< Reflection Three: This is a Beautiful Land >
November 2015 Delegation to Palestine/Israel
Co-Sponsored with American Jews for a Just Peace/Jewish Voice
for Peace Boston's Heath and Human Rights Project
Read reflections from this delegation:
- Olive Harvest Delegation Home
- The Power Imbalance is Palpable
- Share Their Story
- This is a Beautiful Land
- So Much I Didn't Know
- From Immersion to Action!
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Overview: The third collection of reflections from the delegation includes several video clips, including Omar Barghouti discussing the Palestinian boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign, Sahar Francis discussing mass arrests, and Issa Amro discussing the current situation in Hebron and the role of the United States.
Written reflections begin with Duncan M.'s thoughts on BDS, Carolyn K.'s reflections on Israel's use of blockades and their impact on Palestinian life, and meditations on privilege from Sandy T. and Wendy L.
The delegation's visit to Hebron is the basis of reflections offered by delegation co-leader Nancy M., as well as Carolyn K. and Gary K.. Aliie P. and Wendy L. both write thoughtfully of the group's overnight in the Palestinian village of Bil'in; Bud H. writes on Israeli settlements in the West Bank; and the collection closes with pieces from Haniel G. and Steve J. which highlight the beauty of the people who have hosted this group of foreigners during their journey and the land which has welcomed them.
BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, & SANCTIONS: IT’S WORKING! | Duncan M. - West Newton, Massachusetts
Activists around Boston ask whether BDS can really be effective. Listening to Boycott National Committee co-founder, Omar Barghouti, and others meeting with us, it is clear that BDS has been successful much faster than the expectations. The Israeli security chief, upon taking office, listed BDS as the second biggest security threat to Israel, next to an Iranian nuclear bomb. Could there be more clarity on the importance of BDS?
Examples of BDS successes include Moody's rating service now saying that a company being targeted by BDS is an investment risk; estimates by Rand of $44 billion in losses to the Israeli economy over the next 10 years; a significant decline in foreign investment; and a falling off in performances by foreign musical groups. Academic boycotts are increasing. Several members of our group are seriously discussing the BDS resolutions forthcoming in their Methodist church international conference. It seems that Israel has not yet found an effective strategy to counter the BDS campaign but is doing its best to stop it by promulgating anti-BDS resolutions and legislation, which worked in Illinois.
Barghouti emphasized the need for careful consideration of strategy and tactics, always keeping in mind the long-term sanctions goal of changing policy at the government level. The importance of the US movement was also emphasized as US BDS victories, even small ones, get amplified in the Israeli press. Our meeting with Israeli activists from Boycott from Within was especially inspiring. They are liable to civil suits for damages and an Israeli law criminalizing BDS activity can't be ruled out. I found that seeing the success of this effort from a Palestinian and Israeli activist perspective to be a real benefit of the IFPB program.
VIDEO: OMAR BARGHOUTI EXPLAINS BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT AND SANCTIONS | Mike D. - New York, New York
Omar Barghouti, a founder of the Palestinian civil society campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel, explains the basic tenets of the BDS movement.
Click here for more videos from the 2015 Olive Harvest Delegation
BLOCKADES | Carolyn K. - Orinda, California
The last day or so we have learned about all of the blockades the Palestinians experience every day: physical, psychological, legal blockades, you name it.
Israel is making it over the top, unbelievably difficult for Palestinians to live their lives. And I mean unbelievable... It is astonishing and appalling. It is human cruelty bordering on torture.
So, let’s talk about torture for a minute. They are using extreme methods of torture on men, women and children that have done nothing except be in the wrong place at the wrong time without being charged. Listening to attorneys, representing the prisoners, over the last few days, I was overwhelmed with emotion. I honestly couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The worst part is the Israeli government learned much of the torture from the United States.
Sit quietly and consider this for a minute or two if you are able. You have to deal with military checkpoints when you go to or come home from work. Your house is raided late in the evening and you never know when it is going to happen. You are going to school in Canada and come home; at the border, you are arrested and are put in jail for two years without charge. You absolutely never know when, where, how or for what reason you may be stopped, harassed, picked up or arrested. As I said in a previous reflection, they are subjected to psychological torture on a daily basis.
