Taking a break

Take a break from what? I certainly haven't been blogging too frequently, justifying a break from that, I know.

PSE and subsequently, my full-time job responsibilities, finished on Wednesday of this week. Since then, I have been taking a break by following my own agenda of things I wanted to accomplish before leaving--tomorrow.


One priority, and a staple in my summer experiences: painting the Wall. This is something I have done in past years, as well; this time, though, is by far the most elaborate effort I have put into a contribution to the Wall.

I will be back soon, wrapping up with many thoughts about the summer, but for now, here is a video. Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.

PSE Update: Session 2 - Week 2

PSE 2010 Already Past Halfway Point!

Time flies when you’re having fun,” as they say, and this second session of Palestine Summer Encounter 2010 is certainly representative of that old aphorism. Somehow we have already completed the first half of the second session, which also means PSE 2010 is more than half complete!

Another week has just breezed by, full of constant programming, exposing PSE participants to the Palestinian culture and to the diversity of perspectives that occupy the minds of people living in the region.

To begin the week, the group took in a lecture from former Bethlehem University professor Adnan Musallam on the history of Palestine. Dr. Musallam brought participants up to speed on the history of the Middle East and the Zionist-Arab conflict to enhance their understanding of the present context in which they find themselves living. Dr. Musallam will continue with additional informative lectures in the remainder of the session on the topics of Palestinian Identity and Palestinian Politics, equipping the participants to understand this land and its people in a much deeper way.

For a guest speaker, mid-week, the group boarded an Israeli-plated bus and travelled just a few kilometers south of Bethlehem to Ephrat settlement. There, participants spent two hours listening to the perspective of an Israeli settler and asking extensive questions to attempt to understand his perspective and reconcile it with all that they have experienced during their time living under Occupation in the West Bank. Participants left the meeting noticeably frustrated at the answers they had received but also grateful for the opportunity to learn more about a settler’s opposing perspectives on peace and security.

For programming aimed at the continued exposure of participants to Palestinian culture, the group continued their debkah training, preparing for a performance they will give at the end of the session for the entire program and many of their host families and new friends of the area. On Thursday, the group got a necessary taste of the culture as they took part in a cooking lesson on how to prepare the Palestinian staples falafel and hummus, held at Afteem Restaurant. What could be more like a native Telhami (Bethlehemite) than frying your own falafel in Manger Square!

On Friday, a majority of participants decided to attend the weekly demonstration in Bil’in village, some of them for the second time and others as the first protest they had attended in the West Bank. It was educational for those who are just hearing for the first time of the nonviolent resistance movement in Palestine, contrary to the violent depictions, even demonization, of all Palestinians in Zionist Western media; and, for those who have been here a while, it was an opportunity to engage in the struggle alongside Palestinians and stand as a witness to the injustice of Occupation. Afterward, the group cooled off by visiting the Taybeh beer brewery again and enjoying “the finest in the Middle East.”

To wrap up the week with an exposure trip, the group left the West Bank and headed into Israel proper and Occupied Syria (the Golan Heights) for a mix of sightseeing and politics. First the group visited the Sea of Galilee, taking a boat ride across the Sea and taking in a few of the historical and religious sites in towns along the coast. After lunch and a dip in the Sea, the group headed North to the Golan. After spending the night engaging in the universally shared and loved activity—football (World Cup) watching—the group heard a new perspective regarding what life is like for Syrians under Occupation in the Golan. Though Occupation looks very different in the Golan, the group heard a number of familiar characteristics regarding the inequalities institutionalized between the Arab residents and Israeli citizens of the State. Quite shocking was the clarity of the ethnic cleansing that took place in 1967, reducing the Arab population from 130,000 to 6,000, and the statistics of their water situation; though their water supply was plentiful, they now pay 3.8 times the amount that Israeli settlers in the Golan pay, and the Israeli government has even started charging them for the rainwater they collect to water their crops!

On the final political stop of the weekend, the group met with Duroob, an organization in Yarka village, which trains leaders to shape Arab society within Israel to be able to effectively respond to the problems of the racist State of Israel, the State that came to them and imposed itself upon them but refused to give them rights. Hearing the Israeli-Arab perspective added a new facet to the participants’ understanding of the conflict—realizing that not only are the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and the Syrians in the Golan under Occupation, but also the Arabs (Palestinians) living within Israel are facing a whole entire set of their own problems regarding the institutionalized racism and attempted cultural vitiation against Arabs in Israel.

