Free Days

So because of the extremely restrictive rules on women here about going out to places and staying out in the evenings, I went with a friend of mine and we just chilled and hung out and watched some movies and other things.

Next morning we went to a theme park in the middle of town. Im not sure if Ive already talked about this but i was very impessed. We rode a ferris wheel, upside down scissors, scrambler, bumper cars, 4d movie, and something they call the bride which is ironically quite undesirable.

After going to a nice coffee shop and relaxing for a while with some of my palestinian friends, we went to hear a political lecture about the status of people in the occupied territories. We learned some interesting things, like how the water use allowed for palestinians is only 1 out of 50 that of the settlers. the price perunit of water and electricity is also higher for palestinians which are forced to buy from israel.

But that was inconsequential compared to what we saw next. A doctor started talking about the human suffering from the Israeli tactics used in Gaza. We saw unedited photos of some of the most horrific things i have ever seen. disc bombs, white phosphorus that burns flesh, setting buildings on fire, and more weapons were used in violation of international law that constitute war crimes. Its perhaps no big surprise that over 1000 people were killed in gaza. 7 were israelis and 4 of those were from friendly fire. people would throw stones in protest of their homes being destroyed and israel would sometimes shoot them.

The Agony and the Irony of Jenin Refugee camp

On thursday, we went to the Jenin refugee camp in the north of the west bank. I knew that a friend of mine spoke of Jenin as being his home, but other than that I knew nothing about the situation there. We arrived at the camp, and we walked into their community building. The camp is confined to an area of one square kilometer for around 13,000 people, so it's pretty densely populated. A bunch of kids stared at us like we were aliens, but they were nice. I don't think they see Westerners a huge amount.

We were given a history of the camp, and what villages the displaced families were from. Some were from what is now Israel, and every family tells the children stories about the villages they left/were forced from in 1948 when the Israeli state was created. What I didnt know was thatI was about to hear a story that would break my heart.

Around 2002, there was an attack by an individual on an Israeli target which killed about 20 people. As horrible as this is, the Israeli were about to respond with something even more dreadful. They assembled 3000 soldiers and 600 tanks and invaded the refugee camp of Jenin. Perhaps there were some people they considered criminals, but the invasion was not necessary. If they wanted them, they could have extracted them. Out of the 13,000 people, less than 100 resisted. The tanks destroyed many of the homes, and killed 86 people, many of whom were civilians. They injured many more.

One story that made me very sad was this old man of maybe 70 years or more. He said the Israelis had invaded the town for 13 days I think and blocked water and food. He was walking to try and make it into his home, but a sniper shot the old man in his han. The sniper then yelled at the old man to get up, but te old man was in shock and did not have the strength to push himself up. He tried, but was then shot in the foot for not complyin immediately. He started to cry and said that he thought he was going to die. Ambulances were completely blocked, and most of the town's residents were made to walk around naked in front of everyone else. If you understand the culture of properly covering yourself in more traditional Islam that is practiced in the refugee camps, this is one of theworst forms of humiliation possible.

The United Arab Emirates paid for the rebuilding of the refugee camp after the people's houses had been destroyed, but when we got to see the new houses, we got to see te bullet holes in the walls and buldings done by Israelis after the attack on the camp. They apparently come into the town every day usually and sometimes when they are bored they shoot a bit at the new houses.

The images we saw of what the Israelis did to the people they killed were appalling. True, some of these men were fighters in a situation of war, but few of these had been involved in the attack on Israel. They were doing what anyone would do if a tank was about to destroy your house and everything you had worked for, they resisted. Many were also civilians. The only time in history I have seen bodies as badly destroyed as these was in photos of the Holocaust. In Exodus it talks about an eye for an eye I think, and that law is not meant to suggest that that is the proper punishment, but it is the limit of punishment for something done against you. I believe that is part of the Torah as well. There seems to be a pattern of violence that is dramatically disproportionate on the side of the Israelis. This story is a minor example compared to Gaza's 1300 dead to Israel's 13 or so.

