Gaza--it's still here.

Perhaps we in America have the privilege to contain wars. We have a luxury in perceiving Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, any of them--from a distant place and separating ourselves from what happens "over there." Sure, our "boys" are involved but we really aren't. Moreover, even though the Iraq "war" for example is not finished, we don't have to think about it daily, we don't have to feel frightened or threatened by it, and we certainly do not have to weigh its costs, effects, or consequences as we would have to were it to have transpired on our land.

Over here, war is a continuing, daily event. It's not even an event anymore, it's just life. And certainly the effects are ongoing, real and very immediate. I was watching this piece today and I thought about how on tv it seems distant, like a documentary about something far away in space and time. But it's not really far away because the occupation, the violence, the suffering, the war, the grief--none of it has ended.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UChWtlMGBJ0&feature=player_embedded


Yesterday I went to a demonstration against the Palestinian Authority who has decided not to support the UN Goldstone Report on Gaza. I've never felt such hopelessness here. I'm not sure what we are fighting for anymore. I'm not sure how much longer I can raise my voice when there are so few voices shouting from within these walls and outside of them. Then I saw a man wearing a black shirt and I started screaming louder. It said: "Remember Gaza."

Violence and the Land

Yesterday I went to see my friend's family in a village I haven't been to in a year maybe. I know the way well. A few summers ago I went there often. Driving around the West Bank is really quite horrifying because not only do you see manifest racism and apartheid as you drive on the settler roads only to be forced off of them to potholed dirt roads where Palestinians drive but you feel the anger that such racism and apartheid create. Sadly this is nothing new nor even shocking anymore. What so disturbed me yesterday was that in getting to this village we were blocked at multiple turns. Roads that were used just yesterday were now inaccessible after the Israeli military pushed heaps of trash, dirt and rocks into the path.




Turn around and try another route. We literally went in a wide circle around the village to the north then the west before circling back to the east. It was the same leaving: a huge circuit around that was utterly unnecessary. Solely frustrating. And for what? How can you learn the land when such violence is imposed on it, daily violence against land. How can you live when you don't know which way to go? The path to your house is new today, and again tomorrow. The path you walked as a child and are forbidden now from using with its destroyed trees and broken soil. They are destroying the land.

And when we left, a military jeep had blocked a road and stopped us. In Hebrew and Arabic he gruffly demanded my id then said to wait. In a line of cars, more time, more gas, more humanity stolen.

Mohammad's Arrest

Monday night I called Mohammad. He had just landed in Jordan at the airport. We talked. We laughed, said we'd see each other soon. Next morning I called again. Phone was off. Uncommon, very uncommon. I called maybe 30 or even 50 times throughout the day; every time the same message in Arabic telling me the phone was off. And I felt it in my gut. I knew he was arrested. At 2:30 I received a text message from him saying he was arrested. Phone was back off again. Then we all went into action. We have mobilized thousands of people for him, and for the cause. Mohammad is being held in administrative detention. Administrative detention is ugly and violent.

"Administrative detention is detention without charge or trial and is often based on ‘secret evidence’. Israeli Military Order 1591 empowers military commanders to detain Palestinians, including children as young as 12, for up to six months if they have ‘reasonable grounds to presume that the security of the area or public security require the detention’. The initial six month period can be extended by additional six-month periods indefinitely. This procedure denies the detainee the right to a fair trial and the ability to adequately challenge the basis of his or her detention.

"There are currently at least 387 Palestinian men, women and children in administrative detention. For more information visit the DCI-Palestine website at Freedom Now."

http://www.dci-pal.org/english/display.cfm?DocId=1247&CategoryId=1

Free Mohammad Othman Now!

Yesterday, October 22, Mohammad Othman was detained and arrested by soldiers on the Allenby Bridge Crossing, the border from Jordan to Palestine. He was returning from a trip to Norway.

Mohammad, 33 years old, has dedicated the last ten years of his life to the defense of Palestinian human rights. His village, Jayyous, has lost most of its land to the Wall and the settlements. He has worked constantly to let the world know about the Israeli crimes against his people and has developed relations of international solidarity.

