Oasis of Peace

Oasis of Peace = Neve Shalom = Wahat al-Salam

I heard about this interesting village from my friend Marvin. He described a village where Israeli Jews and Arabs live side by side in peace and equality. It sounded good and I spent a night in their very nice guest hostel. Neve Shalom / Wahat al-Salam is located midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, in beautiful hills about five miles off the main highway.

The village was founded in the 1970's by Father Bruno Hussar an Egyptian Jew converted to Christianity on land donated by the nearby Trappist Monastery. The early decades were a major struggle. No trees, electricity or water!

Today it is beautiful - a genuine oasis. They have very nice houses and a superb swimming pool in a stunning hilltop setting. The chickens and roosters down the hillside wake one in the morning. You hear both Arabic and Hebrew spoken throughout.

The village includes a bilingual/binational school curriculum. The school administration, teachers and classroom instruction are evenly split between Arabs and Jews, Arabic and Hebrew. There is a long waiting list of people who wish to move into the village.

Neve Shalom / Wahat al-Salam is a model and example of what is possible. It is pretty amazing (and sad) that this is still - according to some people - the only mixed Jewish/Arab village in Israel! This seems a bit hard to believe but what I do know, and what I saw myself, is that both Israel AND the Occupied Territories are basically made up of old Arab villages and new Jewish settlements.

The success achieved by Neve Shalom / Wahat al-Salam - especially the educational component - shows what is possible. If it is true that a two-state solution is no longer possible, this example and what they have done, becomes all the more valuable.

Holocaust Memorial - Yad Vashem

On a magnificent hill overlooking a valley to the West of Jerusalem is Yad Vashem - the Holocaust Memorial. It has bold and impressive architecture - a huge cement A-frame with skylight at the peak.

Inside, the museum is a path through dozens of exhibits which document the discrimination, suffering and atrocities against Jews in Europe especially during the 1930's and World War II. Through photos, text, video and artifacts the powerful exhibits show the conditions imposed in the Jewish ghettoes, the resistance, the violence, the horrors of the concentration camps.

Exhibits include discussion of repression against the Roma (gypsies) and homosexuals. Other exhibits document the historic links of the Jewish population with socialist and communist ideas and movements. Exhibits document the liberation of the concentration camps and defeat of Nazi Germany.

The final exhibit of the path through the museum documents the creation of Israel. I suppose the designers of the museum see this as the final chapter in victory over the holocaust and anti-semitic atrocities.

But is this correct? After five weeks in Israel and the Occupied Territories it strikes me as deeply ironic. Ghettoes, identity cards, economic repression, discrimination based on ethnicity, humiliation of one ethnic group, and state violence against civilians are happening barely ten miles from the museum. It is just that these things are happening behind a very tall wall.

It would be nice if one day the final exhibit of the memorial could pay tribute to those who continue the tradition of Jewish humanitarianism and resistance to oppression and racism - people like Barara Lubin, Sergio Yahni, Naomi Klein, Yuri Avnery, Dennis Bernstein, Jeff Halper, Noam Chomsky, Amira Hass, etc etc etc..

Unusual IDF Soldiers

IDF soldiers are normally unfriendly. Every attempt I made to talk with them had been been met with silence or monosyllable response and a sour look.

But these ones were different. Was it a change in policy? Or was it simply different soldiers and personalities? Or was it because these soldiers had seen me being angrily rebuffed by a Palestinian woman when I asked to take her photo as she sat on the pavement with grape leaves for sale??

Whatever the reason, these two soldiers were abnormally open and talkative. One soldier is the son of parents from the Ukraine. He follows international politics and is sorry that Bush's popularity is so low in the USA. "Bush is a good man." But now that Bush is on his way out, who will become President? The soldier asked me who I thought and then suggested his own guess: Hilary Clinton. He thinks this is fine: "Hilary will be good for Israel."

I asked the soldier what he thinks about the situation in Jerusalem. "Its calm on the surface but just below the surface it's not calm at all." The IDF needs a heavy presence to keep a lid on things. I suggested that the tension and lack of calm is because of injustice against the Palestinians. He disagreed and thinks the problem is Muslims against the West. He thinks there should be one world religion.

I was curious about the other soldier and asked his background since he was clearly not European. His family immigrated to Israel from India. He is Jewish by religion. It seems there are many immigrants to Israel from India as well as Ethiopia .... they reside especially in southern towns and cities such as Beersheba.