Finally, heading home to Bethlehem, the group stopped in Haifa to see the Baha’i Gardens and then in Caesarea to view Roman aqueducts and take a quick walk on the Mediterranean beach—a bittersweet activity when coupled with the realization that participants’ host families cannot experience the same joys of the ocean breeze and waves because they cannot obtain permission from the Israeli government to visit.

This summer has been exceptional and as a result has seemed to fly by. The coming week and a half finishing out Session 2 will bring more perspectives into view and likely, if events hold true, continue to be challenging and rewarding for everyone involved.

Hydro-Terrorism and So-Called "Security"

“If you think about the Israeli PR line, it’s short, it’s sweet, it’s simple; it has all the key words. And, it can be said in one sentence that takes about 10 seconds to say. What is the Israeli PR line? All the things you hear Israel ever say—it all comes down to one thing. [Me: “Security.” I can boil it down to just one word!] ‘Israel is a small, Jewish democracy, fighting for its life against Palestinian or Arab Muslim terrorists.’ Done. There you go. That is the official PR line of Israel; everything that Israel does is all based on that—on security, on this PR line. And it’s really good. It sounds good to the Western ear, right?—especially since the terror attacks today—the world is pretty Islamaphobic—and you know it has all the good words: Muslim, terrorist sounds right . . . only democracy in the Middle East . . . these poor Jews after the Holocaust . . . it’s really catchy and it’s been working for years, it’s been working for years.”

[ICAHD tour in Ma’ale Adumim settlement, 27 June 2010]

Security. It sounds simple enough, sounds valid enough. Everyone should have the right to be secure and safe. But, as it was probably easy to guess, I am about to question the validity of invoking the plea of “Security!” This is just one personal narrative out of millions of persons with thousands of stories each that could be used to challenge this oft-cited, easily refutable premise:

One week ago, I returned home to Bethlehem to my apartment to find that I had no running water. Having spent all day traipsing around the West Bank in temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the one thing I had looked forward to doing before going to bed was showering. But, that night I couldn’t.

Actually, it wasn’t just that night. I woke up the next morning; still no water. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday . . . what’s going on? . . . Thursday, Friday, Saturday . . . and finally Sunday—one week, nearly to the hour—I returned home again, and for the first time in those seven days, water came spurting out of my bathroom faucet.

Where was my water for a week? I did not have water because my family’s water tanks were empty for four days, and then, when the family attempted to install a new water tank for my apartment, the plumbing was not connected correctly, and water did not run to fill the new tank.

Water tanks . . . what? The short version: As is the case with all aspects of the Palestinian economy, Israel has continually put systems in place to bring the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) into dependence on Israel so that it can profit from Occupation. Today, nearly all running water available in the West Bank (and Gaza) is supplied through the Israeli national water company, Mekorot. Unlike the water system within Israel proper and the West Bank settlements (Israeli colonies), water is not continuously available to Palestinians. Water flows freely in Israeli homes 24/7, but Palestinians rely on a system of collecting water in large tanks on their roofs whenever the water is turned on, which happens on a sporadic basis, and utilizing the stored water in the periods during which running water is not available (what I will call “dry periods”).

The family of five with whom I live was worried that with the addition of an extra water-consumer drawing on their water tanks, they would be more likely to run out of water during the dry periods, so they purchased a additional tank for the roof of the house. Their concerns were confirmed when our last drop of water disappeared one week ago. For four days, we were totally without water because our tanks were empty and the dry period—which had been going on for about two weeks—had not been broken. Finally, the water did return, but, having not been able to test if the tank was connected correctly since there was no running water, it was not until then that we discovered the new lines to my new tank were malfunctioning; my tank remained unfilled, and my apartment, waterless, for three more days.

I was without running water in my apartment for seven full days. I am baffled as to how this situation can possibly be attributed to a need for Israel’s security. How could the Israeli PR line possibly answer this?

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Let’s talk facts:

I have heard 10-day-cycles, I have heard of periods when water has been off for longer than two weeks, even longer than 20 days at a time. Fact is, the length of dry periods is totally arbitrary. Water, essence of human life, is ironically like the Messiah: no one knows the day or time it will come back. We just wait and hope. The only thing we know for sure is that we are out; we do not know when we will be able to fill the tanks again.