Now, let me tell you about what we have experienced ourselves. Crossing a checkpoint into Israel, our bus was stopped, our passports were checked, we were asked to step off the bus with all our belongings. We went through a metal detector and our bags were screened. One of us were asked to remove her memory card from her camera for who knows why -- probably because they could. Our Palestinian tour guide and bus driver were interrogated separately to make sure their stories were the same. Finally, our bus was “treated” to a full inspection including a special gas treatment to detect explosives. Amazing!!
While I have been writing this, we have been sitting on the bus for over two hours waiting to pass through a checkpoint back into Jerusalem. And we have no clue why. It’s not an accident, believe me. And, we get to go home after another week but the Palestinians deal with this every day. Israelis also have to deal with this type of delay even though they are waved through. But, for 95% of the Israelis, it is the Palestinians fault.
How am I feeling you ask? I am angry, disturbed, angry, emotionally overwhelmed, angry, disgusted, angry, appalled and angry. And we have another week. We have so much more to experience and discover.
JEWISH PRIVILEGE | Sandy T. - New York, New York
Deciding not to use my U.S.- White Jewish skin privilege, I decided to walk through the checkpoint to the "promised land," into the cattle chutes, the loud clanging of the gates and shouts of hawkers selling candies.
Passing through was easy, as there was not much traffic going into East Jerusalem through Qalandia checkpoint. Most of the travelers were going in the opposite direction back to their homes.
What a crazy country the Zionists have made of this beautiful land, the home of Palestinians and how ashamed it has made me to be identified as a Jew and a US citizen.
I FELT VERY PRIVILEGED | Wendy L. - Bath, Maine
This has been one of my most physically, emotionally, and spiritually draining travel experiences of recent memory. I am exhausted from the lack of sleep, the 13-hour days of intense travel and meetings. The tension in East Jerusalem and the West Bank is palpable. Almost daily, there are Palestinian people killed or injured by the IDF.
The Palestinian and Israeli Jewish activists who live in this place are trying to get the world to wake up and stop turning their backs on the ongoing violation of Palestinian human rights that have been occurring here for more than sixty years.
We went to Jaffa and met Dr. Ruchama Marton who founded Physicians for Human Rights - Israel. She is a remarkable person. Her opposition to the occupation and PHR's mission to bring medical care to Palestinians in the West Bank and marginalized migrant workers in Israel has made her an outsider in her own country.
Then I thought of the people of Bil'in, of Ashraf and Rana. And of Amira and her family who live in a village near Jenin. The Palestinians who live in the West Bank cannot have this experience. They cannot come here to the Mediterranean Sea and lift the weight of the occupation off their lives. I felt very privileged.
Just days ago a 72-year-old unarmed Palestinian woman was shot by the IDF. She was driving her car on her way to lunch. There is a video of the shooting. The car she was driving was shot at multiple times by the soldiers. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
LIVING WITH TERRORISM AND FEAR 24/7 | Nancy M. - Cambridge, Massachusetts
On November 11 the tension in the heart of Hebron’s old city was palpable as we were taken past closed shops through nearly deserted streets patrolled by Israeli soldiers.
We were near the checkpoint where, on September 22, Hadeed al Hashlamon, an 18-year-old woman who didn’t understand Hebrew, was shot with 10 bullets and bled to death because she allegedly held a knife that was invisible to eye witnesses. Amnesty International denounced her killing as an “extrajudicial execution.”
Our guide was the courageous human rights defender Issa Amro, who said he has been arrested over a hundred times because of his work with groups like Youth Against Settlements that practices non-violent resistance. Just three days before, the Israeli army had occupied Issa’s home and trashed the Youth Against Settlements office which was based there.
“I have never been as scared as I am now,” Issa told us. “The soldiers and settlers can shoot at any time and say whatever they want. A lot of them are just waiting for any opportunity to shoot.”
The disconnect between what is happening on the ground and in the mind of American politicians such as Hillary Clinton has perhaps never been more profound. On November 4, Clinton declared she was “appalled” that the streets of Jerusalem that she and her husband had once happily roamed “are now filled with terrorism and fear.”
