Making Sense of Jesus

As I write, Israel is bombing the Gaza Strip. Israel says the goal of the bombing is to stop a stream of rockets being fired from Gaza at Israeli towns and cities. Hamas says the rockets are a response to Israel’s economic blockade of Gaza.

There are several things that are difficult about this bombing. I've just walked home from speaking with neighbors about why the bombing of Gaza and why firing rockets at Israel are both wrong. People are dying. Numbers start to become meaningless and leave you numb: Israeli news tells us that hundreds of rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip in the past six months. Our Palestinian neighbor's TV tells us that 350 people have been killed, 1500 wounded. Do these things even matter? There's no way we can know the names of all the people who have been killed. There's no way we will ever understand what it's like to live in an Israeli town close to the border and have seconds to get to cover because another rocket has been fired from Gaza.

Both of these issues lead us to a different set of questions: how should we respond to these things? What do we say to Israelis that point out what it's like for residents of those Israeli towns? What do we say to Palestinians in Gaza who have had homes come crashing down on them as a result of missiles fired from airplanes? In such a heated atmosphere as this, people are quick to dismiss you if you seem to support either 'side'. One thing we try to do is to help those around us see what we see; when I talk with Mohammed, Ahmed, Noora, Moshe, Jacob, or Ronit, I'm not talking with 'one of them', I'm talking with neighbors, acquaintances, friends. We wish those militants launching rockets or the pilots dropping bombs could see the same. PEOPLE live there, not Jews or Arabs; people.

At home, in North America, we feel so helpless. We can raise our voice in protest but we alone can't change the fact that people here are committing violent acts against one another. We can't help that Israel begins bombing the Gaza Strip, treating all the men, women, children, all the families there, as if they are the very same people committing the horrible acts of launching rockets towards Israeli towns.

Sitting here, in Israel/Palestine, we still feel helpless. We can speak to friends and neighbors and explain why not all 'Jews want to take over all of Palestine' or why not all 'Arabs want to kill Israelis.' It's something, but it feels like so little when rockets are being fired, bombs are being dropped, and entire people groups have made each other the 'enemy'. So what can we do? One small but (we think) significant thing, is to love the people around us well. We can live what it means to be in the Kingdom of God and provide an example of what it looks like to follow Jesus in a world that is fallen. 'Love your enemies and do good to those that persecute you' seems easy enough, until you actually have enemies and are suffering persecution. It's not easy to live in God's Kingdom and physically be in a different place, but this is what God asks of his followers. Because we are not Palestinian or Israeli, we aren't invested in the conflict here in the same way. And yet we love those around us, who are invested in it. We can touch their lives and speak to them as close friends. Living in a place like this, Jesus suddenly starts to make more sense. This is why Jesus talked so much about loving 'others' and our 'enemies' and there being a 'narrow gate'. He makes more sense when we have to fight through our natural reaction to protect ourselves and what's ours and start the striving required to truly love other people that are different than us. We live in God's Kingdom, while residing in a different place.

Please pray for the people of Gaza. Pray for those who are trapped in homes or have missiles being shot at them and haven't done anything wrong. Pray for those who live in Israeli towns like Sderot and Ashkelon who have had rockets shot at them. Pray for those firing missiles from helicopters and airplanes and those launching rockets, that they will see the humanity of those they view as enemies. Pray that this place of long-standing conflict will know peace and that all people here, whether Jew, Christian, or Muslim, can live with equal rights in a place free of war, suspicion, and hatred.

A Modern Christmas Story

(A little tough to follow, but so are the realities of this place...)

In Luke chapter 2 we are told of Mary and Joseph’s trip to Bethlehem from Nazareth. It’s a familiar story this time of year, the travel of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, where Mary gives birth to Jesus. Thousands of travelers will come to Bethlehem this year to celebrate Christmas in the place where Christ was born some 2,000 years ago. However, the people who live here in Israel/Palestine who would be able to follow the same path that Jesus’ parents took so long ago are few in number.

There are two major groups of Israeli citizens in Israel; there are Israeli Jews, and there are Israeli Palestinians. Israeli Jews aren’t allowed to enter ‘Area A’. Israeli Palestinians are at the moment. The West Bank is currently divided into three separate ‘Areas’ as a result of the Oslo agreements from 1993. Area A is where the Palestinian government has full security and civil (water, electric, utilities, etc.) control. Area B, where Palestinians have civil control and Israel has ultimate security control. And Area C, where Israel has civil and security control. Driving through the West Bank there are signs indicating Area A as being illegal for entry by Israeli citizens. This is generally only applied to Israeli Jewish citizens, and Palestinians that have Israeli IDs are allowed to cross checkpoints and enter Area A. Looking at a map, one can see that the West Bank is far from being mainly Area A. In fact, the West Bank currently looks like Swiss cheese, with large Palestinian population centers, like Ramallah, Nablus, and Bethlehem designated as Area A, and most of the rest of the land Areas B or C.

So, Israeli Palestinians would be able to go from Nazareth (an Israeli town whose population is mainly ethnically Palestinian) to Bethlehem (‘Area A’, a Palestinian town whose population is almost exclusively ethnically Palestinian). Who else would be able to make the trip? Well, Palestinians born in the West Bank are issued West Bank IDs by the Israeli government. Palestinians with West Bank IDs aren’t allowed to enter into Israel proper (Tel Aviv, Nazareth, anywhere in the Galilee, or Jerusalem) without special permission. Often our Christian friends and neighbors are given this permission from the Israeli government at Christmas or Easter; it’s rare for our Muslim friends and neighbors to get this permission. So any Palestinian born in the West Bank is out, unless they’re granted special permission.

There’s a third type of ID that some Palestinians have (Just to review, so far we’ve got Israeli Palestinians, who are Israeli citizens, and West Bank Palestinians. In Area A, West Bank Palestinians live under Palestinian law. In Areas B and C, they are governed by an Israeli military authority, but have no vote in Israeli elections or any chance of getting Israeli citizenship.). The third type of ID that some Palestinians have is called a ‘Jerusalem ID.’ Palestinians born in Jerusalem have the option of taking Israeli citizenship or taking a Jerusalem ID. A Jerusalem ID is different from a West Bank ID. Palestinians with a Jerusalem ID have freedom of movement both in Israel and in the West Bank. Generally, Palestinians from Jerusalem don’t want to take Israeli citizenship as a way of protesting what they view to be Israeli occupation of east Jerusalem. That’s three possible IDs that a Palestinian born in Israel/Palestine could carry: an Israeli ID (if s/he holds Israeli citizenship), a West Bank ID, or a Jerusalem ID.

