Palestine Five Years From Now...

An American friend was recently visiting me, and while we were sitting and talking over coffee in my house, she asked: “What do you think Ramallah will be like in five years?” I started imagining Ramallah’s potential. I thought about a new movie theatre and businesses, tourism, education… ”I mean, do you think you’ll even be able to get in to do this work?” She interrupted my dream with reality. It would likely not be getting better here, and I felt rudely awakened by her interruption. Not even be able to come here? What a terrible thought! Sure it was absurdly difficult to get in now, and staying was even more of a challenge, but we found ways. And as I thought of the millions of Palestinians who can’t get in or out, I pondered how this is likely the future of Palestine, and not just for Palestinians.
How can it be any different?

I remember last summer, taking my Palestinian family’s younger daughter to Jaffa for a weekend. We stayed in an Israeli hostel and the owner as well as guests would ask her where she lived and when she said Ramallah, I was horrified by their response: “You come from the West Bank!” they exclaimed with dropped jaws, staring at her like she was a dancing monkey. I knew then that there was a serious problem, a division on ethnic / racial lines that just blinded people to the Other. This fear was reinforced when the same American friend recently returned to see me after a time in Tel Aviv where she stayed with an American-Israeli friend. The stories my American friend told me of the Israelis with whom she went out… I don’t know how to communicate my disbelief and sadness, and I won’t repeat the racist stories here. Israelis have Palestinians all around them in everyday life, but not only do they not see them, they replace the real ones sitting next to them on the bus with the imagined Palestinian: the violent, threatening terrorist whose goal is to kill Jews. Find this absurd if you like, but I actually hear it all the time from Israelis. Even if they know there are other kinds of Palestinians, this is the one they think they know and the actual Palestinians are thought to be the exceptions rather than the other way around.

So, skip ahead a few days. I was walking with my Palestinian family’s oldest daughter and trying to tell her about my American friend who had been visiting. And I explained that she stayed with Israelis in Tel Aviv and that these Israelis were so ignorant about Palestine and that my American friend constantly tried to challenge them. And this daughter, she just could not comprehend my belief that we have to teach Israelis that there are human beings living under occupation so they can see how wrong it is to occupy Palestine, and then if we are lucky they will work towards real, just peace. And I don’t blame this 13 year old because why would she be able to imagine an Israeli who wants peace? She sees soldiers, guns, and tanks. Does that look like peace? She is not imagining Israelis as violent and threatening. She is seeing them, violent and threatening, in her daily life. She needs to see the ones that want a just peace. The ones that condemn occupation and the racist, exclusive state. But those are far too few, and they are not here. And so I can only conclude that the chances of Jewish Israelis opening their eyes to the thousands of Palestinians Israelis who are in their everyday worlds offers a far better chance of knowing the Other since Palestinians in the West Bank can’t get out of here and the only Israelis in here have guns. I can only pray Americans recognize their obligation to challenge Israel’s policies in Palestine and stop buying Israel bullets and tanks.

What will Ramallah be like in five years? Will I be able to get in here? Maybe Israeli will transfer its Gaza policy to the West Bank. Oh my god. Too many maybes… Five years and I don’t want to imagine any more.

Israel's Math: 200 prisoners released; 50 new ones to replace them...so far

As I walked into Ramallah this morning, I noticed a van covered with flags and posters. The driver kept honking the horn and young men hung out of the windows shouting. They seemed to be celebrating, but I didn't understand what. I saw a few more decorated cars and noticed kids holding flags and wearing keffiyas. I still didn't understand why.

This evening I finally got online to check the news and noticed that the Palestinian prisoners Israel promised to release have been freed. It clicked.

As I read through the story, I got this sense that Israel had done something so kind and generous. And as I watched the video I saw a dozen Palestinian men in jeans with sneakers, standing in a line and wearing handcuffs, waiting to return to their pasts. They didn't look like criminals, not even those scary, dangerous two that are labeled as having "blood on their hands." And then I got pissed off. I thought, "What the hell?!" Most aren't criminals. In fact, 10,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons are political prisoners. This is occupation my friends. Those with power can arrest whomever they want. I've seen it happen with my own eyes. And Israel is generous for releasing these people, most of whom are in prison because they object to occupation and injustice?



