Thursday, May 26. In this holy land, the living stones of the contemporary Christian church walk the same streets as those who are on their way to the synagogue to read from the Torah, and those who respond to the call to prayer sung from the minaret. All meet at the wailing wall. And what all these living stones hold in common with the ancient stones of broken walls is a history marked by suffering and pain. During this past week, we have heard different voices which have offered a mosaic of perspectives for what it means to live together in this land where life in the peaceable kingdom seems an impossible hope.
At the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) we reviewed the realities of how human rights have been abused in this land in defiance of international law. The shifting boundaries and restricted movement of the Palestinian people has led to loss of homes, agricultural land, fishing rights, employment, access to water, and other critical resources which have made life very difficult. The UN predicts that unless there are significant changes, in four short years (2020), life in Gaza will no longer be sustainable. Palestinian children and ordinary Palestinian civilians are victimized by acts of excessive violence, and children suffer the most. The objective data collected by the United Nations matched our observations on the ground in the West Bank. The intimidating presence of the massive separation wall which undulates through the land, dotted by guard towers, and a pervasive military presence throughout the land have created what one person we met described as an “open air prison.”
A common theme we have heard from Palestinians throughout this week is a desire for the freedoms the rest of the world enjoys. The right to travel freely from one place to another, without the restrictions of walls, fences, and “flying” checkpoints which pop up in different places is one matter, but the systematic changes of Israeli permits required to access various areas, and the intimidation, harassment, and violent actions against Palestinians at border checkpoints increase the intensity of fear and further constrict personal freedoms. The shifting borders due to Israeli settlements and confiscation of land which have divided communities, families, and agricultural enterprises adds to the complexity of the situation.
One illustration of the absurdity of the kind of bureaucracy residents of the occupied Palestinian Territories face came from an American businessman our group met with (a Palestinian by heritage) who had lived quite easily in the West Bank with his American passport for many years, creating employment opportunities for local citizens. As a U.S. Citizen, he was able to travel at will in both Israel and Palestinian Territories, and he benefited from the ability to fly in and out of Tel Aviv, while most who live in Palestinian Territories, must travel to Amman, Jordan, to access an airport. For 17 years he was able to live with his Palestinian wife in the West Bank and renew his visa every three months. Then he received notice that he was being issued a Palestinian ID card declaring that he was a resident of the West Bank. He was now subject to all of the restrictions on movement that come with that ID, in spite of his U.S. citizenship and passport. No longer was he able to travel to Jerusalem to conduct business – but only when he applied for and received a special permit to travel. He joked that he could cover a wall with the stash of permits he has had to obtain. Each permit is obtained at a great cost of time, due to long waits in line and arbitrary office closures or changes in instructions, which exacerbate the frustration of the applicant. Eventually, he discovered that there is a new card available for business professionals, which will give him one permit to travel into Israel for up to 3 months at a time. He has applied for this permit 7 months ago, and still is awaiting its arrival. Even with the permit, traveling in a car with a Palestinian license plate, and having a Palestinian ID card make him vulnerable to harassment by border patrol guards. Still, he remains committed to serving the Palestinian people by expanding business to create jobs and improve the economy.
At the Friends School we visited in Ramallah, we experienced the joy of meeting students who are thriving in a loving environment which challenged them academically as an International Baccalaureate program school. We observed a weekly conflict resolution circle of a fifth grade classroom, and were impressed by the students’ ability to articulate how mutual respect, sharing, and kindness toward one another created a positive school experience. This week none of them had experienced any problems which needed to be resolved, so they were happy to be able to go together to play soccer with their home room teacher. A high school student joined us for the tour with her little sister in tow. This student was exceptionally articulate, but what we heard most clearly was that although her family had financial resources and she had plans to travel to the U.S. for college, the challenges of life in the West Bank were so great, that she had little hope that these challenges will change any time soon.
