Settler harassment in Hebron and At-Tuwani

Blocked street, closed shops, settler trash

Harassment of Palestinians in Hebron is flagrant. The immediately visible signs are blocked streets on which Palestinians cannot ever travel, hundreds of Palestinian shops that have  been closed, and huge nets to catch all the trash and garbage thrown down on the Palestinian shopping  street from the Jewish families in the apartments above.

Sundos Al-Hada

Sundos Al-Hada, a 19-year-old Palestinian in the Youth Against Settlements group, knows at least one case of a person wounded by acid thrown down by the settlers. One settler put a stone in her younger brother's mouth in an attempt to kill him, but was never prosecuted. In a separate incident, a settler tried to run her brother down, then beat him, and told police it  was she who beat the settler. She was arrested for five hours.

Sundos told us there are 5,000 soldiers protecting the 400 Jewish residents in the old city of Hebron, and there are some kind ones and some  bad ones. The latter do anything they want; they  scare school children with sound bombs and attack teachers. The Youth Against Settlements run summer camps for kids who can never get out of their homes, fix up Palestinian homes, and lead non-violent demonstrations for freedom of movement.

David Wilder

I asked David Wilder, the pistol-packing U.S.-born spokesman for the Jewish community of Hebron, to comment on the pattern of persistent harassment identified by human rights organizations. He actually said the reports are not objective and overly exaggerated, because the groups are controlled  by Arabs! With respect to movement restrictions, he complained that he has access to only 3% of the city while Arabs have access to 97%  of it. He said Arabs and Israelis lived in harmony in Hebron before the 1929 massacre of 67 Jews, and that Jews "came home" starting in 1967. He told us Arabs shot into his house from the hills and narrowly missed killing his son. He said they found Arabs had desecrated a Hebron synagogue by using it as a sheep pen, and it took six months to clean it out. (The story reminded me of the appalling desecration of the church in Bassa by Jews using it as a cattle  barn, which we heard about yesterday.)  I welcomed David's comments that "I think we take too much money from the United States," and "I oppose the wall."

Village of At-Tuwani, with new school built by community at left, and Jewish settlement at right skyline

Hafez Hareni

In the sheep-raising village of At-Tuwani south of Hebron, non-violence leader Hafez Hareni told us that every family experiences violence and harassment from nearby Jewish settlers. Every day they harass children on their way to school, and every week there is a house or cistern demolition and cutting of olive trees. Settlers have poisoned more than 100 of their sheep. Hafez says the settlers are the most violent and aggressive of all, and conduct physical attacks on men, women, and children, trying to make life harder so they will leave. His first experience with them was when he was 12: settlers beat up his brother and he ran away. His community's non-violent demonstrations, legal work, and international pressure have had positive results: they stopped a separation wall from being built, and the High Court allowed 13 removed villages to come back. Hafez has been arrested for a month at a time after demonstrations, but he remains committed to the non-violent path. We met some international observers from Italy's Project Dove, who provide a protective presence.

Kefah Al-Ahdra

After we picked a few olives, we heard from Kefah Al-Ahdra that seven women of the village got together nine years ago to form a handicraft cooperative, which is looking for markets for its beautiful hand-embroidered products. She says this opened new horizons for the women, who have few rights, are poorly educated, and had traditional roles of working the land and raising families. Women of At-Tuwani linked arms a few years ago in a successful non-violent demonstration to ensure that an electric power project would not bypass their village. Then the women worked days and the men evenings to build the new school and health center, improving the community's quality of life.

I was impressed by the community's resilience and its non-violent approach, and promised to tell the story to all who would listen.

Militarism in Israel

Ruth Hiller

 I was moved to tears today by shocking images of Israeli children fondling submachine guns. Ruth Hiller, a U.S. born Israeli leader in the New Profile NGO, told us that Israel's whole education system is militarized, starting with exercises to count tanks and guns in kindergarten. New Profile works with teachers, educators, and youth groups to reduce the impact of militarized education. Ruth's two daughters served in the army, but all four of her sons finally won legal recognition as conscientious objectors and were exempt. The government tried to close New Profile three years ago for inciting people to refuse military service, but the High Court protected them. "We are considered one of the most dangerous organizations in Israel," she says. It would be treason to tell people not to serve, but it is not a crime to provide information on the process. New Profile gets 200 applications for information every month, and more and more youth are choosing not to serve.

Ruth says Israel spends 7.6% of its GDP on defense, compared with 2.8% in the United States. She says, "If we're going to demilitarize, we have to end the occupation--decolonize--and stop  being Zionists." More power to her. (No wonder the government considers her dangerous.)

