"Nothing Lasts Forever"

I left Hebron today, after a morning of lots of goodbyes and hugs and parting bad jokes with my ISM team mates, CPT comrades, and Palestinian friends.

Yesterday night had not been a calm one. Still evidently angry at having been humiliated when they failed to catch Mahmoud more than a week ago, and having beaten up his father last week, the soldiers came to the family again. They found the 13 year old son on the street late at night, and beat him up. He had to be taken to the hospital. We heard that this same group of soldiers were looking for other Palestinian kids to beat up, so we spent several hours in the Souq, navigating the streets in the night (they are luckily lit well). Fortunately, they did not come out anymore after that.

After saying my goodbyes, I got into a servees and drove to Bethlehem, then a taxi guy drove me to the bus 21 station.
He told me something interesting. He said the Israeli settlers around Bethlehem (the city is surrounded by settlements) sometimes come into the city to do their shopping, and he drives them around in his taxi. I asked him how can this be, aren't the settlers occupying Palestinian land?
Yes, he said, but they are people too.
He told me that among Israelis, even among Israeli settlers, there are good and bad people. With the good ones, he said, we have no problem with. He told me they are welcome anytime.
I have to say I was shocked by his graciousness and determination to see the best in people... in my view, every settler who is in the West Bank is illegally occupying land that was stolen from the Palestinian people. Yet here was this guy who was willing to see the good in some of them.
He told me he hates the crimes the settlers commit in Hebron and Nablus, and that if the settlers that visit him cause trouble, "I would kill them".
However, he is willing to have those who are peaceful to him as his neighbours, and even is friends with some of them. The same is true of other Palestinians he knows.

Why is this important? The reason is simple. The present situation is unsustainable. Israel's occupation of the Palestinians cannot go on forever. The world is waking up, and the military occupation will grow harder and harder to justify politically, and to maintain, especially if military aid is cut off.
There can be only possible solution- a peace where Israelis and Palestinians live in equality and freedom. The occupation can not indefinitely continue, and it cannot be replaced with the roles of the occupier and victim being reversed. Whether this means a one state or a two state or some other solution, I don't know. The ones who can negotiate that will need to be members of a responsible and compassionate and courageous political leadership on all sides (Israeli government, PA, Hamas)... something that is desperately needed, and nonexistent at the present moment.

However, there are already people, like this man, who are ready to live in peace*, when it truly arrives. This gives me a lot of hope. May God foster this spirit in the heart of every person here.

* A true peace, with justice for everyone, not what is happening today.


After a big Arabic lunch meal, I hopped on Bus 21 and rode to Jerusalem. This is the city Jesus wept over, and in which so many prophets and men of God walked.
As always, on the way there, the bus stopped. We had to get our passports ready, and the Palestinians began filing out.
I don't know really what I was thinking. I finished my stint (for this summer!) in ISM, and there was nothing I could do, not even take pictures.
Suddenly, I decided there was something that I could do. I stood up, and got off with them. If the Palestinians had to stand in line in the sun, then so could I. Interestingly, I noticed an Asian woman standing in line with me. Like me, she was from Canada, and not a Palestinian. I briefly asked her what she was doing here, and she said "visiting friends". Perhaps that was true, or perhaps she was an activist from the handful of other international groups that like ISM are active here and trying to document and oppose the occupation. We are encouraged to not say we are with ISM to strangers, so perhaps she was told the same thing. But I am only speculating.
In any case, we asked the Palestinians to go through first, and presented our passports to the Border Police officer last. He asked where are we from, we said "Canada".
The soldier looked surprised, and after seeing our passports, quickly waved us through.

The unjust occupation of the Palestinian people did not begin yesterday, and it will probably not end tomorrow. Tragically, many litres of blood may still be spilt until it ends.
The unjust and sick game of apartheid that the Government of Israel is enacting may be around for a long time before it falls.

However, that doesn't mean we have to play it.



I am reminded of a sign I saw that was painted on the annexation wall in Bethlehem. It reads "With Love and Kisses, Nothing Lasts Forever".

While I have nothing to say in this case about kisses and love, I can say that the second part is certainly applicable. The injustice and violence that happens everyday here is overwhelming, and seemingly eternal. It is not the case.

Justice always eventually comes. Oppression always eventually ceases. We have been created by a God who loves and sides with victims of injustice, and nothing happens outside of His knowledge or will. It is only a matter of time. Things will eventually get better. There is always light at the end of the tunnel.





Thank you for following my blog this summer. I encourage you to read and learn more about the occupation. Maybe one day you can come down to Palestine to see for yourself.