After that experience, we were given lunch and we had a stimulating discussion about the state of the world with one of the refugees. He had his own perspectives because of his restricted access to books and internet and such, but some of his stories were somewhat revealing. I didn't really think about it, but he talked to me about the fact that if I was in an Iraqi refugee camp, I might be killed because US soldiers were the ones that helped create that situaton. We fund the weapons that were used against the camp 6 years ago and he said that we were welcome to the camp in the spirit of peace. Some of his thoughts on the US I disagreed with, but he was an interesting person.

After lunch we went to do volunteer work at the children's center, and this is where I had a moment that really bothered me. We painted peace symbols and signs of love on the walls where the kids play. I made a sign saying no to violence. On the other side of the center, men were installing a sign celebrating men that were being held in israeli political prisons for different things they have done, some of which was violent resistance against the occupation. So we were creating two different messages: one was peace is the way to go, and the other indirectly celebrating violence. I was really torn, and felt that it was wrong to try and make the kids think about the conflict even as they play soccer, but it was their decision to make, so i decided to make my anti violence sign a little clearer.

After that, we went to this little church where Jesus performed a miracle, the description is in Luke chapter 17 I think. There re 20 Christian families living in Jenin right now, and there were many more but they left because of easier access to visas. The church was on top of a hill, and it was very nice, the women could not enter the altar area, which was strange, but it was some kind of orthodox church too so i dont know what is normal for them.

After this experience, we went back to our camp at the university here, and me and my friend hung out in downtown Ramallah and ate scwerma.

Palestinian Jews

There is a community of Jewish Palestinians living in the north of the West Bank. They do not consider themselves Israelis.

They have lived here for hundreds if not thousands of years, and do not identify with the state of Israel. I was shocked to discover this. There are not many of them because the benefits of just becoming an Israeli, but it is interesting to note that these people are brothers of Palestinian Muslims and Chrisitians. The difference is that they are not Zionists, but they are every bit as religious as their fellow Jews in Israel.

Going to Jerusalem

I made it through the infamous checkpoint at Qalandia on Wednesday. I try to wear my cross to try and keep them from treating me badly. My friends and I were sent through this tunnel that literally looked like something from a slaughterhouse. We walked through the tunnel like cattle and were caged in together until the soldiers gave us permission to go through the chamber where they scan you, one by one. I started singing a song to myself, which confused them. I went through the iron doors and was scanned and asked for my passport and visa. I don't need a visa since I am not Arabic, and so they let me go. Apparently for Americans with Palestinian origin they lose their American rights in the eyes of Israelis. They are treated very differently, which is something that smacks of the Jim Crow laws of the Southern US.

We made it to Eastern Jerusalem, which is supposed to be the capital of a future Palestinian state. We were greeted by actors from each period of the city's rule, who explained how life was for the people under that period. Now in East Jerusalem, there are numerous settlers who have taken over 4 Arab neighborhoods for their own housing. We got to see many of them walking on the streets. It seems like the relationship between the orthodox Jews and the Arabs is a little better than that of the more ideological Zionists from Hebron.

The best part of the day was when we got to see the place where many people claim Jesus was crucified. No one knows for sure, and the way some of the Orthodox Christians claim that so many of the stations of the cross like the burial, embalming, and tomb were right next to each other seems a little doubtful, but it was a wonderful experience. I prayed for the time that I had, and then got to go see a rooftop view of the city. If the saying is that every street corner in the south has a church, then every ten feet there is a church or mosque or synagogue in Jerusalem. I counted i think like nine or ten churches in the immediate vicinity of me. One moving story was when we went to the church of the holy sepulcher, we saw a mosque right next door, which was named after the man that went to pray next to the church, and not inside it, for fear that his actions might encourage his Muslim followers to take the church for themselves.

Most of the mosques and churches here seem to be right next to each other. There is a level of comfort between Muslim and Christian communities that I have never seen between people of two faiths. The vast majority of the Muslims I meet tell me that they respect Jews and Jewish people. They call Jews people of the book, and emphasize in their holy texts that they are one of the three base religions that all Muslims should respect. They mention that the people they do not like are Zionists. They emphasize that any beef they have with Israel is not religious in nature, it is political. Even the hardest core Palestinian supporters say that there are many many Jewish people that have an inalienable right to live in Palestine.

