Report 5: “Striving for purpose and betterment amidst the turmoil of this time and place”

Monday, July 24

Combatants for Peace

A short 6 mile trip this morning was extended by at least 10 minutes. Ayid, our driver, navigated our bus through narrow side streets trying to circumvent a road block erected due to wall construction. No detour signs are posted, streets are randomly blocked, sending vehicles like rats through a maze trying to find a clear path back to the main road. The wall is snaking its way through the center of this small neighborhood, cutting it in half. We finally arrived at the apartment-turned-office for our meeting with two members of Combatants for Peace. A group of 200 former Palestinian prisoners and former Israeli soldiers, their message is simple and clear—end the occupation, stop the violence.

Bassam got caught up in Palestinian resistance to the occupation at a young age, landing in an Israeli jail at the age of 17. The experience provided him with an opportunity to talk with his jailer, an Israeli settler. Through this dialogue, two things occurred: the settler began to understand the Palestinian history of occupation and their legitimate claims to land, better understanding their rights to resistance, and Bassam recognized that violence was not the only way to fight back, that dialogue offered new possibilities. He looked for opportunities for dialogue after his release, and has been working ever since to prove to Israelis and the rest of the world that there are Palestinian partners willing to work for peace; he joined Combatants for Peace, a young organization, about two years ago.

Itmar is a 26-year-old Israeli man who spent 3 years in the army. Growing up in Israel, he felt a strong sense of duty to protect his country. He didn’t make a distinction between Palestinians, Iraqis, Syrians, Lebanese, Jordanians, and Egyptians, lumping them all together as “Arabs,” seeing them as a group that vowed to drive the Jews into the sea. Itmar shared that Israelis have been taught that they are the victims; that they are always extending a hand in peace only to be rejected by the Arabs. As a result, most Israelis believe that acts of violence against Israel are unjust. Because of this, Itmar explained, he felt a sense of righteousness in taking Palestinians from their homes in the middle of the night, not recognizing the harm this did to family and community.

Both men spoke of the way their societies push the idea of victimhood onto people, legitimizing violence as a means of resistance, and glorifying those who have died or been martyred for the cause.  “After years of occupation, each society has developed a common language—power and arms,” reflected Bassam. “This is foolishness.”  He and other Palestinian members work with former prisoners once they have been released; they cannot visit them while they are in the jails. There are currently 9,835 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including 50 women, 1 child under the age of 2, and 700-800 youth under the age of 16. Bassam considers the prisoner issue the most sensitive and problematic part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As former prisoners, he and fellow members of Combatants for Peace are respected within Palestinian society, and can speak more legitimately for peace as their loyalty is not questioned.

Organization members travel to the U.S. and Europe for lecture tours, participate in rebuilding homes that have been demolished, and work with former prisoners and soldiers. They feel the current situation of occupation will not change without international pressure, and support an embargo to further this cause.

What will a nonviolent effort to end the occupation look like? Both men responded that a two-state solution was necessary. “Palestinians need their own independent state first”, stated Bassam. Itmar agreed: “Palestinians need to have their own identity. Israel cannot have them inside the state, because Israelis don’t trust them. Israel is in need of her own state identity and land as well.” Bassam continued, “But maybe, sometime in the future, it might be possible to have one state, ending the occupation and the violence is a necessary first step.”

--Meg Squires

We met Itmar and Bassam this morning in Dahiyyat Al-Bareed, a Palestinian village in the high hill country between Jerusalem and Ramallah.  We sat with them in their office barely two blocks away from the rubble-filled 50-meter scar running through their village as work on the wall bisecting the village proceeded.  They explained to us how they had committed themselves to working to reverse the violence that had taken hold of sectors of both of their societies—an Israel gone mad with the dehumanization of an entire people in the name of defense, and a Palestine mourning the death of an innocent child by publishing posters of the boy holding two Kalashnikovs and calling for more “martyrdom.” 