This made me think about something else I had heard. Apparently many of the Russian immigrants (who are now 20% of the entire population!) are not Jewish - they have come to Israel to better themselves economically. In its desire to expand the non-Arab population the rules about Jewish entitlement have been lax. This has provoked all sorts of controversy. There are reports that all it takes is one easily forged document claiming a Jewish grandmother to have entitlement to Israeli citizenship and a host of privileges. Many of the Russian immigrants retain their Russian Christian Orthodox beliefs, and its hard to see the Jewish ethnicity in the blue eyes and straight blonde hair.

Note the weapons in the photo. All Israeli soldiers carry these American M-16s. I asked why they don't use Israeli made Uzi submachine guns. They said that the Uzi's are not appropriate for crowded Jerusalem. "We would be killing everybody in the area if we started firing Uzi's."

Serving in the IDF is a melting pot for the Israelis. Certainly there is a heavy pro-Israel and pro- Zionist education involved. Certainly it puts the soldiers on the side of the occupiers. That is why it is so important that some soldiers and officers are speaking out against the Occupation. That is why it is so important that Israelis are involved in the non violent demonstrations against the Wall and speak to the soldiers in Hebrew and as fellow Israelis.

People need to persuade the soldiers that the conflict is not Israeli vs Palestinian or Jewish vs Muslim. The issue is justice vs injustice. Although these soldiers would not agree, I sensed they at least had open minds.

Trapped in Jerusalem

I was looking for someone in the Christian quarter of Old City Jerusalem.

When I inquired with someone on the street one thing led to another and pretty soon the family invited me in for tea. The daughter is a school teacher with husband and young son, struggling economically. The mother is living with them in one room although she has her own place and would much rather be in her village near Ramallah. She needs regular medical treatment at a Jerusalem hospital. I wondered why she does not travel to her village since it is only an hour away. They explained that she could leave Jerusalem but could not come back. It takes a very special and hard-to-get permit to enter Jerusalem from the Occupied Territories. So even though she is receiving regular medical treatment at a Jerusalem hospital she could not re-enter. Her only option is to stay.

By chance I met someone else in Old Jerusalem with just the same predicament. He works selling goods in one of the small shops in the Old City. He does not own the shop but works for a daily salary of 50 sheckels (about $12.50). He was dressed in one of the white "night gowns" that we see Iraquis wearing on TV or in photos. He would like to leave Jerusalem but fears that if he leaves he will not be able to get back. As we conversed and I expressed my opposition to Bush's invasion of Iraq as well as the Israeli Occupation, he became quite talkative and said he had been to Iraq and saw the air raid shelter which was bombed in Gulf War 1, killing many hundreds of women and children. He expressed the view that all politicians become corrupt. "Governments are the problem", he said.

I had not previously noticed a boy of about 8 or 9 years of age sitting in front of the store front. The man explained that he is looking after him since his father is serving a ten year prison sentence. "For nothing" he said. Just one of the many thousands I suppose. I did not inquire about the mother but wondered about her later. Had she died? I suppose so, since Palestinian families are very close.

This seems to be the plight of many people. Israel has made it impossible or very difficult for them to move about - consequently there are tens of thousands of Palestinians trapped in Jerusalem unable to return home for fear they will never get back to where the few jobs and health services are.

Economic Challenges

Jericho Resort Hotel

The economy in the Palestinian Territories is generally in bad shape.

In Bethlehem the only industry/craft which seems busy is the wood carving shops. They make olive wood sculptures of Jesus, crosses and other Christian symbols. These small wood carving shops are busy from sunrise to dark but most carvings are for export.

Otherwise the tourist industry in Bethlehem is in dire straits. Many shops have shut down. Hotels are near empty or closed. Tourist buses sometimes come for a few hours to visit the Church of Nativity, then return to Jerusalem to avoid spending the night in 'dangerous' Bethlehem.

My first night in East Jerusalem I chatted with an American tourist at a coffee shop. She was on a trip to Israel with her Baptist congregation from Dallas Texas. She explained that they would not be visiting Bethlehem or the Occupied Territories because it is 'too dangerous' according to their Israeli guide. They would be seeing Bethlehem from afar but not going there!

Having stayed in Bethlehem area for a month, it seems to me that Berkeley California is probably more dangerous than Bethlehem. And Berkeley is not very dangerous! People in Bethlehem are generally friendly and welcoming. In fact one often hears random shouts of "WELCOME!" and "HOW ARE YOU?"