It is not the first time, Palestinian human rights defenders are arrested after trips abroad. Muhammad Srour, an eye witness to the killing of Arafat Khawaje, 22, and 20-year-old Mohammed Khawaje, who were both shot on a Gaza solidarity demonstration in Ni’lin on 28th December. He testified in front of the UN Fact Finding Mission on Gaza and, in a clear act of reprisal, he was arrested on his way back. This strategy of arrests complements the overall policy of isolation of the Palestinian people behind checkpoints, walls and razor wire.

We call on international solidarity and human rights organizations to act immediately to bring attention to this case and advocate for the release of Mohammad Othman by:

Recommended Actions:



* Encourage others to join this campaign through petitions, demonstrations and / or letter writing / phone calling. Please provide them with contact information and details;
* Urge your representatives at consular offices in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem/Ramallah to demand the immediate release of Mohammad Othman. (For your consular contacts, see: http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-in/Israel#11725);
* Let the Israeli Embassy in your country know that you are campaigning for Mohammad’s release and for a just and lasting peace based on international law.
* Bring the case of Palestine’s first BDS prisoner of conscience to the attention of local and national media outlets;
* Follow the blog and facebook to free Mohammad Othman to see the latest updates and action alerts.

Blog: http://freemohammadothman.wordpress.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=36429272741&ref=ts


Mohammad Othman, however, represents only one of the 11,000 Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons. More than 800 are being held in “administrative detention”, meaning that they are imprisoned (indefinitely) without charge. International solidarity has to hold Israel accountable and achieve an end to the large scale repression and mass imprisonment of Palestinians as part of their efforts to bring about an end to the occupation and the restoration of Palestinian rights.



Sample letter:

Dear x,



I am writing to you to express my deepest concern about the detainment of Mohammad Othman yesterday, September 22, at the border between Jordan and the West Bank. He was returning home after a visit in Norway.

I fear that the detainment of Mohammad Othman is a result of his peaceful criticism of violations of international law by Israeli authorities. The charges against him have not been made clear, but there is reason to believe that he is a prisoner of conscience, arrested solely for his human rights work through legal organizations. I therefore urge for the immediate and unconditional release of Mohammad Othman.

In the meantime, I ask that Mohammad Othman is protected from any form of torture or ill-treatment, and that his rights as a detainee are fully respected for as long as he remains in custody.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent matter.


The International Red Cross delegations are here :

Tel Aviv
ICRC delegation
185, Hayarkon Street
TEL AVIV 63453

Tel.: (+972) 35 24 52 86
Fax: (+972) 35 27 03 70
e-mail

Head of delegation: Mr WETTACH Pierre
Media contact persons: Ms SEGEV-EYTAN Yael
Mobile: (++972) 52 275 75 17
Languages spoken: Hebrew/English

Jerusalem
ICRC mission
Nabi Shu'eib st. 8
Sheikh Jarrah district
PO Box 20253
91202 JERUSALEM

Tel.: (+972 2) 59 17 900
Fax: (+972 2) 59 17 920
e-mail

Head of mission: Ms AMSTAD Barbara
Media contact person: Ms BONEFELD Anne Sophie
Mobile: (++972) 52 601 91 50
Languages spoken: Arabic/English

Gaza
ICRC office
Jalaa street 50 / 43 Rimal
PO Box 29

Tel.: (+ 972) 8 2828 874 or (+ 972) 8 2822 644/5
Fax.:(+972 ) 8 2828 884

Israeli Military Prohibits Literary Event

Tonight was the opening of the Palestine Festival of Literature, and while this is the second year that the Festival happens in Palestine, the ongoing celebrations for this year's "Jerusalem: The Cultural Capital of the Arab World" framed the Festival as part of a larger cultural movement. There was to be a reception from 6-6:30 followed by two groups of writers speaking to the audience. I went early for the reception as Michael Palin, all hail Monty Python, would be there and I am a long time fan. 10, maybe 15, minutes into the reception and something intense happened. I was outside of the foyer, just in the courtyard, making my way towards Michael Palin for my much anticipated introduction when four soldiers pushed into and passed me. I was a bit confused and annoyed and turned to see where they were going. It was just us in the theatre--a rather elite collection of Palestinians and ex pats all dressed up for the event and acting all literary--and thus I found myself a bit baffled by their rude entrance. All of a sudden people started pushing and saying "get inside now. go inside. hurry." We all pushed into the theatre, through the soldiers, and stood in confusion. Various individuals tried to speak to soldiers, including the boss military man, but none of them would speak to us. They just stood there. Five or six up the stairs. Outside in jeeps and vans. Three at the front door. Six at the entrance to the house of the theatre. Then I looked into the theatre and saw another several.