What happens next? Have you heard of administrative detention? So many Palestinians are held under this category and denied trial; moreover, their status in administrative detention can be extended again and again, indefinitely. It's a violation of fundamental human rights.

And I mused: If Palestinians who are living day to day, going to work or school and coming home to family and friends, are denied their fundamental human rights, how are prisoners treated under occupation? Consider too that so many are children. And then I remembered the wedding music from last night, and from every other night this summer. And I thought to myself, how amazing that these people come out of years and years of deprivation, torture, suffering...and they live. They not only survive it but they return and then they affirm and re-affirm life. They marry. They make babies. They go back to school or work. They affirm this god forsaken life under occupation, this hell called Palestine. That is resistance. That is hope and that is beautiful.

But even this hope is destroyed the same day when Israel invades Ramallah and kidnaps 50 new prisoners. They are quick to replenish those they freed and will not only break even, but surely add to the numbers of Palestinians rotting away in Israeli prisons.

A Day to Jenin

In the shared taxi, I sit and look out of the windows. We leave bustling Ramallah and curve through the village of Serda and then Birzeit, passing by the lovely campus of Birzeit U. There's one checkpoint, and we are waived through; they'll check us when we come back. I noticed the soldiers gun isn't trained on the car and passengers. Normally it is. We drive down a hill since the checkpoint blocks the historical road, barring any Palestinian use of the traditional route. We enter a settler road, only are we allowed its use until the "new" Palestinian road is constructed. Hill top after hill top there are settlements: red tile roofs, tract housing closely built, fencing around the "borders"--illegal and threatening. We count one, two, three, four, five. I notice outposts. Six, seven, eight. Outposts are the beginning of settlements; they are a few trailers on a hill top, claiming the land. Then the Israeli gov't sends out the electric guys and you see posts with electrical wiring surrounding the trailers. This signals official condoning of the outpost. Nine, ten settlements. And I'm sick of counting because there are hundreds. What I love about Jenin District is that there are no settlements. The land is beautiful there. Farming land with Palestinian villages and no smell of foul sewage like in the Palestinian villages at the foot of the settlements. My friend tells me there were four settlements but after the Israeli Military massacred refugees in Jenin Camp, they were afraid of Jenin's grief and they removed their settlements, relocating the settlers elsewhere in the West Bank.

Just for kicks, watch this video about the Jenin Freedom Theatre. Just click on the video at the bottom about the Trip to Bethlehem. I think it's really useful to hear refugee kids talking like this. Jenin may be a site of promise after all!

Random Thoughts

1. Teenage boys all over the world suck. They can be really stupid and mean.

2. Occupation destroys people through the mundane. We crossed Calandia Checkpoint and the Wall, which goes down the middle of the street, was under intense construction with three groups of workers at different points along it, each group protected by an armed "security" man (all men). They were putting electric wire wrapped in razor wire on the top of the Wall and again two feet below that. No one looked twice, even though it's brand new. It gets worse daily, and that's normal. I asked someone why the razor wire. Apparently last year during Ramadan, Palestinians put ladders against the Wall to eat with family--once divided by a street; now divided by a street with a Wall planted into the middle of it. Ramadan is coming, so the Israelis must prepare for this "breach of security."

3. It's really heart breaking to see old men sitting on crates with cardboard boxes upturned, on top of which some veggies and herbs are for sale. Next the the old man, who shouldn't have to make his pennies at this point in his life, is a boy of 6 who sells shitty juice for a dime. A 70 year old man and a 6 year old child both trying to feed themselves. Retirement and youth denied by occupation's everyday violence.