So who would be able to make the same trip today that Joseph and Mary made over 2,000 years ago? Well, Israeli Jews wouldn’t be allowed to enter Bethlehem today (being forbidden by the Israeli government out of concern for individuals’ safety). Israeli Palestinians are currently allowed to enter Area A. Palestinians with West Bank IDs could get to Bethlehem, but they’re not allowed to places like Nazareth unless they’re granted permission from the Israeli government. Palestinians with Jerusalem IDs could make the trip since they’re allowed to live in Israel and allowed to enter the West Bank. There’s a whole other category of people we haven’t talked about yet though, one that Jesus himself would be included in: Jews born in the West Bank.

Jews born in Areas B or C qualify as Israeli citizens (since Bethlehem is Area A, I don’t know how Jesus would be categorized today). This is one of the biggest problems we have with Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. Israeli Jewish citizens live in the West Bank and live under Israeli civil law. They can vote in Israeli elections and use the Israeli airport in Tel Aviv. Palestinians born in the same place are ruled by Israeli military instead of civil law and have to travel to Amman when they want to fly.

Seeking justice in this part of the world often involves working not for something extreme, liberal, or radical. Often it involves asking for basic, simple things: the application of law equally to all people regardless of race or religion. Asking Israel to take practical steps as regards the West Bank: make Israeli citizens leave and pull out of the area militarily, or annex the land and make all the people living there citizens, regardless of their ethnicity. Calling for an end to Israeli occupation of the West Bank is often viewed as radical or extreme, but looking at modern day conditions in light of the Christmas story helps us see the situation for what it really is: an absurd arrangement that in the end isn’t really good for anyone, be they Jew, Christian, or Muslim.

YMCA Women's Training Program

The YMCA Women's Training Program (WTP) is one of MCC's partners here in Israel/Palestine. The YMCA works with women and their families in small villages and partners with them by giving loans for animal production and agriculture. They provide 6-9 month training sessions where they teach about economic development and marketing, as well as agriculture and animal husbandry.

One man who works part-time with the YMCA recently told us that the reason he likes working there is because they deliberately seek out the poorest of the poor and try to help them change their lives. In their training sessions, trainers look for responses in the women depending on the topic; for example, if they begin talking about raising chickens and notice that some women are suddenly more interested, trainers make a note of it, and if those women ask for loans regarding chickens, they're usually approved. The YMCA tries to provide a means of earning income that beneficiaries are passionate about.




When beneficiaries have paid back their loans, they're given a certificate from the YMCA showing that they've paid the loan back in full. This woman showed us her certificate on a recent visit. She was extremely proud of the fact that she and her family were able to earn enough income from their grape arbors that they could pay back their loan. This system allows people a chance to improve their financial situation with help from an outside organization, but allows them to do so with dignity and a sense of pride in their accomplishment.

PHOTO ESSAY: Wells Near the Dead Sea

This week MCC workers were able to visit Bedouin and other rural communities near the Dead Sea. One of our local partners, the Bethlehem YMCA, is working with these communities to rehabilitate old wells to help provide these often-marginalized communities with water. They would use this water for agriculture and livestock, the two staples of their communities and their only source of any type of income.

One Palestinian man that accompanied us on the trip told us that he really appreciated working with the Bethlehem YMCA (link to the right). As he explained, "They're not like most large organizations that look for projects that will promote their name. They specifically seek out the poorest of the poor and look for ways to actively help them." We're proud of our partners here in Israel/Palestine, and this is just one example of why...

Photo Essay

The Heart of the Conflict

There is no issue in the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict that is more explosive than the status of Jerusalem. Although the topic is often set aside during negotiations because of its contentious nature, there are some who believe that the city which represents “the heart of the conflict" must be the starting point for negotiations. Ir Amim (which means "city of peoples" in Hebrew) is a local Israeli organization that promotes this belief and is working towards creating a stable reality for all the peoples of Jerusalem. Today, I had the opportunity to join Ir Amim on a tour of Jerusalem, revisit the wall which surrounds much of the eastern part of the city, and more closely examine the current realities "on the ground" that are working against a shared future and hopes for a viable Palestinian state. Because most of the tour's participants were Israelis who had never or perhaps infrequently visited this part of the city, it was also an opportunity for me to gain a better understanding of the Israeli perspective.
Following the Second Intifada that occurred in 2002, construction on the "separation barrier" began for the alleged purpose of providing security to the Israeli population. Yet the current route of the wall grabs undeveloped West Bank territory for the purpose of Israeli development, includes the major settlement blocks of Gush Etzion, Maale Adumiim, and Pisgat Ze'ev (some of which are quite some distance from the city center) and excludes Palestinian neighborhoods like Abu Dis and Azaryia which had traditionally been considered suburbs of the city.
The Wall as a Tool for Land Confiscation. Hailed as Jerusalem's fastest growing neighborhood, Har Homa offers Israelis "all the staples anyone could ask for: health services, supermarket (with many American foods), pizza, and falafel stores plus regular bus service throughout the day are easily available. Residents are friendly and eager to welcome newcomers. Sitting atop a mountain overlooking Ramat Rachel and Bethlehem, residents enjoy breathtaking views and breathe fresh mountain air daily. There are playgrounds and greenery scattered throughout and many more on the way. All the homes are new and more are planned to meet the growing demand." Subsidized housing makes this settlement appealing to many Israeli Jerusalemites. What developers don't mention is the fact that this land was once West Bank territory--a forested area that provided an open recreational space to the residents of the crowded city of Bethlehem. Confiscation of the area by the Israeli government, development and now adoption into the city of the Jerusalem as a result of the wall insures that Palestinians of Bethlehem and the West Bank will never again be able use the area to hike and picnic.
The Wall as a Tool for Exclusion of Palestinians from East Jerusalem and from One Another. In the Shofat Refugee Camp, an area clearly within the municipal boundary, residents maintain Jerusalem ID status, but the path of the wall now limits access to the city and essentially declares a new municipal boundary. Many Palestinians are moving inside the wall to hold on to their Jerusalem ID card, but this has only added to the East Jerusalem housing shortage, and contributed to overcrowding and economic decline. A similar situation has occured in fringe Palestinian neighborhoods which surround the city like Abu Dis, Azaryia, and Kafr 'Aqb; half of the residents are included in the city and half are cut off. From a security standpoint, there has been no evidence to suggest that those living outside of the wall have engaged in more violent activity than those living on Jerusalem's side of the wall. There is evidence to suggest ulterior motives for the path of the wall.
The Wall as a Tool to Shape Future Borders and Create Irreversible Facts on the Ground. In Abu Dis the wall not only cuts through the community but also runs just in front of the Palestinian Authority's Parliament Building which was to serve as the Palestinian seat of authority of East Jerusalem. Was the path of the wall in this place chosen as a way to prohibit a future Palestinian capitol in East Jerusalem? The question must be asked.
The development of Maale Adumiim, the large settlement block to the east of the city, essentially divides the Northern part of the West Bank from the Southern part making a viable Palestinian state increasingly difficult.
Although these tours are often difficult for anyone, I was encouraged this time by the reactions of some of the tour's participants. Many were disturbed by the obvious lack of social services provided to the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem who pay the same taxes as residents of the Western side of the city. Garbage pickup is clearly less frequent, antiquated water and sewage lines are in desperate need of repair, streets are in need of paving, lights and sidewalks are infrequent, and few playgrounds exist. Education is a huge problem as well. Approximately 1500 classrooms are needed in East Jerusalem and although the Ministry of Education has promised to provide these facilities, they have been slow to act. Many Palestinians are forced to provide private educations for their children, yet Israeli children in West Jerusalem receive these services free. Further, the municipality has refused to zone portions of East Jerusalem, making construction for Palestinians on this side of town illegal. Obviously there is a huge disparity between the city's treatment of its Israeli and Palestinian residents. Many of the tour's participants acknowledged that this could not be morally justified.
Some questioned why so many decisions are made between private individuals and the municipality without public debate. "After all, these decisions affect us all," said one participant. A few recognized that the current realities only aggravate strained Palestinian-Israeli relationships and will not lead to a more secure Israeli State. Perhaps tours like this will encourage more Israelis to become better educated about the realities of the current situation and call their own government to accountability for its actions.