Israel’s consumption of water is outrageously disproportionate to that of Palestinians. Listen to these statistics:

• The average renewable quantity of freshwater available in Israel and the OPT per year is slightly over 2.4 billion cubic meters, of which 90% is allocated to Israel (65% of the total population) and just over 10% to Palestinians (35% of the population).
• As of 2005, Palestinians in the OPT received an average of less than 100L per capita per day for all uses; this is far less than the 150L per day recommended by the World Heath Organization as a minimum per capita water availability. (The average Israeli used 353L, over 3.5 times the amount Israel allows Palestinians.)
• In 2009, Israelis used 240 cubic meters of water per year while West Bank Palestinians used 75 and Gazans used 125. In some areas of the West Bank, Palestinians are surviving on as little as 10-15L per person per day, which is at or below humanitarian disaster response levels recommended to avoid epidemics.
• The fresh water usage per capita in Israel is four times that of Palestinians. Israeli settlers living illegally in the OPT use up to nine times the volume provided to Palestinians per capita.
• 95% of the Western Mountain Aquifer, one of the main sources of water for Israelis and Palestinians, is located in the West Bank, but 80% of the discharge of water is in Israel; 100% of the Eastern Mountain Aquifer is within the West Bank, but 40-50% of the discharge is in Israel.
• Israelis pay 2 shekels per cubic meter of water; Palestinians in the OPT pay 4 shekels.
• Agriculture accounts for 3% of the Israeli GDP but the industry uses 60% of the water. Israeli use of water within the West Bank is mostly agricultural, though most of the Palestinians in the West Bank are farmers—this is not true for Israelis. Using the water and lands stolen from Palestinians, Israeli settler farmers grow oranges and avocados for export to Europe.
• As a result of the Oslo “Peace” Process, Palestinians in Area C are subject to the Israeli Civil Administration’s procedures for development of their own land and thus have to request permits for developing water structures. However, permits are often rejected, and the average permit award time is longer than 27 months. Even projects that would have been funded by the World Bank to improve much needed water structures have been unable to be completed due to Israel’s denial of permits.

The disparate allocation of water is quite obviously morally suspect, and in fact, much of Israel’s exhibited control over Palestinian water resources is condemnable under international humanitarian law.

4th Geneva Convention (4GC), Section III, Article 55: “To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population . . . . Subject to the provisions of other international Conventions, the Occupying Power shall make arrangements to ensure that fair value is paid for any requisitioned goods.” Israel ratified and signed the 4GC, yet its practices are clearly in violation. Palestinians are receiving dangerously low amounts of water in some places while Israelis enjoy as much water as they could possibly want, whenever they want, for half the price. Israel is certainly not paying the PA or the PLO or any individual Palestinians for the appropriation of their water; actually, the situation is the opposite: water is pumped out of the West Bank aquifers into Israel, and then sold back to Palestinians with the Israeli government taking in the profits.

4GC, Sec. III, Art. 54, paragraph 3(b) obliges Israel as the occupying force to use Palestinian water resources only to the extent necessary for the maintenance of the military occupation; it does not permit the reallocation of occupied resources for the occupier’s civilian population. Israel reallocates water from the West Bank and uses it for Israeli citizens in Israel proper. Additionally, this water is channeled to Israeli settlers within the West Bank.

If I may make a few tangential remarks for a moment—under 4GC, Sec. 2, Art. 49: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” Ergo, the Israeli “settlements” or colonies in the West Bank are also illegal under international law. This creates an interesting situation regarding which rules Israel decides to follow and which it does not. Under Israeli law, the State will not pay for water lines to be built to supply illegally-built properties (i.e. properties which are built without the impossible-to-obtain permits of the building authority). Families living in “illegal” structures in East Jerusalem, therefore, have to build their own (illegal) water lines to bum water from their neighbors who are connected to the Israeli water grid. While Israel considers this activity illegal, it funds the extension of the water lines to its settlements in East Jerusalem, right next to the unsupplied Palestinian neighborhoods. Though Israel formally “annexed” East Jerusalem when it occupied it in 1967, no nation in the entire world (even the U.S.!) recognizes East Jerusalem as a legitimate part of Israel; it is undisputedly classified as occupied territory. Here exists a case study of how the Israeli government is willing to follow its own whims but not international laws (despite its affirmation of those laws at their outset).

4GC, Sec. III, Art. 53: “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons . . . is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.” Israel, the occupier, should be providing the needed infrastructure which occupied civilians need to live healthy lives. Not only does Israel not provide this infrastructure, it does not allow others to provide it, and when it is built without Israel’s approval, it is actively destroyed. This destruction is in clear violation of the 4GC. The Israeli “Defense” Forces and radical Israeli settlers (who have all served in the army at some point) have taken part numerous times in the destruction of Palestinian property, including water infrastructures built by Palestinians or foreign aid organizations.

