace deal. This is a major shift for him, rhetorically speaking, but it's too bad that Israeli rhetoric on issues of freezing settlements, giving back land, etc. has been backed up with absolutely no action (except hurting Pal's more). I'll believe it when I see it. Still, it is a little significant that Olmert made this statement today. Unfortunately, his stated reasons for giving back the land are more racist than anything--to kick the Palestinians out of a future Jewish-only state. See the NY Times and Haaretz articles for more info.
Over this last weekend, the storm clouds were literally brewing here. We had our first rain of the season on Sat. morning, and everyone was in the streets dancing and celebrating. It was the first real rain we've had since I've been here, I think (6 months). It was the end of a major drought for this region. I can only hope that we will have more rain soon!
Finally, here are a few other interesting stories that have surfaced in the last few days:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1025210.html
Professor attacked by right-wing Israelis says they are not real Zionists. He thinks anything that undermines the creation of a two state solution (i.e., settlement building, expansion, etc.) goes against the true ideals of Zionism--Jewish only state.
http://redressnewsblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/israeli-settlers-threaten-to-kill.html
This is a really sad video. Be warned, the language is vulgar and hate-filled. Israeli drunken teen-aged settlers threaten British photographers that they will kill them and the Palestinians (whose land they are trespassing on). "You and you're f*** Jesus can kiss my a** . . . We killed Jesus and we're proud of it."
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Travels in the North; Pop stats, definitions, etc.
In this post: "be careful" during Muslim prayers; barrier between East and West Jerusalem; traveling in Northern Israel (Haifa, border with Lebanon, Acca, etc.); more on Holocaust survivor; Israel population stats; definitions and uses of "terrorism"; etc.
This last Friday, as I was walking into the Old City of Jerusalem from Western Jerusalem, I was surrounded by several Israeli soldiers and asked where I was going, where I was from, etc. There were thousands of Muslims pouring out of the Old City after Friday prayers at this time, and the soldiers warned me to "Be careful" as I went on my way. Exactly one week before, as I was entering Bethlehem, I was stopped by an Israeli soldier at the checkpoint and asked the same questions. Apparently, he couldn't understand why I had disembarked from an Arab bus and was walking with all these Muslims coming back from Friday prayers during Ramadan. Again, he told me to "be careful." I'm sure for most tourists visiting the area, having Israeli soldiers tell them to be careful around all the Muslims would have a significant effect.
There is still a line between West and East Jerusalem. It's still a divided city--not militarily, but in every other way. I can feel it as soon as I cross into West Jerusalem. Jews don't often venture to East Jerusalem and Palestinians don't cross the other way. If you look closely, you can see where the wall between the two sides used to stand, and even though there's no physical wall there today, very few people from one side cross over to the other.
A friend and I traveled up to Northern Israel last week and used the port town of Haifa as our base. We stayed with a survivor of the Holocaust who I met at Ibrahim's house. Interestingly, as a Jew, she converted to Christianity and became a Carmelite nun after the Holocaust.
This older woman offers much hospitality to anyone in need, and she has great compassion for the Palestinians. When I asked her why she moved from Poland to Israel as late as 1968, she mentioned that she came here to try to make a difference; however, when she arrived, she realized that "they [Israelis] were all just a bunch of fascists." However, as time went on, my friend realized that "Palestinians have more friends in Israel than in any other Middle Eastern country and that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is more a political problem than anything else." I'm not sure I share her positive view of the Israeli public (especially since she resides in a more "liberal" community), but I do appreciate her insights and I found it humorous how often she would accuse movements or people of "just being fascist." She, herself, comes from a family who long opposed Zionism and favored a socialistic approach to life and politics; she now demonstrates against war every Friday with Women in Black, among many other activities she's involved in.
While I was in the North, I had the opportunity to visit the Baha'i temple and gardens in Haifa, a beautiful Mediterranean beach, the Israeli border with Lebanon, and the old Arab city of Acca. One of my favorites was the beach. I felt a little guilty enjoying the water and getting a sun burn when Palestinians from the West Bank can't visit any major body of water, but I tried to set my guilt aside for some moments since it would not change anything except keep me from relaxing.
The border of Lebanon and the Rosh Hanikra sea caves were amazing. Waves have crashed into these cliffs for centuries, creating tunnels in the rock that you can walk in as the water splashes through. The border with Lebanon is permanently closed, and off the coast, I could easily see Israel's gun ships patrolling the waters; even the invisible border with Lebanon in the sea is cut off by a cable that runs through the water as far as the eye can see. At the Rosh Hanikra park, I took a tour of an old rail way line that was built by the British in the 1940s as a part of the trans-continental railroad (running through Palestine and Lebanon) to connect the Middle East to Europe (to transfer weapons during WWII). During 1948, the Israelis blew up part of this rail way (owned by the British) because they feared that weapons would be transported to Palestinians from Lebanon. It was interesting to watch a video about the history of the cliffs of Rash Hanikra filtered through the propaganda of Israeli nationalism. In this video, the Israelis attacking British property or citizens was not terrorism, but an act of freedom fighters; the video pointed out all the countries that had brought war to this region, but failed to mention Israel's own history of conquest there. One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist.
The old city of Acca has much more history than Haifa, and it has been used as a port for much longer; however, today, Haifa is Israel's major Northern sea port. In 1799, Napoleon attempted to capture Acca but was repelled, partially due to the strong walls that protect the city. The Arab people of Acca are Israeli citizens, so they are more wealthy than Palestinians in the West Bank or Gaza, and one can tell immediately after entering Acca that the area is much less economically desperate. The walls of the city reminded me of the old city of Jerusalem, but I liked Acca much better because it is not overrun by religious pilgrims and people trying to sell things (like the old city of Jerusalem). It is amazing how "normal" people can seem when they have a little economic prosperity and don't feel so desperate. I also read a fair amount about how Israeli forces pushed the entire Arab population into the old city of Acca during Israel's war for "independence," and now, most of the street names, village names, etc. have been changed to Hebrew rather than Arabic names. So goes the process of conquest.
I discovered Israeli trains on this trip to the North, and I will now try to travel on them when possible, as they are much more comfortable and convenient than Buses (for the same price!). While I was traveling on one train and reading about the next area we would visit, I realized that Israel's entire population (excluding Gaza and West Bank) is 6.4 million. LA County has a whopping 10 million! Most of Israel's population is concentrated in a few big cities, so it's amazing to travel around the country and see all the farm land and open space, which dispels the myth that there is no room here for the Palestinian refugees to return. (BTW: a few other nice facts about Israel according to the guide book: it has the 4th strongest air force in the world, behind the US, Russia, and China, and it's major export is military hardware (followed by machinery and computer software)). Land wise, Israel is about the same size as the state of New Jersey; however, NJ has a population of 8.7 million (over 2 million more than Israel). Again, another crack in the myth that Israel is overpopulated and can't accept any [Palestinian] refugees (if the refugees are Jewish, that's a different story).
When I returned to Jerusalem, I again had to face the fall out from last week's car "attack" by a Palestinian. Another point about this incident: most of those "attacked" were military, so if it was an "attack" (which we'll never know for sure now that the person is dead), the attack could be seen as "legitimate" by international standards since the person targeted military and not civilians. International law allows for people occupied by a foreign army to fight back, and it only says that attacks should minimize civilian casualties. I don't condone ANY violence or killing, but it does seem ironic to me that people would call an "attack" on soldiers a terrorist attack. Then, just recently, there was an attack on an Israeli left-wing professor here in Jerusalem--the man was injured by right wing Israeli settlers (see: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1025124.html). I haven't heard anyone in government calling this a terrorist act, but it certainly was. We really need consistent, strict definitions for words such as terrorism, which evoke so much fear and emotional reaction.
This last Friday, as I was walking into the Old City of Jerusalem from Western Jerusalem, I was surrounded by several Israeli soldiers and asked where I was going, where I was from, etc. There were thousands of Muslims pouring out of the Old City after Friday prayers at this time, and the soldiers warned me to "Be careful" as I went on my way. Exactly one week before, as I was entering Bethlehem, I was stopped by an Israeli soldier at the checkpoint and asked the same questions. Apparently, he couldn't understand why I had disembarked from an Arab bus and was walking with all these Muslims coming back from Friday prayers during Ramadan. Again, he told me to "be careful." I'm sure for most tourists visiting the area, having Israeli soldiers tell them to be careful around all the Muslims would have a significant effect.
There is still a line between West and East Jerusalem. It's still a divided city--not militarily, but in every other way. I can feel it as soon as I cross into West Jerusalem. Jews don't often venture to East Jerusalem and Palestinians don't cross the other way. If you look closely, you can see where the wall between the two sides used to stand, and even though there's no physical wall there today, very few people from one side cross over to the other.
