Salaam and shalom. The words are Arabic and Hebrew, and they mean the same thing: Peace.
My wife Maria* and I landed yesterday at Ben Gurion airport, and have spent the last two days visiting the beautiful city of Jerusalem, which both Palestinians and Israelis call home, as well as seeing the region of Galilee and the town of Nazareth.
God willing, we will spend the next few weeks working with International Solidarity Movement, a human rights/activist group that is active in the West Bank, documenting human rights abuses being perpetrated by the Israeli Army and settlers, against the Palestinian population. Most of our time will probably be spent in Hebron, where I also spent time with ISM and CPT (Christian Peacemaker Teams) in 2010 and 2014.
The Palestinian population in parts of the West Bank live under Israeli military rule.
They are held up at checkpoints by Israeli soldiers, who stop them as they will and hold them as long as they choose.
Their homes are destroyed by bulldozers, sometimes as a retaliation for attacks committed by some family members against Israelis (although this is a form of collective punishment and according to international law, is illegal), other times to make way for the "security fence" (also known as the annexation wall), other times no reason is provided.
People who protest, whether peacefully or by throwing rocks, face a myriad of "responses" from the army, ranging from arrests and teargas and soundbombs and beatings (usually as a response to non-violent demos) to the things described above combined with rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition.
Palestinians also face attacks by Israeli settlers, who are allowed to harass and physically harm them, with more or less impunity.
The settlers use Judaism as an excuse to defend their actions, but neither the Jewish religion nor most Jewish people either in the world or Israel, support what they do.
Palestinians in the West Bank have less access to water than Israeli settlers, and there are certain roads they cannot drive on and certain streets even they cannot walk on.
For those who are interested in reading about my previous experiences in the West Bank and what I witnessed, please check out:
www.livingstones-tomasz.blogspot.com
www.mighty-stream123.blogspot.com
It is pointed out by some people that not only Palestinian civilians, but also Israelis, face violence. This is sadly true. Some Palestinians, in response to the brutalities carried out against them by the Israeli soldiers and settlers, have responded with brutalities of their own against Israelis, sometimes attacking armed soldiers but also at other times targeting civilians.
The killing of any innocent person, and in particular a child, is a criminal act in the eyes of God. It is true however also that for every Israeli who is killed by Palestinians, several dozen Palestinians are killed by Israelis. While Palestinians who kill Israelis- whether or not the people who were killed were civilians- are proclaimed "terrorists", Israelis who kill Palestinians are called "soldiers". Israelis killed by Palestinians are "victims of terrorism". I have yet to hear this term being used even once to describe Palestinians killed by Israelis, even though they make up the majority of the victims.
It is true that every death - Palestinian or Israeli- is a tragedy, and the killing of every civilian- Palestinian or Israeli- is a crime. Yet some crimes and tragedies get the term applied to them more than others.
In Matthew 5:6, Jesus says "blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice". As a Christian, I try to make Jesus my role model, and live up to his expectations of his followers. God sent Christ down to die for us on the cross, but also to teach us how to live.
I wish I could say I am one of those who hungers and thirsts for justice, or that I am one of the peacemakers. However, that would be a lie and a cruel joke. I fly in for a few weeks a year, and take pretty minimal risks to try to document the situation.
The people who are really hungering and thirsting for justice, and working for peace, are the Palestinian people who refuse to be dehumanized by the occupation, and are standing up for their rights. The other people who are following this call are those Israelis who are standing by them in their struggle.
May God bless them in the work that they do, and may one day there be justice and peace for everyone in this part of the world.
* Most ISM volunteers use pseudonyms, this is the name she chose.
Important Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this blog are mine only. They do not represent ISM, CPT, or any other organization.
No comments:
Post a Comment