http://www.palfest.org
Everywhere I looked...more soldiers, standing and holding guns silently staring at us. No one knew where to go or what to do. So I turned to Michael Palin. How convenient that he was right next to me! "Hello Michael. My name is *******. I'm a teacher at *******. HUGE fan! Over a decade now, HUGE fan. We'll talk more later without the guns." He politely shook my hand and said, great. I suggested to the people around me that we just sit and get on with the event. More soldiers. Someone suggested the French Cultural Center--apparently the soldiers weren't allowed to enter there but then again they weren't supposed to enter Al Aqsa Mosque either and they did in 2001. So, we left through a back gate, passed a police van and the one hundred or so of us walked as a parade down the street five minutes to the French Cultural Center where everyone worked to through the food we'd carried into some sort of arrangement while others set up a sound system and stage. On the way a man asked in Arabic, "what happened?" I said in Arabic, "The military doesn't like literature. Pity." Still, it went off, a bit awkwardly, but nonetheless. Five minutes after the writers began reading their work to a frazzled but excited audience, one, then two, three, and four police vans pulled up in front of the Cultural Center. They stayed there with their lights flashing for a good ten minutes. After that, one stayed, just to remind us of the presence of the military and their might. They denied our presence at the first venue and challenged it at the second. Apparently the Israeli military has a security concern with literature. Who would have guessed? Actually, I did. This is the cultural occupation we hear less about but which is debilitating a people, their heritage, and the preservation of all that is dear to them.

Boycotting Israel

I am pleased to report the first US university to divest from Israel: http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/1846.shtml I can only hope that this is a trend that offers an economic tool to pressure Israel into a more just situation than the current occupation and racism within its state offer.

I'm a vegetarian, and I love tofu. But the only tofu I can get in Palestine comes from East Jerusalem and is in a can, which is completely unappetizing to me. There are health food stores in West Jerusalem where I can find fresh tofu, but the problem is I boycott the Israeli economy in as much as is possible. Yesterday in Tel Aviv I was hanging out with an Israeli who lives in the city. He is vegan. And I told him how much I miss tofu, so he directed me to a store down the street where I can buy tofu. I told him I can't because I boycott Israeli products and stores. He reminded me of what I know all too well: it's impossible. Not simply because I was in Israel itself, but because there is a deeply entrenched occupation that controls the products on Palestinian shelves. In East Jerusalem--legally Palestine--one cannot find the most basic Palestinian products like water. In Ramallah I can but the majority of products are Israeli and those that aren't still have to go through Israel to get to us, which means ultimately that the Israeli economy benefits. Nonetheless I believe whole-heartedly that we who live in Palestine should do our best to support the Palestinian economy and not the Israeli one. It just doesn't make sense to fund the occupation. And while it is so challenging to boycott Israeli products here because they are sometimes the only option, outside of Palestine and Israel it is much much easier. I hope that people around the world join in the growing BDS movement and use their buying power to fight injustice and apartheid. Here's a list of companies who support Israel. I hope it helps you start daily demanding justice in this simple but vital way:

I'm Back

I’m not sure where to start. I’m back in Palestine. The first change I noticed was when I entered Israel, all of the Israeli soldiers, staff, and passport control especially, were so friendly to me. A lot of friends have asked me how I thought Gaza would affect my ability to enter Israel and return to Palestine (for those who don’t know, the occupation of Palestine means that anyone coming to Palestine enters through Israel and their passport control before crossing into Palestine, which has no air, land or sea control). I answered frankly that I didn’t know. I didn’t have any idea if entering would be more difficult or what. My experience says Israel is giving itself a makeover, embodied in that line repeated to me a good six times as I went through security and passport control: “Welcome to Israel.” My analysis is that the image of Israel is so poor after their massacring the people of Gaza that this is one of Israel’s attempts at rectifying the damage. The problem is, the damage is not just one of image. The damage is someone’s home that they built after 20 years of saving their salaries. The schools destroyed. The mosques decimated. The brothers, the daughters, and grandmothers dead. The father who lost his legs and the mother who lost her skin. The child who lost her eyes. The burned school books and pictures. The clothes and food supplies. Life. The health, safety, education, and future of an entire people. Maybe more than those futures are their presents. No shelter, no food or water, no mother or brother now. All dead, destroyed, massacred. Wouldn’t it be incredible if fixing the damage was an honest endeavor, not about branding Israel differently but of rebuilding lives and changing a decades long policy of ethnic cleansing. That sounds so simple that it rings of absurdity. And yet, how is it that halting violent ethnic cleansing could possibly sound absurd?