A friend and I traveled up to Northern Israel last week and used the port town of Haifa as our base. We stayed with a survivor of the Holocaust who I met at Ibrahim's house. Interestingly, as a Jew, she converted to Christianity and became a Carmelite nun after the Holocaust.
This older woman offers much hospitality to anyone in need, and she has great compassion for the Palestinians. When I asked her why she moved from Poland to Israel as late as 1968, she mentioned that she came here to try to make a difference; however, when she arrived, she realized that "they [Israelis] were all just a bunch of fascists." However, as time went on, my friend realized that "Palestinians have more friends in Israel than in any other Middle Eastern country and that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is more a political problem than anything else." I'm not sure I share her positive view of the Israeli public (especially since she resides in a more "liberal" community), but I do appreciate her insights and I found it humorous how often she would accuse movements or people of "just being fascist." She, herself, comes from a family who long opposed Zionism and favored a socialistic approach to life and politics; she now demonstrates against war every Friday with Women in Black, among many other activities she's involved in.
While I was in the North, I had the opportunity to visit the Baha'i temple and gardens in Haifa, a beautiful Mediterranean beach, the Israeli border with Lebanon, and the old Arab city of Acca. One of my favorites was the beach. I felt a little guilty enjoying the water and getting a sun burn when Palestinians from the West Bank can't visit any major body of water, but I tried to set my guilt aside for some moments since it would not change anything except keep me from relaxing.
The border of Lebanon and the Rosh Hanikra sea caves were amazing. Waves have crashed into these cliffs for centuries, creating tunnels in the rock that you can walk in as the water splashes through. The border with Lebanon is permanently closed, and off the coast, I could easily see Israel's gun ships patrolling the waters; even the invisible border with Lebanon in the sea is cut off by a cable that runs through the water as far as the eye can see. At the Rosh Hanikra park, I took a tour of an old rail way line that was built by the British in the 1940s as a part of the trans-continental railroad (running through Palestine and Lebanon) to connect the Middle East to Europe (to transfer weapons during WWII). During 1948, the Israelis blew up part of this rail way (owned by the British) because they feared that weapons would be transported to Palestinians from Lebanon. It was interesting to watch a video about the history of the cliffs of Rash Hanikra filtered through the propaganda of Israeli nationalism. In this video, the Israelis attacking British property or citizens was not terrorism, but an act of freedom fighters; the video pointed out all the countries that had brought war to this region, but failed to mention Israel's own history of conquest there. One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist.
The old city of Acca has much more history than Haifa, and it has been used as a port for much longer; however, today, Haifa is Israel's major Northern sea port. In 1799, Napoleon attempted to capture Acca but was repelled, partially due to the strong walls that protect the city. The Arab people of Acca are Israeli citizens, so they are more wealthy than Palestinians in the West Bank or Gaza, and one can tell immediately after entering Acca that the area is much less economically desperate. The walls of the city reminded me of the old city of Jerusalem, but I liked Acca much better because it is not overrun by religious pilgrims and people trying to sell things (like the old city of Jerusalem). It is amazing how "normal" people can seem when they have a little economic prosperity and don't feel so desperate. I also read a fair amount about how Israeli forces pushed the entire Arab population into the old city of Acca during Israel's war for "independence," and now, most of the street names, village names, etc. have been changed to Hebrew rather than Arabic names. So goes the process of conquest.
I discovered Israeli trains on this trip to the North, and I will now try to travel on them when possible, as they are much more comfortable and convenient than Buses (for the same price!). While I was traveling on one train and reading about the next area we would visit, I realized that Israel's entire population (excluding Gaza and West Bank) is 6.4 million. LA County has a whopping 10 million! Most of Israel's population is concentrated in a few big cities, so it's amazing to travel around the country and see all the farm land and open space, which dispels the myth that there is no room here for the Palestinian refugees to return. (BTW: a few other nice facts about Israel according to the guide book: it has the 4th strongest air force in the world, behind the US, Russia, and China, and it's major export is military hardware (followed by machinery and computer software)). Land wise, Israel is about the same size as the state of New Jersey; however, NJ has a population of 8.7 million (over 2 million more than Israel). Again, another crack in the myth that Israel is overpopulated and can't accept any [Palestinian] refugees (if the refugees are Jewish, that's a different story).
When I returned to Jerusalem, I again had to face the fall out from last week's car "attack" by a Palestinian. Another point about this incident: most of those "attacked" were military, so if it was an "attack" (which we'll never know for sure now that the person is dead), the attack could be seen as "legitimate" by international standards since the person targeted military and not civilians. International law allows for people occupied by a foreign army to fight back, and it only says that attacks should minimize civilian casualties. I don't condone ANY violence or killing, but it does seem ironic to me that people would call an "attack" on soldiers a terrorist attack. Then, just recently, there was an attack on an Israeli left-wing professor here in Jerusalem--the man was injured by right wing Israeli settlers (see: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1025124.html). I haven't heard anyone in government calling this a terrorist act, but it certainly was. We really need consistent, strict definitions for words such as terrorism, which evoke so much fear and emotional reaction.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
"Attack" in Jerusalem
I was no where near the incident last night that left up to 17 people (mostly soldiers) injured after a driver plowed into bystanders in Jerusalem (see: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1023443.html for more info). However, I cross this intersection at least once a week.
As soon as authorities realized the driver was Palestinian, rumors started that it was a terrorist attack, rather than a traffic accident (which it had originally been called).
The 17 y.o. driver was fatally shot by a soldier after/during the incident. There were immediate calls from Israel's highest politicians to speed up demolishing houses of "terrorists" like this.
This incident again underscores the problems of assuming anything Palestinian is terror related (if the driver had been Jewish-Israeli, this would not be labeled terrorism, but an accident or criminal activity). Furthermore, Israel's policy of shoot to kill prevents authorities from extracting potentially valuable information from the driver (in this case, the driver had over a dozen gun shot wounds on his body). And, Israel's policy of demolishing homes of family members of suspected terrorists after the terrorist has been killed only alienates more people from Israel and it shows that Israel is morally bankrupt (attacking the homes of "innocent" people--is this terrorism???).
Now, we will never know for sure whether the incident was intentional or not, since the driver was killed. There are now reports (see article above) that the driver had been in emotional anguish after getting spurned in a marriage proposal. I wonder if the authorities will do an autopsy to determine whether the driver was under the influence of some substance.
Immediately after the crash, orthodox Jews chased at least one Palestinian into the Old City (likely, this person had nothing to do with the crash and was simply walking by). Now starts the process of racial profiling and reprisals against Palestinians, which will go largely unreported.
Today, I leave Jerusalem to travel to Northern Israel. I'm looking forward to a change in scenery.
As soon as authorities realized the driver was Palestinian, rumors started that it was a terrorist attack, rather than a traffic accident (which it had originally been called).
The 17 y.o. driver was fatally shot by a soldier after/during the incident. There were immediate calls from Israel's highest politicians to speed up demolishing houses of "terrorists" like this.
This incident again underscores the problems of assuming anything Palestinian is terror related (if the driver had been Jewish-Israeli, this would not be labeled terrorism, but an accident or criminal activity). Furthermore, Israel's policy of shoot to kill prevents authorities from extracting potentially valuable information from the driver (in this case, the driver had over a dozen gun shot wounds on his body). And, Israel's policy of demolishing homes of family members of suspected terrorists after the terrorist has been killed only alienates more people from Israel and it shows that Israel is morally bankrupt (attacking the homes of "innocent" people--is this terrorism???).
Now, we will never know for sure whether the incident was intentional or not, since the driver was killed. There are now reports (see article above) that the driver had been in emotional anguish after getting spurned in a marriage proposal. I wonder if the authorities will do an autopsy to determine whether the driver was under the influence of some substance.
Immediately after the crash, orthodox Jews chased at least one Palestinian into the Old City (likely, this person had nothing to do with the crash and was simply walking by). Now starts the process of racial profiling and reprisals against Palestinians, which will go largely unreported.
Today, I leave Jerusalem to travel to Northern Israel. I'm looking forward to a change in scenery.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Refugee's letter to Pal President
The director of Al-Rowwad, where I volunteered for three months, writes about the Palestinian president's attempts to negotiate away Pal refugee rights. These words underscore why it is important to bring every major player to the negotiating table (including Hamas) and not try to make peace only with people you think might agree with you or give you what you want. The US and Israel helped set up Pres Abbas, and now they want to negotiate a "peace" with him; later, they will point to the rejection of the plan by Palestinians and say: Look, the Palestinians were never serious about peace. I say, "Look, negotiations for peace are never serious when they do not include all the players." Setting up a fake president who does not have a popular mandate and negotiating a "peace" with him doesn't count for the hard work of actual peace-making--true sacrifices on BOTH sides.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9842.shtml
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9842.shtml
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Only God is Holy; make peace w/ Enemies; etc.