Jonah's Lessons for Today

Today is the celebration of the end of Ramadan, the nearly month-long Muslim holiday where Muslims fast from sunup to sundown. They refrain from eating or drinking, and the end of the month is marked by a feast when people exchange presents.

This week begins a series of Jewish Holidays. Rosh HaShana, the Jewish New Year, and then Yom Kippur, the Day of Repentance.

During the holiday season, both observant Jews and Muslims turn their attention to spiritual matters. Both mark their holidays by fasting. Observant Jews specifically get themselves ready for Yom Kippur by taking stock of their lives over the past year.

On the holiday of Yom Kippur, to be celebrated a week from Thursday, many texts from the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, are read. One of those texts is the book of Jonah. There are deep implications regarding peace between Israelis and Palestinians from the book of Jonah. Jonah is told to go to the capital of Assyria, Nineveh, and warn them to repent. Assyria was an empire that had invaded Israel and deported many of its citizens. When God tells Jonah to go his enemies so that they have the opportunity to repent, he refuses and runs from God's call. And when the Assyrians finally do repent, "...It displeased Jonah, and he was very angry." (Jonah 4.1).

How similar a situation we see ourselves in now. There are a people here who are being oppressed. There are many Palestinians living outside the land that would like to return but are not allowed. Where is the Jonah of today, the one who would be willing to go to Ramallah and speak to the Palestinians about how to work with Israel in an effective way? Not only to the leadership, but to the people on the other side that are willing to do what's necessary for the hard work of pursuing peace. Even after hearing God's call, Jonah still resisted. No wonder then that we so often too shun the work of pursuing peace with our enemies; it's human nature that we want to see them 'get what they deserve' rather than receive the grace and forgiveness God offers.

As we work with MCC in Israel/Palestine we are often reminded that we are outsiders to the conflict here. Ultimately, the people here have to move forward themselves. But as we try to learn from the people we build relationships with, one thing we begin to understand is how each side sees the 'other'. For us, soldiers at checkpoints represent an inconvenience and a frustration; for our Palestinian friends who have experienced them as an immovable part of their lives, they represent something else. Settlers represent injustice to me, but I've never lost a home because of one. In the same way, when militant Palestinian groups speak of destroying the Jewish state, or call Jews pigs and thieves, it doesn't resonate with our identity in the same way it would if we were Israelis or Jews. When leaders rail against the Zionist regime, we don't immediately think about how that will affect our future lives in our current home. But, despite the fact that we are outsiders, we're beginning to understand. Through the relationships we're building we're learning of the pain, frustration, and misunderstanding that is found so often on both sides. We're learing to see the 'other' as our friends see them. And as we understand these things we're able to enter into some of that frustration with our friends, and by doing so, we legitimize something inside them. Suddenly our encouragements to work towards peace and to love our enemies begin to mean something. Here is someone who is learning their language, listening to their story, hearing their pain. So when we talk about loving our enemies, our words carry weight. Recently we've come to understand the grace God has shown us on a deeper level. Perhaps if I had been born in Tel Aviv I would be standing at a checkpoint. Perhaps if I'd been born in Gaza I would march in parades for martyrs. Either way, understanding that grace has kept us from these things is a move towards understanding those on either side who have legitimate grievances. By not cheapening the pain felt on both sides we're able to speak with integrity about the necessity of working towards peace. We realize that as outsiders it's not up to us, but we can often fill the gap that people from here aren't able to. One afternoon we can be in Ramallah helping to train young people to see themselves from others' perspectives and think about the responsibility they have towards their society, and that evening we can sit down with rabbis in Jerusalem to talk about ways to educate the Israeli public about the injustices being carried out by their government.

One of the most significant aspects of Jonah's stories is that not only does he see his enemies redeemed, he actually plays a role in bringing them to that redemption. We look to inspirations like these as we work with partners and friends, urging them to play a role in the redemption of the other side. As outsiders it's not up to us, but we can encourage and support those on both sides who will decide when peace and justice will come to this land.

Partner Profile: Palestinian Hydrology Group

The Palestinian Hydrology Group is one of MCC's partner organizations in Israel/Palestine. MCC supports PHG with an annual financial contribution and frequent visits to their projects throughout the West Bank. PHG works to provide local communities with water for drinking and agriculture.

On visits to PHG's projects, MCCers meet with beneficiaries who have been given access to more water resources. These farmers and families are always happy to share what they have with MCC staff. We often leave these visits with armfuls of whatever happens to be in season. As you can see in these pictures, these families benefit from the extra water. This helps not only in food production in these communities, but often farmers are able to begin marketing produce as well as a result of PHG's work.

This is one of the wells PHG helped renovate. Most of the wells PHG works with are in poor condition, leak water, and are inefficient. PHG's work with local communities to upgrade wells helps conserve the scarce natural water resources in the West Bank.