There is rarely a mention of the terrorism and fear that has for so many decades ruled the lives of Palestinians, whether they are citizens of Israel, residents of illegally annexed East Jerusalem or stateless people living under occupation.
Palestinians do not just face the fear of being killed with impunity. Those who inhabit the 30,000 homes with demolition orders must live with the fear that at any time, with just a few minutes’ notice, their homes can be destroyed. Palestinian families are routinely terrorized by night raids as we heard from the residents of Susiya, a farming community in the South Hebron Hills that Israel wants to eradicate, and by Iyad Burnat, our host in Bil’in, whose home had tear gas lobbed into it during the night just before our visit.
Palestinians in both Hebron and Susiya fear for their children who face harassment and attacks from settlers on their way to school. Those in rural communities that have been impacted by the Wall fear that the gate to their fields that the army occasionally opens may one day remain permanently closed, enabling Israel to seize their uncultivated land on the grounds that it has been ‘abandoned.’
And how about the fear that families feel when children as young as nine years old are detained by the Israeli military? The Palestinian legal aid group, Addameer, and the Israeli Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHR) detailed for us the sophisticated torture practices and frightening and degrading treatment that just about all Palestinian detainees face. For Palestinians, such treatment has become a painful rite of passage, with more than 750,000 imprisoned since the occupation began.
Physicians for Rights - Israel told us that even patients in hospitals can be terrorized by army raids, seven of which had occurred over the previous month. The day before our meeting with PHR, Makassed, the major hospital in East Jerusalem, had been raided by soldiers who shot tear gas canisters in its garden.
And the day after our visit to Hebron, a large IDF undercover force entered Al Ahli Hospital in Hebron to arrest Azzam Shalaldah, an injured youth who was suspected of carrying out a stabbing attack a few weeks before. According to the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, the soldiers grabbed the wounded man and then shot and killed his cousin as he exited from the hospital bathroom where he had gone to wash for prayer.
For Palestinians, no place is safe.
VIDEO: SAHAR FRANCIS ON THE CURRENT SITUATION AND DAILY MASS ARRESTS | Mike D. - New York, New York
Sahar Francis, the director of Addameer, a prisoner support and solidarity organization in Palestine speaks about the current situation and daily mass arrests of Palestinians carried out by Israeli occupation forces.
Click here for more videos from the 2015 Olive Harvest Delegation
REMEMBERING THE WAY I FELT | Carolyn K. - Orinda, California
Today was the most intense day of our trip to the West Bank. We knew that Hebron was an area of recent "conflict" particularly since a Jewish settlement is right in the middle of the Palestinian city.
However, when we arrived, the city felt like a ghost town. No one was on the streets except soldiers carrying high-powered weapons and driving military vehicles such as a skunk mobile which sprays foul smelling liquid on protestors. Normally there are Jewish settlers walking the streets with weapons which, in my opinion, just incites more violence.
There are dozens of checkpoints throughout the city. At one checkpoint, a few weeks ago, a 15-year-old woman was shot and killed for no reason except she didn't understand what the soldier wanted her to do. They give orders in Hebrew and many Palestinians don't understand. She wasn't just shot as a warning or shot in the leg to stop her; she was shot 10 times. As is typical of these situations, the story was that she had a knife but there was no evidence of a knife or any other weapon.
What we learned about the Jewish settlers truly disturbed me. I have always believed that most people in a country are good people, compassionate, kind and understanding of others. There are always a small minority that are hateful, usually being the loudest but, as a whole, people's beliefs and values don't reflect their radical, violent government.
These beliefs have been shattered. I am astonished at the despicable nature of the majority of the Israeli people, particularly the settlers. Israeli Settlers walk the streets with weapons, harassing the Palestinians and particularly the children. In a village outside of Hebron, they kill the villagers' sheep, poison their water, attack the Palestinian women in the fields and beat up the children. I am continually horrified and outraged at the human cruelty.