In this post: words of a man escaping from Gaza and a Holocaust survivor; friend denied entry to Palestine; talking with Hamas to make peace; other news from the area, etc.
Last week, I met a man who had just escaped from Gaza to take his wife to a hospital in Jerusalem. I was surprised that he had made it out, since getting permission to do so (from Israel) is very difficult, if not impossible. He said he is not working now; he used to hold a fairly high position in the Palestinian Authority military, but since the Hamas take over of Gaza, he (obviously) can't work. I asked him if it was dangerous for him to be in Gaza because of his ties with the PA, and he answered by saying he hoped not to return to Gaza, that maybe he would fly to the United Arab Emerates or somewhere else. "How," I asked "will you fly out from here?" He answered that he will have to try to travel to Jordan, then fly from there.
Last night, I spoke with a holocaust survivor who said, "Only God is holy. No particular race or people is holy, no land is holy, only God is Holy." She went on to describe how, at the age of 16, she was rescued by a Polish family from the hands of the Nazis (others in her family weren't as lucky). She was interested in my work in the West Bank and wants to organize donating clothes to Palestinian refugee camps.
Tomorrow, I will travel with a friend up to Northern Israeli to tour and enjoy the beach (which Palestinians can't go to--they used to be able to visit the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea; now, most can visit no major body of water).
If I am granted another visa to live/work in this region, I am contemplating trying another home stay with a Palestinian family. However, this time, I would choose the family more carefully and do it primarily for the benefit of speaking Arabic all the time. If I pursue this idea, I may take a break from blogging, email, and i-net for 1-2 months to improve my Arabic speaking abilities.
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine attempted to visit Israel and was not allowed to enter. She had been denied access to Israel in 2006, and this year, Israel would not give her even as much as a one week visa to travel. Her story is not abnormal: even though she held a fairly inconspicuous job in Beit Sahour (outside of Bethlehem) in 2006, the Israelis were suspicious of her, and now, it will be extremely difficult for her to visit Israel/Palestine again.
Although Israel does not often out-right ban people from entering the area anymore, it will instead, give people a one-week visa to return to Israel-Palestine. This effectively tells people to "get out." One of my close friends who had been in Palestine for eight months was recently given a one week visa.
This week marks the 15th and 30th anniversaries of the Oslo and Camp David Accords to reach peace between Israelis and Palestinians. This article comments on the "attempts" at peace. One of the suggestions in the article is that peace talks should include all the parties involved in the conflict. I whole-heartedly agree with this suggestion; peace will never occur between Israelis and Palestinians as long as Israelis continue to snub Hamas and other major players. To only talk with Abbas and the Palestinian Authority will not bring peace; Abbas doesn't have the popular mandate to carry out peace talks alone, and even if he did come to agreements with the Israelis, many Palestinians (including Hamas) would not accept the terms. Finding peace with the Israelis has to mean that a majority of Palestinians support the agreements; otherwise, the resistance will continue.
Some other news stories from this region you might have missed:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1021315.html
Desmond Tutu says Israel may have committed war crimes in a Gaza bombing in 2006, but he also says investigations need to be made against both sides that have targeted civilians.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1021422.html
Days after the Israeli settler rampages and attack reprisals against Palestinians, settlers speak in support of the mayhem and say the Israel military should either join in or the settlers will secede from Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1021317.html
An Israeli perspective on Sarah Palin.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1022031.html
Settlers try to keep Israeli military from evacuating an illegal settlement (outpost).
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1022028.html
Word Bank says Israeli restrictions make Palestinians more dependent on aid.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1022137.html
Livni, the possible new Prime Minister for Israel, attempts to make a coalition government. Regardless of Israeli politics, the facts on the ground--tighter restrictions against Palestinians, settlement expansion, etc., etc.--continue. Most Palestinians don't see Levni's ascension as changing that much.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9837.shtml
Reflection on the Israeli massacre of Sabra and Shatila, 26 years ago.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_politics
One of the greatest problems with Israeli "democracy" is that it allows radical, fringe groups like this Ultra-Orthodox party to call the shots in parliament.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/world/middleeast/19iran.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
An article that humanizes, just a little, Iran's president and his words against Israel. For years, his words have been mistranslated, misquoted, and misconstrued. This is not to say that Ahmadinejad's attitude is a helpful one; rather, we should be careful not to demonize other people and their positions.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1022561.html
UN's new assembly chief rightly says the UN should actually enforce the 1947 partition of Palestine. This would be a huge blow to Zionism if it was ever carried out.
Last week, I met a man who had just escaped from Gaza to take his wife to a hospital in Jerusalem. I was surprised that he had made it out, since getting permission to do so (from Israel) is very difficult, if not impossible. He said he is not working now; he used to hold a fairly high position in the Palestinian Authority military, but since the Hamas take over of Gaza, he (obviously) can't work. I asked him if it was dangerous for him to be in Gaza because of his ties with the PA, and he answered by saying he hoped not to return to Gaza, that maybe he would fly to the United Arab Emerates or somewhere else. "How," I asked "will you fly out from here?" He answered that he will have to try to travel to Jordan, then fly from there.
Last night, I spoke with a holocaust survivor who said, "Only God is holy. No particular race or people is holy, no land is holy, only God is Holy." She went on to describe how, at the age of 16, she was rescued by a Polish family from the hands of the Nazis (others in her family weren't as lucky). She was interested in my work in the West Bank and wants to organize donating clothes to Palestinian refugee camps.
Tomorrow, I will travel with a friend up to Northern Israeli to tour and enjoy the beach (which Palestinians can't go to--they used to be able to visit the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea; now, most can visit no major body of water).
If I am granted another visa to live/work in this region, I am contemplating trying another home stay with a Palestinian family. However, this time, I would choose the family more carefully and do it primarily for the benefit of speaking Arabic all the time. If I pursue this idea, I may take a break from blogging, email, and i-net for 1-2 months to improve my Arabic speaking abilities.
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine attempted to visit Israel and was not allowed to enter. She had been denied access to Israel in 2006, and this year, Israel would not give her even as much as a one week visa to travel. Her story is not abnormal: even though she held a fairly inconspicuous job in Beit Sahour (outside of Bethlehem) in 2006, the Israelis were suspicious of her, and now, it will be extremely difficult for her to visit Israel/Palestine again.
Although Israel does not often out-right ban people from entering the area anymore, it will instead, give people a one-week visa to return to Israel-Palestine. This effectively tells people to "get out." One of my close friends who had been in Palestine for eight months was recently given a one week visa.
This week marks the 15th and 30th anniversaries of the Oslo and Camp David Accords to reach peace between Israelis and Palestinians. This article comments on the "attempts" at peace. One of the suggestions in the article is that peace talks should include all the parties involved in the conflict. I whole-heartedly agree with this suggestion; peace will never occur between Israelis and Palestinians as long as Israelis continue to snub Hamas and other major players. To only talk with Abbas and the Palestinian Authority will not bring peace; Abbas doesn't have the popular mandate to carry out peace talks alone, and even if he did come to agreements with the Israelis, many Palestinians (including Hamas) would not accept the terms. Finding peace with the Israelis has to mean that a majority of Palestinians support the agreements; otherwise, the resistance will continue.
Some other news stories from this region you might have missed:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1021315.html
Desmond Tutu says Israel may have committed war crimes in a Gaza bombing in 2006, but he also says investigations need to be made against both sides that have targeted civilians.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1021422.html
Days after the Israeli settler rampages and attack reprisals against Palestinians, settlers speak in support of the mayhem and say the Israel military should either join in or the settlers will secede from Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1021317.html
An Israeli perspective on Sarah Palin.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1022031.html
Settlers try to keep Israeli military from evacuating an illegal settlement (outpost).
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1022028.html
Word Bank says Israeli restrictions make Palestinians more dependent on aid.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1022137.html
Livni, the possible new Prime Minister for Israel, attempts to make a coalition government. Regardless of Israeli politics, the facts on the ground--tighter restrictions against Palestinians, settlement expansion, etc., etc.--continue. Most Palestinians don't see Levni's ascension as changing that much.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9837.shtml
Reflection on the Israeli massacre of Sabra and Shatila, 26 years ago.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_politics
One of the greatest problems with Israeli "democracy" is that it allows radical, fringe groups like this Ultra-Orthodox party to call the shots in parliament.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/world/middleeast/19iran.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
An article that humanizes, just a little, Iran's president and his words against Israel. For years, his words have been mistranslated, misquoted, and misconstrued. This is not to say that Ahmadinejad's attitude is a helpful one; rather, we should be careful not to demonize other people and their positions.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1022561.html
UN's new assembly chief rightly says the UN should actually enforce the 1947 partition of Palestine. This would be a huge blow to Zionism if it was ever carried out.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Pop growth/planning; execute, don't question, US arms, etc.
