It was a beautiful day. People were getting on and off the bus, many going to the Old City, others to other parts.
I saw Orthodox Jewish people in their distinctive garb, families going for a walk, couples hanging out, kids playing in the park, people eating at the mall.
These people have so much in common with their Palestinian neighbours. Many of the words in their languages sound very familiar, at least to an outsider like me. They eat very similar food. Most of them who are religious are monotheists- Jews as well as Muslims and Christians believe in the same God. They have a similar dietary prohibition... no pork.
Like their Palestinian neighbours, they have families whom they love. They have schools and universities they learn in. They have jobs that they go to. They have friends they hang out with. They have values and beliefs they hold on to. They have a culture and a history. They have a past, and they have a future. They were created by the same God, in His image and likeness.
Yet there are also so many things that are different.
Unlike in the occupied West Bank, there are no armed soldiers stopping them and asking for their ID. If an Israeli commits a crime, he can expect humane treatment by the police and a fair trial... unlike a Palestinian man two nights ago in Hebron whose skull was fractured after a soldier slammed him in the back of the head with a rifle butt, during an arrest.
There are no water shortages for people here. Although hydro bills undoubtedly are not cheap, there are no water tankers on roofs that need to last for 2 weeks or there is no more water for the family. The Israeli soldiers whom you can see everywhere in the city do not amuse themselves by picking on the local kids. No one in West Jerusalem whom I am aware of is expecting a bulldozer to come and destroy his or her house in the next few weeks... or days... or hours.
If someone were to throw a rock at someone's window here, undoubtedly the police would intervene. When Israeli settlers in Hebron throw rocks at Palestinian windows and homes and even children, the Army often does nothing.
In the areas I walked through and ate falafel and bought plums in, I would be surprised if more than a handful of people ever experienced teargas being shot at them, or sound grenades being thrown at their feet, or the stench of skunk water, or the pain and sometimes disability (for those who aren't killed) that comes with rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition when they are fired at you.
The Israeli children I saw playing on the swings, unlike the Palestinian children at Kfar Kaddum, have never experienced soldiers invading their village. Unlike their Palestinian counterparts in Susya, they are not spending their nights not knowing whether or not the bulldozers will come at dawn.
Don't get me wrong.
I don't want them to experience these things.
I don't want Israeli children to have armed soldiers arrest them for actions they did not commit. I don't want Israeli grandmothers who have difficulties walking, to have to walk steep distances uphill because they live in a neighbourhood where due to their ethnicity and religion, they cannot have cars. I don't want Israeli teens to see their parents humiliated and dispossessed and mistreated and deprived, to the point that they feel the only thing they can do is pick up rocks and pick hopeless fights with soldiers and Border Police. I don't want to see ten year old Israeli boys rushed away in ambulances after getting shot. I don't want to see Israelis go through checkpoints and be randomly stopped by armed men. I don't want them to be attacked by religious extremists, who have the full support of the army and police.
Many Israelis have grandparents and great grandparents who have lived through such horrors, and far worse, in the death camps and killing fields in Europe during the Second World War.
I don't want to see injustices committed against Israelis. However, I want to see justice for Palestinians.
Until the occupation ends, there will never be peace.
As Pope Paul VI once wisely said,
"If you want peace, work for justice".
My prayer is that one day there will be a true peace in the Holy Land, a peace that can only occur when every Palestinian and Israeli- Muslim, Jew and Christian- lives in security and is treated with dignity. God, please let this one day happen. Amen.
PS It should be remembered that while in Israeli society there is unfortunately plenty of ignorance and indifference to the situation of the Palestinians, there are also Israelis who are standing up against the injustices their government is committing against their neighbours. We must never allow ourselves to forget this.
People in West Jerusalem walking to a bus shelter. May the Palestinians in the West Bank also one day have the freedom to move freely and not have to worry about being stopped at checkpoints.
Israeli children playing in a park. May Palestinian children in Tel Rumeida and by the Souq also one day be able to play without fearing that soldiers will amuse themselves by throwing stones at them and then arresting them for phony charges.
An Israeli woman and two children in West Jerusalem. May Palestinian families in Hebron also one day be able to enjoy a day without wondering what the army or Border Police or settlers will do to them.
Israeli shops in West Jerusalem. May one day Palestinians on Shuhada Street also be allowed by the Army to set up their shops and not have to fear settlers harassing them.
An Israeli man begging. Like in every other society, there exist social problems and poverty among Israelis also. May one day every human being in the world live in dignity.
Israeli soldiers at the mall. Many of them are just out of high school, and they live in a country where either they must serve in the military, or face prison time. A lot of them, who I am sure are kind and caring people to their families and neighbours, turn into monsters in places like Hebron and in villages like Susya. There are a few, who despite being in uniform, try to preserve their humanity and treat Palestinians with dignity. Unfortunately, they are very few and far between. Even fewer are those who refuse to compromise their values by putting on an IDF uniform, and for that act of courage sit in prisons and often lose families, friends, and jobs.
May one day politicians stop brainwashing young people and turning them into bullies and killers.
May God bless and protect those who have the courage to say "NO".
*Many ISMers use pseudonyms. This is the name my wife chose for herself.
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