A familiar sight to anyone who's visited Palestine, we were immediately offered coffee and tea when we visited the committee that helps choose wells to renovate. This committee is made up of local farmers who themselves have benefited from PHG's work. The committee searches for communities that are in need, but also that will benefit from the type of small-scale community development projects that PHG specializes in.



Of course, due to the traditional hospitality here, we never leave empty-handed. MCC is able to give through its partnershp with PHG, but it's also given to...

SHALOM: A Matter of Perspective

My first real encounter with the word 'shalom' was as a biblical studies major in college. Most of you are probably familiar with 'shalom' as meaning 'peace'. In my studies I learned that it does indeed mean peace, but goes beyond that to encompass a sort of 'wholeness', connoting a way of living that bears out what God originally intended his creation to look like. 'Shalom', the sort of thing that would have been found in Eden before the Fall.

When I lived in Jerusalem to continue with graduate studies, the word 'shalom' lost some of its mystical feel. I was learning modern Hebrew at the time, and in modern Hebrew 'shalom' is used as a typical greeting, the way we would use the word 'hello' or the phrase 'how are you?' in English. At first I was impressed with Israelis. "Wow," I thought, "everyone here walks around greeting each other with 'peace'. What a great concept." It quickly became routine and was just a way to start conversation. It wasn't so much greeting someone with the word 'peace' as it was what you said to a friend before you started talking. 'Shalom' became just another word from a choice of possible greetings, something said so often during the week that it didn't have any significance except as a way to open a conversation or greet someone passing by.

Now, Jessie and I live in Bethlehem and work as MCC's Peace Development Workers. Lots of our friends are here with us in Bethlehem, and we cross checkpoints pretty often as we move back and forth for work between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. 'Shalom' has started to mean something different for us. Apart from when we visit MCC's Israeli partners, the only time we hear it is at those checkpoints. it's the first thing you hear when you pull up and are greeted by armed soldiers. "Shalom, show us your passports please." "Shalom, may we see your ID." Now it feels like a reminder of the fact that many of our Palestinian friends aren't allowed to come to Jerusalem with us. A friend's son recently told her, "Mom, I know what shalom means. It means show me your passport." My heart broke when I heard this; instead of knowing 'shalom' as the wholeness that God intended his creation to live in, this little boy's first exposure to the concept was as a symbol of the dynamics of power and oppression at play in the world. "Shalom, show me your passport." "Shalom, I need to see your ID." "Shalom, you're not allowed to cross here."

When we originally started as Peace Development Workers for MCC, there were certain aspects of the job we were excited about, and certain aspects of the job that we were curious about. What does it mean to be a 'peace development worker'? How does that play out in real life? And is it really 'work'? After over a year in the position, we've come to understand that it is indeed work, and can often be the hardest kind of work there is. There's a reason Jesus tells his followers in Luke 13 to "strive to enter at the narrow gate." It's not an easy thing to live out the way God has called us to live in the world. It's something we must strive for. Psalm 34 reminds us as well to "seek peace and pursue it." Not only are we to look for peace, to look for ways to move ourselves and those around us towards peace, but the 'work' part of the job for us is right there in the verse. 'Pursue' it as well, because as long as we live here in the world peace will not come easily. For us, we're learning that walking the way of Jesus and living in God's Kingdom is part of the reward, the goal. I don't know if the ultimate goal is for us to actually 'attain' peace, but for now the 'striving' and 'pursuing' parts of God's instruction for our lives is keeping us busy enough. Thankfully there are lots of other believers here trying to live out the way of peace alongside us. Together we're learning what it means to 'enter at the narrow gate'. It's not easy, but the process, the striving, the pursuing of peace, is beginning to become a reward in itself.

MCC Partner Profile - Lajee Children's Center

Lajee Children's Center is one of MCC's partners here in Israel/Palestine. They run after school programs for children, and work mainly with children from Aida refugee camp. Here, Palestinians are considered refugees if any of their ancestors left their homes during the war of 1948. Generally, those who fled their homes were not allowed to return. It's not uncommon to meet a child who will tell you he's from Jaffa or Lod, even though he himself may have never even seen the city.

Lajee provides under-privileged children with a small library, a place to learn about and use computers, and a summer camp which provides them with new experiences and gets them out of the crowded conditions of the refugee camp. As part of their summer camps, Lajee brings international volunteers to work with the children. One such volunteer, a young Jewish woman from America, was the first Jewish person that many of the children have encountered that wasn't wearing a uniform of the Israeli military. The story is related in the video. It's encounters such as this, building bridges and breaking down walls among those that are different, that encourage MCC's work with partners such as Lajee.

East Jerusalem: Urban Planning or Ethnic Cleansing?

As a part of urban planning and land use development in communities around the world, building permits are required to ensure public safety, health, and welfare as they are affected by building construction. In East Jerusalem, however, building permits appear to have a different purpose.

A complicated and lengthy application process along with fees as high as $25,000 make obtaining a building permit almost out of reach for many Palestinians and very few permits are actually issued. In addition, Palestinians are only permitted to build one- or two-storey buildings, while adjacent Israeli housing units may have up to eight floors. With a housing density double that of Israeli’s, 11.9 square meters per person in Palestinian neighborhoods compared to 23.8 in Israeli neighborhoods, Palestinians are often forced to build “illegally” without permits. The Jerusalem Municipality enforces the building laws by issuing demolition orders for all houses built without a permit. In recent months we have seen a significant increase in home demolitions among Palestinians in East Jerusalem for this reason.

Just two months ago, a nearby house owned by the Ibrahim Ghazlan Al Abbasi family was demolished because they did not have a permit. One month following the demolition Al Abbasi died of a heart attack and shortly thereafter the family decided to come together to rebuild the home. We watched the four walls of the new structure go up over the past month, but this past week the backhoes returned and the new structure was again demolished. Also within the last week, a five-story building in the nearby neighborhood of Beit Hanina was demolished leaving 70 Palestinians homeless. It is important to underscore the fact that these are not isolated incidents. Nearly 80 businesses and homes have been demolished since the beginning of this year and earlier this summer the municipality announced plans to demolish 47 of the 88 homes in the neighborhood of Silwan.

At the same time, illegal Israeli settlements continue to be built and expanded in East Jerusalem. In January 2008, just two months after Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in Annapolis, the Israeli government announced plans to build 300 new apartments at the Har Homa settlement in occupied East Jerusalem. Settlement expansion is also being encouraged in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah where a court order threatens the evacuation of 27 homes.