In this post: reflection on population growth and planning; "deport Israeli-Arabs and execute their members of Parliament"; Palin: don't question Israel; settler rampage; news roundup (especially see article on recent US arms sales to Israel and comparison of Dem's and Rep's agenda's re: Israel); etc.
As I enjoyed the view of the back-side of the Mount of Olives the other day, my thoughts turned toward the population explosion in this region over the last 50 years. Only decades ago, this region was sparsely populated, more rural than anything. Now, houses and people occupy almost every inch of free space. This is not to say that Palestinians (or Israelis) should not have as many children as they want, or that population growth is necessarily a problem. However, I marvel at the crowded, unsanitary conditions people live in here.
Population growth among Palestinians is attributable to many factors, but one reason I believe, is that there has been an increase in the age of mortality, a decrease in infant mortality, and no decrease (probably an increase) in the amount of babies born per household. If science is going to make humans capable of dying less and living longer, then we should also take advantage of breakthroughs in science allowing us to do family planning. I don't agree that it is wise to continue bringing children into the world when you (as a family) don't have the means to care for them.
I realize this is a highly charged emotional and political issue, and Palestinians certainly have the right to have as many children as they want; however, that right doesn't mean that it's a good idea to have 10+ children, etc.
If the West ever wants to get advice on minimizing urban sprawl, however, it only need consult Palestinians. Because of the situation here, Palestinians can't expand on land horizontally (in fact, they're not supposed to, legally, expand their houses at all). So, Palestinians build up, without permits or inspections (these are almost always refused by the Israeli gov't.). This creates many problems, though, because if and when the big one (for those of you not used to living in these zones, read earthquake) hits (and they're already overdue for the big one), there's going to be one major humanitarian disaster, as all the Palestinian homes come crumbling down upon multiple families living inside. Israeli architecture isn't much more sound, but at least Israelis are not forced to live multiple families to one cramped house. Of course, it might just make Israel's day to have a significant portion of the Palestinian population disappear during an earthquake. Hey, it wasn't even Israel's fault this time, right?
There are lots of news items below for you to peruse from this last week, so I'm going to try to keep this short. On a personal level, we just hosted a group of 16 people at the hostel for 3 days, and it was nice to have so many people here. Now, I'm busy cleaning up from the mess and making sure we're ready for the next big group. I will have to try to renew my visa in the next several weeks, so I'm nervous about that.
I just want to highlight a couple news stories that you must pay attention to. First, this story (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1019920.html) documents how an Israeli-Jewish member of the parliament in Israel recently called for the deportation of Israeli-Arab citizens from Israel and the execution of Arab-Israeli members of the parliament. Imagine members of congress telling the US press that we should expel US citizens and execute other members of congress! Now, the Attorney General in Israel calls the racist words unfortunate but not illegal. I wonder what would have happened if an Arab member of the Israeli parliament had said these things about any Jew. Of course their would be legal and all sorts of other consequences.
Second, this article (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1020605.html) quotes Sarah Palin as saying the US shouldn't second guess Israel's military steps. So, does that mean that we should support Israel no matter what? Do we not have the right to withhold weapons sales to Israel if Israel will use the weapons to break international law? (See the news article below saying that the US just made a huge arms shipment to Israel, possibly allowing and encouraging Israel to attack Iran).
Finally, a day ago, someone broke into an Israeli settlement in Palestine and started setting fire to buildings (see: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1020650.html). A nine year old Israeli was stabbed (and lightly injured) by the criminal as s/he fled. Next, the Israeli military went house to house in the Palestinian villages near the settlement, kicking in doors, detaining people, spraying tear gas, etc.--all without catching the perpetrator. The next day, settlers from the Israeli settlement went on a rampage through the Palestinian villages, randomly shooting at people and seriously injuring 8 Palestinians. An eye for an eye?
News you might have missed from this region:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1019511.html
A good resource for comparing the Democratic and Republican platform statements re: Israel. Let's see who can outdo who in their support of the Zionist regime.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31833
Palestine's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) continues to worsen, making a horrific situation worse, if possible, according to the latest UN study.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9802.shtml
Highlights what the United Methodist Church is doing (divestment) to counter the Israeli Occupation.
http://www.agenceglobal.com/Article.asp?Id=1721
Rami Khouri, one of my favorite Palestinian writers, comments on this last week's events, including the US commemoration of Sept. 11, 2001 and Sarah Palin's initiation into foreign policy by meeting with the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1019575.html
The president of Israel has to publicly say that the Israeli-Arab birthrate in Israel is not a security threat ("children are not a security threat"). Well, I'm happy that your citizens' choices to have children don't threaten you. Too bad this comment was made by one of the more dovish Israeli politicians (who happens to hold very little political weight). I wish all Israelis could echo this man's words here, and I wish they didn't happen to view the Palestinian birthrate as a threat (are any children a threat?).
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1019584.html
If Israel releases the 40 Hamas political prisoners it now has imprisoned, it will spell the demise of Abbas's tenure as president. Time will tell how Israel chooses to move, but it is clear that Israel's actions of imprisoning these politicians (to weaken Israel's political enemy) is illegal.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31844
The Gaza blockade forces the only pharmacy in Gaza to close for lack of medicines on shelves.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31835
In a continuation of the story about Ush Ghrab park in Beit Sahour (which Israeli settlers have been trying to take over), the Palestinian PM visited the site this week.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1020226.html
Report specifies how Israeli settler's confiscate more private Palestinian land.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1019989.html and
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1020702.html
The first article talks about how the US was likely to refuse bunker-buster bombs to Israel because the US fears Israel will use them to strike Iran. However, the second article reports that the US did, in fact, sell Israel the weapons as of last Friday. This is a major failure for the prospects of peace in the region.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/world/middleeast/12jenin.html?hp
A NY Times article on "improvements" for peace in the West Bank city of Jenin. I have personally visited this city several times of the last several months, and I strongly disagree with the pleasant portrait the Times portrays in parts of the article. And, even if the article was accurate, it acknowledges that the "gains" in Jenin will not (probably) apply to the rest of the West Bank because Jenin lacks the tensions of Hamas-Fatah split, settlement growth, the Wall, etc.
As I enjoyed the view of the back-side of the Mount of Olives the other day, my thoughts turned toward the population explosion in this region over the last 50 years. Only decades ago, this region was sparsely populated, more rural than anything. Now, houses and people occupy almost every inch of free space. This is not to say that Palestinians (or Israelis) should not have as many children as they want, or that population growth is necessarily a problem. However, I marvel at the crowded, unsanitary conditions people live in here.
Population growth among Palestinians is attributable to many factors, but one reason I believe, is that there has been an increase in the age of mortality, a decrease in infant mortality, and no decrease (probably an increase) in the amount of babies born per household. If science is going to make humans capable of dying less and living longer, then we should also take advantage of breakthroughs in science allowing us to do family planning. I don't agree that it is wise to continue bringing children into the world when you (as a family) don't have the means to care for them.
I realize this is a highly charged emotional and political issue, and Palestinians certainly have the right to have as many children as they want; however, that right doesn't mean that it's a good idea to have 10+ children, etc.
If the West ever wants to get advice on minimizing urban sprawl, however, it only need consult Palestinians. Because of the situation here, Palestinians can't expand on land horizontally (in fact, they're not supposed to, legally, expand their houses at all). So, Palestinians build up, without permits or inspections (these are almost always refused by the Israeli gov't.). This creates many problems, though, because if and when the big one (for those of you not used to living in these zones, read earthquake) hits (and they're already overdue for the big one), there's going to be one major humanitarian disaster, as all the Palestinian homes come crumbling down upon multiple families living inside. Israeli architecture isn't much more sound, but at least Israelis are not forced to live multiple families to one cramped house. Of course, it might just make Israel's day to have a significant portion of the Palestinian population disappear during an earthquake. Hey, it wasn't even Israel's fault this time, right?
There are lots of news items below for you to peruse from this last week, so I'm going to try to keep this short. On a personal level, we just hosted a group of 16 people at the hostel for 3 days, and it was nice to have so many people here. Now, I'm busy cleaning up from the mess and making sure we're ready for the next big group. I will have to try to renew my visa in the next several weeks, so I'm nervous about that.
