Saturday, September 29, 2012

Sabeel's report on the conference

Bored by just hearing my side of the story? Want to fact-check what I'm telling you? Did we really swim in the Dead Sea?

You're in luck! Yesterday, Sabeel released its report on our two week conference. Pictures, tales of our exploits, thanks to those who supported us... You should check it out.

Friday, September 28, 2012

July 10 continued... Re-building a house!

After our lecture in the morning, we were ready for action. We hopped on the bus to head to Anata/Shoafat Refugee Camp (part of Jerusalem) for an afternoon of hard work.

On the way, we had to go through a checkpoint at the wall. Again, not too eventful for us. Two armed soldiers boarded the bus at the front, walked the length of it, and then exited through the backdoor.

We had seen Shoafat in the distance earlier in our trip - looking across the wall from a settlement. Residents of this camp pay taxes but don't get services like running water in return (in contrast to the nearby subsidized settlements that are well cared for). It is the only refugee camp inside Jerusalem, and has issues with crime - Israeli Police rarely enter, but Palestinian Police are not allowed to enter.

(If you're interested, Shoafat was in the media recently - one of two checkpoints in/out of the camp is being closed. This will undoubtedly limit further access to the rest of Jerusalem.)

We went to help the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) rebuild a house that has been demolished five times since 1998.

The demolition of homes

A word, first, about the demolition of houses. Often houses are demolished because they are built without building permits. However, it is almost impossible for a Palestinian to get a building permit. Rationales behind the denial of permits include land being declared for purposes of agriculture, archaeological dig sites and nature reserves. ICAHD keeps stats on these sorts of things, and they report that 94% of Palestinian building permit applications have been denied since 1993. ICAHD suggests that this is a policy decision designed to encourage Palestinians to leave the country.

Palestinians need to build - just like the rest of us, their families and cities expand naturally - but, legally, they're not allowed. So, provided they don't leave the country, they take a chance and build without a permit... and that is the rationale provided when the state of Israel demolishes structures - they are built without permits.

ICAHD reports that 27,000 homes and structures (e.g., animal pens) have been destroyed since the occupation began in 1967. These demolitions are illegal under the Geneva Conventions (fourth Convention, article 53).

Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions

ICAHD was established in 1997 by Dr. Jeff Halper, an Israeli citizen. It is a great example of Israelis, Palestinians and people from all over the world coming together to protest the occupation and to work for peace. Dr. Halper was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. ICAHD engages in advocacy and education as well direct action - physically blocking bulldozers that have come to demolish homes, and mobilizing Palestinians, Israelis and "internationals" to re-build homes that have been destroyed.

We helped with ICAHD's 186th building project, helping to rebuild Beit Arabiya. Beit Arabiya has been demolished five times since 1998, and ICAHD has re-built it each time. The owners of the house have applied for three building permits, costing them $15,000, and their applications have been denied each time.

More than thirty people from around the world gathered for two weeks to re-build Beit Arabiya. We helped, as I said, for an afternoon - moving a pile of gravel down a hill - and it was the hottest I've ever been in my life. Good word. But it was a very tangible thing to be doing to assist the owners of the home. Definitely "creative discipleship."

The afternoon's activities prompted some interesting discussions within our group. After all, what we were doing was illegal in the eyes of the Israeli government - we were helping to re-build something that they had determined was not allowed to be there. A little bit of civil disobedience, if you will. What should one do when she determines that the laws/policies themselves are unjust?

One more thing...

After much needed showers at our hotel, we heard from Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, a Palestinian activist, about Palestine's history of non-violent resistance. He included many things as "non-violent resistance" - picking olives when occupying powers don't want you to do that, kids going to school even when schools have been closed, crossing at checkpoints - insisting that you be able to go to work/school, or visit your families.