In humanitarian law, prisoners are given essential rights. 4GC, Sec. IV, Chapter II, Art. 85: “Internees shall have for their use, day and night, sanitary conveniences which conform to the rules of hygiene, and are constantly maintained in a state of cleanliness. They shall be provided with sufficient water and soap for their daily personal toilet and for washing their personal laundry . . . .” Why cite an international law about conditions for prisoners, though? De facto, Palestinians are prisoners: there are guards all around, the borders and movement within are constricted, nothing is let in without permission of outside authorities, no one is allowed to leave without the permission of those authorities. If you look at a map of the West Bank and Gaza, it looks like the Palestinians have a lot of land, like they must be in control. Well, if you look at the layout of a prison, it looks like the inmates have a lot of space, like they must be in control. They have the cells, the library, the cafeteria, the showers, the courtyard; all the guards have is a few towers and offices. Palestinians have Area A (major cities), roads, houses, fields; all the Israelis have is some closed military security zones, nature reserves, settler-only roads, checkpoints, watchtowers, military bases, and a Wall. Look at a map and it will look like Palestinians have lots of land. That is, depending on what map you are looking at—in actuality 44% of the West Bank is closed to development by Palestinians. Try looking at this map for a better understanding of facts on the ground.

In reality, the OPT are a prison; an open-air prison, but a prison nonetheless. Since Palestinians are prisoners, they should be receiving sufficient “sanitary conveniences that conform to the rules of hygiene.” Is this the case if the water is shut off for weeks at a time? I assure you, in my experience, my bathroom became anything but hygienic for the week I had no water. Imagine not flushing your toilet for a week. Imagine not washing your hands after using the toilet. Imagine not showering for a week. Anything but hygienic. (Note: I was able to shower during the week by visiting my neighbors who still had water left in their tanks and allowed me to use their bathroom.) If somehow you do not agree to the classification of Palestinians as prisoners, should they not still at least be entitled to the same level of hygiene that prisoners are under international law? Whether you award them prisoner-status or not, is it right to keep them from the basic hygienic need of water?

Moving to another set of international humanitarian laws, Protocol I of the 4GC, specifically regarding the “Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts”—Part I, Art. 55: “Care shall be taken in warfare to protect the natural environment against widespread, long-term and severe damage.  This protection includes a prohibition of the use of methods or means of warfare which are intended or may be expected to cause such damage to the natural environment and thereby to prejudice the health or survival of the population.” (Note: Protocol I to the 4GC was ratified in 1977 and was not signed by Israel though it is an extension of the 4GC to which they did agree. I suppose that they figured there was no point in blowing smoke and pretending they were going to follow this one this time, so they just did not bother signing.) Now for this item, I am torn: shall I talk about the 1.5 million tress uprooted for the Apartheid Wall, or should I spend time on the groundwater pollution to the Mountain Aquifer caused by Israel not allowing sewage treatment plants to be built, or what about the water quality nearly reaching the “black line” in the Sea of Galilee due to settlers’ unchecked water use for agriculture, or perhaps the Israeli chemical factories in Tulkarem District moved to the Palestinian side of the Wall to only release their carcinogenic toxins on the Palestinians instead of Israelis? There is too much to address, it seems.

4GC Protocol I, Part IV, Sec. I, Chap. VI, Art. 63: Paragraph 1: “In occupied territories, civilian civil defence organizations shall receive from the authorities the facilities necessary to the performance of their tasks.” Para. 2: “The Occupying Power shall not compel, coerce or induce civilian civil defence organizations to perform their tasks in any manner prejudicial to the interests of the civilian population.” Para. 4: “The Occupying Power shall neither divert from their proper use nor requisition buildings or material belonging to or used by civil defence organizations if such diversion or requisition would be harmful to the civilian population.”  What is one main “civil defence organization”? Fire Departments. It just so happens that this past week, as I was sitting at work grumbling about not being able to flush my toilet, a lot of smoke began coming in through our open window. Wandering outside to see what was causing it, I found the field next to our office building on fire. Firemen were there to attend to the brush fire, but when I arrived outside, they had stopped working; their hose was limp; there was no water. They just watched the field, smoldering. Thankfully, besides the nuisance of the smoke, the fire did not cause any further problems for the residences adjacent to the field as it burnt itself out.