I just want to highlight a couple news stories that you must pay attention to. First, this story (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1019920.html) documents how an Israeli-Jewish member of the parliament in Israel recently called for the deportation of Israeli-Arab citizens from Israel and the execution of Arab-Israeli members of the parliament. Imagine members of congress telling the US press that we should expel US citizens and execute other members of congress! Now, the Attorney General in Israel calls the racist words unfortunate but not illegal. I wonder what would have happened if an Arab member of the Israeli parliament had said these things about any Jew. Of course their would be legal and all sorts of other consequences.
Second, this article (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1020605.html) quotes Sarah Palin as saying the US shouldn't second guess Israel's military steps. So, does that mean that we should support Israel no matter what? Do we not have the right to withhold weapons sales to Israel if Israel will use the weapons to break international law? (See the news article below saying that the US just made a huge arms shipment to Israel, possibly allowing and encouraging Israel to attack Iran).
Finally, a day ago, someone broke into an Israeli settlement in Palestine and started setting fire to buildings (see: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1020650.html). A nine year old Israeli was stabbed (and lightly injured) by the criminal as s/he fled. Next, the Israeli military went house to house in the Palestinian villages near the settlement, kicking in doors, detaining people, spraying tear gas, etc.--all without catching the perpetrator. The next day, settlers from the Israeli settlement went on a rampage through the Palestinian villages, randomly shooting at people and seriously injuring 8 Palestinians. An eye for an eye?
News you might have missed from this region:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1019511.html
A good resource for comparing the Democratic and Republican platform statements re: Israel. Let's see who can outdo who in their support of the Zionist regime.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31833
Palestine's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) continues to worsen, making a horrific situation worse, if possible, according to the latest UN study.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9802.shtml
Highlights what the United Methodist Church is doing (divestment) to counter the Israeli Occupation.
http://www.agenceglobal.com/Article.asp?Id=1721
Rami Khouri, one of my favorite Palestinian writers, comments on this last week's events, including the US commemoration of Sept. 11, 2001 and Sarah Palin's initiation into foreign policy by meeting with the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1019575.html
The president of Israel has to publicly say that the Israeli-Arab birthrate in Israel is not a security threat ("children are not a security threat"). Well, I'm happy that your citizens' choices to have children don't threaten you. Too bad this comment was made by one of the more dovish Israeli politicians (who happens to hold very little political weight). I wish all Israelis could echo this man's words here, and I wish they didn't happen to view the Palestinian birthrate as a threat (are any children a threat?).
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1019584.html
If Israel releases the 40 Hamas political prisoners it now has imprisoned, it will spell the demise of Abbas's tenure as president. Time will tell how Israel chooses to move, but it is clear that Israel's actions of imprisoning these politicians (to weaken Israel's political enemy) is illegal.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31844
The Gaza blockade forces the only pharmacy in Gaza to close for lack of medicines on shelves.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31835
In a continuation of the story about Ush Ghrab park in Beit Sahour (which Israeli settlers have been trying to take over), the Palestinian PM visited the site this week.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1020226.html
Report specifies how Israeli settler's confiscate more private Palestinian land.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1019989.html and
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1020702.html
The first article talks about how the US was likely to refuse bunker-buster bombs to Israel because the US fears Israel will use them to strike Iran. However, the second article reports that the US did, in fact, sell Israel the weapons as of last Friday. This is a major failure for the prospects of peace in the region.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/world/middleeast/12jenin.html?hp
A NY Times article on "improvements" for peace in the West Bank city of Jenin. I have personally visited this city several times of the last several months, and I strongly disagree with the pleasant portrait the Times portrays in parts of the article. And, even if the article was accurate, it acknowledges that the "gains" in Jenin will not (probably) apply to the rest of the West Bank because Jenin lacks the tensions of Hamas-Fatah split, settlement growth, the Wall, etc.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Reviewing hostel work; restriction on worship, etc.
In this post: Overview of my work at the hostel; restrictions on Pal's trying to worship during Ramadan; emergency water-shortage in Palestine; news roundup; etc.
Someone recently asked me to clarify my work at the Mount of Olives Peace hostel, as he hadn't been able to tell from my writings what, exactly, I'm doing here. It's hard to describe what a typical day looks like for me here, but much of my work resembles some of the organizing and cleaning I did at Guadalupe House.
I started room by room here, cleaning everything, throwing a lot of garbage away, and getting the hostel ready for the new kind of guests. For decades, Ibrahim has run this hostel (really, his home until 2 years ago) based on donations only, and he has quite some colorful tales of the people who have graced his home here. However, over the last two years, he also had some people move here, mostly religious folks of a messianic Jewish flavor, who did not give him any money to stay here, and they really drained many of his resources (including eating all the food he would keep in the house). There were piles of papers and garbage here, dating back decades, and the hostel really has a new feel, now; one person who remained at the hostel during the changes I've made says that everything is much more peaceful and calm here now, more livable.
I started visiting Ibrahim's hostel last fall, and I was appalled by the state of things in a Palestinian house (normally Pal houses are VERY clean). Mostly, though, I was concerned about the people who lived here (some for two years) who weren't giving Ibrahim any money. Eventually, Ibrahim came to the place where he could not stand it any longer--the religious zealots had begun to make the place look like an Israeli religious settlement (blowing bulls' horns from the top of the roof and shouting in Hebrew), and they would question people coming through the door--"Are you a believer?" All this was quite uncomfortable for Ibrahim, I think, as his house sits in a purely Palestinian Muslim neighborhood. Having this kind of activity in his house was not only embarrassing for him, but it was also potentially dangerous, as Palestinians do not tolerate more Jews taking over their houses (some Palestinians have been murdered for selling their property to Jews).
Ibrahim had some real difficulty asking these people to leave, as it is not in his nature (or, in Palestinian culture) to ask his guests to leave, but over a process of several months, he was able to kick most of them out (as only he could do--in his most generous and gentle way [he even paid very expensive taxi fares to transport his former guests all over Israel to the different places they wanted to go]).
About the same time the squatters left Ibrahim's house, I was needing to make a change from the daily round of protests I had been attending. Since Ibrahim wanted a new manager/house care-taker for the hostel, it was a good fit for both of us. I haven't just cleaned, though, since arriving. I've been in dialog with Ibrahim about how to set up a more disciplined, structured program at the hostel so that people cannot take advantage of him again.
Late last week, I finally was able to post an official welcome sign for the house, complete with house rules and a suggested minimum donation for people who want to sleep here, use the services (like the washer machine), or eat (Ibrahim often cooks amazing meals for his guests--all of which has been at his own expense in the past). Ibrahim has agreed that he needs to make some major changes, but he has been quite apprehensive to post on the wall an amount of money people should pay. I think we have made enough changes for now that we can start welcoming more people at Ibrahim's hostel again. My goal is to have 10-12 guests here a night, eventually. We have the capacity for more, but that's my initial goal.
With the new guests all contributing their fair share to Ibrahim's house, I hope that Ibrahim can keep the house running. Currently, he has outstanding bills, and he has already had his phone and i-net cut in the house due to bills that the previous squatters ran up. (He also has a court case pending due to the water bill from the previous squatters.)
Now, Ibrahim and his family live in their own house, a short way down the hill from the guest house. But Ibrahim spends many hours at the hostel every day.
I am hoping to significantly help Ibrahim financially, but mostly through establishing a program where each guest who comes pays his/her fair share. I have much to learn from Ibrahim too, as he is a well known inter-faith peace maker in Jerusalem.
Once more guests arrive at the house, I will be busy welcoming them, helping to run things smoothly, etc.--which means making sure we have enough clean sheets, beds, etc., and that everyone is making the suggested minimum donation. We do leave for an exception if someone really can't make the minimum donation, but I hope that these people are few and stay only a short time--we can make recommendations for homeless services in Tel Aviv if people have absolutely no money.
Aside from the work in the hostel, I am continuing my Arabic studies. I feel like I am trudging away at it though, and if I weren't already as advanced as I am, I would give up, I think.
I am also hoping to get involved more diretcly again with nonviolent actions, but I have yet to find groups/people that I am comfortable working with. Its only a matter of time and making the right connections, I think. The work that I will do in this area, though, will be a little more subtle, but useful, I hope.
Over the last week, one of the most frustrating issues that happened here was Israel placing all sorts of restrictions on Palestinians trying to worship at the Dome of the Rock during Ramadan (their holy month). These restrictions on 10's of thousands of people (at least) only cause more frustration and animosity within Palestinians. Two articles about the restrictions: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31738; http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1018536.html.
Meanwhile, the water-shortage in Palestine passed from acute to emergency, I'm afraid. Read the report on Palestinians with no water here: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31794.
Finally, the politics in Israel continue to sputter along, as the Israeli police formally recommended to the Attorney General that the Prime Minister be indicted for multiple crimes. You can read about this unfolding event at www.haaretz.com or almost anywhere. I doubt that the police recommendation does much more than function as nice gossip, for the moment, as the Prime Minister is due to quit his post as soon as a new successor is chosen.
