At Tuwani

In the far south of the 'West Bank' there is a village named At Tuwani. Fifteen families live here ... about 150 people total. There are another twelve villages like At Tuwani in this area.
We visited At Tuwani after seeing Hebron and it was a bit like stepping back 100 years (or more) in time. Some of the people live in caves as their ancestors did. Only a few households have running water. They have three hours electricity per day from a generator. People have lived in this area seasonally for many centuries, mostly as shepherds of goats and sheep.

Despite the fact this is in "Palestinian" territory, there is an Israeli settlement and life has become increasingly difficult for the villagers. They live by grazing their sheep and goats but have their paths and grazing areas increasingly cut back. Settlers and soldiers threaten them. The 100 year old mosque in the village was destroyed. Land is continually being expropriated without any compensation.

Because this the only life they know, the villagers have refused to give up their land and traditional way of life. They have welcomed internationals who have maintained a presence here for years.

We met four Americans and two Italian women. The Americans are with Christian Peacemakers Team. The Italians are with "Operation Doves". This group lives in the village and supports the villagers in their ongoing conflict with the settlers and military. They accompany the kids to school and back to their villages. They witness and document conflicts and settler threats or violence.

A decade ago the local villages pooled all their resources and built a nice school where the kids could learn. Israeli government said that since there was no permit it would be destroyed. Villagers found a good lawyer who fought the case and got a ten year delay. But the ten years is about up. Villagers don't know what will happen. Currently there are about 100 students and 5 teachers working at the school.

It was amazing to see the villagers and their tranquility in the face of these hardships. As we sat under a crude cement overhang in blazing heat several things were impressive:

1) how many flies were crawling over the rice and bread

2) the dedication of these young Americans and Italians who have given up comfort and modern advantages to help these villagers

3) there must be something magical and attractive about this village. On the surface it is dirt poor; there must be something much richer underneath.

The Ancient City of Hebron

A week ago we visited the ancient city of Hebron which is about an
hour south of Bethlehem. Hebron is a city of 150,000 , crowded and
bustling. It is known for its conservativism ... nary a bar in
town.

It is also known for its tension and conflict.

In the heart of this city a few hundred Orthodox Jewish settlers have
taken over buildings and rooms piece by piece. They are protected
by 2000 soldiers. Most of the Old City is now shut down as the
settlers are circled by guard posts and cars are not permitted so
store-owners have trouble getting their goods to store and the
foot-traffic is reduced to near nil.

The settlers goal is take over more and more of the area. According
to numerous reports they threaten local people, harrass kids going
to school, and take over adjacent buildings if they are unused.
We met with a couple members of Christian Peacemakers Team - an
American and a Scot. These people live in the Old City, escort kids
as they walk by the settlement area, and generally serve as
witnesses or advocates whenever something bad is happening. In factual straight forward prose they describe their activities each week. In
addition to CPT there is another non-religious group doing similar
work: TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron).

Eileen Hansen from CPT described the situation as we stood on the
roof of their building in the Old City. She said that these
settlers are much more fanatical than most. They are 'beyond the
pale' even by Israeli standards. For example they have a memorial
honoring Baruch Goldstein, the American Israeli who opened fire in
the local mosque wounding 150 and killing 29 Muslim worshippers.

Some Israeli soldiers have spoken out against the injustice and IDF reservists prepared a photo exhibition showing what goes on in Hebron in a brave attempt to change policy.

Unfortunately the situation continues and most IDF just follow orders.

A few days ago IDF killed an old man and critically wounded his wife and two kids in Hebron. Video footage was shown on Al Jazeera TV. They were after the old man's son. There are conflicting reports how the soldiers ended up shooting the old man, his wife and the young kids.

Meeting with Settler

Saturday our group had a meeting with someone who lives in the settlement of Efrat. "Settlement" probably conveys a different image than most imagine because this community has been there since the early 1980's. Thousands of residents live there. It has the look and amenities of a trendy suburban community in southern California.

