Tuesday, May 8, 2018 ~ Howard Stoess
Many of us have had the experience of being asked to express what something has meant to us in one word. It is impossible to do so for a visit to Israel/Palestine. So many thoughts and memories come to mind that is seems like a chaos of contradictory words. In our conversations and interactions with the Palestinian people, we have experienced – and witnessed – frustration, anxiety, fear, uncertainty and disappointment. But also resolve, courage and hope.
Fourth grade girls, MEEI
Fourth grade English students (learning their 3rd language)
The last five days of our trip, we are staying at the guest house of the Mar Elias Educational Institute in Ibillin. This morning, we divided into three groups. My group visited a 4thgrade English class. The classroom was filled with excitement as we were warmly greeted by the teacher and students. The school is located in a Palestinian village in Israel and welcomes students from both communities as a way of encouraging students to intermix in a very positive way and learn that we are all humans and have equal rights and dreams for our future. It seems to be working very well as we saw only happy students with smiling faces wanting us to take their picture with their friends. The students from the school do very well academically, too and many move on to university to study medicine or science.
This afternoon, we met at the site of one of the many Palestinian villages destroyed by the Israelis in 1948. British author Jonathan Cook, who is recognized as one of the world’s most respected journalists with respect to the current plight of the Palestinians, used the site to give us a brief history of Palestine and then speak in more detail about what happened to the Palestinians living inside the border of the new state of Israel in 1948.
Jonathan Cook
Palestine was a common name used prior to 1948 to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. During its history, the Assyrian, Babylonian, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires have controlled Palestine at one time or another. The exile described in 2 Kings was at the hands of the Babylonians beginning in 605 BC and the area was under Roman occupation during Jesus’ time on earth.
After World War I, Palestine was administered by the United Kingdom under a Mandate received in 1922 from the League of Nations. The modern history of Palestine begins with the termination of the British Mandate, the Partition of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel, and the ensuing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In 1947, the United Nations proposed a Partition Plan for Palestine. The resolution noted Britain’s planned termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and recommended the partition of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab, with the Jerusalem-Bethlehem area protected and administered by the United Nations. The resolution called for the withdrawal of British forces and termination of the Mandate by August 1948 and establishment of the new independent states by October 1948.
Jewish leadership accepted the Partition Plan but Arab leaders rejected it as the more desirable areas were to go to the Israelis and the Palestinians were to only have approximately 40% of the land for their new state. The Arab League threatened to take military measures to prevent the partition of Palestine and to ensure the national rights of the Palestinian Arab population. One day before the British Mandate expired, Israel declared its independence within the borders of the Jewish State set out in the Partition Plan. The leadership of the new state were a part of Judaism known as Zionist for their belief that God had promised this land to them and they should expel the current Arab residents at any cost. Which is interesting because they are ethnic Jews, not practicing religious Jews which are opposed to the current treatment of the Palestinians, but unfortunately, are a small minority of the people in power.
The Arab countries declared war on the newly formed State of Israel beginning the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The subsequent series of wars and other conflicts is too long to include here, but those who are interested can find a lot of information on the Internet.
Mapcard of Palestine (in green) showing loss of land over time
Very quickly after the establishment of the state of Israel, the Israelis began to take over land owned by the Palestinians living within the boundaries of the new state. In all, over 500 villages were destroyed causing the Palestinians to become refugees in the West Bank, and the neighboring countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt. Many have hoped to return to their lands, but the government has made that hope nearly impossible through laws that severely discriminate against the Palestinians.
After the 1967 war, Israel established even stricter laws affecting nearly every non-Jew in the combined Jewish and Palestinian areas. These laws are still in effect today and restrict almost every facet of daily life for the Palestinians. The government continues to illegally confiscate property from the Palestinians and has built over 150 illegal ‘settlements’ on these lands. Palestinians are very restricted on their movements and a wall is being built between the Jewish areas and the Palestinian areas. There are many checkpoints in the border and many more inside the West Bank where Palestinians are harassed every time they need to pass. There are even some roads and areas that are illegal for Palestinians to enter. During our visit to Hebron several days ago, our Palestinian guide had to walk the long way around to a meeting point as it would have been illegal for him to pass down the more direct road that we walked.
Israel claims to be the only democracy in the Middle East, but in actuality, it is an Apartheid system. Very good if you are Jewish, very bad for everyone else – especially the native Palestinians.
We have been very impressed with the Palestinians we have met who are working for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Many are risking their already restrictive lives to boldly work for peace between the two peoples. They are encouraged that people in the European Union and the US are becoming more sympathetic to their plight and more and more organizations are offering aid for them to continue their work. Please pray for them, the residents of both states, and for the peace of Jerusalem.