PS: An amendment to a previous post on Ramadan: While it is true that some Palestinians alter their sleeping schedule to make the fast easier (i.e., sleep all day), the vast majority of Palestinians try to carry on with their lives while suffering through the all-day fast. Most business carries on as usual, although at a perhaps slower rate in the afternoon, when people lose most energy from lack of food.
Below, you can find some other news stories from this area you might have missed, along with my brief comments.
http://www.imemc.org/article/56812
A general article about the violence of the occupation for the month of August.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1017864.html
A UN peacekeeper was killed in Lebanon last week as he tried to defuse a cluster bomb dropped by the Israeli military during the war in Lebanon. The Israeli military refuses to help the UN find and diffuse these bombs, which mostly injure, maim, and kill civilian farmers and children in the region.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/world/middleeast/04state.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
A NY Times story on the possibility of a two state solution vs. a one state solution for Palestine. Not everything in the article I agree with, but at least there's some coverage of the issues in the article.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1017937.html
Shin Bet, the Israeli version of the FBI/CIA regularly tortures Palestinians and pressures them to become informants against other Palestinians.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31782
670 Palestinians arrested in one day in an Israeli anti-illegal-worker sting. This makes US immigration stings look mickey-mouse, not to mention that the Palestinians arrested here are subject to much harsher treatment than most migrant workers detained in the US.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1018617.html
Jordan and Lebanon, who already have more than their fair share of Palestinian refugees, say they are not willing to become a permanent homeland for Palestinians.
Someone recently asked me to clarify my work at the Mount of Olives Peace hostel, as he hadn't been able to tell from my writings what, exactly, I'm doing here. It's hard to describe what a typical day looks like for me here, but much of my work resembles some of the organizing and cleaning I did at Guadalupe House.
I started room by room here, cleaning everything, throwing a lot of garbage away, and getting the hostel ready for the new kind of guests. For decades, Ibrahim has run this hostel (really, his home until 2 years ago) based on donations only, and he has quite some colorful tales of the people who have graced his home here. However, over the last two years, he also had some people move here, mostly religious folks of a messianic Jewish flavor, who did not give him any money to stay here, and they really drained many of his resources (including eating all the food he would keep in the house). There were piles of papers and garbage here, dating back decades, and the hostel really has a new feel, now; one person who remained at the hostel during the changes I've made says that everything is much more peaceful and calm here now, more livable.
I started visiting Ibrahim's hostel last fall, and I was appalled by the state of things in a Palestinian house (normally Pal houses are VERY clean). Mostly, though, I was concerned about the people who lived here (some for two years) who weren't giving Ibrahim any money. Eventually, Ibrahim came to the place where he could not stand it any longer--the religious zealots had begun to make the place look like an Israeli religious settlement (blowing bulls' horns from the top of the roof and shouting in Hebrew), and they would question people coming through the door--"Are you a believer?" All this was quite uncomfortable for Ibrahim, I think, as his house sits in a purely Palestinian Muslim neighborhood. Having this kind of activity in his house was not only embarrassing for him, but it was also potentially dangerous, as Palestinians do not tolerate more Jews taking over their houses (some Palestinians have been murdered for selling their property to Jews).
Ibrahim had some real difficulty asking these people to leave, as it is not in his nature (or, in Palestinian culture) to ask his guests to leave, but over a process of several months, he was able to kick most of them out (as only he could do--in his most generous and gentle way [he even paid very expensive taxi fares to transport his former guests all over Israel to the different places they wanted to go]).
About the same time the squatters left Ibrahim's house, I was needing to make a change from the daily round of protests I had been attending. Since Ibrahim wanted a new manager/house care-taker for the hostel, it was a good fit for both of us. I haven't just cleaned, though, since arriving. I've been in dialog with Ibrahim about how to set up a more disciplined, structured program at the hostel so that people cannot take advantage of him again.
Late last week, I finally was able to post an official welcome sign for the house, complete with house rules and a suggested minimum donation for people who want to sleep here, use the services (like the washer machine), or eat (Ibrahim often cooks amazing meals for his guests--all of which has been at his own expense in the past). Ibrahim has agreed that he needs to make some major changes, but he has been quite apprehensive to post on the wall an amount of money people should pay. I think we have made enough changes for now that we can start welcoming more people at Ibrahim's hostel again. My goal is to have 10-12 guests here a night, eventually. We have the capacity for more, but that's my initial goal.
With the new guests all contributing their fair share to Ibrahim's house, I hope that Ibrahim can keep the house running. Currently, he has outstanding bills, and he has already had his phone and i-net cut in the house due to bills that the previous squatters ran up. (He also has a court case pending due to the water bill from the previous squatters.)
Now, Ibrahim and his family live in their own house, a short way down the hill from the guest house. But Ibrahim spends many hours at the hostel every day.
I am hoping to significantly help Ibrahim financially, but mostly through establishing a program where each guest who comes pays his/her fair share. I have much to learn from Ibrahim too, as he is a well known inter-faith peace maker in Jerusalem.
Once more guests arrive at the house, I will be busy welcoming them, helping to run things smoothly, etc.--which means making sure we have enough clean sheets, beds, etc., and that everyone is making the suggested minimum donation. We do leave for an exception if someone really can't make the minimum donation, but I hope that these people are few and stay only a short time--we can make recommendations for homeless services in Tel Aviv if people have absolutely no money.
Aside from the work in the hostel, I am continuing my Arabic studies. I feel like I am trudging away at it though, and if I weren't already as advanced as I am, I would give up, I think.
I am also hoping to get involved more diretcly again with nonviolent actions, but I have yet to find groups/people that I am comfortable working with. Its only a matter of time and making the right connections, I think. The work that I will do in this area, though, will be a little more subtle, but useful, I hope.
Over the last week, one of the most frustrating issues that happened here was Israel placing all sorts of restrictions on Palestinians trying to worship at the Dome of the Rock during Ramadan (their holy month). These restrictions on 10's of thousands of people (at least) only cause more frustration and animosity within Palestinians. Two articles about the restrictions: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31738; http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1018536.html.
Meanwhile, the water-shortage in Palestine passed from acute to emergency, I'm afraid. Read the report on Palestinians with no water here: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31794.
Finally, the politics in Israel continue to sputter along, as the Israeli police formally recommended to the Attorney General that the Prime Minister be indicted for multiple crimes. You can read about this unfolding event at www.haaretz.com or almost anywhere. I doubt that the police recommendation does much more than function as nice gossip, for the moment, as the Prime Minister is due to quit his post as soon as a new successor is chosen.
PS: An amendment to a previous post on Ramadan: While it is true that some Palestinians alter their sleeping schedule to make the fast easier (i.e., sleep all day), the vast majority of Palestinians try to carry on with their lives while suffering through the all-day fast. Most business carries on as usual, although at a perhaps slower rate in the afternoon, when people lose most energy from lack of food.
Below, you can find some other news stories from this area you might have missed, along with my brief comments.
http://www.imemc.org/article/56812
A general article about the violence of the occupation for the month of August.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1017864.html
A UN peacekeeper was killed in Lebanon last week as he tried to defuse a cluster bomb dropped by the Israeli military during the war in Lebanon. The Israeli military refuses to help the UN find and diffuse these bombs, which mostly injure, maim, and kill civilian farmers and children in the region.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/world/middleeast/04state.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
A NY Times story on the possibility of a two state solution vs. a one state solution for Palestine. Not everything in the article I agree with, but at least there's some coverage of the issues in the article.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1017937.html
Shin Bet, the Israeli version of the FBI/CIA regularly tortures Palestinians and pressures them to become informants against other Palestinians.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31782
670 Palestinians arrested in one day in an Israeli anti-illegal-worker sting. This makes US immigration stings look mickey-mouse, not to mention that the Palestinians arrested here are subject to much harsher treatment than most migrant workers detained in the US.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1018617.html
Jordan and Lebanon, who already have more than their fair share of Palestinian refugees, say they are not willing to become a permanent homeland for Palestinians.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Ramadan's beginning; left and right peace; etc
In this post: Reflection on Ramadan's beginning; end of Arabic class; Sulha and reconciling right and left brain peacemaking; settlement expansion and Rice; quotes on taking back the land; news roundup, etc.
The first day of Ramadan is just ending: the sun is setting and Palestinian families are beginning to break their fast. They will be fasting the entire month, from 4 a.m. to around 6 p.m. every day; they are not allowed to drink any beverages (including water), eat any food, or smoke while fasting during the day, and they're forbidden to have sex during the entire month.