He shared a funny story of a non-violent resistance act in which he participated. For many years, on Palm Sunday, a group of Christians has walked, with a donkey, into Jerusalem (as someone else did, back in the day). This involves crossing a checkpoint and Palestinians must have permits to do so. This one year in particular, they did not have permits but decided to go anyway. Dr. Qumsiyeh was surprised how far they got without permits, but eventually they were stopped by soldiers. All were arrested - including the donkey! The humans were detained for two days, the donkey for two weeks... at which point it was let go because they couldn't really figure out what to do with it. Ridiculous.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

July 10 - Going through a checkpoint, and Christian Zionism

Hi, friends. Sorry for the extended silence. Life gets busy.

But... now we're back! To talk about the next day of my trip - another interesting one, to be sure.

We had an early start on the 10th so that we could have the experience of going through a central checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem during rush hour. We were accompanied by EAPPI volunteers who were monitoring the checkpoint that morning. It was a bit surreal - lining up in big fenced-in walk-ways, going through a metal detector, showing my passport to a few different people. It was pretty uneventful for us - foreign passports, lines moving smoothly, and - even at 5:30 am - we had probably missed the busiest time at the checkpoint. But you could see how things could get worse very quickly - if they shut one (or all) of the lines, if someone was not allowed to pass through... Incredible to think that this is the daily commute of thousands.

We met a coffee vendor on the West Bank side of the checkpoint. He told us about how he used to own and farm land that is now just on the other side of the wall (so is no longer accessible to him). He comes to the checkpoint every day to sell coffee - he has no other job now - and to smell his land.

We returned to our hotel for a lecture from Fr. David Neuhaus, a Catholic priest in Jerusalem who serves a Hebrew-speaking congregation. He has an interesting story to tell - he was born Jewish and raised in South Africa; his parents had gone to South Africa to escape the Holocaust. After moving to Jerusalem, he converted to Christianity. His Jewish roots, as well as his Hebrew-speaking congregants, give Fr Neuhaus an interesting perspective on what is happening in Palestine and Israel. (There are interesting profiles of Fr Neuhaus here, here and here.)

He spoke with us specifically that morning about Christian Zionism. It is complicated, to say the least, and has a long history. Lucky for me, the Presbyterian Church in Canada discussed this at their General Assembly earlier this year, and their International Affairs Committee provides an excellent, short-ish summary of the topic (see page 18 of this pdf).

Briefly, according to Fr Neuhas, Zionists state that Jews face persecution and that a solution can be found in immigrating to the land of their ancestors - Palestine. There, they will have national autonomy. This arose with Theodore Herzl in the late 1800s/early 1900s, and was a response to persecution Jews were facing in Europe. Zionism does not discuss what to do with the people already in that homeland (i.e., the Palestinians), nor the borders of that homeland.

Christian Zionists bring religion into the equation. The PCC's report says that Christian Zionists think that Jews returning to Palestine is a pre-condition of Christ's return. While there are significant differences between Christian and Jewish Zionists (i.e., the way to salvation), they both agree now that Jews should have the majority in their homeland. Many Christian Zionists in the West provide financial support to encourage this vision.

So where does this leave the Palestinians who live on the land, some of whom are Christians? In 2006, major churches in Palestine rejected Christian Zionism in their Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism because it is detrimental to a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The Presbyterian Church in Canada also rejected the doctrine at their General Assembly for this reason, as well as the fact that Christian Zionism is inconsistent with Reformed doctrine.

It was a bit of an academic start to the day, but it was important to consider this issue - Christians around the world contribute to the oppression of the Palestinian people through their support of Christian Zionism. Palestinian Christians have asked us to work for peace by supporting a faith that is inclusive, loving and just.

If you're interested in this, check out the PCC's report - it goes more deeply into the theological arguments.

Another post to follow about our afternoon, spent building a house!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Busy week...