Kobi Snitz

Seven years ago Palestinian civil society organizations appealed to the world to use boycott, divestment, and sanctions to move toward ending the occupation, ending discrimination against Palestinians in Israel, and letting Palestinians exercise the right of return. We heard today from Kobi Snitz, a U.S.-educated native Israeli neurobiologist active in an NGO called Boycott from Within. He said that cultural boycotts have a big effect, and his group has persuaded several prominent artists to cancel planned shows in Israel. Kobi says the law making it a civil offense to call for a boycott is being challenged in court, but it is  intimidating people who have had to remove things from their website. In terms of academic boycotts, the Israeli activists are calling for no institutional cooperation, not for a ban on articles or visits by individual professors.

Khalil Asi

Speaking of the right of return, in northern Israel, just a few miles from Lebanon, we visited Bassa, the site of one of the more than 500 Palestinian villages destroyed in the ethnic cleansing of 1948. Khalil Asi, who was born there, was just 11 when it happened. The town had 4,000 people, two-thirds of them Christians. Khalil says all of them, except for his family and nine others, sought refuge in Lebanon and eventually in Europe, the United States, and Canada.

Greek Orthodox church in Bassa

Khalil is Catholic, and he showed us the ruins of the Catholic church, the Greek Orthodox church, a common holy site of Saint George, and a house, which is about all that is left of Bassa, now surrounded by an industrial park. I was appalled when he told us that the Jewish kibbutzim had used the churches as cattle  barns, and he had to clean up manure from the floor that was about 20 inches deep. Khalil said he hopes that in his lifetime the Greek Orthodox church, which is in better condition, can be restored.

Altar in Greek Orthodox church

This visit made the Nakba real for me. I think Israel must formally accept responsibility for the damage. but in the case of Bassa there is no place there where the original inhabitants can move back. In any case, they should be entitled to some belated compensation, as Holocaust victims were. After all, the Holocaust and Nakba both amounted to ethnic cleansing.

Discrimination, Israeli style

The Haifa-based human rights group Adalah ("Justice" in Arabic) defends the rights of Palestinians living in Israel and those living in the occupied Palestinian territory. Adalah senior attorney Orna Kohn told us that her group fights discriminatory laws in both places. In some cases international remedies have been exhausted and the international community must intervene. She says the United States helps Israel ignore international law because it vetoes any anti-Israeli action.

Orna Kohn

Orna saya Adalah won a long court battle to require Israel to provide mother-child clinics for the Arab Bedouin citizens of Israel in the unrecognized villages in the Negev. Now the organization is giving high priority to fighting a pending bill that would lead to the forced displacement of tens of thousands of Bedouins. It is also continuing to fight discriminatory citizenship laws that leave thousands of people "in the impossible situation of temporary status that must be renewed all the time." Adalah is also working with land and planning rights; economic, social, and cultural rights; and prisoner rights.

Ahmed Odeh and family

Discrimination in education is a concern for Ahmed Odeh and his family, who are graciously hosting some of our delegation tonight in the mixed city of Akka (Akko in Hebrew), near Haifa. He says schools for Arab students are overcrowded and lacking in facilities, in sharp contrast to the schools for Jewish students. He also complains that Arabs are underrepresented for municipal jobs, and hold mainly menial ones. He organized  a demonstration that persuaded city authorities to allow traditional celebration of a Muslim festival earlier this year.

Nabil Alree

The Freedom Theater in Jenin Refugee Camp in the West Bank, which we visited this morning, is engaged in cultural resistance to discrimination and the occupation. Artistic director Nabil Alree told us he was jailed by Israeli authorities for 40 days on unfounded charges of killing his friend, the theater's founder Juliano Markamus. Four others from the theater have  been arrested. "The Palestinian Authority doesn't like us either," Nabil says. "We are independent, fighting for freedom."

Sunset at Akka harbor

Olive harvesting: a family affair

Today we enjoyed helping a Palestinian family harvest olives, sharing dinner with them and sleeping in their home. We also saw where the crop is processed and learned how it is sold.

Jalameh Checkpoint

To go to Jenin in the occupied territories (West Bank) from Nazareth in Israel, we had to pass through the  Jalameh Checkpoint. It was the first time all week that we had to show our passports, but we were waved through. We saw a few pedestrians coming out through the facility that according to the sign was upgraded by USAID. By law Israelis are not allowed to enter Zone A, but Palestinian Israelis do (not Jewish Israelis).