At the mercy of a kid

So on the way back from Hebron on Tuesday, we had to pass another checkpoint. This time I was more careful, sort of. I put on the cross I had purchased in Bethlehem, hoping that I would at least not have my life threatened after the frightening experience I had last time.

The soldier got on the bus, stared straight at me, and I waved at him and gave him a sincere smile. He then started to approach me with his M16 raised higher and he told me to "Ta'al!"
Which apparently in Arabic means come here now. As I don't speak Arabic, I didn't do what he asked of me because I didn't understand. My friends who do speak Arabic were afraid for my well being so they started speaking loudly he doesnt speak Arabic!!! He walked up to me, and I said nice to meet you. Then he turned around and said have a great day you can go and got off the bus. My palestinian friends said that he must have liked me. He went over to his soldier friends and pointed in my area and said that I was crazy, as we could tell from his hand gestures. The reason they aren't used to people wishing them a good day as I did was that it is extremely risky for a Palestinian to do. My friends told me last year a guy was beaten and detained for several hours for smiling at a soldier like I did on the bus. Perhaps my Americanism did protect me. I was grateful not to have to wait on the bus for many hours again. However, my British friend from Oxford pointed out how horrible this experience was. I asked him why, and he told me it was because the last experience at a checkpoint I was treated as if I was threatened with violent action against me and this one the guy smiled and told me to have a good day.

He said that meant that the actions at checkpoints are completely unstandardized. This opens the door for crimes against human beings. A soldier who must stand in one place for 10 hours a day, and gets very bored, and who is a teenager most of the time, can simply say or do whatever they want to. They can hit you, let you have a good day, arrest you, hold you for hours, or do anything else they would like. We have heard stories about ambulances being held up at checkpoints for hours while the people inside the ambulance die because they do not receive treatment. They hold 80 year old women sometimes at checkpoints for hours, where they are not allowed to go to the bathroom and must sit in 100 degree heat, which can be fatal to soemone that old. Women have gone into labor at checkpoints and have had miscarriages because they were not allowed to go to the hospital. Are these deaths not murder? Who is responsible for their deaths? They would have lived if they had not had to experience the checkpoints, so whose fault is it? Should you blame the air, the conflict, terrorists, the soldiers, who? No one holds the soldiers responsible for the deaths that happen at these checkpoints. Are these not crimes against humanity?

Another observation. A checkpoint in the American way of thinking about them would be a place to check people, see if they are carrying any contraband, and to let ones that are not go through. However, I do not believe that this is the purpose of the checkpoints. It doesn't take hours to check people to see if they are carrying something. They claim it takes 3 hours to look at someone's passport, but there is no way that is the case. The goal of the checkpoints must be what their effect is: which is to make travel around the west bank a terrible, sometimes dangerous experience. It is to keep Palestinians from having contact with each other, and to prevent the formation of civil society necessary for statehood. The purpose must be to make the Palestinian economy come to a standstill. When you can't get your vegetables to market because of a checkpoint that prevents movement, why bother growing them. The estimate is that the Palestinians lose $2 billion from their economy because of the checkpoints, which by the way are illegal under UN law.

Governments are not stupid, usually. When security is involved, there are always deeper reasons to what people are doing. The fact that we made it through the checkpoint easily was not a reason to celebrate. It is a time to reflect and know that he could have just as easily made our life hell, just because of how his mood was.

Hebron and a frightening situation

On Tuesday I went to the city of Hebron, the burial place of Abraham. We wanted to go to the citty center, but we had some major difficulties. One problem here that seems quite unfair is that foreigners are routinely allowed to go to places that Palestinians are forbidden to enter. One of the holiest places for Islam is the mosque that is next to the burial site of Abraham. It is also a holy place for Chrisitians and Jews. The sad part is that Israeli soldiers have restricted access to this holy place, and sometimes restrict entry to a day of the week that is not the day for prayer, which is supposed to be Friday. It's like someone surrounded the Vatican or something like that and said you could go in on Saturdays but not Sundays.