The Jewish State

If I called the US State Department to inquire about a work visa for a non US citizen whom I wish to employ and were asked if he was black, I would most certainly be shocked by the question and definitely challenge the racism so obvious in such a question. The race, religion, sexuality or gender of any individual who has the skills and experience to be employed are absolutely irrelevant, and moreover illegal to question.

But when an Israeli citizen recently called the Israeli Ministry of Interior to inquire about a work visa for me, he was given some information and then abruptly asked, “Is she Jewish?” My jaw dropped. This would surely be labeled racism were it asked here in the US, but in the Jewish state of Israel, it is practically natural that a Jew could be given a work visa without question yet a non Jew would experience a far more difficult process. How is it possible that now, in the 21st century, a state that privilege an entire race and religion over all others, including both the indigenous people and American citizens, whose money is the largest support Israel receives, is virtually accepted around the world? I think it’s been far long enough and we must stop and think about this exclusive state whose every structure is inherently racist.

As I sat in a Jerusalem bar last week, I struck up conversation with a French tourist. Much of his family had declared aliya (the law that allows any Jew in the world to gain citizenship almost immediately by declaring his “return” home) and lived in Israel. I asked if he planned to do the same. He said no, he was not really Jewish, at least, he clarified, in terms of religion. But he was racially Jewish. So, I asked what he thought of the Jewish State and he told me that it was necessary for Jews to have a safe place since they were unwelcomed throughout the world. Christians, he continued, could go anywhere, but not Jews. I challenged this claim and he responded that he had traveled extensively and never been threatened, and he was a Christian. I was confused. He said he was Jewish. A Christian Jew. But the question remained, how could he invok the Christian part of his identity and credit this with his safety? He said he was a white European and for this reason he was safe. But, I thought, most of the Jewish Israelis I saw were white Europeans, so which Jews were unsafe? Which Jews did Israel exist for? He was a bit confused by this point as well, but maintained that there was nothing racist about having a Jewish state. The US was a Christian state, he asserted. Okay, well, not really, but nonetheless, is Israel a religiously Jewish state or a racially Jewish state? A little of both, but here’s the crux, you don’t have to be a religious Jew to declare Aliya, you just have to prove to be racially Jewish. An Israeli citizen I know was asked if he is Israeli Israeli or Palestinian Israeli; apparently the former means pure Israeli, that is to say Jewish. Can you imagine if American American signified a “pure,” white American as opposed to a Black American? I can because it was not so long ago that “African” Americans were less than those imagined to be American Americans. We’ve come a long way in America, but not far enough. And since I can’t imagine the State Department questioning my race and using that to deny me a work visa, I don’t think we should so easily accept when any other state uses such categories to discriminate most and privilege some.

On Monday, the Israel Central Election Committee banned Arab political parties from running in the upcoming elections. Citizens of the state are no allowed to run for office because of their race. Imagine…but wait, in this country we can simply remember.

Visas

If you know anyone who tries to work or live in Palestine, you know that the most effective way for occupation to keep us out of Palestine and away from doing our work is to deny us visas. We try to come in on tourist visas, and we are forced to either leave and renew at borders, or to attempt a visa extension at the Israeli Ministry of Interior—a branch of the government that is infamous for is disorganization and refusals. I am, like most others, a victim of the visa. I was naïve enough to believe it would work itself out, but alas I have not only had my requested visa extension denied, but I was forced to buy a new plane ticket and sign a document swearing not to renew the visa. And so, I’m leaving. The crazy thing is, I had all my ducks in a row. I even had official government recommendations requesting my extension. And yet here I find myself refused. What can one do? It is nearly impossible to get a work visa for the occupied areas and that is where my life, work, and heart all reside. I know another guy, with no papers or plans, who went through the Ministry of Interior and found himself leaving with a six month extension. Why> Is there really any method to this madness? Maybe the point is to not create policies, to not have rules, to not have structure or organization. I don’t know. All I know is that it is utterly impossible to build infrastructure and institutions when we cannot keep employees here.