Educate yourself, and then spread the knowledge.

Then see what else you can do to try to make a difference.

Even more random pictures from Hebron and the West Bank

Arab bus 21. It takes Palestinians and other people do different cities in the West Bank. Unlike Israeli buses, passengers on these buses get stopped and searched when the bus stops at checkpoints. The Border Police often make Palestinians get off the bus and line up outside when this happens.

Some beautiful landscape. These hills have seen and soaked in so much tears and blood. God willing there will be a just peace one day. There is no other solution to the situation.

Coca Cola advertisement in Hebron. Yes, they sell and advertise their crap everywhere.

Man standing in restaurant beside a spit on which meat is slowly being roasted. It is called shawarma, and it's awesome.

A full Palestinian supper at a restaurant in Hebron. Baked chicken with rice, a sour and creamy soup, pita bread, hummus, and an assortment of salads. The price, including a bottle of water, was 30 shekels, or ten Canadian dollars. 

TIPHers on patrol. I wrote about them earlier in the blog, and their non-response to the settler occupation of the Abu Rajab family's property. In addition to writing secret reports to the Israeli and Palestinian Authority governments that no one else sees, they live in a fancy hotel somewhere in H1, and make big bucks. TIPHers usually drive around in very fancy cars, and rarely get out of them. 

Seeing these ones on a stroll was kind of amusing, since they almost never leave their air conditioned vehicles.

A Palestinian man in Hebron making orange juice. 

You can observe how he makes it in the video below. The ISMers who are waiting for the juice are talking about teargas clouds and demonstrations... a typical activist topic of conversation down here. Seriously though, what else is worth talking about?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT-ORL5fWUE&feature=youtu.be

Palestinian kids in Hebron show off their bikes.

A masked soldier taking pictures of us.

Buster interfering with the tying of a shoe. Yes I know I said there is a certain page that is devoted to him, but it's my blog and I can break my own rules.

Abu Rajab house, whose occupants have had nightly visits from settlers, and are awaiting eviction. Israeli soldiers or settlers (not sure who), or both, have hung up Israeli flags all over the building.

Marwa (in orange shirt), one of the daughters of Imad Abu Shamsiyeh, with a friend. I met Marwa last summer. She is an amazingly bright and friendly kid, and like her family, courageous in the face of the settlers and army who have a special hatred for her parents for their part in documenting the abuses of the occupation. Her parents and siblings have been harassed, threatened, beaten, even stabbed.

 May God keep her and her family safe from further harm.

Zleikha's kindegarten

On August 5th, we paid a visit to a very special place in Hebron.

Tucked away in a small room in an apartment that is shared with CPT, Zleikha Muhtaseb runs a summer school program. Zleikha is an experienced teacher, with many years behind her. Her compassion and care for her pupils is evident in everything she says and does.

Zleikha started a kindegarten in the Souq in 2003, after the Israeli military's complete closure of Shuhada Street, which began in 1994 after the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre. The kids living in the area used to earlier go to a kindegarten outside the Old City (where the Souq is located), but after the street was closed down, and Palestinians were forbidden to walk on most of it, that became very difficult. As a kindegarten teacher, Zleikha has seen her small learners stopped and harassed  by soldiers at checkpoints, and attacked by settlers. The kindegarten that she started for many was a safer place to learn.

As their teacher, Zleikha often watches her pupils as they leave school. Although the settlers are less of a problem now in the Souq, the roving patrols of soldiers definitely are. Like a lioness protecting her cubs, Zleikha stands by her kids. When her kids are picked up or arrested, Zleikha co-ordinates with the local YMCA to try to help them.

She also helps organize workshops for mothers. It can be challenging enough to raise kids. It is even more challenging to raise them amidst clashes, sound grenades, rubber coated steel bullets, live fire, and teargas. Many Palestinian children are traumatized by what they see around them. Zleikha tries to help them and their parents to cope and to try to have some semblance of normalcy in a terrible situation that no one should ever live through.

Zleikha's kindegarten functions also as a learning centre for kids who need extra help in English, Arabic and Math. During the summer time, kids come there to both learn English and to take part in fun activities. That one little apartment flat where all this takes place, also is a centre of learning for children's mothers, where they take worskshops on gardening, food processing, cooking, and literacy.


Some of us ISMers came by one day, for a fun afternoon of games and candy and juice, with her summer school kids, who age from grades kindegarten to 9.

Seeing these kids laugh and run around and play really did me a world of good.