Occasionally one also hears shouts of "I LOVE YOU!" This was amusing since the shouter did not know what they were saying .... Apparently the Arabic word for 'like' is the same as for 'love'!

In Jericho the situation is also grim. The oldest continuously inhabited city in the world is now sprawling, dusty and dilapidated. The main road into the city from the south is closed by Israeli military. To get into the city you need to go through other Israeli checkpoints. There are signs of strife and military conflict around the city - buildings destroyed.

I stayed in a nice five star hotel with huge swimming pool, elegant bar and restaurant, impressive photographs and artwork ..... for $80. Sadly for the hotel, it was near empty.

I spoke with the general manager of the hotel. He had lived in the US but returned to his homeland. The Jericho Resort Hotel was built in the 1990's with joint Palestinian and German investment. It was doing very well and had good occupancy rates. Then the intifada broke out in 2000 followed by Israeli response and repression. After that there was essentially no business. For several years the hotel was closed. The German investors withdrew. Jericho Resort Hotel is now open again but struggling.

How do you develop a business when the town is controlled by checkpoints, tourists are steered away, and the local population (Palestinians) are not free to travel around their 'own' territory?




Military Checkpoint on the way into Jericho.

Visit to Yanun

Yanun Boy on donkey, Upper Yanun Village

International and Israeli Activists






In the northern West Bank, just south of Nablus, there are a pair of villages - Upper and Lower Yanun. Yanun became known six years ago when the entire village was driven out by settlers who had expanded in the surrounding hilltops and then attacked villagers. These were the first Palestinian villages to have been completely driven out since 1948.

In response, the UN and some liberal church groups encouraged villagers to return and offered protection. For the past several years there have been three or four volunteers from the Ecumenical Church network who live in the village to be a witness in case of assault or attack.

I went up to Yanun and spent the night there because the regular volunteers were away and they needed another volunteer.

Getting there was an adventure. The main road in the West Bank does not have signs indicating directions to the Palestinian villages. Ror the most part, road signs just point to the Jewish settlements! Directions to Yanun were vague ... volunteers had always gone there by taxi from the Nablus checkpoint. I ended up taking a rented car straight up the valley.

During the drive I received a cell phone call and was told I was on a road the settlers have claimed should not be used! Fortunately I had a rented car with yellow license plates (Israelis, settlers and others with authorization to enter Israel).

The valley is beautiful with olive and fruit orchards, hay fields, hills and the Jordan Valley to the east. Villagers live a traditional way of life - boys shepherding, families tending to the olive and fruit orchards.

Settlers have taken over the surrounding hilltops and installed industrial level chicken coops. There are now soldiers, lookout towers, night lights, security fences, etc.. It is rather eerie given the serenity and tranquility of the valley and lifestyle of the lower valley where boys ride donkeys and elderly women sit on the ground and shell walnuts.

I spent the night in Yanun with an Israeli refusenik - former soldier who refused to be part of the Occupation. We had good conversations and it was interesting to learn his viewpoints. As part of our duties we walked to Lower Yanun, maintained a visible presence and generally just were 'about'. Not a hard job in such a beautiful place.

Next day the regular team returned. It is an interesting group: Norwegian woman, Swiss guy, South African woman. They are all volunteers from organizations part of the World Council of Churches. WCC played an important role opposing South African apartheid and now is in the forefront trying to bring peace with justice in Israel-Palestine.

The volunteers have all been to Palestine previously. The slow pace at Yanun is a bit too slow for some of them. But its just a three month commitment and an internet cafe is just a ten mile donkey ride away!

The situation in Yanun exemplifies what is going on throughout the West Bank: Israeli settlers move in, take over hilltop, establish 'security' perimeter which gradually expands and takes more and more of the land needed for village shepherding and orchards. The settlers are armed with machine guns and self-righteousness. After initial assaults the conflict becomes one of slow grinding down.

The population of Yanun is about one half what it was.

Just Another Friday in Bilin

Last Friday I went to Bilin with a friend from our PSE group. We picked up a couple people in Jerusalem and drove to Ramallah, the Palestinian city just north of Jerusalem. There we picked up another person to make a group of five going to join the weekly Friday protest in the dusty little village of Bilin.

Our carload of people was a "little UN". In addition to myself (Canadian-American) there were:

* Letti (Hispanic American)

* Rann (Israeli who has lived in Botswana, Hong Kong and UK)

* Japanese guy

* Brazilian woman who is studying in Australia!