By now, most people must be thinking, “This is obscene! Why is Israel doing this?!” Simply put, my belief and the belief of many others who have witnessed all of these things firsthand for long periods of time: Israel wants life to be unbearable so that Palestinians will leave. Most people with their wits about them would call this ethnic cleansing, and rightly so. Israel is aware that nowadays, the world community frowns on ethnic cleansing and would create a pesky fuss if the State went about it again in an outright fashion, expelling Arabs from their homes and replacing them with Jewish people. (Oh wait, that is happening anyway. Good thing that is just a civilian initiative . . . oh wait, it isn’t. Maybe the world won’t get too upset?. . .) Whether Israel can manage to get away with explicit ethnic cleansing or not, it is simply better PR to have a slow, systematic cleansing where it appears that the Arabs just decide to leave of their own will, no one to blame, certainly not Israel. With the impossibility of freedom of movement, of suffrage, and of a livelihood, why would anyone choose to stay? That is exactly what Israel is counting on, and once the Palestinians are gone, Israel will actually then have legitimacy as “a land without a people for a people without a land.” Never mind why the land is without a people.

If I am right about the reason behind why Israel is doing all of this, let me just call on one more piece of law—Part IV, Sec. I, Chap. 3, Art. 54, Para. 2: “It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as food-stuffs, agricultural areas for the production of food-stuff, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works, for the specific purpose of denying them for their sustenance value to the civilian population or to the adverse Party, whatever the motive, whether in order to starve out civilians, to cause them to move away, or for any other motive.” There are probably innumerable other violations that could be cited, but this is what I found in a cursory investigation. This is an ingenious new way to use water: rather than using water for traditional cleaning, they are using the withholding of water for ethnic cleansing. Very clever!

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About 2400 words ago, I was expressing my puzzlement as to how my 7-day lack of water could ever be attributed to a need for Israel’s security. That is their PR line, after all; everything is done in the name of security.

Israel has demonstrated a complete disregard for law and for humanity, unless of course, it is for its Jewish citizens. What is this type of system called where only the rights of one ethnic group are protected? This is not “security.” This is Apartheid. There is no security threat in allowing Palestinians have access to their own water 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. There are two separate sets of rules for two different people groups. Separate and by no means even remotely equal.

Having water is not a security issue; it is an issue of being able to live. In order for Israel to consider providing access to water to Palestinians a security issue, it must consider the survival of Palestinians—their continued existence—a threat to the State of Israel. Given all of the evidences of ethnic cleansing I have witnessed over the past three years, I would venture that this is indeed the stance of the Israeli government and many radical citizens of Israel. The only question that remains is when Israel will stop tip-toeing around with systems of ethnic cleansing and Apartheid and just implement the “Final Solution.”

Besides being completely outlandish as a cover-up for an Apartheid system, the “security” narrative is completely illogical.

If you cage a lion and do not want it to cause you any problems, do you: 1) jab it with a stick, tormenting it until it rises into a fury, or 2) give it enough food (and water) so that it feels content and won’t feel a need to try to attack you?

Extreme suppression (what would certainly be called “terrorism” from the oppressed side of the narrative), foments terrorism. When you back someone into a corner and strip them of all hope, what do they have to lose by lashing out violently?—nothing. Sweep your own suppression under the rug and reframe as “terrorism” the violent retaliation of the oppressed in an attempt at self-preservation, then simply insert a scapegoat—“radical theology” will do—and there you have Israel, Palestine, and the reframing of facts into fear: Islamophobia.

“Terrorism” is quite a subjective term. Terrorism can mean people who detonate explosives in civilian areas. But what about a Force that conducts nightly raids in villages, setting off sound grenades and charging into people’s homes, breaking their property, humiliating the men of the family by making them undress outdoors, beating them, stealing from them, and arresting people, removing them to prison where they will be held without legal counsel while facing “enhanced interrogation” (i.e. torture)? How about a Force that fires military-grade tear gas at civilians when approached from across a “Security Barrier,” setting fires to fields while firing hundreds of hot tear gas canisters into dry grasses at unarmed civilian demonstrators? And, a person who shoots holes in a civilians’ water tank, rendering it useless and leaving the family waterless? A person who poisons a civilians' only well so they have no access to drinking water? A person who slashes civilians’ irrigation pipes so that farmers’ crops will be parched and wilt away in the desert sun? If the intent of terrorism is to intimidate and coerce, then what are these but acts of terrorism, aimed at driving Palestinians away—making them fear they have no hope for a future if they remain.