In Hebron and the West Bank, I often see kids go through what no child should have to live with. In Hebron, I see kids being detained, having their bags searched, being blindfolded, being roughed up and beaten. In the city and the villages, I see them going to clashes, sometimes goaded on by older youth and adults, sometime without any direction. Using their slings, they throw rocks at heavily armed soldiers, who shoot them in the head with rubber coated steel bullets, or choke them with teargas. The kids in Hebron H2 face the same water shortages, abuses from soldiers, and attacks from settlers that their parents face.
They grow up in a world where they see cruelty and injustice everyday, a world where going out to play or walking to school is a dangerous endeavor, where neither they or their parents know what will happen next.

For an hour or two, they were able to play and run around and socialize and be kids, away from the men with guns outside. It was great to see, and writing about it today still almost brings tears to my eyes.

I pray that one day they get a chance to have a childhood in a country where there is no occupation or violence, and they and their parents can live with the dignity that God wills for them and for every other human being on earth.


To learn more about Zleikha's kindegarten, please see the site below. 
If you would like to support her financially in the work she is doing, please see consider making a donation. It will go a long way, and will make a difference in the lives of many deserving kids.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/education-for-occupied-children#/story

Zleikha and her kids

Zleikha (older woman in hijab, in the back) posing for a photo with her kids. This woman is an inspiration to me as an educator, and is I think a role model for teachers everywhere.

Fun and Games

We began with a round of Atom...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFqV3e5lpsg&feature=youtu.be

Then a fellow activist led the kids in a game of musical chairs...

... which was very very fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXrvUUYR6_0&feature=youtu.be

The kids learned the Canadian classroom game of Silent Ball (and they were actually quiet while playing it too).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm-LBp-IPdA&feature=youtu.be

As underhand throws became overhand throws, the game got more intense...

... and became even more so when they had to stand on one leg while throwing and catching the ball.

Getting ready to play something that a Northern European volunteer taught them, which would be similar to "What Time is it Mr. Wolf" in a Canadian classroom.

The kids enjoying themselves, while Zleikha observes and helps keep order and films.

After a long and strenuous hour of games, it is time for snacks.

These kids also worked hard all summer, coming to the centre to learn voluntarily. How many kids in the schools I work at would willingly do that?

Sunday encounter with Border Police and police

On Sunday, I went to Jerusalem, intending to go to church early in the morning, and mail a package home as well. I woke up a bit late, and in the hope of making it to church, I took a group taxi.

We were stopped at the checkpoint leading from the West Bank to the city, and the police pulled the car over. It turns out our driver didn't have his papers in order, and we had to wait for some 20 minutes. I saw bus after bus getting stopped, and the Palestinians made to get off and stand in the sun for their IDs to be checked. I wish I could get a photo of this, but knew it would cause trouble. Bored and not really thinking, I turned my camera to look through some photos I took in the recent days.

All of a sudden, an angry Border Police officer came up to me, and accused me of taking photos of him. I did no such thing and tried to explain, but he grabbed my camera from me and began looking through the pictures. He came across some photos of soldiers searching people in Hebron. Getting even angrier, he called some police officers over, who loudly ordered me to step out of the car and to hand over my passport. I asked them whether it is legal for them to go through my pictures, they yelled "why you take pictures of soldiers???"
Saying "I am a volunteer in the International Solidarity Movement, and my job is to document your daily abuses of the Palestinian people" would have been truthful, but stupid. It also would have put the Palestinian driver in jeopardy.

I pretended to be a dumb tourist, and said I had no idea it is illegal to take photos and video of Israeli soldiers. Actually, taking pictures of them is legal, but arguing this with them, especially in the situation I was in, would have been a bad idea. Looking terribly confused and infinitely repentant, I told them how in Canada it is perfectly ok to take photos of the police (which is true), and I thought Israel was the same, and I was sooo sorry and just didn't know.
They demanded what I was doing in Hebron, and I answered that "I heard there is a war there" and wanted to check it out. I told them I just love taking photos of everything I see. For added measure, and doing everything possible to keep the sarcasm out of my voice, I said I am very interested in seeing "Israeli counter-terrorism operations". They kept asking me what I am doing in Hebron and what am I thinking taking photos of the soldiers. I kept giving them the same answer again and again.
After a while, the police officers calmed down a bit, and eventually they returned my passport to me, without taking any pictures of it or writing down the particulars. The Border Police guy was still a bit worked up and insisting I took a photo of him (which I didn't), but the police ignored him.
I was told I need to delete my photos of the soldiers. I started doing so, which wasn't a problem since I take around 400 photos a day, and a lot of them are garbage. The ones that are the least worst make it on to my blog, so deleting the absolutely terrible ones was no problem. I started slowly deleting photo after photo, until one of the cops snapped that he has better things to do, and told me to go. One of them shook my hand, probably feeling sorry for me. The others shook their heads, most likely wondering if all Canadians are this stupid to not know that photographing Israeli soldiers as they commit human rights violations is not acceptable. One guy, looking annoyed, pointed his finger at me like at a disobedient child and said in a loud voice "You no more take pictures of Israeli soldiers! Do you understand!". Yes sir.
Fortunately, the men in dark blue were too busy to spend more time with such an ignorant North American, and let me go,