But Ramadan is more than a holiday where people abstain from doing things. There is much joy and excitement in the streets for Ramadan, and people have placed "Christmas" lights across roads and around houses. Muslims look forward to fasting and breaking their fast each day with good food and family. Ramadan resembles Christmas with its excitement, gifts, and giving, but it lasts for an entire month.
One devout Muslim explained to me that Muslims fast during Ramadan to remind themselves of what poor people have to feel every day: "When we fast during Ramadan and we pass a store with food and we crave that food, we're reminded of what poor people have to live with every day when they pass a bakery and just want to reach out and take a piece of bread."
But there are also annoying and hypocritical things about Ramadan as well (obvious both to outsides like myself and practicing Muslims). I am always irritated by the extremely loud explosions of firecrackers that can happen in Palestine (and Jordan--perhaps other Arab countries) any time of the day or night. It's something I've gotten used to, but not something I like. People who are new to Palestine think a fight or a war has started when these firecrackers sound, and even when you've been here a while and you know the explosion is just a firecracker and not a bomb or gun, it still startles you and keeps you, in some ways, in a constant state of expecting an explosion (I haven't quite figured out why the Arabs here love the crackers so much; you'd think that they would shy away from things that would cause them more PTSD and remind them of war). Anyway . . . these firecrackers are set off with more intensity (if possible) during Ramadan.
My devout Muslim friend mentioned to me, though, that he hated the firecrackers. I was a little surprised and asked why, and he said that it was extremely hypocritical of people here to spend all this money on firecrackers (and they are expensive) when they barely have enough money for themselves. And, even if they do have enough money, Ramadan is a special time when you're supposed to give even more to the poor than at other times, so people should be giving their access money to the poor (to places like Gaza). I guess you find human greed, selfishness, and ignoring of the poor in any religion or culture, but it especially hurts to see it here, where kids are running around in the street in rags.
Fasting so many hours sounds quite difficult (especially without water), not to mention doing it for a whole month. However, I've also started to see how people can cope with it. Many people, it seems, stay up most the night eating and partying, and they go to bed after 4 a.m., when they can take their last meal before fasting. Then, they sleep a good part of the day. People who know me well know that I like to take one day a week to sleep and rest a lot, sleeping around 12 hours (sometimes more) in one sitting, and I've definitely gone for long periods without eating when I hibernate like that. So, in some ways, I can understand how people adjust to Ramadan. You can find out a little bit more about Ramadan in Palestine at this site: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31655
I finally finished my intensive Arabic class at the end of last week, and I'm very happy to now have more free time. However, I do need to review a lot of Arabic now so that I capitalize on and remember what I learned. I've felt quite frustrated lately at my lack of progress with Arabic, but yesterday, I did a little research and found out that Arabic is one of the hardest languages in the world for English speakers to learn. On some sites, Arabic is listed as the hardest, and it's always listed in the top 3 hardest languages for English speakers. The US government gives its trainees two years (88 weeks and 2200 hours of class) to learn Arabic, so maybe I shouldn't feel quite so bad. See these sites for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardest_language; http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/november/learningExpectations.html.
At the end of last week, I attended a Sulha ([reconciliation] peace gathering) of Israelis and Palestinians. One of the speakers who impressed me was a Jewish rabbi who spoke about forgiveness and compassion. He said that these two words are from the same root in Hebrew, insinuating that one can not truly forgive another person or party without having compassion for them. The minute we start thinking that we are sacrificing more, forgiving more than the other person is the minute that we start not to forgive, and this pride leads to the break down of forgiveness and peace. Another speaker talked about how peace is one of the most, if not the most, central thing in Judaism, and that if Jews are not seeking peace with their neighbors with every ounce of their being, if they're not spending all their time seeking it and striving for it, then they're not really following Judaism.
I enjoyed going to the Sulha, and I was happy to see more of a representation of Palestinians at this event (although Palestinians from the West Bank aren't allowed to attend, for the most part). Many "peace" events I've seen so far involving Israelis and Palestinians have actually not had that many Palestinians present, mostly due to the fact that the events are held in places Palestinians can't go.
However, attending the Sulha also started me thinking about what sorts of events I'm attracted to and what I get out of them. There was much of the Sulha that didn't appeal to me--not that it was bad, it just wasn't my style. My style of peace-making and gathering is informed by my left-brained thinking, so I don't get as much out of chants, singing, camping dirty in the dust, and participating in "New Age" meditation techniques that seem fairly empty to me. I get much more out of the talks, presentations, etc. that engage my mind. While the dirty hippy, feel good sort of peacemaking certainly has its place, there also has to be room for those of us who are just as committed to peace but want events to be organized, disciplined, clean, and intellectually engaging. The artisitic, right brained peacemakers are just as needed as the left-brained folk like me; in fact, we need each other to balance one another and challenge ourselves. Often, I see discipline, organization, and cleanliness lacking in peace events, and I wonder how many other people like me are turned away because they don't feel engaged.
One of the more significant events this week here was the Israeli group, Peace Now, publishing a study reporting an increase of 550% in the number of tenders for construction in Israeli settlements on Palestinian land this year (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1015162.html). And, the Israeli Housing and Construction Ministry is responsible for 64% of the projects started. Every time that Israel begins to "negotiate" peace with Palestinians, Israel also begins to build frantically in the settlements to take as much land as possible before "peace" is made.
Sec. of State Rice was here right after the study was published, and even though the US's official stance is against Israeli settlements, it has a history of looking the other way or not strongly condemning settlement growth. In this case, Rice merely said that continued settlement building was "not helpful" to the peace process (see: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1015408.html). Not helpful??? Freezing settlement construction was one of the main demands to start peace talks. Hmm, I wonder, if the Palestinians kept shooting rockets at Israel, would Rice merely describe that as "not helpful?" Some people might say that shooting rockets is not the same as building settlements, but I belive that the settlements have just a lethal an effect for Palestinians, and a longer-term effect as well. It would be really interesting to compare how many Palestinian rockets killed Israelis versus how many Israeli settlers killed Palestinians in any given year. I'm quite sure that Israeli settlers are more danerous than those rockets, and the settlements have the added consequence of stealing people's land. So, even though freezing settlement growth is a key tennant to the peace talks, and even though the settlements have been expanding by exponential growth during the peace talks, Rice can only say the settlement growth is "not helpful?"
Well, in the mean time, Israel continues its racist policies against Palestinians. According to one Israeli news story, some rabbis as now saying Israel should take back the land under the Dome of the Rock: "Some rabbis have cited the principle of the 'law of conquest,' according to which territories in the Holy Land must be wrested from 'foreign" control'" (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1014524.html). But, in some ways, even more serious than that are words spoken by the ex-Israeli ambassador to the US who is now in politics here: "If the government of Israel does not act to have a Jewish majority in the North, then the Arab majority in the Galilee will declare independence and [demand] international recognition on the basis of the precedents of Kosovo, Abkhazia and [South Ossetia]." The unspoken word here is that he wants to move Jews into the North to have a majority there so that Palestinians will not outnumber other Israelis. This sort of action has displaced thousands, if not millions of Palestinians from their ancestral lands, but in the case of Israel, the world looks the other way while ethnic cleaning takes place.
I wonder if Israel or the US will ever pay reperations for the occupations, murder, and suffering they've caused. At least Italy was held to some sort of justice in regards to Libya this last week (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7589557.stm).
Here's some other news from the region you might have missed, along with my comments:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1014503.html
Describes how US personel and weapons are at the disposal of Israel. What next? Will we have Israel ordering the US to fire weapons for it?
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31522
Israel to demolish another house of worship.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31582
Of all people in the region, Palestinians suffer the first and worst when there's a water shortage because they do not have soverignty over their own, most basic resource.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31604
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31601
More news on protests. Several young boys were shot in the chest and head by ruber coated bullets and live fire during both of these protests on Fri. last week.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31643
Fuel prices increases here, when they're already high. The direct people who suffer from this are the poor.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1016836.html
Notice that Israel now has in custody (political prison) the person who could succeed Abbas as Palestinian President. Is this another Mandela? It's amazing to me that Israel can just declare an entire movement essentially illegal (Hamas), then get other Palestinians (Fatah) to help round them up, despite that many in the movement are peaceful.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31660
The internationals who broke through Israel's blockade of Gaza were able to leave Gaza without incident, and they evacuated some Palestinians who needed medical attention or needed to go to university. Some of the internationals, however, stayed in Gaza, and now they're escorting Gazan fisherman to fish in their own internationally recognized waters. However, today, Israeli ships fired on fishing vessels carrying Palestinians and intl's.
The first day of Ramadan is just ending: the sun is setting and Palestinian families are beginning to break their fast. They will be fasting the entire month, from 4 a.m. to around 6 p.m. every day; they are not allowed to drink any beverages (including water), eat any food, or smoke while fasting during the day, and they're forbidden to have sex during the entire month.