Itmar is committed to building a society in which his children can be raised free of racism and hatred, a society which will not call on them to commit acts which dehumanize them.  Bassam is working with released prisoners so that they can re-enter society committed to nonviolence. 

These are men crying out in the wilderness.  Our presence gave them hope, as witnessing their personal transformations gave us hope.  One person at a time.  One transformation at a time.  For their brothers and sisters sharing the narrow prison cell of oppressor and oppressed, for their children playing in their backyards, dreaming innocently of a happy future.

--Mark Braverman

The Refuser

Tonight’s rush to supper created an accident for me which shall serve as a metaphor applying both to our evening’s guest speaker Gilad and the week’s overall lesson. I left my glasses in the room. At age 58 I require simple generic reading glasses to see that which is nearby. So I listened and wrote notes but could not see what I was responsible for creating.

Gilad is a young Jewish Israeli who was granted conscientious objector status from the military tribunal when it was coming time for his induction. He has worked since then to counsel youth about exercising personal choice regarding conscription, and has helped develop youth groups to serve both as a forum of peers and social network to help overcome isolation. 

Gilad talked about the wall being built and how it was often separating neighbors. It was planned to divide his family’s hometown from a neighboring town which is Palestinian. There has been no conflict between these two towns since the 1967 war and occupation. An additional harm was that the route of the wall was to take the Palestinian town’s fields away from their owners by positioning the wall right along the edge of the town.  Since the Israeli town is a middle class suburb of Jerusalem and not a farming community, the placement of the wall did not seem to make sense.  Gilad helped get residents from both communities to jointly demonstrate against the route of the wall and to petition the High Court to change the route. As a result, the court issued a general decision that Palestinian interests are to be a part of the placement process unless the Israeli authorities decide otherwise. While it was a partial victory, Gilad noted that the wall was still built to divide the two towns.

I feel that there is an invisible wall between Israelis and Palestinians that preceded this physical barrier and it is being amplified by the towering concrete being erected. Furthermore, it renders most people here as ineffective in seeing that which is right before them as I was tonight without my glasses. I could put lots of stuff down on paper, yet I could neither see nor understand. There are barriers of language, religion, roads not connecting even adjacent communities, culture, history, and fear of the ‘other.’ In addition, there are roadblocks and detentions, suicide bombings and home demolitions, rocket exchanges and dislocation, kidnapping, and killing to further amplify this separation.

I put on my glasses and can again see. What tool could help the people here see not only the horrors but also the wonders of this place?

“I don’t care who’s right this time and who was right the time before. I even still believe in human beings, and think that it is possible to talk with almost everyone. I also know that everyone is afraid of everyone and that everyone is certain they are in the right. That they believe wholeheartedly that they are the victims and are facing a merciless and cruel enemy…”

“I’m one of those people who’s ready to do anything so as not to see one mother cry, so as not to see one baby wiping away a tear.”

So ended a column by Sayed Kashua in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz on 21 July.

--Larry Levine

Tuesday, July 25

The Rehabilitation Center

We have had some schedule adjustments due to both the current fighting in the North and simpler issues like cancellations. When we began this morning, our full-time guide Said asked that we visit the Rehabilitation Center—Nadi Ibnaa al Quds—where he often gives lectures. The center is located within the Muslim Quarter of the ancient walled ‘Old City’ of Jerusalem at a site that had been a Jordanian military outpost until Israel claimed the area in the 1967 war. I liked the notion of an army installation being recycled into a place for providing social services.

For two years this center has provided day time services for Palestinian adults with diagnosed schizophrenia. A social worker from Nazareth named Khuloud explained the programs, which utilize socialization, Arabic and Hebrew language, computer skills, handicrafts, sports, music, and arts to enhance self-esteem, independence and social mainstreaming. She offered that this was perhaps a place that benefited from the occupation/annexation because major funding for the center comes from Israel’s Ministry of Health, with additional funding coming from donations.