In the village of Burkeen near Jenin four members of our 32-member IFPB delegation joined Hatem Salamah, his brother Nasser, and several other members of their family to gather olives for about two hours. It was truly a family affair, with the men and boys beating the trees with poles while the women picked with their hands and the children helped gather olives from the tarps spread under the trees. The family harvests and prunes about 8 or 9 of its 80 trees in a single day. Unlike some other olive growers, they are not harassed by Israeli settlers damaging trees.

Nasser Abufarha with olive oil from the high-tech press

They deliver their olives for pressing and processing by Canaan Free Trade, which has a state-of-the-art plant with Italian equipment right in their town. The family benefits from the Palestinian Free Trade Association, which organizes cooperatives for 1500 small farmers to work collectively on organic quality, certification, and marketing in Europe and North America. Nasser Abufarha, director of Canaan and founder of PFTA, told us that Israeli authorities arrested him this year for  "organizing an illegal disturbance" at a fund-raising, awareness-building, tree-planting marathon. He says the olive farmers' main challenge is scarce and expensive water, because Israel refuses to grant permits for new wells in the West Bank, while Israeli farmers have cheap running water at all times. He adds that Israel's policy of creating a two-kilometer buffer zone around Israeli settlements in the West Bank, with many Palestinian olive trees in the zone, invites damage by settlers. Nasser says the farmers replace more trees than the settlers destroy, but they are hurt financially because it can take up to 15 years for the new trees to bear as much fruit. Export costs are higher because Israel forces the cargo to be offloaded from a Palestinian truck at the border crossing and transferred to an Israeli truck to go to the port.

Besides olive oil, the PFTA promotes exports of almonds and products made by women's cooperatives, such as couscous, sun-dried tomatoes, oregano, and soap.

Hatem's mother Nabuha

We had a delightful experience of typical Palestinian hospitality by an extended family of about 25 persons at dinner tonight. The matriarch was Hatem's mother Nabiha, who is about 100 years old. Several of them spoke English, and we spoke a bit of Arabic, so we had a great time. They told us they love the American people, but wish our government would provide  treat Palestinians better. We promised to do our best to spread the word. 

Building bridges, not walls

Samuel Barhoun

"Building bridges is more important than building walls." That's what we heard today from the Rev. Samuel Barhoun,  a Palestinian Israeli who is Arch Deacon of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and rector of the Holy Family Episcopal Church in Rene, a town near Nazareth in northern Israel. He told us about the Kids for Peace program, in which a dozen 12-year-olds (four Jews, four Christians, and four Muslims) meet weekly for a year in Rene, then go to the United  States for a week together. A similar group in Jerusalem goes to Canada. The emphasis is on human rights and cultural activities. What a great program! May it be expanded and replicated.

Susan Barhoum

Samuel's wife Susan, from Ramallah in the West Bank, is also a bridge builder, active in human rights issues. In fact, she completed the Building Bridges MBA program at Haifa University. She says that the 1.5 million Palestinians in Israel (20% of the country's population) face invisible walls of discrimination that must be broken down. She showed a video from the Abdalah human rights group about discrimination in employment, education, land, housing, development, even marriage. Children are afraid their mothers will be deported under the amendment to the citizenship law that bars non-Israeli Arab spouses from living in the country. Susan told us, "my children are afraid to dream, but I want them to dream."

Sima

"We always dream" said Sima, a chemistry student at the new Nazareth Academic Institute who met with us in Nazareth.  She said, "it's nice to have an Arab college here; it gives us confidence." The small college is now private, but charges low fees, and hopes to get funding from the central government agency. Most of the students are women.

Dov Avital

Typical home in Metzer Kibbutz

Earlier today we met another bridge builder, Uruguay-born Dov Avital, a leader of the Metzer Kibbutz, which was started from scratch in 1973 by young Argentines. How I wish that all Israelis and Palestinians could adopt the model of cooperation developed between Metzer and its neighboring Palestinian village, Mesa. Dov says despite differences in ideology, language, and culture, the two communities miraculously decided to look at each other as human   beings, not as stereotypes. They are united in a desire to  build a better future for their children. They share water, which is such a bone of contention in this region. They also share roads and a sewer system. They go to visit each others' homes at times of joy and sadness, even after a terrorist killed five people in Metzer in 2002. Dov says that despite the gate that was put up after the attack, Mesa residents are still welcome in Mesa, and many come in every day to work or shop in the kibbutz. Unfortunately we did not visit Mesa to hear their story.

Mosque in nearby Mesa village, as seen from Metzger

Dov says offers for closer ties with another Arab village on the other side of Metzer were rebuffed. He thinks it was a mistake to put the separation wall where it prevents them from getting to their fields or jobs. "If they cannot feed their children, they will fight," he says.