Every Friday for 2 and a half years there has been a protest at Bilin. The villagers are protesting the loss of village land which is simply being taken from them - confiscated because all land in Israel is 'owned by the state' - because the Wall is slicing through this property. Right now it is still a tall fence with a gate the villagers can still pass through to reach the other side which holds the majority of their olive orchards. In future, the threat is the Wall will replace the fence and make it impossible to reach the other side.

There are many many examples of exactly this situation. Because it is relatively close to Ramallah and Jerusalem, and because the local committee has been clear that they want non-violent resistance, this struggle has been actively supported by progressive Israelis and internationals.

It's a good thing that Rann advised the rest of us in the car to be prepared for tear gas and stun blasts. At least fifty IDF soldiers - all armed with Uzis and other artillery - barred the path toward the fence so that the marchers could not approach. The orchard and road had suddenly become a "military zone" (because they say so) and everyone is subject to being shot.
This protest has been going on so long that it is a ritual but it is a rough one which could - and sometimes does - spin out of control.

Here is what happened .....

The protest began after the Friday service in the village Mosque. There were lots of kids and men of all ages. Numerous internationals. Some of the community business people - well dressed - joined in. Some of the kids looked like kids in Pakistan with the long shirts and caps. Others were the tough kids who tried to sell us handicrafts or trinkets before the demonstration.

The march continued until the road was blocked by rolls of razor wire. After chanting for some time, a few photographers and protestors started inching around the barrier. Suddenly there were tear gas and stun gun cannisters landing all around us. People were being hit by the tear gas bombs which look like rubber hand grenades. Tear gas and smoke was everywhere. People were fleeing the bombardment. Breathing in the tear gas hurts the lungs and one has to resist panic because suddenly you cannot breathe.

When my own coughing had ceased I turned around to see who was behind. Just a Palestinian in wheel chair enveloped in smoke and gas! It was much worse than it looks in the photo above.

Pretty soon the military was amidst us and forcibly pushing everybody back. This was happening on village land a quarter mile before the "security" fence! Some of the soldiers were disciplined and not keen to beat people up .... others looked nasty.

Two villagers got arrested - I have no clue why - and numerous tussles broke out.

Two Israeli activists were arguing forcibly in Hebrew with some of the soldiers. It looked like one of the soldiers wanted to beat the guy up.

Just then several military jeeps came barreling down the road, past us and heading toward the village. We soon heard the sound of tear gas and stun guns coming from the village. For unknown reasons the IDF was making an assault on the village, scaring everybody left in the village off the street and into cover.

Skirmishes at the protest lines died down and most soldiers returned to their initial position up the hill. Now village boys started hurling rocks at the soldiers with slings. The soldiers were generally too far away but one boy got off a super shot and hit one of the soldiers. Rumors said that the soldier took it in the eye but later reports indicated just a hand injury. Never-the-less he was carted off on a stretcher.

Meanwhile the soldiers and jeeps that invaded the town were now heading back. There was just one jeep left in town. Seeing it coming, an Israeli guy quickly started putting large boulders in the road. One of the boulders was about two fee high. I thought to myself "This is getting dangerous. This is something they might start shooting real bullets over." But the Israeli was still piling the boulders. The jeep rounded the bend kicking up a cloud of dust as protestors scattered off the road. The jeep driver saw the boulders in the road from 40 yards away as we also were scattering away from the road. I assumed the Jeep would stop and the soldiers be even more violent and trigger happy. But the Jeep driver did not stop .... he accelerated! I thought for sure he is going to impale the jeep's oil pan and transmission on the tallest boulder .... but with huge crash he somehow got over it! I looked to see oil dripping but did not see it.

The boys continued to sling rocks and the IDF soldiers spread out and lobbed tear gas and smoke bombs at them. Fires started in the dry grass amidst the olive trees. People from the village rushed to put out the fires.

After half an hour the boys headed back to the village. Then the soldiers headed back to wherever they came from. There were hundreds of smoke bomb and tear gas canisters littering the road and roadside. I wondered how much each cost and whether this is subsidized by US tax dollars.

Later I talked with Abdullah, the villager who heads the local popular resistance committee. He is about 40, looks like some kind of professional. He has the nicest house in Bilin which serves as the demonstration meeting place. He says they have not really had much success or seen positive change despite the years of protest. He thinks it may take a long time .... "like it did for Ghandi and Martin Luther King".

One of the two arrested villagers was released. The other was taken to jail. The guy in the wheelchair was taken away by medics but recovered and returned to the demonstration.

Just another Friday in Bilin.