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2017 Olive Harvest Delegation to Palestine/Israel

 

Overview: This first collection of reflections from the Olive Harvest Delegation features initial responses from the group. The delegation dove into understanding the infrastructure of inequality from the moment they stepped off the plane, and since then have toured occupied Jerusalem and Bethlehem. They also visited Daher’s Vineyard at the Tent of Nations where they learned of one family’s struggle to survive on their land.

These reflections begins with an introduction by a delegation co-leader setting the context for the group’s travels. Amirah Abu Lughod shares her experience on arrival at the airport in Tel Aviv. The collection ends with personal reflections from Lea Koesterer, Laurie Hanawalt, and Paul Hanawalt.

The delegation continues it’s journey recently visiting the destroyed Palestinian village of Lifta, Yaffa (a historic Palestinian city that is now surrounded by the burgeoning Tel Aviv, gentrification, and internal settlements), and the Dheishah Refugee Camp.




 

The Balfour Declaration: 100 Years Later   

The delegation is on the ground in Palestine this week during a unique historic moment — the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration and the reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas political parties.

trump loves wallThe delegation also takes place one year since the US election, and delegates are witnessing the connections between the systemic oppression and occupation of Palestinian people, and structural racism and violence at home.

The following two articles provide Palestinian perspectives and context on the Balfour Declaration, 100 years since it was issued:

 

 

 

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Why Are You Here?   |   Amirah Abu Lughod - Stony Point, New York

Over the mountains, over the sea and through Israeli security...

"Are you with this group? Please go to the waiting area miss, we need to do another check on your passport. 

"Why are you here? You've been here before? Then why did you come back? You already saw what you needed to see so why are you coming back?"

"Tell me your father's name. Your grandfather's name.

“Are you Muslim? What's your mother's name? Have you always been Muslim?"

"Why are you here?"

"Write down all of your phone numbers. All of your email addresses"

"You can go wait outside, we'll call you back again."

"Why are you here?"

"Write down all of your phone numbers"
"Write down all of your email addresses"
"What's your father's name?"
"What's your grandfather's name?"

amirah airplane"Do you have family here?"
"What are their names?"
"How old is she? Is she married?"
"Are you married?"

"WHY ARE YOU HERE?"

I was asked these questions and a number more for a half hour as the rest of the delegation went through passport control. The words "Palestine," "Peace," and "non-violence" were just few that I was advised to not let past my lips while being questioned if I wanted to get through.

Yes, it was nerve racking, yes it was intrusive but what I know is that I got through - quite easily with my light skin and American passport. 

"Why am I here?" you ask. I told you, I'm here to see "Holy Sites." And that is the truth.

And now here's the whole truth - I'm here to see sites, and people, and land that imbue holiness because of the resistance and strength embodied every day standing up against power that says "you have no place here and we will do everything in our POWER to make you continually question yourself... 'why am I here?'


Olive Harvest 2017HELP US BUILD AN ANTI-RACIST FRAMEWORK FOR ACTIVISM!

It is time to build and integrate our principles of collective liberation into action and education.

Just $1,100 more will launch this vital effort!

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Snapshots of Jerusalem   |   Laurie Hanawalt - Cleveland, Ohio

I’m not sure what day it is but my husband and I left Cleveland, Ohio Thursday evening.  We arrived after a 10 hour bus ride to Washington DC for orientation. I was eager to meet everyone embarking on this journey and to discover why they chose to travel to Palestine/Israel. 

Flash forward to our first day in Jerusalem. As we began to enter the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, one police officer stopped and asked if I was Muslim.  When I told him “No,” he said I couldn’t enter. Our guide tried telling him I was part of his tour group, but the police insisted I not enter, so we all had to go to another part of the market.  It reminded me of stories I used to hear about how African-Americans in the Jim Crow South were not allowed to enter some restaurants just because of their skin color.  I’ve been privileged up till now not to have ever experienced this type of discrimination.  I felt I was being put in my place.

Later, on our tour with Grassroots Jerusalem, we came face to face with the separation wall for the first time. There it was towering over us. To actually see the wall of separation brought to reality of the pictures I’ve seen home. 

It was ugly.  Not just physically ugly, but ugly that other human beings would erect a wall to keep another person away from their home land or business.  The barbed wire at the top reminded me of our prisons back home.

Today I woke to the sounds of a couple people screaming in the streets below our hotel room.  Again I felt fear, because I didn’t know what was happening.  I wasn’t sure if someone was being attacked or not.  There was also the sound of prayers, which I presumed was coming from the Mosque further away from our hotel.  I was surprised to hear birds, but must admit, they brought a peaceful feeling to my mind and body. 

As we took a walking tour of Jerusalem, we walked down a narrow street with cars and trucks beeping their horns so they could continue to their destination.  The smell of garbage struck my nose several times, but was quickly overcome by wonderful smells of fresh baked bread, or pastries, or various middle-eastern food being prepared.  The food I’ve had on this trip so far has been overly abundant and very, very tasty. 

Children ran in the streets playing chase of one another, or chasing after a ball they were playing with.  They appeared to be happy, carefree, which surprised me.  I expected to see fear and stress all over their faces.



 

Love and Joy   |   Paul Hanawalt - Cleveland, Ohio    

At the end of the first day, I haven’t looked into the part of my brain that tells me how I feel about today’s trip.

My main focus today was to shut up the part of my mind that judges and evaluates and let my inner most self soak in the surroundings, the people and their lives, the words of the speakers and the emotion in the spaces.

The one thing that shows up for me right now is the memories of the dancing bodies and the joyful eyes of the children.

Walking through a city and country where so much of the basic things necessary for a meaningful, satisfying life have been stolen from the people and their land, I can feel the loss and can see the effort in the faces that it takes to get through the day.

I can see and feel space filled with mistrust, the fear, the doubt and the low level of hope.

Seeing the twin 4 year old girls holding hands, skipping through the market in the Old City of Jerusalem, their eyes sparkling and faces full of the joy of life for a moment causes all the negative to fall away and the joy available in life to show up.

There is something about this innocent joy that makes life worth living and worth fighting for in the worst of circumstances.

Just a thought.

Then my mind goes to the occupation.  Forgetting the unforgivable planning that went into the creation of the Zionist state and the Nakba in 1946, ‘47 & ‘48, just seeing the reality today of 30 foot walls separating people from their land and their way of life, their actual livelihood – How can one man know the joy of seeing his child grow and turn around and build a wall that takes the life away from another man’s child?

I came to Palestine thinking I would find a people crushed and defeated by a hundred years of having another people stealing their land, destroying their way of life and locking them up in outdoor prisons but what I found my first day in Palestine was love and joy.  That gives me hope in what seems like a hopeless situation.


 

 

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, American Muslims for Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, 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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