I had time after lunch to pray for peace in the magnificent Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, and to thank God for the people who are building  bridges instead of walls. It's true that flagrant human rights violations will  persist until Israel ends the occupation and accepts the Palestinians' right of return , but as I see it, every little bridge helps.

Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth

Signs of hope

Julia Chaitin

It was a heartening sign of hope to hear an Israeli peace advocate call for an end to violence by both Israel and Palestine. Julia Chaitin, a social psychologist born in the United States, has lived since 1973 in Urim Kibbutz in the Negev Desert, only eight miles from Gaza. Since rockets from Gaza often explode near her kibbutz--70 hit this week--and families are warned to stay in or near a safe room, Julia says "It drives you crazy; this is no way to live." One might think she would call for massive retaliation. No way. She is in One Voice,a grass roots group of people in Israel and Gaza who contact each other regularly, especially during the bombings, by phone, e-mail, and Facebook. The group just sent a letter urging the Prime Minister to "stop playing with our lives and begin talks with Hamas....We are tired of  being sitting ducks in the firing range that serves political interests." She says she became an activist because her parents instilled values of dignity, empathy, democracy, and social justice, and she realized that her government's policy does not meet those criteria.

Mural on new bomb shelter at Urim Kibbutz

Another sign of hope today. We drove past (but did not visit) the Oasis of Peace, a village of 50 families of Jews and Palestinian Arabs of Israeli citizenship living together in a community based on mutual acceptance, respect, and cooperation. Our guide Said told us that they had a hard time at the outset 35 years ago with criticism from their families, and the government did not give them access to electricity, water, and sewer for a long time because of its policy of discouraging co-existence. The Oasis of Peace has a web site (nswas.org) that tells about its School for Peace, Children's Education Program, and Pluralistic Spiritual Center. What a great example!

We saw the Erez Crossing, the only door to Israel for the 1.5 million Palestinians in the sealed prison called Gaza. Nobody came out while we were there, but the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says on average 152 have been allowed to leave each day this year. Back in 2000, the daily average was 26,000! Since then, Israel has prohibited entry unless the Gaza residents meet its criteria for a special permit.  Last month Israel's High Court ruled that Israel is not obligated to allow them to study in the West  Bank, and may treat them as "enemy citizens" for purposes of passage. One member of our delegation, a U.S. citizen, recalls they "toyed"with her for 3 hours when she went through Erez to exit Gaza after a humanitarian mission two years ago. I think this is a tragic and disgraceful containment policy in the name of security.

Steadfast resistance

Daher shows mural of Moses built by children's camp

 Daher Nassar welcomed us to the "Tent of Nations," his family farm perched on a hill surrounded by Israeli settlements. I admire the family's steadfastly resisting legal efforts and harassment intended to drive them off the land to put up more settlements. He has documents proving his grandfather purchased the farm in 1916. "The farm is like my mother, and I won't sell my mother," he says, recalling that would-be buyers invited him to name any price. When settlers destroy one of his trees, he plants 10 to replace it. He planted 1,000 trees last year.

Since this is an "olive harvest" delegation of Interfaith Peace-Builders, we harvested a few olives. Daher's father, a minister, taught him to love all people, and the aim of Tent of Nations is to build bridges. They had 5,000 visitors last year, including German volunteers who installed a solar power system.

Amal Nassar

Daher's sister Amal, a nurse in Bethlehem, says once when they were taking grapes to sell there, the grapes were spoiled before arrival because they were delayed five hours in the sun at an Israeli checkpoint. She says the Tent of Nations teaches mothers alternative medicine, handicrafts, and how to transform pain into creativity through poetry. "We refuse to be enemies," she says.

Deheisheh Refugee Camp

Steadfast resistance also came through loud and clear at the Deheisheh Refugee Camp, administered by the UN, which is home for 12,000 Palestinians in Bethlehem.

Naji Odah

The director of the Palestinian Youth Action Center for Community Development at Deheisheh, Naji Odah, says "We keep struggling. Nobody can give you freedom; you have to earn it." Naji showed us a film in which a 10-year-old refugee, Tamar Faraj, said poignantly, "Why am I not free and why is my country closed?" He longs to visit the sea. Half of Deheisheh's population is under age 15.