We listened as Artie Geldman expressed his views:

* it's not a 'settlement' it's a 'neighborhood'

* he does not recognize the Green Line; they are in the 'land of Israel'

* they used to get along well with the nearby Arab village

* he opposes the Wall where it hurts Palestinians 'with no improvement in Israeli security'

* they used to get along well with Christian Palestinians
* the conflict used to be over land but it is now a struggle against 'Islamofascism'

* Americans who benefitted from the genocide of Native Americans have no right to criticise Israel

Artie grew up in Chicago. He meets with various visiting groups who are curious about settlements such as Efrat. He also consults with and advises 'large philanthropic donors from the US'. I suppose Artie is advising them how to donate to expand or benefit these settlements. Do they get tax write-offs for this? If so, why??! These settlements are at the crux of the Israeli - Palestinian conflict. They have effectively rendered impossible a two state solution. And yet our government rewards donors who give money for this to perpetuate the conflict??!

It was a strange coincidence that this settlement (Efrat) is beside the village Wadi An-Nis where there had been the demonstration last Friday. In fact it is because of Efrat that the wall has been routed deep inside Palestinian territory and effectively stolen a lot of good farm land. We had supported the farmer to go onto his land for the first time in five years while settlers from Efrat shouted abuse.

We had seen two sides of the coin: Efrat with its wealth and benefits; Wadi An-Nis which is struggling to keep a minimum of what it has against more and more restrictions and take-aways.

Villagers March against Sewage Pit.

Last Friday there was another demonstration in the afternoon. Some of our group joined it to make the day a demo 'double-header'.

We walked through the village of Artas which is just a few miles south of Bethlehem. The immediate problem faced by this farming community is that the nearby Israeli settlement has built a large trench at the head of the fertile valley above the village. The Palestinian community believes the huge excavation is going to be used for some type of waste disposal for the nearby Israeli settlement. They are worried about the danger of run-off or seepage from the waste contaminating their downhill farm fields.

We joined the local community to march from the village up to where the excavation is. With an Israeli settlement on the hilltop there is a fence along the hillside and Israeli soldiers at the ready.

At previous demonstrations soldiers have forcibly prevented villagers from reaching the excavated area. But last Friday they just looked on and did not stop the peaceful demonstration. The villagers spirits were high and some of them exuberantly threw dirt and pushed boulders back into the excavation. A dead olive tree was symbolically stuck back in the ground and propped up with rocks.

The group was expressing their frustration and also sending a message: Stop taking our land. No you cannot use our farm land as a sewage dump!

Unfortunately the only witnesses were the participants and the onlooking 20 IDF soldiers.
No matter ... the villagers were exuberant in having a chance to show their opposition to the threatening waste dump. An elderly Palestinian lady who is the owner of the property looked on in support of the protest.

First Time in Five Years ....

Last Friday there was a successful protest at a village south of Bethlehem ... Wadi An-Nis. About 100 people - half Palestinians from the village and half International and Israeli activists faced off with the Israeli military while settlers looked on from nearby. It was tense for some moments but finally the soldiers allowed the farmer and friends to tend to some of his grape and olive trees. The first time in five years he has been able to!!

Here is the background: Farmers from Wadi An-Nis who own property to the west can no longer reach their land due to preparations to build the 'Separation Barrier' and because there is a settlement (Efrat) nearby. An Israeli military detachment prevent Palestinians from getting 'too close' to the settlement even if it is to reach their own land and still a half mile from the settlement.

This action is of the type that some Palestinians are now advocating: mass non-violent resistance against the Occupation. Organizers were very pleased with the results. Yet there was a bittersweet element. When I congratulated, the Palestinian farmer his response was .... "Congratulations for being able to go to my own land??!"

Israeli Groups B'TSelem and ICAHD

Last weekend we all took a bus to Jerusalem and met with two very good organizations: B'TSelem and Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD).