Hopelessness has been a recurring theme of the Palestinian voices we have heard. But so also is a surprising patience with the long-suffering of their history which has endured one occupation of a foreign power after another. The American businessman commented,
“What is surprising to me is not how much violence we see from the Palestinians as they live under the occupation, but how very little we see.” And the reality is that for every action of aggression expressed from boys throwing rocks or using slingshots and marbles against the concrete barrier wall to the more significant acts of violence which occasionally erupt from the Palestinian side, the response of the Israeli military is often excessive and widespread. Rules are changed, restrictions tightened, land confiscated. “Collective punishment” is the term we have heard repeatedly.
But there are also Israeli voices rising up to take a stand against current Israeli policy. Some of these voices are coming from surprising places and give a measure of hope for at least a movement toward truth telling.
Recently, General Ya’ir Golan, the deputy Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, made a speech on Holocaust Memorial Day, which included one courageously spoken sentence which has triggered controversy: “If there is something that frightens me about the memories of the Holocaust, it is the knowledge of the awful processes which happened in Europe in general, and in Germany in particular, 70, 80, 90 years ago, and finding traces of them here in our midst, today, in 2016.”
When Israeli Defense Minister, Moshe Ya’alon, resigned from his office and the Kinneset last week, May 20, 2016, he cited a grave concern with the direction of current Israeli leadership, saying, “In general Israeli society is a healthy society, and the majority of it is sane and aims for a Jewish, democratic and liberal country…but to my great sorrow, extremist and radical elements have taken over Israel and the Likud party and are shaking its foundations and threatening to hurt its residents.”
In response, former prime minister, Ehud Barak, also expressed his concern for the direction of Israeli leadership, saying “life-sustaining Zionism, and the seeds of fascism cannot live together.”
So where can we stand amidst these voices? I was inspired by a wooden carving we saw on the lectern for the Dean at St. George’s Cathedral in East Jerusalem. It was a carving of Moses with his arms raised as he oversaw the battle Joshua led against the Amalekites. When Moses hands were raised, the people of God prevailed in battle, and when his arms grew weary, and his hands fell lower, the people of God began to lose the battle. Aaron and Hur, who stood beside Moses in the battle, are shown supporting Moses’ raised arms in order that Israel might prevail over the Amalekites. I believe that now we are called to stand beside our Palestinian brothers and sisters, and support them with our presence, our truth-telling, and our friendship, and to hold them up in the weariness they face. And we are also called to stand beside our Israeli brothers and sisters, to support them with our understanding of the violence and racism they have endured in their long-suffering history, while also using our friendship, political, and economic relationships to hold them accountable to complying with international law and looking for just and equitable solutions for a peaceful resolution to this conflict which has gone on far too long. Surely both sides are growing weary of the battle. And if peace can be attained, we will all win.
~ Ann Lewis
Saturday, May 28 – After spending the night in the home of the father of our host, Father (Abuna) Firas of St George Melkite Greek Church in Zababdeh, we enjoyed breakfast under citrus and pomegranate trees, next to a grape arbor and the fragrance of mint and rosemary in their beautiful garden,then shopped from a variety of beautiful handmade gifts which helped to support the congregation in this time when it is hard to find work. The kindness and generosity of both their spirit and lodgings was incredible.
We then travelled to the city of Nablus where we toured the old city, had a beautiful lunch and, best of all, enjoyed their famous dessert called knafe – A warm dough with cheese in the middle and a sweet topping. A soap factory visit and an exotic spice shop were next on our agenda. The spice shop had a wonderful ‘lounge’ where we had Arabic coffee.
We then went to the Burqin Mosque in the West Bank to visit the cave in the Church of the Ten Lepers (where it was said that 10 lepers were healed by Jesus and only one, a Samaritan, gave thanks).
We began the morning outside Bethlehem, at the Cremisan Winery. As a group we stood in a modest but inviting tasting room, at a winery founded in 1885. We sipped an excellent red wine, the result of a 1500-year-old indigenous Palestinian grape. We savored the rich and lingering taste, as well as the slightly transgressive thrill of a morning tasting. We drifted out onto a grassy gathering space overlooking typically gorgeous mountains. And, we heard a familiar story narrated onto the landscape: the story of illegal settlements progressively encroaching and Israeli walls that will annex land and further restrict Palestinian movement. Interruption.