4. Americans have to wake the hell up because Israelis won't. They are so amazingly delusional about the situation. Tax paying Americans have a moral obligation to know where their money goes and to challenge its use for ethnic cleansing. WAKE UP AND CHANGE THIS ATROCIOUS, INHUMANE SITUATION. You are paying for it. The bullets in the guns are yours! And they are mine. And if you can't tell, I'm pissed off about it. You should be too.

Ilan Pappe: the Israeli moral position and ethnic cleansing

I'll admit it, I'm in love with Ilan Pappe. I've read some of his work, seen some interviews, and heard him speak a few months ago. He's excellent. I got a call from a friend in Nazareth two days ago, saying Pappe was speaking in Ramallah the next day. (She was having dinner with a friend of Pappe's who had just spoken to him on the phone.) Apparently, my friend was one of the few people who knew this because I called everyone I know in Ramallah asking for details. Now, normally, within two phone calls I have all the info. When occupation destroys infrastructure, people get creative. Information sweeps through something like a phone tree before it's on the local news station. All to say, since no one had heard anything, I started thinking Pappe was not, in fact, coming to Ramallah. Long story short, I found him.

There were maybe 15 of us and it was basically a conversation between us. Read his book "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine"--very good narrative of 1948. I want to focus on a few particular points he made.

Pappe said: (much is direct quotes, a bit of paraphrase)

"I don’t think that there is any chance for peace and reconciliation between Israel and the Palestinians in the foreseeable future because of the Israeli position. In the late 1980s / early 1990s there was a dialogue between new historians (Israeli historians who were rewriting history of 48) and the Israeli public. The public found the factual story acceptable—-they said, 'Yes, Israel systematically and intentionally tried to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians. But it was justified; and it is also justified as future policy. So, we did it, what’s wrong with it?' This question means there is no basis for dialogue. When they didn’t accept it, there was a basis for dialogue."

Pappe suggested that Israelis have a sense of moral superiority (they say they have the most moral military in the world). And this means they don't see the moral problem with ethnically cleansing another people. He said, “Why don’t Israelis have a sense of morality? Because they have a sense of moral superiority” Why? Jewish Theology and the world, the West who acts as a judge of morality, absolved them from the ethnic cleansing of 1948. It was a very clear message from the West that we are entitled to do what we did...and still are.”

Finally in response to the question --“Do you think the project of ethnic cleansing is still on the agenda in Israel?” Pappe responded:

“I don’t think the project for the West Bank, as they see it, is ethnic cleansing but the project requires it. There is a clear project for wedges, which separate the areas from one another and from the outside. Therefore they are very busy making a clear Jewish presence in the West Bank that does not make ethnic cleansing a necessity. There’s no need when people are separated with a military installment over them and a Jewish settlement around them. Everyday there is a group of experts that produces strategic planning and very tactical answers to developments on the ground. The common thread is how do we divide, redivide, subdivide the area to enable control on the one hand and provide an image of disengagement on the other hand. Ethnic cleansing isn’t the model, that is, the ethnic cleansing of 1948. To my mind this is ethnic cleansing but not the same paradigm as 1948.”

Laughing at the Occupier

First off, anyone hear about the 4 Gaza students whose visas were revoked by the State Dept. after "new information was revealed"? I happen to have a little inside information...let's just say we can always blame security and it helps Israel not look so awful when the US takes the heat for revoking the visas.

Second, apparently Dr. Ilan Pappe (whose work I mentioned in a previous blog) is here and speaking in my city tomorrow. So, look for an entry later about that.

Finally, to the point. Anyone know of Maysoon Fayid? I know her from the If Americans Knew video "The Easiest Targets." Watch it here...

Anyway, I was sitting at home this evening, working away when a friend in NC sent me a message that Maysoon is doing a stand up comedy show tonight in Ramallah and I HAVE to go. I didn't want to, so I gave her a few excuses: "My Arabic isn't good enough" (It's in English too); "I'm tired" (It's an awesome opportunity); "It starts in 15 min." (Just GO!); "It's probably sold out" (GOOOOOOO!). She kept pushing until I felt totally peer pressured. So I went.