Yet Palestinians and internationals are not the only critics of the municipality’s ethnic cleansing program. In protest of the destruction of property and confiscation of homes, Rabbi Meir Hirsh, a leading rabbinical figure, issued the following statement: “Torah Jewry condemns the illegitimate occupation of Palestinian land and the subjugation of Palestinians throughout the Holy Land…What a very different world it would be if all Jews would seek to emulate the traits of Abraham our forefather. Then respect would begat respect and love would yield love and peoples would once again live as true neighbors as we did in the decades before Zionism sought the dispossession of people…We all hope and pray for the day to come, that we all may yet live in peace in the land of our mutual forefather Abraham, under the moral laws of the Almighty.”

As Christians, as messengers of life, healing, and peace between peoples, we must oppose violence in all forms, whether suicide bombings or ethnic cleansing which destroys homes, tears away the hope of a people, and hinders peace. As Americans whose tax dollars support Israel, it is our duty to call upon our government to hold the nation of Israel accountable for actions that contradict the democratic principles we value.

"I'll choose to live every time..."

As soon as you get off the plane, literally, stepping off of the plane onto the little foot bridge that lets you get from the plane to the terminal, it starts. There's a family, Muslim judging by the young woman's head covering, standing off to the side. Airport security wants to speak to them and has asked them to wait.

I get to the end of the bridge and turn to start walking toward passport control. A woman steps forward, "Hello, sir. Airport security. Can I see your passport please?" Jessie, my wife, has already stepped onto the escalator, "Sure. She has it." She's on her way up. The woman gives me a look and tells me I can go.

We're waiting in line at passport control. They've already told two different families to step aside, both of which look very Arab to me. The girl in front of us looks Arab as well. "Wait over there," she's told. "Where?" "Over there. Someone will come to you in a minute." Security wants to talk to her more before they allow her into the country.

Waiting for our bags to come around on the carousel, a Palestinian man passes. He has a luggage trolley with his bags on it. Two security guards are escorting him out of the airport, one on either side. They walk him around the corner all the way out to the taxi stand. I wonder if they wait for a taxi with him?

Driving home we pass a bus. It's blue and white, a typical Palestinian bus. Two Israeli soldiers have asked everyone to step off and are writing down the names and ID numbers of people on board. It's 5:00 on Saturday afternoon.

All of these things happened within 2 hours of us touching down in Israel as we returned back to work. Small things, seemingly insignificant things. "There are terrorists around. We do these things for the security of the country. You don't know what it's like to have someone want to kill you." These are common explanations for what we see, and are all true statements. But I can't help but wonder how many normal people are inconvenienced by "security measures." I don't know what happens every single day, but I imagine that the day we got off the plane was pretty typical. Here's a family stopped getting off the plane; I'm asked for my passport before I even get close to passport control (and I don't think she was trying to help speed up my entry into the country); families that look Arab are asked to wait to the side; buses are stopped and people are asked to get off. These are all security measures taken by Israel. They're little, daily inconveniences.

An Israeli friend recently told me, "If it's a choice between inconveniencing them, and me living, I'll choose to live every time." I wonder if I would choose the same thing if I were in his position? Is there any number of people I'd consider too many to stop at checkpoints or pull out of line before I thought it wasn't worth the chance? If 100 people wait at a checkpoint so that a terrorist is caught, that seems fair to me. What about 500? 1,000? 10,000? More? When does the law of 'diminishing returns' kick in, and the anger and frustration that are caused not make up for the number of terrorists that are actually caught this way? I can't honestly answer these questions; sure, I live here now, but I don't have to think about raising a family long-term in this environment. If things get too hot, we can always leave. Would I choose to support a society that said that no matter how many normal people are 'inconvenienced', we're going to keep dealing with this certain problem in this certain way?

We had a group here recently on a learning tour. A learning tour is different than a historical tour. The first time I ever came here to Israel/Palestine, I did a historical tour. I visited all of the biblical sites (yes, ALL of them, we didn't stop moving for 3 weeks). We didn't discuss politics very much. On the learning tours that we do, we do our best to allow the participants to hear from people that are representative of all different perspectives here. We talk to Palestinian Christians and Palestinian Muslims on both sides of the wall. We meet with Jewish settlers living in the West Bank who say the blame at the moment is entirely on the Palestinian side and with Jewish Israelis living in Tel Aviv who say that Israeli society needs to wake to up to the great wrong that it is doing; Palestinian farmers living in villages where they're attacked by Jewish settlers; Jewish settlers who've been attacked by Palestinians; foreigners living here, some of whom sleep in villages without running water in solidarity with Palestinians, and some who argue that Israel has a divine right to the entire land of Israel and think the Palestinians need to leave. We had a non-observant Jewish tour guide show us the religious and historical history of Jerusalem from David to Jesus' time, and we had a Palestinian Christian man from Nazareth who drove us around during our tour. We sat with a Palestinian Muslim woman whose brother was killed by an Israeli soldier approaching a checkpoint and a secular Jewish Israeli woman whose son was killed by a Palestinian sniper while working at a checkpoint.

Why do I bother to mention all of these things? If you go back and read through that list again, and then try to imagine developing relationships with ALL the people from the list, you start to get a sense of what life is like for us here; we don't have relationships with all of those people, but we have relationships with people that represent all of those viewpoints (those of you who've been reading for a while also know that I'm encouraging you to visit). This is part of what peacebuilding is: we're trying to help people that would normally only see each other as enemies see each other as people. Lots of Palestinians only experience Israelis as unfriendly soldiers at checkpoints behind guns, barriers, and fences. Lots of Israelis only see Palestinians on the news carrying weapons and bombs. We're trying to help them see each other as mothers, parents, carpenters, soccer players. As people.

So why should we care? Well, driving around Bethlehem the other day we came across this picture spray-painted on the wall.
That 'Made in USA' stencil makes me feel invested in what's going on here. Whoever wrote that there is making a deeper point: this wall that restricts the rights of a lot of Palestinians couldn't have been made without the political support of the United States. Then, there's the question for Israel: have you become the evil you deplored? For me, the USA stencil and the question for Israel are intertwined. Has Israel, as a 'Jewish state', become evil? It's a legitimate question, and I think that there are lots of people that would read that question and stop reading right there simply because I asked it. I think that's what the 'Made in USA' thing is getting at. Are we at a place where we aren't able to even ask the question about whether what the State of Israel is doing is right or not? Lots of people are of the opinion that since Israel is God's chosen nation (I'm not of that opinion and can get into it deeper if you'd like, but 'Israelis' are not the same thing as 'Israelites' and Tel Aviv is not the same thing that Solomon's Jerusalem was) we shouldn't challenge them or confront them. "Those who bless you will be blessed and those who curse you cursed" is thrown out there pretty often. One response to that, and one I think can connect with those who argue that we should support the State of Israel out of a biblical basis, is that if the State should be supported because it's made up of God's chosen people, then we should hold the modern state to the same standard God held his people to when he made all those promises; one of the biggest injunctions for the biblical Israelites was that they 'love the alien in the land' since they were once aliens themselves. How do we miss this? Those things seem pretty logically connected to me.