My apologies for the lack of blog posts recently. Life gets busy. I hope to have time to write another entry next week... Maybe I'll have the whole trip covered by Christmas! :)

Hope that you are enjoying the lovely fall weather.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Another Susiya

A tweet from the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel alerted me to the fact that the Israeli Supreme Court will release, tomorrow, a decision on whether to bulldoze a Palestinian primary school. Following the link through, it seems that Palestinians all over the West Bank are facing pressures similar to those we saw in Susiya.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

July 9 continued... Susiya

Because our time in Hebron wasn't enough of an experience for one day (!), we went on to visit Susiya that afternoon. During the bus ride there, we heard from Moriel Rothman, an American-Israeli writer and poet (check out his blog for some of his written and spoken word). Moriel spent some time working with Rabbis for Human Rights, including helping Palestinians with the olive harvest (in which Rabbis for Human Rights not only helps to harvest olives but serves as human shields to protect the Palestinians). He told us that loving the stranger is mentioned more times in Torah than any other commandment, and that his religious beliefs inform his beliefs in human rights. Of the occupation he said, "This is not the right way - humanly, morally, Jewish-ly." It was really good to have his perspective included in the conference programme.

animals in Susiya
The village of Susiya is located in the South Hebron Hills, part of Area C with many settlements. Susiya has a long history, but Moriel gave us a brief summary - the population of Susiya grew when many refugees came to live there as a result of the 1948 conflict. In 1983, the state of Israel found archaeological remains of a synagogue in the village. Susiya was destroyed in 1986 for the archaeological dig, and citizens moved their homes to their nearby agricultural land. There have been other expulsions since then, and the struggle for the land between Palestinians, settlers and the state of Israel has continued. Even the Israeli Supreme Court has intervened.

There has been a high level of violence from the nearby settlers. We met an older woman from the village who was out tending her sheep one day when she was attacked by a settler with a lead pipe. We saw a well that had been destroyed when an entire car was compacted and put inside. Even if, somehow, the Palestinians managed to get the car out, there would be fears of water contamination from the rust. The homes of Susiya residents - caves and huts - have also been smashed.










crushed car in well (photo: J. Yanishewski)
And now, because the current village was "built" without permits (stay tuned for more on permits in a subsequent post... for now, suffice it to say that it is almost impossible for Palestinians to get building permits), a demolition order for the entire village was issued in June of this year. I say "built" because there really wasn't much to the structures that make up the village - mostly tents and caves.

(Just as an interesting side note, it took us a bit of time to find the village that day - no signs to Palestinian villages, just to settlements. Almost like Susiya's existence isn't even recognized... Although Israel has certain obligations as the occupying power, they do not provide the basic infrastructure required by the village - water, schools, roads, garbage pick up, etc.)

Susiya has strong international support in its struggle to maintain its control of the land. Many human rights groups are just a phone call away, and come quickly - often with internationals (remember the power of internationals?) - when soldiers and/or bulldozers appear. There is also an international Facebook campaign working to prevent the demolition. In one of the most tangible examples of solidarity I saw when I was there, the German government funded solar panels to provide electricity to the village... I don't imagine they would be too impressed if their investment was destroyed, were the village to be demolished. Even us - a group of 25 internationals - being there that day could have sent a signal - that we knew of Susiya's struggles and that we stand with them.
German solar panels
At the time when we visited, a lawyer working for Rabbis for Human Rights was attempting to get a court order to have the demolition stopped. There have been more recent reports, however, of demolitions in Susiya and other villages nearby. Please keep the residents of Susiya in your prayers.

Breaking a Generation

A few weeks ago I posted on our experience in Aroub Refugee Camp, meeting with former child detainees and hearing about Defence for Children International's work in Palestine. The most recent edition of Sabeel's Cornerstone newsletter - Breaking a Generation - focuses on this issue, with much input from Gerard Horton - the lawyer we heard from when we were there. Very interesting reading, including first-hand accounts from former detainees, a former soldier with the Israeli Defence Forces, and a parent.

(The text of the sermon given by Salwa Duaibis at our conference's opening worship service is also included in the newsletter.)