So Maysoon opens up saying "I'm an American, Palestinian virgin Muslim with cerebral palsy. If that doesn't make you feel good, I just don't know what to say!" What struck me most was that the theatre was full of every possible person. I saw old people in conservative dress, kids, young adults visiting from the States with American accents, foreigners...everybody. Her jokes are sometimes crude and she even drops the f-bomb, and yet the old man next to me laughed louder than anyone. Actually, there was a moment when even he stopped laughing. (This is my paraphrase, and surely not nearly as funny as Maysoon is!)

Maysoon: "I'd like to talk about our Palestinian leadership. But they are just not funny!" (Laughter)

"But you know, my problem is not with the Palestinians. I have a problem with the Israelis." (Silence)

"We know the Masad is listening, but they are laughing too. Don't worry; they are WITH US!" (Silence) "Laugh people!"

And I thought, it's phenomenal we can laugh at ourselves, but we aren't allowed to laugh at them. We're too scared.

But not always. You know Palestinians have a standard for checkpoints--ironically using the 4 star hotel ratings to measure how intense they are. There's a lot of humor and laughter here. It's a weapon for many that can't be confiscated like everything else. It was Maysoon's weapon, though we all refused to join her on that joke. Well, all but one too-loud, too-abrupt outburst. Woops.

Right of Return

Sometimes being open minded and listening to perspectives that differ from your own can be a trying task. I want to return to the Israeli ministry official and write some more on what he said, which was reinforced by another official and later by and Israeli professor.

The official explained the problem of Palestinian refugees thus (I was taking notes by hand so quotes are direct and the rest is paraphrase):

In 1948 Israel announced its Independence; “we gave our hand in peace [and] since we did not lost, they [refugees] could not come back.” He said that most refugees fled because they were scared, and in some cases the Arab armies told them to leave. In 1967, there was “again a movement of refugees” and the “Arab countries did not want to incorporate the refugees into their populations.” In terms of Israel’s responsibility in dealing with the Palestinian refugee problem, International law doesn’t acknowledge the Right of Return. The refugees who "fled" from areas now in Israel cannot be incorporated into Israel because, the official said, “They will not be loyal Israeli citizens.” (Someone asked, “What if they take an oath?”) The official stated, “This is the Middle East! Would you accept 4 million Al Qaeda supporters in the US?”

Now my turn. Excellent scholarship is available by Israeli and Palestinian historians that deals with 1948. I highly recommend Ilan Pappe’s The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, which documents 1948. Pappe acknowledges poor Palestinian leadership and the Arab armies roles during this time, but he very clearly demonstrates the power differentiation between them and Israeli violence and responsibility. He debunks the very myths the Israeli official was feeding us. 1948 is not, in fact, the story of the besieged Jews, though many Jews in this area at the time believed that, and still they are told that very narrative. Zionist leadership knew better, but they manufactured a narrative that is, to this day, reproduced and believed by many. I encourage you to check out Zochrot, an Israeli organization in Tel Aviv; they literally are redrawing the map of Israel to acknowledge this history.

And finally, the UN repeatedly affirms the Palestinian Right of Return. This is easily researchable. Racism is a dangerous and powerful accusation, but that is indeed what I heard from this official in his closing comments and analogy. There is an obsession with security in Israel, and it stems from a very serious belief that the very existence of Jews is threatened daily and the State of Israel is the only hope for preventing the extinction of the Jewish people. As the official said: “Everything is dependent on security,” but I will remind you that here only one people is allowed to be secure, and it comes at a devastating cost for another people.

Settlements and Home Demolitions

Sometimes I imagine what peace would look like in Israel and Palestine. I close my eyes and I believe that either grassroots activities or even the government might bring it about. And then I open my eyes and look around: the rubble of demolished houses against the backdrop of green lawns in illegal settlements, the beautifully paved settler by-pass roads contrasting the desperate situation in Gaza where there isn’t food, water, or medicine enough.