The Church should be speaking out about these things. However, the problem with the Church is that we either don't see these things or don't take them seriously. We are looking to the global Church to be a prophetic voice about these things, expecting it to be willing to speak truth to power and calling it to work to make this world look more like God's Kingdom (isn't that what we're asking for when we pray 'Your kingdom come, your will be done..'?) but it isn't responding to the situation here. Like this picture, the Church's complacency only leads to another wall for Palestinians and a dead end for peace.
Hopefully you're starting to feel a sense of what it's like to work here and try to figure out how to live as a citizen of God's Kingdom while all around us absurd injustices are going on. One of the passages we read Sunday in church was from John 20:19. The verse was printed in the bulletin, "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you..." When the reader got to the words 'fear of the Jews' he started to say them, realized what he was saying, and said instead 'for fear of Jesus' enemies'. I started thinking about media and how what we say matters. Here, it'd be pretty offensive if there was a Jewish person sitting in the church and the reader talked about disciples hiding for fear of the Jews; don't we do something like that when we say 'the Palestinians' launched rockets from Gaza? Are they all launching rockets? What if the news called them 'enemies of Israel' instead? Would that change the way we see things?

(Still with me? We'll tie it all together in a second here.) Earlier I mentioned the Palestinian woman whose brother was killed and the Jewish woman who lost her son. I sat with a group of pastors, listening to a Muslim woman and a secular Jew tell me about losing loved ones, knowing that their respective societies view the other as 'the enemy'. Seeing them interact with each other as friends, as humans, taught me more about grace than anything I've ever heard someone say from a pulpit. Someone asked the Muslim woman if it's difficult for her to travel because of Israeli restrictions on Palestinian movement, and if she'd been able to accompany her Israeli colleague on any of the speaking trips the Israeli woman had taken to North America. She reached out and put her hand on the woman sitting next to her. "Not yet. I'd love to travel with my friend, but not yet." I never expected a Muslim woman and a secular Jewish woman to so clearly demonstrate to me the grace, forgiveness, and love my Christian savior so often talks about in a book that neither of them have probably ever bothered to read, much less claim to believe.

Finally, while showing a friend around here, we stopped by the Church of the Nativity, the church built to commemorate Jesus' birth here in Bethlehem. Inside the church is a poor box, a place for parishioners and visitors to leave donations for the poor. It's just off to the side, out of the way but not inconspicuous, just large enough to be noticed by anyone who's been in the church more than once. The Greek Orthodox Church does a large part of the upkeep around the church, and there are signs of that all over the place. One of them is the fact that most of the writing around the poor box is in Greek, the original language of the New Testament. Seeking God's Kingdom is something that has to be actively pursued. I don't think God's Kingdom looks like what I see most of the time: a huge concrete wall, people treating each other with no dignity, intentionally humiliating or demonizing each other, seeing each other as enemies rather than neighbors, oppressing each other, full of fear, hatred, and violence. Most of the time these are things that we encounter in our daily life as we try to connect with the normal people on either side, as we sit with people here we know genuinely want peace and are trying to figure out ways to help the greater publics understand it. Occasionally, we'll have moments like with the two women I mentioned above, who show us what God's Kingdom looks like here in this part of the world, and those are the moments when it all kind of comes together and relieves a lot of the frustration, pressure, and tension we feel living here as citizens of a different place. That's when what's written on the side of the poor box starts to take on a more immediate meaning for us. I start to understand why Jesus tells us to go out and love our enemies and care for the poor; we usually think we're supposed to do those things to benefit them, but I think they're actually for our benefit, so that we can hurry up and live in the world that God intended for us to live in. "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is well pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the poor." (Luke 12:32-33) We all meet people that are poor and that we can give to, and not just materially.

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Former President Jimmy Carter is meeting with Hamas officials this week. Ehud Olmert, the current Israeli Prime Minister, could not find time to meet with him. Another Israeli official, Shimon Peres, met with Carter but made it clear that he 'reprimanded' Carter for meeting with Hamas officials. The US government considers Hamas a terrorist organization and refuses to speak with them officially. I do wonder though: what has ignoring Hamas accomplished? There are different schools of thought when it comes to dealing with rogue governments or parties; some argue that they shouldn't be awarded the privilege of speaking with Western, democratic governments, arguing that meeting with their representatives somehow validates their actions. Others think that speaking with them is the only way to involve them in the political process, which can be used as a tool to help moderate them. The thinking is that if they are involved in the process, they have more to lose by not 'playing by the rules' of the process.

Either way, these can be secondary concerns for us as citizens of a different kingdom. Jesus told us to love our enemies; I think that Carter is doing that now. He told us to work for peace; I think Carter is doing that as well. It seems that there is a much better chance of bringing peace to this place if we involve all the actors. Anyone familiar with Middle East politics will acknowledge that without involving Hamas, no lasting peace can be forged. Here, views of Carter are drastically different depending on who you ask. Some skew him for being willing to even talk to Hamas; others applaud him for recognizing that Hamas needs to be included in any lasting agreement.

From here, we continue to hope and pray for peace. Speaking with your enemies seems to us closer to Jesus' teachings than ignoring them, and we hope that as we follow his teachings we can bring his kingdom in to the world.

Friends, Thursday night a Palestinian from East Jerusalem entered a yeshiva in the Western (Jewish) part of Jerusalem. People were killed as he opened fire on students that were studying. Speculating, it seems that this attack was carried out in response to the deaths of Palestinians as a result of the Israeli military's operation in Gaza.
That same night, in response to the attack, the Israeli military entered Bethlehem, which under agreements with Israel is supposed to be sovereign Palestinian territory. It seems that the military was setting off bombs, and there was lots of gunfire, we believe from the Israeli military.
Earlier this week, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, agreed to resume negotiations with Israel towards achieving a lasting peace here. He had called them off in response to what he viewed as Israel's disproportional military response in Gaza to the firing of rockets from parts of Gaza.
Wednesday, Israeli 'border police' were in Bethlehem and killed 4 men. The Israeli military claims the 4 were "terrorists". People in Bethlehem agree that some of them were radical militants, but not all. Regardless, using the legal system to bring to justice those accused of the killings would seem to be a more appropriate and less inflammatory response.
This is not a new cycle and I don't expect that it will end any time soon. It's so easy to see how extremists from either side are able to inflame tensions here or elicit a response from the 'other side'. When we initially came here, we had trouble understanding what 'peacebuilding', our official job title, was. We now have a better understanding of some of what that means. When people are working so hard to kill and destroy, it's much clearer that there should be those that are working harder to build and encourage people towards peaceful, non-violent responses to injustices they see all around them.