Saheir Odah

Naji's wife Saheir says when the checkpoints are active, it can take more than 3 hours for what is usually a 45-minute ride to her job as a dietitian in a Hebron hospital. Women in labor die at the checkpoints. Saheir and Naji's mother cried all night after a released prisoner told them about deplorable conditions where Naji was imprisoned for six months in the Negev Desert. She says, "We are not terrorists; we have rights to live in our country. The Jews can remember the Holocaust, but they do not allow us to remember the Nakba [when 700,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes in 1948]." She favors a one-state solution with freedom for all.

Paz and Thal

Two young Israeli professionals have a different narrative. They say Palestinians "fled" back in 1948, and that a two-state solution is the best option for peace. They agree that it is not in Israel's best interest to continue the occupation, but in their view the two countries might not be friends for 50 years. "Peace is not loving each other, it's divorcing each other," they told us. One who was nearly killed by a suicide bomb says he doesn't like the separation wall, but "it's a necessity." Their parents taught them that everybody is out to kill the Jews, which helps me to understand their need for security.

Systematic oppression: Forced eviction

Palestinian home now occupied by Jewish
settlers, next to evictees' tent 

I was moved and angered by the plight of Palestinian families we met in the community of Sheikh Jarrah, near our hotel in East Jerusalem.  Originally driven from their homes in Haifa and Jaffa by Israel in 1948, the refugees accepted an offer from the United Nations and Jordan to resettle in Sheikh Jarrah in 1956. Organizations in Israel finally prevailed in protracted litigation to take their homes for Jewish settlements. 13 families were evicted, with soldiers breaking down some doors in a pre-dawn raid and forcing the elderly and screaming children into the street with their belongings. Jewish settlers moved in a half hour later. To add insult to injury, one homeowner had to pay about $25,000 for fines and costs, after all the legal fees. Several more families have received eviction orders. 

Cheska

We heard from Cheska of the Israeli Coalition against House Demolitions (ICAHD) that "East Jerusalem is an enclave with 200,000 [Israeli] settlers in it, which could not be an effective capital of Palestine."  The gated settler communities get full services, but the Palestinians get limited water, no refuse collection, no building permits, and do not have enough schools. Less than 10% of the municipal budget goes to Palestinian areas. Cheska says 75% of the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are below the poverty line.

Separation wall in East Jerusalem

The separation wall that Israel calls a security fence divides Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem with few gates, adding to the systematic oppression. Cheska says Israel's strategy is to make life so miserable that Palestinians will leave "voluntarily." Planned settlement expansions would virtually sever the West Bank from east to west.

Jeff Halper, Director, ICAHD

Jeff Halper, director of ICAHD, told us that "the wall has nothing to do with security." He said Israel is trying to make the occupation permanent, and has destroyed 27,000 Palestinian homes since 1967--some three or four times! ICAHD has helped rebuild 186 homes as a symbol of political resistance. Jeff says the Palestinian Authority is responsible for only 70 "islands" in 40% of the territory, and there is no coherent  territory for a Palestinian state. He makes a coherent case that a two-state solution is impossible. Personally, however, I think Palestinians should no longer be denied their right to self-determination. We must convince world opinion--and especially the United States--that Israel must end the occupation in the interest of its own peace and security.

Earlier today, we visited Jerusalem's traditional pilgrimage sights, the Temple Mount (Dome of the Rock) and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. I was saddened by the un-Christian bickering and turf battles between the six denominations that share custody of the church.

IFPB Olive Harvest delegation in front of the Dome of the Rock

Welcomed by separation

Our groups arrived at the beautiful modern Tel Aviv airport (which reminded me of Orlando's, with the fountain pool in the center). More than 30 of us breezed through passport control without a hitch; the grim balding agent only asked me if I were in a group. However, I felt vicariously injured because three of us were taken apart for two and a half hours of questioning before they were allowed to proceed. Driven by an understandable desire to bar possible undesirable entrants, the authorities targeted three of our people of color (although we had many more) probably because one wore a head scarf and another wore a turban. So much for a warm welcome.

Our guide Said

We met our charming and knowledgeable Palestinian guide Said, who accompanied us on a comfortable bus to the hotel. He explained the separation policy that bans cars with Palestinian plates from ever entering Israel. I felt almost imprisoned myself at one section of highway where the separation wall (ostensibly built by Israel for protection) hemmed us in on  both sides. There was attractive stone facing on our side of the wall, but Said told us it was plain cement block on the Palestinian side. He said the Palestinians  won a Supreme court case giving them the right to drive on a stretch of the highway in their territory, but it was a Pyrrhic victory because the army set up road blocks that delayed them for up to two hours so they never use it. We arrived in time for a delicious dinner at our hotel in Jerusalem, the stately St. George's Cathedral Guest House, after our welcome by separation.

St. George's