After further meeting with many staff and members from both the Old City rehabilitation center and another center in Abu Ghosh, we were treated to music and dance, and several of our group shared with drums, hand clapping and some brave, happy dancers.

A unique program at these centers is cultural tourism, led by our group’s guide, Said. He takes groups to see and hear about their homeland. Many in the center had been institutionalized and marginalized for years, as had been common also in the U.S. I was impressed at this innovation and remember that colleagues said Sa'id treated these members with respect and as peers. Books of travel photographs showing attention and joy were passed around.

Though this visit was somewhat ‘off topic’ for our delegation, I felt it was another sign of life going on and striving for purpose and betterment amidst the turmoil of this time and place.

--Larry Levine

A visit to the Dome of the Rock

When viewing the panorama of Jerusalem’s skyline, it is hard to miss the brilliant gold rotunda of the Dome of the Rock. You can also see it from various paths of the old city. What you don’t realize, however, is that the dome is only half of the beauty of the structure. 

Upon entering the Haram al Sharif/Temple Mount compound—where al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are located—you are overwhelmed with curiosity and awe. You are curious because not many foreigners visit them now, compared to the Wailing Wall (or Western Wall), which is located next to the entrance to the compound, and you are in awe because it feels truly like a holy place.  For Jews, it is the Temple Mount, for Christians, it was an instrumental staging ground for the condemnation and crucifixion of Jesus, and for Muslims it is where Muhammad ascended to heaven to receive Allah’s words from Gabriel, called the Night Journey by Muslims.

The feeling of awe overshadows the feeling of curiosity as you approach the Dome of the Rock. The blue and green tiles that color half the structure, below the rotunda, stand out magnificently against a clear blue sky. In addition to this kaleidoscope of color, there is also a continuous string of Arabic script encircling the mosque. One row carries names Islam’s prophets and the other describes Mohammed’s night journey. Majesty, aesthetic beauty, and spirituality combine here in front of the Dome of the Rock.

--Cecilia Laverty

In addition to these descriptions of the delegation’s work on Monday and Tuesday, here are two more general, personal, reflections on the entire delegation experience so far.

A Reflection

I feel like I have been viewing the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through the lens of a dragonfly eye. Many differing views are reflected in the multi-faceted lens, all neatly encapsulated in their diamond-shaped reflections. Zionism, self-determination, self-defense, terrorism, security, national identity, deep spiritual conviction, moral righteousness—all are held deeply within the Palestinian and Israeli experience. But the lens is static—turn it and the diamond shapes shift, but not the people or the views—they stay the same, never leaving their safe space, never sharing or crossing those boundaries.

Perception matters. The stories and world views of both Palestinians and Israelis shape how the conflict is viewed. Conflict is seen from many perspectives—individual/social/cultural/community, spiritual. The language and stories we use to make meaning of our lives and our world shape how we view and respond to conflict. The stories and world views of both Palestinians and Israelis provides a unique perspective on the surreal conflict and both are critical for better understanding what is really happening on the ground. These different narratives also create boundaries between people who speak from their own perspectives but generally talk past each other.

How do people with so much fear and hatred start talking to each other? To do so requires great strength, a willingness to step beyond your own boundaries and beliefs and risk talking to the ‘other.’ It means recognizing that regardless of our perspectives, we are all humans. There are Israeli and Palestinian people who are actively taking this risk within their own communities and with each other. For example, Women in Black, a group of Israeli women standing together every Friday afternoon on a busy Jerusalem corner to end the occupation and violence, respect human rights, and create a safe, secure future for their children. Machsom Watch, a group of Israeli women who monitor checkpoints in an effort to expose and prevent human rights violations of Palestinians. Sabeel, a Palestinian Christian organization actively seeking a just solution to the conflict by building upon a theology of justice shared by Christians, Jews and Muslims. Holy Land Trust, a Palestinian organization working to empower Palestinians and end the occupation using non-violent strategies. ICAHD, the Israeli Committee against Home Demolitions, actively opposing the demolition of houses and the destruction of Palestinian communities.