Gaza

Friends, below is an update on Gaza as we see the situation from here. Please continue to pray for innocent people on both sides, and especially for innocent residents of Gaza who are unable to even flee the violence. If bullets are indiscriminate, missiles dropped from aircraft are even more so.

-------------------------------

Over the weekend, we heard from a personal contact who assists in the
hospitals and clinics in Gaza. The writer describes the Israeli
offensive as as "organized destruction". The following is a brief
excerpt from that letter: "Over the previous 48 hours 35 killed and
around 75 injured. Last night to now in one hospital in Jabbalayeh a
further 28 killed including 3 women and 10 under 16 the youngest being
one week old. Less than 10% would be classed as 'fighters' the
majority are civilians with varying injuries... Again most of the
injured are from within houses demolished by the missiles. One man has
lost both lower limbs with an injury to one shoulder whilst feeding
his goats. His father requests his photograph is sent to US as the
chances, when he is ready for getting out for appropriate prosthetic
limb fitting, are slim to nil at present and getting any kind of
prosthesis in, let alone fitted, is costly. He is 20 years old with a
new wife and baby on the way. Whilst he may well become mobile again
on prostheses the way ahead for him will be long and difficult to
regain any degree of independence in any society let alone one that is
being systematically destroyed. He is one of many just in these last
few days."

Gaza's hospitals and emergency workers are stretched beyond their
capabilities and on the verge of collapse. Today, Egypt allowed
approximately 200 patients to be transferred to Egypt. As a result of
the death toll and violence in Gaza, Palestinian President Abbas has
cut off talks with Israel.

Please pray for the situation here, the leaders, and if willing
contact your congressman or senators. Remind them that violence only
begets violence and that the seige of Gaza and the collective
punishment of innocent civilians must end.

Ten Thousand Villages and Olive Wood

As part of a semester abroad a group of EMU students came to visit MCC Israel/Palestine. We met with some of the artisans who supply Ten Thousand Villages with olive wood products from here in Bethlehem. By getting to meet with the artisans, people are able to put faces to the conflict here; it becomes not the 'other' who is experiencing difficulties as a result of the conflict, but people with names and stories.

If you'd like to link to a slightly larger screen, click here.

Wastewater Treatment

You may have read an earlier post about wastewater treatment in a village called 'Naha'lin'. Well, a MCC delegation from Canada recently came to visit some of the water projects MCC is working on here in Israel/Palestine. From that visit we were able to put together a short video of some of the work MCC does here.

In case you didn't know, Israel has imposed a blockade on the residents on Gaza for a LONG time. The Israeli military strictly controls who and what is allowed in and out of Gaza. It's been like this for quite a while. Recently, militants from Hamas, which controls the Gaza strip, blew holes in the wall separating the Gaza/Egypt border (there is a wall there put up by the Israeli government to prevent people from crossing directly into Egypt; first they pass Israeli checkpoints, then they come to the Egyptian border). You can read about it here and here as well, and how residents there bought everything from gas to livestock. There's a video of things here, and this is what the fallen wall looked like.

I can't even imagine what I would do in a similar situation. 1.5 million people live in the Gaza strip, an area of about 360 square miles. A foreign government determines that since some of the people from the Gaza strip fire rockets at its citizens, none of the people that live there are allowed freedom of movement. I think that if I lived there I'd be happy to get out for a while too. The linked article mentions how some people just wanted to be somewhere else for a little while; I think we don't appreciate how important it is to be able to travel when we'd like until the privilege is taken away.

One thing that I think about often when thinking of Gaza is a conversation I had with an Israeli friend here. He told me that the border between Gaza and Egypt is open, and that the Egyptians are the ones who won't allow Palestinians to cross the border. The Washington Post article seems to say differently; does he not know the reality of the situation there? Is the Israeli media not reporting this accurately, or is he just unaware? I wonder if most Israelis have any idea of what life is like for residents of Gaza. I understand the Israeli government's desire to protect its citizens, but even if you believe force is the answer, do you really think the best response is to punish 1.5 million people for the actions of a few? Even if we're not pacifists, I don't see how it's possible to rationalize collective punishment, especially on such a grand scale.

______________________________

So what can I do about it?

We can contact our representatives in Congress and ask for two things:
1) Pressure Hamas to stop those carrying out rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, and,
2) Pressure Israel to respond to rocket attacks in ways that don't punish innocent civilians.

You can find your representative here. There's a tab on the right hand side where you can enter your zip and find out who your reps are and how to contact them.

President Bush is currently here on a tour of the Middle East. You can read a great intro. to what he hopes to accomplish here. One of his main goals while here is to try to move the peace process forward. Remember Annapolis? Not much has happened since then. One of the most significant elements holding the peace talks back are the issue of settlements (more on that below). The President is here to hopefully try to get things moving again and get some kind of action on the settlement issue.

What is a Settlement?

A settlement is any house or building that's built on land that belongs to Palestinians. Some Palestinians, Hamas, for example, would say that the entire state of Israel is built on Palestinian land. Most Palestinians -- in addition to the UN and the International Court of Justice -- would argue that anything built on the Palestinian side of the Green Line (there's a link explaining the Green Line to the right) is a settlement. The Israeli government annexed certain parts of Jerusalem, which it captured from Jordan in 1967. Then, they started building all around the edges of Jerusalem and moved Israeli citizens into those homes. There are other settlements as well, built inside the West Bank. For example, Ariel and Karnei Shomron are
two of the larger settlements there. Their location geographically makes it extremely difficult for any future Palestinian state to be contiguous; these are just some of the settlements that are right in the middle of the West Bank. And as you can see, these aren't just a few houses that can be demolished and the families relocated...

Sometimes settlements look like Ariel, and sometimes they look like Har Homa, one of the settlements built in a ring around the city both sides claim as a capital. As you can see in these pictures, construction on Har Homa continues today.



Often settlements start out like this, with just a few trailers and some water supplies. Eventually electricity is brought in and real homes start to be built. When they're in this stage they're considered 'outposts', but outposts usually turn into towns and then cities.