At the B'TSelem offices we had an overview of the situation by their Director of International Relations, Risa Zoll. Risa described their work in documenting human rights abuses and countering popular myths and mistruths. She talked about the huge increase in illegal Israeli settlements AFTER the 1993 Oslo Accord. She talked about the facts vs myth of the Wall: how it is claimed to be for security but the majority of the wall is being built on Palestinian land. According to their research 95% of Jewish Jerusalemites have never been to a checkpoint into the Occupied Territories even though there is one just ten minutes away! B'TSelem is going to open an office in Washington DC ..... it is much needed.

Next we met with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD). For several hours we drove around Jerusalem to see with our own eyes how Israel has established a 'matrix of control' to change the population of the area and make life increasingly difficult for Palestinians.

A few of the highlights:

* Views of illegal ettlements encircling Palestinian neighborhoods.

* Visit to Ma'ale Adummim - huge settlement of 33,000 with its ironic 'library of peace' in an ethnically pure zone which is further dividing the West Bank. All built on Occupied Territory.

* Visit to site of a demolished home and presentation how Israel makes it nearly impossible for Palestinians to get building permit.

* Visit to the wall on the road south which put Jerusalem's Al Quds University and the Palestinian parliament on the 'wrong' side of the wall.

We were all impressed with the clarity and good works of B'TSelem and ICAHD.

Bethlehem!

Last Thursday I met the Palestine Summer Encounter group and we came south to Bethlehem area. It has been an intense and busy week!

Each of the 15 participants is living with a Palestinian family, volunteering at a local organization and studying Arabic. Combined with local events and meetings plus travelling by foot or bus it all adds up to a busy time.

The group is diverse and very interesting with people from Switzerland, Norway, Bulgaria, UK and Canada in addition to the USA. There is an Iraq War veteran who is now in medical school, numerous university students (Phd and undergraduate), one retiree, and others who had the interest and time like myself.

It is very interesting talking with people in the group and how they came to be here. For example there is an exuberant 21 year old female who grew up in a Evangelical Christian church in Arkansas. She talks about how normal it is for the Baptist and Evangelical churches there to be Christian Zionist - very pro-Israel and blind to the Palestinian perspective. She read the influential 'Left Behind' series of books and came to Israel last year with a group from her church. But after reading the book "Whose Land? Whose Promise?" she started to see things differently. She describes how she became angry when she realized the distortions and falsehoods. Now, her goal is to return and live in the Palestinian Territory after she graduates university. As a music major she looks forward to working with a school choir here!

Each of us is volunteering at a local organizations - hospital, kids' summer camp, media outlet, etc.. I am volunteering at Radio Isis - a local radio station - and helping prepare a proposal for expansion of their tower and transmitter. My house-mate is Norwegian and here partly because his girl-friend is a psychologist working with Doctors Without Borders in the nearby Palestinian city of Hebron. He is helping to build a climbing wall and other equipment that will be used in an upcoming summer adventure camp for kids.

In the afternoons we have two to three hours of Arabic instruction. The teacher is excellent. She combines presentation with classroom practice and the time passes quickly. We are learning the Arabic alphabet and have covered 6 of the 28 letters so far. Unfortunately there are a few important sounds/letters which have no English equivalent so we just have to constrict the throat and stomach and utter 'gghhh' or something like that.

Friends and family have all advised me to BE SAFE! It seems very safe here in the Bethlehem area. This is partly because it is a small city. However it is also because the population is friendly to visitors and foreigners. It is nothing like many third world cities where there are thieves looking for a chance to take advantage of a foreigner. Especially after coming here from East Jerusalem - where there are machine gun carrying soldiers everywhere - it is striking how FEW soldiers or police there are. My host family says the Palestinian community polices itself.

While it is quiet and relatively peaceful now, a few years ago it was not. Our host told us how Apache attack helicopters fired missiles at cars and houses in this area during the Intifada (uprising) a few years ago. Roads were blocked and the Israeli military imposed a siege and curfew for months. Many people died. Looking at the tranquil (and economically depressed) Bethelehem now, it seems strange to imagine.