What really broke me heart was when we walked through the streets of inner Hebron. Settlers have taken the top floors of buildings here and occupied them, often throwing out their inhabitants. The Palestinians have put in place fishing nets to catch all the garbage the settlers throw out the window on people passing by. The settlers throw feces, urine, and rocks on top of people passing by. We got to see some of the bags thrown down, and it definitely was human excrement. In case we were in doubt of the veracity of this experience for palestinians, one of the girls in our group (who is a blond tall female) was hit in the head by a rock from above where the settlers live. She was relatively unhurt but a little shaken up as one could expect. There are 500 Jewish settlers here and 10,000 Israeli soldiers stationed to protect them. The settlers walk around with machine guns and generally make life miserable for the people surrounding them. We got to see photos the people of the city had taken of men that had been shot by Israeli soldiers that were bleeding to death and being dragged through the streets by the soldiers while they were dying. We got to see the Jewish settlements and saw the children of settlers digging up olive trees that were hundreds of years old to replace them with palm trees. We were helped out by a local Arab shop owner, who convinced the soldiers to let us through to see more of the situation.

After this experience, we got to go up on top of one of the roofs of a Palestinian and saw the extent of the security. We saw dozens of fortified positions, sniper stations, plenty of barbed wire, and more. The children in this building were living in appaling conditions. We learned later that Israeli soldiers had set the building on fire when they suspected a wanted man of being in there. The result was that many children were burned alive. On top of the building, we saw the water tanks for the settlers. They were massive, and were filled with water. The Palestinian water tanks had bullet holes through them so that they could not hold water. There only option is to catch rainwater, and some of the soldiers have a habit of shooting up their water tanks, for whatever reason they would like. We saw a fortified position, and when the guys saw us, they started singing loudly. I sang along, which they were a little surprised about.

A little Palestinian boy was on top of the roof, and a little Israeli settler boy was also on the roof. The Israeli boy walked over to the edge of the barbed wire, as did the Palestinian boy. Then they started talking as friends would. The soldier motioned for the kid to get back, but the Israeli boy ignored him. The kids told us that many of the kids from the different sides are good friends. However, they can never touch each other or shake hands or hug because of the barbed wire on top of the roofs. This wanted to make me cry. These kids care about each other even though their parents hate each other. I think this shows the capacity of the human heart and that hate is an unnatural state.

We were given some propaganda about how terrible the life is for Jews in Hebron. The worst pictures they could show us were an Arab woman giving them the finger and a jewish girl escorted by Palestinian police. The Jewish community existed in Hebron for hundreds of years, and left with all the conflict in the Zionist period, then came back. The settlers here are not neighbors, they are dominating. It is interesting to see 500 people make life hell for hundreds of thousands of people here in this city. They have taken the site of Abraham's grave and turned it into a war zone.

After Hebron, we went to a ceramic factory where they let me have a pot that had a defect for free and let me paint it to take home. Then we went back home to our campsite.

A comment about my experiences

Please feel free to comment about my posts. I understand that someof them may seem radical to some of you, but please read each post with some things in mind.

1. Everything I write about is from my own personal experiences here. The comments I make are from my own eyes and my own body. I do not pretend that I don't have biases, but please read them as they are intended: personal experiences.

2. I am a person of peace. I hate war. It is one of the most appalling crimes imaginable to shoot someone that in another place or time could be your best friend. Only in the most extreme circumstances is war or violence an option.

3. Please do not take these comments personally. I am trying to edit some of the stuff that I say just in case someone is reading my blog and decides to do something to me, but to remain truthful to my self, I must convey everything that I feel that I see. The comments in no way refer to my friends, whose friendship I value very much.

So look at my blog and decide for yourself what you think. Feel free to comment, but know that I am not reading a textbook or a news clip or propaganda about the conflict here, I am seeing it.