I am living in a place where I don’t know if I am going to be able to shower, flush my toilet, wash my hands, clothes, or dishes tomorrow because I don’t know whether the one pulling the strings over on the other side of the Green Line will feel like letting me have access to water or not. Is this not terrorism? While I endure this, my “neighbors” in Har Homa, Gilo, and Ephrat have swimming pools, fountains, watered lawns, green and colored foliage adorning their streets and sidewalks, and beautiful slanted red roofs without a single tank in site. This is genteel torture. This is hydro-terrorism under the guise of security.

America is Israel’s til-death-do-us-part partner in just about every arena. Not only do we share exorbitant amounts of money with Israel, but also our population (it is overwhelming how many Israelis, especially settlers, are Americans by birth), and our paranoia over the need for security. Ironically, America does not become more secure by supporting Israel, and its support of Israel is really self-defeating in the security arena. Our unconditional support of Israel makes us less secure because it is a huge contributor to the complete extirpation of our reputation in the world. If you need convincing, Robert Wright can explain better than I.

Two peoples: two systems. Apartheid means “separateness,” and that is what this water situation flushes out. Israelis have constant water access at lower prices, and Palestinians have very limited water access at higher prices. Framing this as an issue of “security” is a complete farce. It is series of breaches of international law: hydro-terrorism against the Palestinian people. If these practices relate to security at all, they certainly do not increase security, but only heighten the likelihood of violent responses from the oppressed, who, feeling as if they are in a strangle-hold, desperately gasping for breath, will resort to anything to weaken the grip of the Oppressing State to be able to catch a gulp of air . . . or desperately parched with thirst, to catch a mouthful of water.

Resources:

• General Secretariat of the PLO (negotiators with Israel): Water
• Friends of the Earth Middle East
• World Bank report on restrictions on Palestinian water development: April 2009 & August 2009 Update
• Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949.
• Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977. 

PSE Update: Session 2 - Week 1

Palestine Summer Encounter Session 2 Off to a Great Start

The second session of the seventh Palestine Summer Encounter program has had an exciting and energetic beginning. This session, 22 new participants have joined the program, and with those remaining from Session 1, the total number of participants has reached a new high: 35. This session brings in new participants from the United States, Canada, England, Ireland, and Australia in addition to the nationalities already represented within the group, adding another dimension to the international experience of the program.

After a short break for the Session 1 participants and orientation for the Session 2 group, the groups united for a joint weekend trip to the Northern West Bank. In one long and informative day, the group visited the Tulkarem District and the city of Jenin.

To begin the tour, the group visited Baq’a village with a local guide who explained the area’s struggle against the Israeli Separation Wall which attempted to confiscate their lands and water resources. The guide exposed the arbitrary nature of international partitions of the land, taking the group to view how the Wall, which was successfully pushed back out of the West Bank to the Green Line (Armistice Line) by protesting and a decision from the Israeli High Court, divides the village of Baq’a, effectively killing the commerce of the once bustling market, dividing family members from each other, and farmers from their agricultural lands.

Also in the Tulkarem District, the group observed the chemical factories deemed too hazardous for Israel that have been dropped down on the Palestinian side of the Apartheid Wall—the cause of the highest rate of cancer in the West Bank there in the surrounding area. It was shocking for participants to hear the inhumanity of the procedure for these factories to operate only the 325 days out of the year during which the winds of the region blow eastward—ordered by Israeli courts to not operate for the 40 days of the year that the winds blow westward, into Israel, potentially spreading their harmful toxins toward the Israeli population instead of the Palestinians.

In Jenin, the group visited Jenin Refugee Camp, site of the controversial “Jenin Massacre” of 2002. Participants met with an NGO which provides counseling services to women and children of the camp who have been traumatized by the Israeli “Defense” Force wanton home demolitions and nightly incursions into the camp. Following that, the group next met with staff of The Freedom Theatre in the Camp. Zakariya Zubeidi, former leader of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, began the Theatre as a transition from violent to nonviolent cultural resistance, giving voice and empowerment to youth in the Camp. Participants had an opportunity to watch a production of a student of the Theatre and ask many questions of Zbaidi about his role and philosophy of resistance work.

The first full week hit a bit of a bump in the road as a meeting scheduled with Hanin Zoabi, Arab-Israeli Knesset member, had to be postponed; the group left Bethlehem only to be held up in the checkpoint, effectively eating up all of the time the group had to meet with Ms. Zoabi who was needed at a Knesset meeting and could not wait for the group after the long ramble through the checkpoint.