This all took about 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, after this adventure was over, I didn't make it in time for church. Next time, I intend to delete photos from my camera each time I travel to Jerusalem, and keep my camera out of sight.

"... because Hamas may be planning an attack!!!" - photos and videos

The patrol walking through the Souq.

Guns ready, the soldiers were more aggressive than they usually are.

A Palestinian man is subjected to a search. The soldiers were angry at us for "standing too close" and filming.

http://youtu.be/TAQPKQrrKto

Palestinian kids walk by the patrol.

Palestinian men being stopped, and made to show their ID.

Car is stopped and searched.

Another man being stopped.

And another.

Israeli soldiers pointing their guns at people's windows (1)

Israeli soldiers pointing their guns at people's windows (2).

A soldier points his gun down the street.

Pointing his gun in the market.

A soldier pointing his gun down the street.

Pointing a gun at the window of a Palestinian family.

One of the soldiers, one of the guys who yelled at us, pats the head of a Palestinian child. 

Israeli settler kids on their way to a party.

Israeli settler woman giving snacks to a soldier. I think this may be Tzippi, but I'm not sure. Sometimes I forget faces and names, and didn't think it would be a good idea to ask either of them for a clarification.

Some of the settler youth. The guy in the long hair tried to start a fight with a Palestinian boy by the Abu Rajab house, and was provoking people by shining a flashlight into their eyes.

Israeli settlers hanging out with a soldier on Shuhada. Palestinian girls look on.

Matthew being searched by Israeli soldiers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5hArBjFklY&feature=youtu.be

"... because Hamas may be planning an attack!!!"

After returning from Beit Ummar, a group of us went on a patrol through the Souk. These walks are usually very relaxing. We stop and chat with shopkeepers, who often invite us to their stalls for a drink of coffee or tea. We ask them if there had been any problems with soldiers or settlers.

Sometimes, a group of soldiers walk by. They go patrolling through the Souq several times a day. When we see them, we drop everything and follow, filming. The reason we do this is because during their patrols, sometimes they will stop and detain and search people. This happens sometimes because they fear the person may be a risk and at other times, sickeningly, it is how they train. Sometimes we follow a patrol for just a few minutes before the soldiers go back to the base. At other times, we are busy for hours on end, especially if after one group of soldiers heads back to base, another one leaves.

The soldiers today were obviously very on edge, and were showing this in their treatment of the Palestinians. A young man was stopped and searched. The look of bewilderment on his face indicated that perhaps this was his first time. Other people were randomly stopped, and ordered to open their bags. People were stopped again and again. What we found to be even more worrying, is how the soldiers would randomly point their automatic weapons up at people's windows, and into their shops. Sometimes the guns were just pointed in the air.

The soldiers yelled at us to stop filming them, and threatened to arrest us.


After around twenty minutes of this, I asked them why they were being so aggressive. One of them looked at me angrily and yelled "because Hamas may be planning an attack!".

It is true that on this day, Hamas promised revenge attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers, Earlier that morning, Ali's father died from the burns he suffered during the attack last week, that killed his son.
Hamas often makes threats of violence against Israelis, and sometimes carries them out. It is a brutal response of theirs to a (far more) brutal and ongoing occupation.

Part of me could not help wondering when will the political leaders of Israel notice that their mistreatment of the Palestinian people may be a factor in their security challenges. During their daily patrols, the soldiers stop and harass random people. They also uphold the wishes of the settlers to victimize Palestinians, and run the checkpoints and enforce a system in which one group of people have swimming pools and lawn sprinklers, while their neighbours struggle with water shortages.
This kind of systematic and institutional violence drives people into the arms of armed groups like Hamas, who are never shy when it comes to recruiting and using angry and desperate people to fulfill their agenda.