Now, officially the Israeli government is against the construction of illegal outposts, like the one pictured above. The government claims that it does its best to remove them. However, many still exist. With outposts and settlements come soldiers for the protection of the (illegal) settlers, and then checkpoints, etc. The situation becomes very difficult, and it would seem that if the Israeli government truly wanted peace or the establishment of a Palestinian state, they would stop the building of settlements. On the other hand, Palestinian leaders should denounce and seek to stop the minority of Palestinians who are choosing violence (e.g. rockets and suicide bombings) as a means to resolve the conflict.

Bush's Visit to the Region

Yesterday we watched a live press conference held by President Bush and the Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert. The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, held a press conference with Bush today. When Bush and Olmert spoke, both said that they were committed to peace, but there were some things that pointed to difficulties down the road. For his part, Bush said the goals of this trip for him were that there would be a clear vision of what a future Palestinian state would look like, that the road map issues for both sides would begin to be dealt with (see the 'educate yourself' part of this earlier post), and that the Palestinians would begin to organize their security forces to stop terror attacks. PM Olmert said some things as well. He mentioned previous agreements with the Palestinians, wherein the Palestinians are supposed to put a stop to terror (which hasn't happened). At the same time, Israel has previously agreed to stop settlement expansion (also hasn't happened). With neither side having lived up to their part of the bargain, both sides have an excuse to continue doing what they want to do. Who will take the first step?

Brief notes to conclude:

1) the Israeli Prime Minister promised there would be no new settlements. Sounds good, but note that 'no new settlements' doesn't mean existing ones won't be expanded. An important distinction.

2) A Palestinian reporter asked President Bush about UN resolutions which say that Israel should withdraw to the Green Line in exchange for peace. Bush responded, "The UN deal didn't work." He suggested we try something new. Perhaps we shouldn't be so flippant about what the body representing most of the countries in the world says.

3) What about Hamas? They were democratically elected and represent a significant portion of the population. Any agreement made not involving them most likely won't hold up, since it will be an agreement with only part of the Palestinian representatives and not all of them. Hopefully the Bush administration can find ways to get Hamas invested in the process.

4) The President did surprise us when he explained that a future Palestinian state must be viable. He told the room full of reporters, "Swiss cheese ain't going to work." Territorial contiguity is a pretty important thing to consider when trying to establish a state.

5) President Bush, the Optimist, hopes to leave here having established a 'firm vision of what a future Palestinian state would look like'. However unlikely that there will be a viable Palestinian state in 2009, we really, really, really hope that he's able to accomplish what he's trying to do. Life here will be better for everyone if Israeli occupation and the Palestinians carrying out terrorism both stop, and there's a just solution to the conflict here.

Shout Louder!! The World doesn't hear you yet!

Have you been keeping up with events here? Probably not as much as you should with the holidays going on, right? Besides, people are dying for democracy in Kenya, the primaries in the States are underway, and the NFL playoffs are on. So we're not paying that much attention to what's happening here.

Well, after the Annapolis summit, some people were talking about possible movement on the peace efforts between the two sides. Ummm....after recent events, probably not. In case you didn't know, militants from Gaza have been firing rockets at Israel for a LONG time. It was happening before Annapolis, during Annapolis, and after Annapolis. Well, Israel chose to start dealing with the rockets AFTER Annapolis. Can you fault a country for defending itself or its citizens? Absolutely not. But, Israel is definitely not making efforts to endear the civilian population to itself. Eleven people died on Thursday. They weren't all militants. You can read about it here, from the BBC, which is pretty balanced. In case you're not going to take the time to read it, I just want to point out that the article mentioned that the Israeli military used air strikes. Seriously? We're going to go into a populated area and call in planes and helicopters to start shooting up the place and drop bombs? I only took an introductory psych. course in college, but I'm pretty sure that airstrikes aren't how you start winning over a hostile population.

Now, the timing of what's happening here is important. Since Annapolis, the Israeli military has been making regular incursions into Gaza. 4 Palestinians are killed one week, 6 the next, 11 Thursday, etc. They're small enough numbers that ABC News isn't going to run them on its nightly lead. So maybe we don't hear a ton about it. Yet at the same time we aren't rushing to point out that the Israeli government doesn't want to be 'a partner for peace'. Settlements are still going up (look for a blog about settlements soon), Palestinians are dying daily, and the Palestinian government should be looking at how they can be partners for peace?

Another significant action this week was the Israeli military going into Nablus in the West Bank. Rockets have been being shot from Gaza, so it's understandable why the military wants to get in there. Militants shouldn't be firing rockets at anybody (and we want to point out that not all Palestinians that live in Gaza are militants). Why Nablus in the West Bank though? I don't know. The Palestinian Prime Minister thinks it's a bad idea and harms the peace process.
I don't think he's too far off from the truth.

If we can remove some of the distance, let's imagine that we live in Nablus. We're not allowed to travel very far, and while we're driving to the towns we are allowed to visit, we're often stopped by soldiers, have to get out of our cars, and wait while they check our IDs. Sometimes it takes 10 minutes, sometimes it takes an hour. We're not told what they're checking for or why it takes so long. Sometimes the person next to us is told that he has to go home without an explanation of why. Sometimes we're told we have to go home. Meanwhile, a government that doesn't consider us citizens is building an enormous barrier around our town. We're not allowed to travel to places that we used to be able to go to. We don't have criminal records or any ties to terrorists, it's just that we hold IDs that say that we are Palestinian. Because of this, we're not allowed to leave the West Bank and enter Israel. The United Nations has said that the barrier is illegal. The International Court of Justice has said that it's illegal. Our daily reality doesn't change. The barrier is still being built. Soldiers come into our neighborhood with guns and tear gas, and there's no one to complain to. Reporters and cameramen are around, so we know that people outside see what's happening, but our daily reality doesn't change. Every day the barrier gets a little bit bigger, and the places we're allowed to go get a little bit smaller. Every day.

If this was us, don't you think we'd be pretty upset? I would. If these guys were outside my house, or if this guy was yelling at my dad, I'd have a problem with it too most likely.





















So what do we do? I don't think it helps things that these guys are picking up stones and throwing them.

At the same time, I don't think I'd want to see this guy, anywhere, ever, pointing that gun at me.




So what are we supposed to do if we're regular
Palestinians? Not the militants, not the guys shooting rockets, but people who happen to have been born in places like Nablus, or Gaza, or Bethlehem? We're not citizens of Israel, but the Israeli government controls where we go and tells us when we can leave our houses and when we can't. How loud does this lady have to shout before she'll be heard?












All pics in this post from Reuters.