The schedule for the week quickly bounced back the next day, however, with a fantastic Debkah (Palestinian traditional folk dance) class, co-taught by Said Zarzar and Hanna Hazboun, members of the Diyar Dance Theatre in Bethlehem. Participants also resumed Arabic classes at the Bethlehem Bible College.

Wednesday, the group travelled the short distance to Dehiesheh Refugee Camp where they met with the Director of UNRWA for the camp but then heard a valuable first-hand perspective on life in the camp from a resident.

Thursday was an exciting event for the PSErs and staff as, in the spirit of the current World Cup, the participants took on members of the Holy Land Trust staff in a game of football at Oush Grab park in Beit Sahour. The participants made a valiant effort but were no match for the Palestinian footballers in the end. Thankfully, there were no hard feelings harbored, and the whole group enjoyed a dinner of traditional Palestinian zarb (roasted chicken) afterward.

Friday brought the first opportunity for participants to venture out and observe or participate in nonviolent demonstrations in the West Bank, but first, they were equipped with a nonviolent action training by veteran American-Israeli activist Bekah Wolf. Afterward, those participants who were interested, attended a nonviolent demonstration against the Wall in Wadi Rahal to see first-hand what one current form of resistance in Occupied Palestine looks like.

Wrapping up their first full week of Session 2, the group travelled to neighboring Jerusalem for a series of meetings with human rights organizations. First the group took an ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions) tour which was incredibly informative as it exposed them to the reality of ethnic cleansing in Occupied East Jerusalem. During the tour, the group also visited Ma’ale Adumim settlement where they witnessed the grossly disproportionate allocation of water to the settlers who enjoy watered lawns, a water supply that is never turned off, swimming pools, and even a giant fountain.

After the ICAHD tour, the group also met with Rabbis for Human Rights, and then with Joseph Dana, a representative of Ta’ayush—an Israeli activist organization that participates in many direct actions in the contentious South Hebron Hills. Along with Joseph, the group was privileged to welcome the well-known Jewish-American journalist Max Blumenthal. The two men were gracious to receive many questions from participants about politics and possibilities for future resolutions for the Conflict.

PSE Update: Session 1 Wrap Up

The first session of Palestine Summer Encounter has wrapped up and the second has taken off at full speed.

The participants of the first session had a full final two weeks as they undertook lectures on Christian Zionism, Judaism, and nonviolent direct action.

Participants learned about the theology of Christian Zionism from Reverend Alex Awad to aid their understanding of why so many Christians around the world are supporting Israel in the current conflict rather than the justice-seeking Palestinians—including their own Christian sisters and brothers from the land that birthed the religion. Reverend Awad shared pieces of his own personal encounters with Christian Zionism and helped the participants learn how to deconstruct the violent, racist theology and reconstruct a better theology in the service of justice and peace.

Marisa James, a rabbinical student and friend of Holy Land Trust through her work with the Encounter program (a program that brings rabbinical students studying in Jerusalem to stay with Palestinian families and see the other side of politics in the land), joined the PSE for a lecture on Jewish traditions and theologies. Participants gained more awareness of Jewish-Israeli culture and the history of Zionism, and were then able to ask many questions about how the theology of Judaism has been manipulated by some to support the ongoing Occupation.

Mazin Qumsiyeh rejoined PSE in the final week for another lecture, this time on the logistics of organizing nonviolent direct actions. Dr. Qumsiyeh spoke about his own numerous experiences in the field and led brainstorming with the participants on coming up with creative ways to nonviolently resist Occupation.

The PSE participants had the chance to meet with two PLO Representatives for negotiations as a guest speaker event. Ashraf Khatib and Javier Abu Eid joined PSE and informed the participants on the official status of negotiations from the Oslo period until today. The negotiators were able to offer insight into the negotiation process, and the participants kept the two speakers very late, asking numerous questions about the possibilities for future negotiations.

For the final cultural evening of the session, participants boarded a bus after Arabic class and rode together to the village of Jifna where they got to experience the village’s apricot festival. The highlight of the evening was watching a performance of Portraits of Fear by the Diyar Dance Theatre group, a modern debkah troupe from Bethlehem, including PSE’s own debkah trainers: Said Zarzar and Hanna Hazboun.