I recently met with an Israeli ministry official to get a briefing on the conflict. While I am convinced that we must and really can understand the situation in Israel and Palestine, I recognize that there are complexities and varying perspectives / narratives that must be thought through. I understand that even facts and history are disputable. In the period of an hour, I ingested so much bullshit that I’m still not able to really process the experience. I’m going to focus on one topic he touched on: settlements and home demolitions.

This ministry official used a map that a person in our group had—a generic map we bought at a gas station so we could drive around Israel—to show us where the Green Line is. The Green Line was drawn by the UN in 1949 to essentially delineate Palestine from Israel, that is, to sketch out the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The West Bank is often not distinguished but rather incorporated into Israel as Israel on most of the maps I picked up in Israel. The West Bank is essentially erased. On the map the ministry official used (again, our map) there was a dashed green line, yet the official traced The Green Line with his finger two to three inches inside the line drawn, and when the area of the West Bank is only five to seven inches wide on the map, he is cutting the area down to nearly nothing. Now, perhaps you will think he was just ignorant, but I will tell you that this man’s job is to know and speak about Palestine. Furthermore, the Green Line was there, so why redraw it with your finger? Later he tried to spot a few major Palestinian cities and Israeli settlements on the map, and he pointed to where he thought it was (after scanning the map for up to a minute), yet his geography was only on target once. Whether he was intentionally shrinking the West Bank or just ignorant (as seemed to be the case with pointing out major Palestinian cities) is irrelevant. This is a man representing the government, and either scenario is scary.

When asked about the peace process and Israel’s role in working towards peace, the ministry official was specifically asked to respond to settlements and Israel’s refusal to freeze expansion while simultaneously promising such a freeze during Annapolis. His response was “What about Palestinian settlements?” This may seem strange, so let me explain because it took me a few minutes to understand the question…and I was there.

“Settlements” are illegally (according to the UN) constructed communities for Israeli Jewish populations, which Israel builds (and I’ll say more about this) in the West Bank (formerly in Gaza as well, and also still in the Golan Heights). While they are constructed with non government money, the land on which they are built is Palestinian land that is often confiscated by the Israeli government. The Israeli government also offers considerable incentives for Jewish Israelis to move to the settlements. Their construction creates irreversible facts on the ground, not towards “Judaizing” Palestine, but also in terms of damage—environmental, economical, psychological, etc.—on Palestinian individuals and communities. Settlements are not only Jewish-only communities constructed on occupied land (an illegal act in itself) but they also bring with them Israeli government constructed by-pass roads which connect settlements and provide them access to Israel. These roads are illegal as well; additionally, they are racially exclusive and astoundingly destructive to Palestinian livelihoods. Between settlements and by-pass roads, the West Bank is hacked into enclaves that are divided from one another and sometimes within a single town. Settlements are illegal and terribly, terribly harmful to Palestine, and to any promise of peace.

So, what did this official mean by “Palestinians building settlements”? He followed up this question by stating that Palestinians are building illegally all the time, so why don’t we understand that this is a problem to peace also. Palestinians are required by the occupation authorities to petition the Israeli military for permission to do any construction at all. Not only does this cost money, but it costs time. And most Palestinians are denied the permits to build. Much of their land, and construction on it, is deemed a security threat to Israel. Thus, Palestinians have two choices…don’t build (which means don’t marry and have a family in this culture) or build on your own land without military permission at the risk of demolition. The ministry official classified all Palestinian building which is taking place on one’s own private land, all construction which was not there before 1967, as “Palestinian settlements.” He is able to do this by challenging the individual Palestinian’s claim to his own land with the argument that at one point historically it may have been Jewish land. Thus, Palestinians have been “settling” Jewish land for thousands of years. And thus, the Israeli government has a god given right to destroy any Palestinian house it does not approve of and a god given right to build Jewish only housing, against international law.

The real settler is the Palestinian. Now, we can argue about who is indigenous or who has a historical “right” to the land. But at the end of the day, I think the UN offers a useful and internationally legitimized standard for us. And using that, Israel is occupying Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the creating of facts on the ground, including the transferring of its civilian population, is illegal.