These groups are working to create a new lens from which to view the world—a kaleidoscope of views, stories and ideas that are shifting the perspective, creating a new image of hope. This new lens is not static—each piece moves, shifts, touches the other and builds a new pattern through connection, communication, and cooperation. They do this despite the barriers erected to keep them apart—the restriction of movement, the wall, propaganda, stereotypes, the risk of being labeled a traitor by their own community. It is a kaleidoscope of color that offers a new view and needs support to survive. A kaleidoscope requires turning to continue changing and creating new patterns, just as life keeps changing, creating hope for the future. We need to share the voices and peace and hope raised up by these groups, knowing we will encounter those who do not want the kaleidoscope to keep turning. We need to help these Israelis and Palestinians in creating a new perspective. This is our task as we continue this trip and return home to work in our own communities.

--Meg Squires

One Assessment of the Israeli/Palestinian Problem

The Palestinians have been occupants of this land—between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea—for centuries. In 1947 the United Nations proposed for the British Mandate of Palestine to be partitioned. At that time Jews made up about 1/3 of the population and owned 6% of the land; however, the partition plan designated 55% of the land for a Jewish state. By the end of the war of 1948 Israel controlled 78% of the land and some 750,000 Palestinians were made refugees and 418 Palestinian villages were destroyed by the Israelis. The remaining 22% of the land—the West Bank and the Gaza Strip--are the basis for current thinking regarding the two state solution. These areas were separated from Israel by the 1949 Armistice line, also called the ‘Green Line.’

However, on the ground and in most plans for the two-state solution, Palestinians have no border with an Arab country—Israel controls the Jordan Valley and the border with Jordan, for example. In addition, Israel has continued to build Jewish settlements within the West Bank, settlements seen as illegal under international law. Israel has all the power—military, economic, and diplomatic—as well as the unequivocal backing of the United States. The Palestinians are not allowed to form a freely-elected government; how can they negotiate with Israel if they have no bargaining chips?

It is my opinion from what I have witnessed this past week, that Israel wants the Palestinians to become so frustrated that they will either leave or lash out with some aggressive or terrorist act which Israelis could use as a justification for greater sanctions. Palestinian frustration is fueled by the wall Israel is constructing that confiscates Palestinian land and the checkpoints erected between Palestinian villages and cities that most Palestinians find both humiliating and an obstacle to conducting daily affairs. A separate system of roads for Palestinians that is disconnected from the Israeli roads by road blocks and lack of exits creates trips of 3-4 hours for traveling otherwise short distances between Palestinian villages.

We have seen the difference in services in East and West Jerusalem, and we have seen the green, watered lawns of Jewish settlements while Palestinian areas receive limited water access, especially during the summer. We have seen the restricted access to Jerusalem for the bulk of the Palestinian population, who cannot obtain permits to Jerusalem, even when the city is within eyesight. And of course, life in the West Bank looks good compared to Gaza, where people have no electricity, water, and are under constant attack.

Despite the difficulty of the situation, there is some hope for the future because we have met Israelis who are aware of the Palestinian plight and are trying to help. We have met Palestinians who are struggling to find a nonviolent response to their suffering. Unfortunately, the concerned Israelis we have met are small groups who have been seeking a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem for many years with negligible results.

In my opinion, only the United States could broker a fair resolution of the problem between the Israelis and Palestinians because of the billions of dollars of economic and military aid we give the Israeli government every year. Unfortunately, our elected leaders choose to support any action undertaken by Israel; they ignore the polls that show that a majority of Israelis favor some sort of a two-state solution.  We must influence our elected leaders to take a fair and balanced approach to this troubled part of the world in order to promote peace in the Middle East and an end of terror.

--John Van Wagoner