We were able to visit the Ma'arat Hamachpela, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, here in Hebron. It is split in two, one side Jewish and one side Muslim. The Jewish side houses the tombs of Abraham, Sarah and Jacob; the Muslim side houses the tomb of Isaac and Rebecca.
As we walked through the Jewish side, I noticed that there were areas that were sectioned off where men could meet and pray. There were many shelves of books; it actually seemed like an old unorganized book store with chairs and tables. It was very cold and unwelcoming.
Then, we walked next door to the Muslim side where we were greeted warmly. Women were given scarves and robes with hoods to wear. We were asked to remove our shoes and the hood fell off one of the women's head as she did so. One of the men who welcomed us walked over to help her cover her head again, so kind with no hint of disapproval.
As I entered the area where men come to pray, I was overcome with emotion and could not hold back the tears. The contrast between the two places of worship poignantly reveals the whole story of what is happening here. I will remember what I saw in the days and weeks to come but I will remember the way I felt for the rest of my life.
VIDEO: ISSA AMRO ON THE CURRENT SITUATION IN HEBRON | Mike D. - New York, New York
Issa Amro of Youth Against Settlements in Hebron speaks about the current situation in his home city of Hebron in the West Bank.
Click here for more videos from the 2015 Olive Harvest Delegation
CRIMES AGAISNT HUMANITY | Gary K. - Afton, New York
It was a very interesting and telling day for me in Hebron. Last night, I wasn't sure if my wife Sarah and I were going to make the day trip due to the tension and potential for the outbreak of violent acts in the city -- but after some discussion we both felt it is important to see firsthand what is happening there.
As the bus pulled into the city, there was a military blockade, and there were people throwing stones from above. This did little to calm my nerves. The more disturbing thing was the military presence. For the first thirty minutes that we were in the city, the area we were in was a ghost town aside from the groups of soldiers that were armed with machine guns posted at the corners of every intersection along the main drag. I also noticed that there was a soldier (at least one) on a roof top that was situated just across from a school where kids were playing in the fenced in lot. This is not the kind of scene that gives one a warm fuzzy feeling.
I have to say that these are not security measures -- this is outright oppression. It is no wonder why people are practicing civil disobedience here. I dare say that much of the violence that has been reported about this area has been instigated by the military forces reacting to the peaceful protests that are taking place in this city.
As we walked the streets, we saw that the shops were closed due to military orders, a military tanker vehicle that was loaded with something they call skunk (or scum) water was stationed at the ready, and the streets that were once busy with tourists were all but empty.
How can the government in Israel and all the governments of the world continue to look the other way? The ways in which these people are being treated are crimes against humanity and no one should have to endure such treatment. Boy, do we have a lot of work to do!
VIDEO: ISSA AMRO ON THE ROLE OF THE UNITED STATES | Mike D. - New York, New York
Issa Amro of Youth Against Settlements in Hebron speaks to the role of the United States in Palestine/Israel.
Click here for more videos from the 2015 Olive Harvest Delegation
RELENTLESS PERSISTENCE & RESISTANCE | Allie P. - New Haven, Connecticut
It was a joy for me to return to the small Palestinian village of Bil’in (population 2,000) and see Iyad Burnat, his wife Tassahil and their five children, including their youngest son, Mohyialdeen, born since my last IFPB delegation in 2012. In Latin America the word for nonviolence translates as "relentless persistence." It strikes me that that definition describes those in Bil’in, with the addition to that definition of one word: resistance. Relentless persistence and resistance.Folks in Bil’in have been resisting Israel’s occupation, focused specifically on the wall, for over 10 years, with weekly Friday demonstrations. They had a success when the Israeli courts ruled in 2007 that the route of the wall, running right through (and grabbing up) village land had to be moved back by 500 meters (still stealing and sealing off over 300 acres of Bil’in land). Israel obliged, but only begrudgingly and not until 2011. On the other side of the now 24’ concrete wall is the illegal settlement of Modi’in Illit (population 56,000+), grossly expanded in these three years since my last visit, and like a cancer continuing to grow. Construction and earth moving equipment were very visible and their sounds quite prominent when some of us went back to the wall early in the morning.