We pray...
for the children,
that the children may live,
that they may have children of their own
and that it will go on -
this great blossoming that is meant to go on and on -
we pray for peace, in their name.
that they would have a world worth being born into,
a future worth dreaming about,
that they might become, in their own time,
all that our race might come to be,
- that they might have that chance -
we pray for peace, in their name.
from “Praying for Peace” ed. Michael Hare Duke

Monday, September 10, 2012

A biblical reflection

I am part of a rotation for St. Andrew's Ottawa's "Sunday Lunch" blog. A group of us take turns posting reflections about the Sunday morning worship services. I was on deck yesterday for the sermon on "going the extra mile," based on Exodus 21:23, 24, Matthew 5:38-48 and Romans 12:14-21. I blogged about some of the ways that Palestinian Christians I met this summer are "going the extra mile" by engaging in creative, non-violent resistance. (If you're interested, you can listen to the sermon.)

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Day 8 (July 9) - Hebron

Day 8 was one of the most profound of our trip. We spent time in Hebron and Susiya - I'll talk about Hebron in this post and Susiya in the next.

I must admit that I was a bit anxious about this day. I was looking forward to it, but we had heard from last year's participants from the Presbyterian Church in Canada that visiting Hebron could be a difficult experience. It is one of the most visible examples of the occupation, and the tension and oppression it causes. It proved to be a very memorable day.

Breaking the Silence

During our bus ride from Bethlehem to Hebron, we heard from Alana Alpert from Breaking the Silence. Breaking the Silence is a vehicle through which former Israeli soldiers can talk about the occupation. They offer tours of Hebron, since it offers such a clear example of the occupation, and use Facebook and Twitter to provide information on current points of tension in the region. It was interesting to hear from a group of Israelis working for peace - if I recall correctly, I don't think we had yet heard that voice during our trip.

Hebron

Alana also spoke to us about Hebron itself. Hebron is located in the West Bank, south of Bethlehem. It is important to Jews, Christians and Muslims because several matriarchs and patriarchs of those faiths are buried there - Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. Hebron is even mentioned in the Old Testament as the place Abraham purchased as a burial place for his wife Sarah. (If you're interested, Alana - who is studying to be a rabbi - is also working on Project Hayei Sarah, an attempt to reclaim this Torah passage from the extremists who take it to be a real estate deed that gives them the right to Hebron land.)

Until 1929, Alana told us, Hebron was a great example of Jews and Palestinians living together peacefully. That year, there were riots in Jerusalem. Because of the good relationship that Hebron Jews had with their Muslim neighbours, they refused the security that was offered to them. Tragically, 67 Jewish residents of Hebron were killed when the riots spread. While many Palestinians acted to protect their Jewish neighbours, the legacy of the massacre continues today.

There were very few Jews in Hebron from that point until 1968. Several Jews returned that year to celebrate Passover in the holy city, and never left. Tensions between Jews and Palestinians in the area grew. The next major event happened in 1994, when Baruch Goldstein, an American-born Jewish settler in the area, killed 29 Muslims praying in a mosque during Ramadan. He was killed by those who survived the attack. Incredibly, Goldstein's grave today is a frequently-visited site in the town.

Hebron is unique in the area today because Jewish settlers live in such close proximity to the Palestinians in the town. Normally, settlements are very separate - up on hillsides, surrounded by walls. In Hebron, sometimes Jews live right on top of Palestinians. The town is divided in two - H1 is under Palestinian control, and H2 is under Israeli control. There is a heavy military presence in the area to protect the 800 settlers.

Jewish shiva in background, Palestinian home in foreground
illegal settlement synagogue in Hebron











The streets we walked in H2 were almost empty, save for several soldiers watching us from rooftops and hillsides, as well as military vehicles passing us on the road. Many shops have closed, there are bars on windows to protect from settlers' projectiles, and many Palestinians are unable to get to their land. We sang as we walked.
this blocked off and abandoned street used to have shops and a market

Photo: Sabeel

On our way to the mosque to see the Tombs of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, we had to take Shuhada Street. Our guide for the day was not able to accompany us on the street as Palestinians are no longer allowed to walk there. In the meantime, we had attracted the military's attention, and I think, at that point, they set out to put a wrench in our plans for our day in Hebron. By the time we got to the end of Shuhada Street and were heading to the mosque, the IDF soldiers had detained our guide by taking away his identification.