To conclude the session, participants travelled to Hebron as a group for another exposure trip. While in Hebron, the group first took a tour of the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs and walked through the Old City. Then participants met with Christian Peacemaker Teams, which does accompaniment work and reporting of human rights violations in the city. The CPTers gave the PSErs a tour of the city from the rooftop of their apartment building—pointing out the radically ideological Jewish settlements that have been planted right in the middle of the large, conservative Muslim city, as well as al-Shuhada Street—a prime example of Israeli Apartheid practices: the formerly-main thoroughfare in Hebron, now open only to the Israeli settlers. Following these visits, the group made a stop at a glass and ceramics factory to see examples of how these souvenirs, which are sold all over the country, are made. Finally, the group was on its way out of Hebron to visit Operation Dove in the village of at-Tuwani to hear about the work of that accompaniment organization, but at the last minute had to cancel due to radical Israeli settlers attacking the village in the morning and the Israeli military closing the area in response.

It was sad to watch a few participants say goodbye to their new homes, friends, and families in Palestine—at least for now—as their time with the program came to an end, but the group was also enthusiastic about welcoming a large number of new participants with the arrival of the second session. This first session of this seventh Palestine Summer Encounter was very full, so the participants enjoyed a few days of downtime, travelling around the country independently or just soaking up some rest at home in Bethlehem, while the second session participants arrived and started orientation. As exciting and informative as the first session was, we expect even greater things to come as the second session gets underway!

Artwork by participant of Session 1, J.A.

Another week, another protest

I know it's been a bit since I've blogged. I'm working on my next post now, actually, but spending quite some time on it. To bridge the long gap between posts, I have assembled this video from this past Friday's protest.

Be back soon.

PSE Update: Session 1 - Week 2

The second week of this summer’s Palestine Summer Encounter program has wrapped up, and we are on to the third. In the past week, participants have had exciting opportunities to encounter Palestinian nonviolent resistance, follow international headlines from right where they are happening, and continue expanding their understanding of Palestinian culture.

To begin the week, participants learned more about what it means to be flexible here when the attack on the Gaza aid flotilla occurred. As Palestinians organized all over the West Bank and Gaza, along with internationals here and abroad in their own communities, to protest the grievous violations of the Israeli military toward the Flotilla humanitarians, program activities were suspended giving PSErs the chance to observe and participate in these nonviolent protests if they chose. A number of participants took to the streets with Palestinians and other members of the international community to cry out against the attacks and the continuing illegal siege of Gaza.

The rest of the week continued as planned, though participants were keenly aware of the sparked political atmosphere—discussing politics with their coworkers at their volunteer placements, reviewing the recent events with their host families, and holding conversations amongst themselves about the meaning of the Israeli attacks.

Through the week, participants had an opportunity to meet with Nidal Abu Zuluf, one of the authors of the Kairos Palestine document, calling on Christians worldwide to take a stand for justice with the Palestinians against Occupation. For a cultural evening, participants were joined by a few staff of Holy Land Trust and Palestine News Network as they traveled to the Tent of Nations, a farm south of Bethlehem surrounded by illegal Israeli settlements. The Nasser family who owns the farm has been stuck in a legal battle in Israeli courts for decades, trying to hold on to their family lands, yet they continue to resist whole-heartedly and peacefully, through pursuing legal means and by turning their property into a collective space for peacemaking and cultural understanding. The group enjoyed a meal at the Tent around a campfire, accompanied by traditional Palestinian folk music—oud and tableh.

Before kicking off the weekend, participants attended a final lecture, hearing an overview of Islamic faith and holding a hard-hitting conversation with Abdul Rahman Abbad, a notable Islamic scholar of the region, on many of the negative perceptions held by Westerners regarding Islamic faith and practice. After the lecture, many participants headed off to the village of Bil’in to participate in the weekly demonstration there, having learned about the struggle of the people of the village against Israel’s land-grabbing “Separation Barrier” the previous week during a visit with the leader of the Committee of Popular Resistance. These participated to varying degrees in the protest, some standing back and observing, while others went forward and experienced the violent responses of the Israeli “Defense” Force, which included confronting much military-grade tear gas (illegal for use on civilians under international law). Taking a break before going home to Bethlehem, the group went to another Ramallah-District village, Taybeh, and enjoyed a tour of “the only microbrewery in the Middle East,” which of course included some free beer samples.

To wind down the action-packed week, the group took a brief tour of the Wall in Bethlehem, taking note of much of the beautiful and clever artwork, and then headed down to Jericho and the Dead Sea for an afternoon of relaxation, floating, and mud-coating.

This has been a week for participants to learn a lot, not just in the classrooms, but out on the streets and in the fields of Palestine. The budding activists among the group had opportunities to call out with numerous others passionate about justice in Palestine, and everyone had the opportunity to witness firsthand what the Western world never hears about—the continuous Palestinian nonviolent resistance to illegal, inhumane Occupation.