A Friend in Palestine

I have this friend here in Palestine. He's one of the most intelligent and capable people I have ever met in my life. He's an activist who organizes Palestinians and Internationals to work in solidarity against the occupation. Every time this friend travels around the West Bank, the shared taxi in which he rides is subject to being stopped at checkpoints, which are strategically located all over the West Bank. There are three main terminals--permanent structures that are located so that if closed, the West Bank is wholly divided into three areas with no access.

At checkpoints, this friend and the other Palestinians are told to take out their Hawiyya--the id card written in Hebrew and Arabic that states their personal information: full name, mother's name, religion, gender, place of birth and place of issue. It is held in a green plastic slip cover, which is, like the id, a requirement--for it means that he is a West Bank Palestinian. Such a distinction is necessary for the Israeli soldiers who control these checkpoints. The blue ids mean that the person is from Jerusalem, which is a special category similar to a resident alien. Blue id Palestinians live in illegally annexed Jerusalem and are denied Israeli citizenship. Thus, when we say 20% of Israel's population is Arab, these are the excluded ones because they have Jerusalem id rather than Israeli citizenship. In fact, 50% of the population is "Arab," but only 20% are "Arab Israeli" citizens.

That blue id allows a Palestinian access in Israel and Palestine; it is a coveted card. But my friend has a green id, which is really shit because he is limited as to where he can go. Even within the West Bank itself he does not have access everywhere--though he is Palestinian. Oh the intricacies of this occupation! Every time this friend travels around the West Bank, I hold my breath. Checkpoints are sites of harassment, humiliation, violence and arrests. And as a young Palestinian male, much less one who is politically active, his very life is in danger. I am waiting for his arrest to come. Why will he be arrested? He was born Palestinian. It's that simple.

Still Holding on to Hope

Some have noticed that I have not written for a while. I simply don't know what to say anymore. I don't know how Palestinians have survived this long. I don't know how people love, marry, bring new life into this world, celebrate, study, exist. I just don't know how they live in the face of daily violence and the constant attempts at destroying life here.

It is beyond my capacity for thinking to understand this occupation. It is intricate and it is brilliant. It is well funded and very well staffed. They erect walls and a Wall; they destroy houses and businesses; they "target" and assassinate, and not just those targeted; they watch with state of the art surveillance; they arrest and torture; they deny movement, education, and life; they erect checkpoints and decline permits to pass; they humiliate; they break spirits and bones. How do Palestinians exist after so many years of this? I swear I don't know the answer. I don't know how love can exist here. Even I can't keep my head up, and this is a new battle for me. I am fresh, strong and young. Yet I cannot endure against this omnipresent, omniscient and destructive force.

Today I saw a new comment on an old post. And it reminded me: I am not alone. They may have billions (US dollars) and an impossibly well trained, well armed military, but this is life we are talking about. And isn't the fight to exist stronger than that to destroy?

I hope so. I can only hope that this is true, and that we can hold on to what is humane here, that which this amazingly destructive project of Zionism attempts to decimate in Palestine.

Look But Don't Touch

From particular points on the campus of my university, one can catch a glimpse of the sea to the east. The street from the university to the city also reveals a few exceptional views of the sea in the distance. Every time I see the sun reflecting on the horizon my heart hurts, and I think wouldn’t it be better not to see it. Wouldn’t it be better not to have to look at that which should be within reach but is in fact forbidden. Once a student told me that she hasn’t been to the water is 6 years. Another said he hasn’t been allowed since 1996. Everything he writes returns to that sea. Look but don’t touch. See what you are denied, and keep on weeping.

20 Too Many

19 year old boy. A young body to be expected to handle 20 bullets. But 20 bullets he held courtesy of settlers...a too common tale these days.

Education Under Occupation

How do I describe occupation? How do I convey to you the frustration and humiliation, the grief and stress of living under occupation? Even just to explain what occupation is...I don't know where to start. I don't know how to paint a picture for you that can possibly give you an idea.

Today I collected a one page descriptive writing assignment from my university students.