walking toward Shuhada Street with military escorts Photo: Sabeel
Harry Potter capes in the mosque Photo: Sabeel
We had an interesting tour of the mosque (despite our best conservative dress efforts, women had to wear Harry Potter-like capes... very nice), and heard first hand reports of what that fatal day in 1994 was like. We then walked through the market on the way to our next meeting. This city is hurting. Blocked roadways/passages have led to the closure of shops and markets, and the violence has really affected tourism. The market itself has a wire fence overtop of it - like the bars on the windows, it prevents projectiles from settlers (including garbage, bricks, dirty diapers) from hitting the Palestinian market-goers below. It is quite unbelievable to see.

protection from projectiles in the market
protection from projectiles in the market













We then met with a few people from Christian Peacemaker Teams working in the area. Like the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, CPT volunteers accompany Palestinians (including children on their way to/from school), and monitor and document proceedings at checkpoints in the city. More on this below, but the work of CPT, EAPPI and our experience in Hebron demonstrated the power of being an "international" in this part of the world.

After our visit with CPT, we went for lunch. Our plan was to lunch with a few Palestinian families in the area to hear more about what their daily lives are like. We all successfully passed through the checkpoint - basically just going through a metal detector (for the internationals... I'm sure it is harder for Palestinians). Once we had all gotten through, though, the soldiers staffing the checkpoint decided that we could not go on - that we had to pass back through the checkpoint. We refused - families had prepared lunch for us and we were determined to continue with our programme. Our guides questioned the soldiers as to why we couldn't proceed, but it seemed that they were just determined not to let us go any further.

the checkpoint where we were held up
In order to pressure us to comply with their orders, the soldiers then closed the checkpoint so that no one else could get through until we agreed to leave. So now Palestinians are waiting in the hot noon sun as our guides try to convince the soldiers to open the checkpoint and to let us go about our day. They were forced to produce their papers for the soldiers, and explained what our plans were. Two EAPPI monitors showed up to document what was going on. Moriel Rothman, another Israeli working for peace who accompanied us that day, also took photos and video to document what was going on (more about Moriel in the next post). Interestingly, a settler from the area also videotaped us... Everyone uses social media to further their causes, I guess.

The closing of the checkpoint was the hardest part of the day for me. We wanted to stand against injustice, to stand against the occupation... but the checkpoint was closed because of us. Palestinians were delayed and inconvenienced because of us.

In the end, we agreed to leave and the soldiers re-opened the checkpoint (after, unfortunately, some of the waiting Palestinians had given up and returned home... These closures are normal occurrences for them, and I guess they knew that the closure could last for some time.) The families who had cooked for us brought the food to the other side of the checkpoint and we had a weird picnic on the street. We shared the food with others in the community - there was tons - and even took some to the soldiers. When we asked the woman who had cooked if we could do that, she replied, "Of course - they're human too." Pretty incredible, given what had just transpired.


Throughout this whole incident, I did not fear for my safety. There were some tense moments and I was pretty uncomfortable, but I knew that my foreign passport was a significant source of protection. A very different situation for Palestinians who have to face these checkpoints several times a day. It was interesting - at the beginning of the day, as we walked the streets while the soldiers stared, I was slightly terrified... You don't often see soldiers in Canada, let alone armed soldiers. But by the end of the day, I was strangely empowered - I knew that we would not be in harm's way because we were from another country. (Granted, this doesn't always hold, of course...) This is why the CPT and EAPPI programs are so powerful - they use the privilege that we, as foreigners, have to strengthen the position of Palestinians. There are interesting dynamics with these sort of "privilege politics," but for now, it is a very tangible role that internationals can play in the region.

One more thought that occurred to me that day - I felt much safer in the busy, chaotic, bustling Palestinian side of town than I did on the empty, soldier occupied H2 side.

Okay - this is definitely enough for now. More on our trip to Susiya later :). Thanks for sticking it out until the end!