But Ramadan is more than a holiday where people abstain from doing things. There is much joy and excitement in the streets for Ramadan, and people have placed "Christmas" lights across roads and around houses. Muslims look forward to fasting and breaking their fast each day with good food and family. Ramadan resembles Christmas with its excitement, gifts, and giving, but it lasts for an entire month.
One devout Muslim explained to me that Muslims fast during Ramadan to remind themselves of what poor people have to feel every day: "When we fast during Ramadan and we pass a store with food and we crave that food, we're reminded of what poor people have to live with every day when they pass a bakery and just want to reach out and take a piece of bread."
But there are also annoying and hypocritical things about Ramadan as well (obvious both to outsides like myself and practicing Muslims). I am always irritated by the extremely loud explosions of firecrackers that can happen in Palestine (and Jordan--perhaps other Arab countries) any time of the day or night. It's something I've gotten used to, but not something I like. People who are new to Palestine think a fight or a war has started when these firecrackers sound, and even when you've been here a while and you know the explosion is just a firecracker and not a bomb or gun, it still startles you and keeps you, in some ways, in a constant state of expecting an explosion (I haven't quite figured out why the Arabs here love the crackers so much; you'd think that they would shy away from things that would cause them more PTSD and remind them of war). Anyway . . . these firecrackers are set off with more intensity (if possible) during Ramadan.
My devout Muslim friend mentioned to me, though, that he hated the firecrackers. I was a little surprised and asked why, and he said that it was extremely hypocritical of people here to spend all this money on firecrackers (and they are expensive) when they barely have enough money for themselves. And, even if they do have enough money, Ramadan is a special time when you're supposed to give even more to the poor than at other times, so people should be giving their access money to the poor (to places like Gaza). I guess you find human greed, selfishness, and ignoring of the poor in any religion or culture, but it especially hurts to see it here, where kids are running around in the street in rags.
Fasting so many hours sounds quite difficult (especially without water), not to mention doing it for a whole month. However, I've also started to see how people can cope with it. Many people, it seems, stay up most the night eating and partying, and they go to bed after 4 a.m., when they can take their last meal before fasting. Then, they sleep a good part of the day. People who know me well know that I like to take one day a week to sleep and rest a lot, sleeping around 12 hours (sometimes more) in one sitting, and I've definitely gone for long periods without eating when I hibernate like that. So, in some ways, I can understand how people adjust to Ramadan. You can find out a little bit more about Ramadan in Palestine at this site: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31655
I finally finished my intensive Arabic class at the end of last week, and I'm very happy to now have more free time. However, I do need to review a lot of Arabic now so that I capitalize on and remember what I learned. I've felt quite frustrated lately at my lack of progress with Arabic, but yesterday, I did a little research and found out that Arabic is one of the hardest languages in the world for English speakers to learn. On some sites, Arabic is listed as the hardest, and it's always listed in the top 3 hardest languages for English speakers. The US government gives its trainees two years (88 weeks and 2200 hours of class) to learn Arabic, so maybe I shouldn't feel quite so bad. See these sites for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardest_language; http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/november/learningExpectations.html.
At the end of last week, I attended a Sulha ([reconciliation] peace gathering) of Israelis and Palestinians. One of the speakers who impressed me was a Jewish rabbi who spoke about forgiveness and compassion. He said that these two words are from the same root in Hebrew, insinuating that one can not truly forgive another person or party without having compassion for them. The minute we start thinking that we are sacrificing more, forgiving more than the other person is the minute that we start not to forgive, and this pride leads to the break down of forgiveness and peace. Another speaker talked about how peace is one of the most, if not the most, central thing in Judaism, and that if Jews are not seeking peace with their neighbors with every ounce of their being, if they're not spending all their time seeking it and striving for it, then they're not really following Judaism.
I enjoyed going to the Sulha, and I was happy to see more of a representation of Palestinians at this event (although Palestinians from the West Bank aren't allowed to attend, for the most part). Many "peace" events I've seen so far involving Israelis and Palestinians have actually not had that many Palestinians present, mostly due to the fact that the events are held in places Palestinians can't go.
However, attending the Sulha also started me thinking about what sorts of events I'm attracted to and what I get out of them. There was much of the Sulha that didn't appeal to me--not that it was bad, it just wasn't my style. My style of peace-making and gathering is informed by my left-brained thinking, so I don't get as much out of chants, singing, camping dirty in the dust, and participating in "New Age" meditation techniques that seem fairly empty to me. I get much more out of the talks, presentations, etc. that engage my mind. While the dirty hippy, feel good sort of peacemaking certainly has its place, there also has to be room for those of us who are just as committed to peace but want events to be organized, disciplined, clean, and intellectually engaging. The artisitic, right brained peacemakers are just as needed as the left-brained folk like me; in fact, we need each other to balance one another and challenge ourselves. Often, I see discipline, organization, and cleanliness lacking in peace events, and I wonder how many other people like me are turned away because they don't feel engaged.
One of the more significant events this week here was the Israeli group, Peace Now, publishing a study reporting an increase of 550% in the number of tenders for construction in Israeli settlements on Palestinian land this year (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1015162.html). And, the Israeli Housing and Construction Ministry is responsible for 64% of the projects started. Every time that Israel begins to "negotiate" peace with Palestinians, Israel also begins to build frantically in the settlements to take as much land as possible before "peace" is made.
Sec. of State Rice was here right after the study was published, and even though the US's official stance is against Israeli settlements, it has a history of looking the other way or not strongly condemning settlement growth. In this case, Rice merely said that continued settlement building was "not helpful" to the peace process (see: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1015408.html). Not helpful??? Freezing settlement construction was one of the main demands to start peace talks. Hmm, I wonder, if the Palestinians kept shooting rockets at Israel, would Rice merely describe that as "not helpful?" Some people might say that shooting rockets is not the same as building settlements, but I belive that the settlements have just a lethal an effect for Palestinians, and a longer-term effect as well. It would be really interesting to compare how many Palestinian rockets killed Israelis versus how many Israeli settlers killed Palestinians in any given year. I'm quite sure that Israeli settlers are more danerous than those rockets, and the settlements have the added consequence of stealing people's land. So, even though freezing settlement growth is a key tennant to the peace talks, and even though the settlements have been expanding by exponential growth during the peace talks, Rice can only say the settlement growth is "not helpful?"
Well, in the mean time, Israel continues its racist policies against Palestinians. According to one Israeli news story, some rabbis as now saying Israel should take back the land under the Dome of the Rock: "Some rabbis have cited the principle of the 'law of conquest,' according to which territories in the Holy Land must be wrested from 'foreign" control'" (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1014524.html). But, in some ways, even more serious than that are words spoken by the ex-Israeli ambassador to the US who is now in politics here: "If the government of Israel does not act to have a Jewish majority in the North, then the Arab majority in the Galilee will declare independence and [demand] international recognition on the basis of the precedents of Kosovo, Abkhazia and [South Ossetia]." The unspoken word here is that he wants to move Jews into the North to have a majority there so that Palestinians will not outnumber other Israelis. This sort of action has displaced thousands, if not millions of Palestinians from their ancestral lands, but in the case of Israel, the world looks the other way while ethnic cleaning takes place.
I wonder if Israel or the US will ever pay reperations for the occupations, murder, and suffering they've caused. At least Italy was held to some sort of justice in regards to Libya this last week (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7589557.stm).
Here's some other news from the region you might have missed, along with my comments:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1014503.html
Describes how US personel and weapons are at the disposal of Israel. What next? Will we have Israel ordering the US to fire weapons for it?
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31522
Israel to demolish another house of worship.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31582
Of all people in the region, Palestinians suffer the first and worst when there's a water shortage because they do not have soverignty over their own, most basic resource.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31604
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31601
More news on protests. Several young boys were shot in the chest and head by ruber coated bullets and live fire during both of these protests on Fri. last week.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31643
Fuel prices increases here, when they're already high. The direct people who suffer from this are the poor.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1016836.html
Notice that Israel now has in custody (political prison) the person who could succeed Abbas as Palestinian President. Is this another Mandela? It's amazing to me that Israel can just declare an entire movement essentially illegal (Hamas), then get other Palestinians (Fatah) to help round them up, despite that many in the movement are peaceful.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31660
The internationals who broke through Israel's blockade of Gaza were able to leave Gaza without incident, and they evacuated some Palestinians who needed medical attention or needed to go to university. Some of the internationals, however, stayed in Gaza, and now they're escorting Gazan fisherman to fish in their own internationally recognized waters. However, today, Israeli ships fired on fishing vessels carrying Palestinians and intl's.