Bil’in’s weekly nonviolent demonstrations, that every week are met with tear gas canisters, stun grenades, rubber coated bullets (all of which are lethal at close range) from Israeli soldiers, and sometimes live ammunition, evidence the villagers’ resistance. They will continue their resistance until the wall, like the biblical walls of Jericho, comes tumbling down. The roads we walked from the village to the wall are littered with detritus from the soldiers’ assault on demonstrators. It has become part of the landscape, as the soldiers’ harassment has become part of daily life. Early in the morning of the day when, by late afternoon, our delegation arrived in Bil’in, Israeli soldiers tossed a tear gas canister through Iyad and Tassahill’s front door when she opened it to investigate strange noises that had awakened her. The effect on the children is dramatic. Majd, Iyad’s and Tassahil’s oldest son, has permanent nerve damage in one leg after being shot a year ago by Israeli soldiers. One of the first words that their youngest son (not yet two) has learned is the Arabic word for soldiers.
The villagers’ persistence is just as obvious. A children’s play ground that had been destroyed (deemed an illegal construction) by the Israeli Defense Force has been rebuilt, with its own climbing ‘wall.’ This new one is of course under demolition orders, but you can be sure if destroyed, the villagers of Bil’in will build yet another. The families continue to welcome and host visitors like our delegation of 35 people, opening their homes and hearts. The women persist with their exquisitely beautiful Palestinian embroidery. The children persist in their schooling, and families continue to raise their children. Iyad’s and Tassahil’s daughter Mayar, who I first met when she was three, at ten is a beautiful, gracious young girl who delighted in showing me the bangle bracelets that one of our delegates had brought as a gift.
In the midst of the injustice and outrage of Israel’s occupation, and the burden it creates for, and the disruptions it causes to, everyday life, Iyad and his family extend to those like ourselves who visit, not just an extraordinary hospitality, but also deep compassion and caring. Iyad was visibly concerned for our safety and our well-being. When our delegation visited the wall at dusk, he hurried us past a large, solid metal door in the wall. Some months before, Iyad explained, IDF soldiers had come out that door in jeeps and launched tear gas canisters at a visiting delegation. Like a faithful sheep dog, he deftly herded his flock along. The next morning some of us returned to see the wall in the full light of day. When one subset of our delegation, who had set out on their own, got lost, Iyad frantically scanned the landscape as he drove me and another delegate to the wall. “Where are they?” he queried, visibly worried and ever vigilant. The lost were eventually found, and all was well.
My hope and prayer is that with vigilance and unceasing work for justice, in time all will be well. Until then, the people of Bil’in will persist and they will resist until the wall falls and the people of Palestine are free. Of that, I am sure. They are an inspiration, embodying courage, perseverance, determination, and love through and through.
SEEING THE VIOLENCE | Wendy L. - Bath, Maine
In Bil'in, we meet Iyad Burnat who is one of the leaders of the non-violent resistance to the occupation in Bil'in. He gives us a presentation, including many photos of demonstrations, the soldiers tear gassing the people, shooting at people and the arrests.
But one video stands out. It shows one man named Bassem who lived in Bil'in moving away from the soldiers during one of the demonstrations. The soldiers fire within a close range and he falls after a tear-gas canister hits his chest. Within minutes he is dead. Other demonstrators rush to help. They are frantic, saying "he is dying!" but it is too late. They lift his shirt and I can see the wound.
It is late when the presentation ends and we break up into groups to stay overnight at villager's homes. Ten of us stayed with Rana and Ashraf. They are a young couple who have been married three years. They have no children yet but very much want to start a family. "Inshallah," Rana says with a smile.
She serves us a wonderful dinner of maqluba. After dinner, Ashraf sits with us and tells us his story. The language barrier is overcome by technology as he uses his cell phone to explain what happened. He shows us a video from 5-6 years ago. I hold the phone up so all ten of us can see. Ashraf was at a nonviolent demonstration against the occupation and in the video he has been arrested. His back is to the camera. His hands are tied behind his back and he is blindfolded. The IDF soldiers are leading him to a paddy wagon. He is not resisting. As he approaches the door to the wagon, one of the soldiers raises his rifle and shoots Ashraf in the thigh.
