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.
Monday, January 28
Friday, January 25
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.
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.
Monday, January 21
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.
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 aretwo 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.
Friday, January 4
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 w
e 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.
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 w
e supposed to do if we're regularPalestinians? 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.
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