One girl described watching a little boy at a checkpoint who was trying to sell soldiers water. The soldiers knocked the boy's good to the ground and told him to pick them up. When the boy bent down, the soldier stepped on the child's back. When the boy succeeded in picking up all the bottles, one soldier grabbed the boy's shirt and demanded he use the water to wash. The boy said I will wash your face and then he spit on the soldier. They killed the boy. I don't know if this story is true, but a Palestinian student does not need a great imagination to write this story, even if it is not true.

One boy described the waves of the sea, and the sand, and the clouds and stars and the moon. And like many students who wrote happy descriptions, he closed by saying this was his dream. But his reality is that the sound of crashing waves, the sand between his toes, the water over his feet...it all remains a dream, and he knows that it will be a dream for years to come.

I left my class and walked through campus. Students, just getting out of class themselves, walked down the campus mall. Friends strolling along, laughing and chatting. Smiling faces, fashionable clothes, backpacks slung over shoulders. Normal students who are anything but normal. They are denied education, movement, health. They are denied their humanity. They are occupied in every sense of the word--these scary, threatening Arabs we all must fear. They violent Arabs against whom Israel must build a Wall and continue a violent occupation. They are my students and they write about another life, a life in which they are more human and free from the fear and pain of occupation.

The Privilege of Teaching

Being a teacher is really quite a privilege. To start, you have an entire hour or hour and a half to talk to a captive audience. They have to listen to you, and they can only disagree if you let them. Really, education could easily be called indoctrination, for sometimes it actually feels like brainwashing. And I think that it can be brainwashing. Students are trained to take their teachers' words as gold, and I think we have a responsibility to retrain them to not just ingest but to challenge. To challenge everything.

I always say that I don't understand why Israel won't give me a visa if I say I live in Palestine. I mean, I am NOT DOING ANYTHING WRONG! I'm teaching writing for god's sake! I gave a lecture this week that woke me up to the reality that for Israel, I am doing something very dangerous. I am inciting my captive audience.

My students are learning about collective memory--that lived experience that is shared by many and articulated by individuals of that collective. Collective memory informs the historical record, and the historical record constitutes the accepted version of the past and the present. Well, as we know from Palestine and Israel, the historical record is a Zionist history, much of which is based on myths and all of which is used to facilitate a colonialist project. Collective memory is a powerful tool...but only if articulated, accessed, and embraced.

Let's think about 1948 in Palestine. Israel's "Independence" is celebrated extensively and globally. On this 60th anniversary, let us really think about Israeli independence. The small but determined army of Jews defended themselves against the overwhelming Arab armies. "Never again," they shouted--a clear reference to the Holocaust and exile. End of story. Israeli collective memory of 1948 paints a triumphant, nationalist picture of success against great odds. And the national imaginary and historical record are wholly based on this experience, but the less referenced historical record shows Ben Gurion, the Zionist leader at the time, knowing that they were neither outnumbered nor overpowered, and certainly not threatened existentially. Yet he and his power dogs claimed otherwise, and Jews fought on this basis. So it is their collective memory which has in turn written history.

Where is the story of the Nakba? Few hear that story of Palestinians in 1948, though this is beginning. Where is their collective memory? It has certainly not shaped the historical record in any significant way to date. What does that mean? What I told my students, and what Said articulates, is that the Palestinian failure to consolidate their collective memory of the Nabka and shape it into a coherent narrative that is accepted as historical record is absolutely detrimental to the cause of Palestine.

Israel is ethnically cleansing Palestinians. It is a 60 plus year campaign, one that morphs but whose goal is steadfast. The Zionist Project will succeed, and there will be no Palestinians.

The future of the Palestinian people depends on their ability to harness collective memory and demand a new narrative that includes them and their experiences. For as long as the world knows only the Zionist history, Israel's "security measures"--read occupation and ethnic cleansing--are wholly justified. NO! There is a history of occupation and oppression here and I must believe the world would not condone Israeli state terror and ethnic cleansing and apartheid if the world really understood. But how can it? The Palestinians are silent; they are silenced. It is terribly easy to cleanse the silent / silenced from the land. And so I say: assert the collective memory and claim it as part of a history that the world must learn. Gather it and insert it into the historical record, because it is valid. But do it now, before it's too late.

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.”