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Saturday, June 23, 2007 apartheid... [[Hebron]] ... still exists. Beautiful vineyards die because Palestinian farmers don't have access to their land. Roads close, leaving only ONE way, loaded with watch towers and surveillance cameras, to enter rural towns. Some checkpoints only allow Israeli license plates to pass through. The Wall-- LordaMercy, the Wall. Imagine those big grey walls that separate highways from people's backyards, except the wall encompasses a whole entire population. They say the Wall will be completed in a few months, which means the entire West Bank area completely enclosed. In the next 10 years, they expect Bethlehem to be just as dense as the Gaza Strip. Imagine never being able to leave the town you live in, unless you have "special permission" aka HELLA MONEY or are attending school/work. Imagine living on beautiful hillsides and farming on terraces that your family has worked on for thousands of years, then watching huge settlements being illegally built and getting taken to court simply for making a greenhouse tent. And CHECK THIS. Imagine living in an ancient city with fences and barbed wire ABOVE you because Israeli's created "illegal settlements" on top of your city and purposely aim water and garbage at you. And when Israeli/Jewish kids kick, hit, and disrespect you, you have to sit there and take it or else the soldier, who is standing right there watching you, will arrest you if you fight back. Today I went to Hebron and visited the Ibrahimi mosque, the Old City, and drove along the countryside between Bethlehem and Hebron. It was beautiful, minus the Wall, barbed wire fences, military tanks, and watch towers. We met with the "Temporary International Presence in Hebron" (TIPH) and the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee. The TIPH is an organization that both the Palestinian and Israeli government asked for. They are there to provide reports on incidents, patrol the area, and help provide ways for sustainable development. The sad thing is, their reports are not open to the public, and the questions asked of the Israeli gov't are often unanswered. The Rehab committee won an award for Reconstruction of the Old City. They truly do amazing work on the buildings that were destroyed during the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in February 1994. They also work towards sustainable development, but are restricted to the terms of the Israeli gov't. The question is why. Why do Israeli's build illegal settlements purposely on "Palestinian land", (literally on top of or right next to,) when they could easily build on "their own" land? Why encompass the entire West Bank and prevent Palestinians from leaving? Why make it so hard for Palestinians to do things as simple as fixing a water pipe or having access to a faster route? The answer is the same reason why the U.S. invaded Iraq. The same reason why "random agricultural checks" stop people of color. The same reason why everyone in my group walked right past customs and I got held and questioned for an hour. "National Security." Or as the TIPH woman said, to make life more difficult than it already is. On a happier note, I smoked hookah again with the boys last night and we talked for hours.. about America, Americans, daily life, the Intifada, the separation between Christian/Muslim (10 years ago, they were all equal,) education, family, culture... I've been sleeping there the last few nights because Valentina (8y/o) asked me to sleep in her room. Her older sister is gone for 3 weeks and she's afraid to sleep alone, and she says, "I love you!" Their mom is SO sweet and makes embroidery dresses/purses/pillows/etc. Their family owns two shops on the street and the boys all work from 8am to 11pm-- crazy! I asked them how they felt about tourists, and they said they like them. They enjoy getting to know other cultures, (I'm assuming because they don't have the opportunities to experience them outside of the Wall.) The sad thing was Bethlehem was expected to be a major tourist city, but because of the Intifadas, the shops are empty. Basim and Wasim said that life now is much more quieter. They used to have curfews imposed by the Israelis and the sound of gunshots, rockets, and airplanes was a 24/7 thing. "It was kind of fun, there was always something to do," said Wasim (22y/o), "when I went to school in Egypt, I was like this is too quiet. I will go crazy." There are times I feel guilty about my freedom or embarrassed about my ignorance, but I have to respect how they can just laugh and joke about the crazy times they've lived through. Yesterday I walked around the Old City in Jerusalem with Heidi. David wasn't allowed past the checkpoint because he forgot his passport. We found the Wailing Wall and walked on top of the wall encompassing the Old City. We took pictures with Israeli soldiers carrying HUGE ass guns and saw a camel chillin outside the Jafa Gate. We're going back on Saturday with the group and a guided tour. We start Arabic classes on Monday- I'm soooo juiced. I feel WAY too much at home already. When I was talking to my host family last night, I said "The foreigners come in on Monday," (meaning the other 2 in the program,) and we laughed and laughed, and I STILL laugh today whenever I think about it. But for real, after long days of touring, we pull up to Itseeh street and it's home sweet home. I already know this this time will pass too fast and I will be sad as fuck to leave. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, July 05, 2007 a story from a story (from Paulo Coelho's Veronika Decides to Die) "A powerful wizard, who wanted to destroy an entire kingdom, placed a magic potion in the wall from which all the inhabitants drank. Whoever drank that water would go mad. "The following morning, the whole population drank from the well and they all went mad, apart from the king and his family, who had a well set aside for them alone, which the magician had not managed to poison. The king was worried and tried to control the population by issuing a series of edicts governing security and public health. The policemen and the inspectors, however, had also drunk the poisoned water, and they thought the king's decisions were absurd and resolved to take no notice of them. "When the inhabitants of the kingdom heard these decrees, they became convinced that the king had gone mad and was now giving nonsensical orders. They marched on the castle and called for his abdication. "In despair, the king prepared to step down from the throne, but the queen stopped him, saying: 'Let us go and drink from the communal well. Then we will be the same as them.' "And that was what they did: The king and the queen drank the water of madness and immediately began talking nonsense. Their subjects repented at once; now that the king was displaying such wisdom, why not allow him to continue ruling the country? "The country continued to live in peace, although its inhabitants behaved very differently* from those of its neighbors. And the king was able to govern until the end of his days." _______ The other night we had a lecture by Mr. Husam Jubran about his method of nonviolence training. What stuck out to me was how he said that Palestinians and foreigners usually don't agree on each other's terms of nonviolence and therefore, can not work side by side. When foreigners, fed by the media, came in and tried to tell the Palestinians, "don't use violence, we will teach you nonviolence," people like Mr. Jubran thought they were bullshit. In his eyes, they were using nonviolence the whole time; in the forms of graffiti, giving up their Israeli ID's, not paying taxes, etc. Though both sides choose to not pick up arms and equally require the same amount of organization and networking, the way they go about their movements seems "crazy" to each another. Westerners understand that in order to achieve a result, they must work WITH the system. Abide by and respect the law first, negotiate and reach a compromise later. Palestinians, on the other hand, struggle to BREAK this circle of obedience, before they are completely run off their own land. [["the right to return home is inalienable."]] Our comfort zones, our social values, our government's laws, our media's propaganda, are the poison's in our water. Our water, the water of the West, is that which is privileged. The water of Palestine is under occupation. Going back to Mr. Jubran's lecture. Even if I drank from the Palestinian well, if I studied the history and lived with the Palestinian culture for years, this fight will never be mine. So many foreigners have died, been held hostage, and dedicated their lives to the cause-- but what did it do? Nothing, except give a bad rep. Palestine is still under occupation. (From what I've learned,) what creates change is a growth in demand and/or friction. Chico Mendez stood in front of trees to preserve the work and land of his people. Gandhi made and ate his own salt to boycott his colonizer. Though these acts may seem small to some, illegal to foreigners, and crazy as portrayed by the media, they are actually breaking the cycle of obedience (Mr. Jubran's term.) This slows the superpower's process in achieving their masterplan. Not to say that foreigners and the media can't help at all. They help in bringing some kind of attention, good and bad, to an issue. However, the bottom line is this: Foreigners CANNOT just walk in and tell a culture what they're doing wrong or how to fix their problems. (activists-nonviolence, doctors-hygiene, Mormons-salvation... If it ain't broke, don't fix it!) What foreigners fail to understand and what the media fails to portray is that each culture utilizes its own intuition to achieve its OWN desired result within the complexity of its OWN conflict. The lesson is this: before you criticize a "corrupt" government, a group of "terrorists," a "madman"; take into account the water from which they drink. Or as Dr. Poethig says, "be aware of your convictions." I am a hypocrite. I judge people, I make hasty