This soldier shot a totally defenseless person who is not resisting arrest. Hearing about the violence is one type of experience but seeing it is quite another. As a physician, I wonder about nerve damage. He points to his thigh, smiling, and says, "it is ok."
After awhile the conversation turns to happier times. Rana shows us photographs of her sisters, nephews and nieces. We bring out our family photos to share. We share jokes despite the language barriers and she serves us tea.
As we say our goodbyes the next day, I learn that Bassem was Ashraf's brother.
ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS IN THE WEST BANK | Bud H. - Arlington, Virginia
There are about 650,000 Israelis living in as many as 200 settlements spread throughout the West Bank. They are protected by the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). Many of them, while built illegally on Palestinian land in the West Bank, are now included inside the "separation wall," which itself is built on Palestinian land and has "grabbed" about 10 percent of the West Bank. The settlements are connected to each other and to major Israeli cities by a network of "bypass" highways on which Palestinian are not allowed to drive. These settlements and highways slice the West Bank into pieces separating farmers from their fields and Palestinian towns from each other. Palestinians use roads that pass under the bypass highways.
All this gives the impression that Israel is "absorbing" the West Bank while cutting Palestinian towns and cities off from each other and turning the West Bank into nothing more than a cluster of isolated "cantons" that could not function effectively as an independent state. The "web" that this network of roads and settlements is home to 650,000 Jewish citizen of Israel who, for the most part, view Palestinians as inferior, as obstacles to Israel's expansion, and as problems to be dealt with rather than as people to be lived with. Add to this innumerable roadblocks and checkpoints, And you get a Palestinian population that feels it is imprisoned by Israeli settlers and soldiers.
EVER HOPEFUL AND DETERMINED | Haniel G. - Washington, DC
It's impossible to encapsulate in a few paragraphs the encounters of the past three days. Ahmad, who hosted us along with his family in the village of Anin was full of life as he recounts his struggles in life, spicing it up here and there with humor, even jokingly referring to one of his guests as a CIA agent. He regaled us with conspiracy theories like those surrounding 9-11 that was too much even for his avidly anti-imperialist guests.
Yet, he was very much of a sport, showing his respect for his guests' contrary opinions expressed in his inimitable light, comedic manner. We were also treated to wholesome home-cooked meals with much of the ingredients, all organically grown, like the olive oil and za'atar dip and syrup made from carob bean, coming from his own garden. It was also such a pleasure taking a shower with home-made soap made from an olive-oil base. Of course, we took great pleasure helping Ahmad harvest his olives, all the while telling each other stories.
I see the resiliency of the Palestinian people in the life of Ahmad and his family and the other Palestinians we have met. Their sense of humor and ability to have fun while waging a struggle against oppression is, of course, not unique. I've read about a similar thing among the Vietnamese and seen it among my own people in the Philippines. But it is always inspiring to see it manifested yet again.
THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL LAND | Steve J. - Virginia Beach, Virginia
This is a beautiful land: from the blue water of the Mediterranean to the green olive groves, to the white steeped hills of striped rock, to the fertile dark brown soil near Nazareth, to the startling sunny blue sky ... this is a beautiful land.
Seeing it for the first time, I realize now why two peoples have come to love it passionately. But I can only try to imagine the grief and pain of the one people who had this land taken from them; who were driven from their homes; barred from returning; subjected to laws and rules not of their making; and made to live in constant fear of arbitrary imprisonment or attack. The Palestinian people have lost their beautiful country.
The world and my country should not wonder why Palestinians are so passionate in seeking justice and freedom; this is a beautiful land.
We invite delegation participants to comment on and react to the experiences they have during our Israel/Palestine delegations in written Trip Reflections.
Individual delegates contribute pieces to these reflections. As such, reflections are not comprehensive accounts of every meeting or experience, but impressions of those things that most impact individuals. Submitted reflections may be edited for clarity or brevity. Trip reports do not necessarily reflect the views of Interfaith Peace-Builders, trip leaders, or delegation partner organizations. We hope you enjoy reading and we encourage you to share these reflections with others.
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