To the best of my knowledge, there were no Hamas members flying around from window to window that day in the Souq, or hiding in boxes of keffiyas or under falafel stands. What is however evident is that the soldiers once again succeeded in harassing people and disrupting their lives. Most Palestinians I know are very patient people, and I and others who come here are amazed at how they are able to take this garbage day after day, and keep their cool. However, it is only a matter of time before a person who has went through just one too many searches, suffered one too many insults or shoves, or is unable to cope anymore with the frustration of being treated like a second class citizen in his own home, may snap.
For Israel's own good, its leaders need to realize that mistreating the Palestinian people does not make either them or their countrymen more secure. In fact, the exact opposite effect is created.


Later that day, Matthew and I were stopped by soldiers at Checkpoint 56. As we were entering the checkpoint, we noticed a group of soldiers who we have had bad experiences with in the past. One of them greeted us with the word "sharmuta" (whore). He then called Matthew a son of a bitch. Matthew responded "the same to you". Immediately, he was pulled aside and the soldiers made him stand facing the wall like they do to many Palestinians, and searched him and felt his legs. They told me to stop filming, and to shut up when I asked them what they were looking for and told them that what they are doing is illegal. After a few minutes, they let both of us go. As we left, Matthew did mutter "come on Peter, let's get away from these fuckers". One of the soldiers yelled at him for swearing at Israeli soldiers. Although I don't wouldn't swear at soldiers and don't think that doing so was a good idea, how they treated Matthew for responding to a soldiers swearing at both of us, is completely hypocritical and is a snapshot of what happens here everyday to Palestinians. The difference is that they often get it worse.
For some reason, Matthew is singled out by the soldiers. A few weeks ago, they threatened to arrest him and broke his camera, while he was filming raids on Palestinian houses. At checkpoint 56, he is almost always stopped and made to empty his pockets and bag. While they definitely do not like me either and often glare at me and swear at me and enjoy calling out to me by my first name, the soldiers give him "special treatment" that others of us don't face. Matthew is a very courageous person, and doesn't let their intimidation deter him.

Later that day, a large group of settler young men and boys converged in Tel Rumeida, gathering for what looked to be some sort of a party. They glared and laughed at us and the Palestinians who live there. One of them, a teenage boy, asked R "do you remember me". We aren't sure if this is in connection with the previous night when we were chased, but it was unsettling.

I wonder if Hamas is to blame for the settlers being jerks too.

"We refuse to die in silence"

On Saturday August 8th, a small group of Palestinians, including Younes and Youssef from Beit Ummar and Hassan from Al Massara, took part in a peaceful march near the village of Beit Ummar, to protest the killing of Ali, a Palestinian infant who was burnt alive by settlers in Nablus.

The rally was completely peaceful, and it was made very clear by the participants that it was not against Jews or even most Israelis, but the settlers.

In his speech, Hassan said to the soldiers that he works with Jews and Israelis, and this has nothing to do with protesting their religion. He encouraged the soldiers to do something productive in Tel Aviv, like study, instead of taking part in the occupation. He compared the killing of the baby to how the Nazis burnt the Jewish people alive during the Holocaust. The family had actually lost two members by the time the rally began... during the morning of the demonstration, we learned that the child's father, Saad Dawabsha, passed away.

Younes and Hassan made it clear to the Army and Border Police soldiers present that the Palestinian people would continue to peacefully resist the settlers. In the words of Hassan, "we refuse to die in silence".

The soldiers and BP were out in great force, and pushed Younes and Youssef and Hassan around, shoving Younes to the ground. No one retaliated with any violence. After about fifteen minutes the speeches ended, and everyone left.

Some of the participants pose for a picture, just before the beginning of the protest.

A large group of Israeli soldiers and Border Police await. This is despite the fact that they knew this would be a peaceful demonstration. Hassan is very firm against anyone throwing stones at demos he is part of.

Palestinians and internationals getting ready to set out.

Hassan speaks to the soldiers. Soon afterwards, they began to push him.

Internationals and Palestinians face the soldiers and Border Police.

A soldier pushes Youssef.

Despite their efforts to get the people to stop, the soldiers were unsuccessful. Younes and Youssef stand in front of them, chanting. 

Prior to the demonstration, Hassan gives a interview explaining the purpose of the protest. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IziSOVPJ9BY&feature=youtu.be

Demonstrators walk towards the soldiers, who blocked them and pushed several people around. Younes then gave a speech.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWwKPgHFivo&feature=youtu.be

Hassan gives a lecture to the soldiers, from the top of the hill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG7o_CW699Y&feature=youtu.be