rationalizations. I'm only human. People thought it was dangerous, stupid, "crazy," for me to come out here.... With that said, I will end this blog by going back to Paulo Coehlo's story... ______ "I want to continue being crazy, living my life the way I dream it, and not the way other people want it to be. Do you know what exists out there..?" "People who have all drunk from the same well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, July 19, 2007 ... coz i have to... " it's not much of a life.. it's not a life at all. we do nothing, sit in a cafe for hours. we can't leave without getting asked for our ID's, stopped at checkpoints, we hear the guns every night. every night. it never stops. " -has it gotten any better at all? " it only gets worse. " ____ There is truly NOTHING you can possibly say in response to a Palestinian who looks you in the eyes and speaks these words with such intensity. Especially when they're the same age as you, smile the same smile you, have the same thirst for life and adventure as you. I've been here a month and have yet to come up with anything to say back. All I can do is remember their eyes and their words, pray for them, and tell their stories to whoever else will listen. Not cause I want to, but cause I have to. People need to know. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, July 31, 2007 Leaving Egypt, entering Israel after a week in Jordan and Egypt FIVE HOURS!!!! (and reflection) (3 hours after interrogation, a bit tired of sitting around.) "Why are you standing there?" -Just waiting for you to finish talking. "What, I can talk now." -The last bus to Jerusalem is at 4pm. "So?" -So I'm wondering when I can leave. "When the security process is finished." -When will it be finished? "I can't tell you." -Why am I being put through a security process? "I can't tell you." -Why not? "I don't WANT to tell you." (2 hours later, at exactly 4pm, they let me go with no explanation, whatsoever.) I called the embassy some time during all this and all they said was that it's normal security procedure but for some reason mine was taking particularly long. I watched HELLA people go through their "security procedure," wait 30-60min, then leave. I never wanted to throw my cellphone at someone's head so bad in my life. I'm assuming it has to do with me staying in Bethlehem for 2 months and learning Arabic. I was extremely polite the whole time and truthful. The other people being held back were Palestinian families, people with political backgrounds, and people who said they were going to visit Bethlehem. Security my ass. Racism's a bitch. _____________________ Back in the West Bank (after a few days of calming down and reflecting...) What I experienced that day was merely a taste, 1/1000, of the shit Palestinians have to live through. The anger at the Israeli holding my passport, the frustration at her lack of sense/humanity, the hopelessness of the system that labels and does injustice. 5 hours is nothing compared to waiting 10 hours just to travel around the West Bank, or DAYS just to leave Gaza. And I was lucky enough to be released, whereas many Palestinians just get turned around. I was regularly phoning George back at Siraj during it all, and he was convinced that they were either going to not let me back in Israel, or only give a week-long visa. Luckily I walked away just fine. I'm going to France next week to visit my family-- I'm almost positive that I'll get the same if not worst problems leaving/coming in. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Friday, August 03, 2007 "the right to return home is inalienable." Heard a lot of opinions, in person/writing/film, read a lot of news/propaganda. Bottom line is every Palestinian has hope. Hope that one day they can "return to their land." To some, this means their homes that have been sold to Israelis, to others it means rebuilding homes that have been demolished. For the rest, it means obtaining their right to travel freely, see their families, drive on roads that have been closed. They have the ownership papers to their land and homes, they have generations of family farming on their land. And they refuse to give up, they refuse to settle for the current conditions. But they do admit it will take a long, LONG time. Can't help but imagine if something like this happened to us, meaning, "U.S." What if California, (with its demographics rapidly changing to that of the young&brown rather than the current middleaged&white) was designated to be the "national homeland" of an oppressed people. Immigrants start pouring in, with financial aid and military force incomparable to our own, all residents evacuated to Mexico or other parts of the world. We'd be forced to sit there and watch strangers claim our land as their's, call our foods and customs their own, and those left in California forced to live without rights and labelled "terrorist" for attempting to hold on to what was rightfully our's to begin with... Maybe then, a few more people would care about what's going on in Falastin. |
