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News :: Civil & Human Rights : Globalization : International Relations : Media : Peace : Protest Activity |
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Florida Delegation Returns from Palestine |
Current rating: 0 |
by Matthew Davis
Email: johnmatthewdavis (nospam) hotmail.com |
31 May 2004
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Matthew Davis, along with seven other Florida students, just returned from spending a week in Israel and the Occupied Territories. He is a member of FSU's Students United for Peace and Justice |
Our first day in Ramallah, we met these Palestinian children who were digging up live Israeli ammunition across from our hotel.
The Occupation
Having just returned from spending a week in the Occupied Territories with a Florida student delegation, I can only say that the reality of the situation is deeply jarring and life altering. The occupation is at the forefront of the mind of every Palestinian, all day every day. It is impossible to ignore. In the West Bank, some fifty percent of the population is unemployed; in the Gaza Strip this number is even higher. All movement is restricted, even more so as the ‘Defense’ Wall continues to be erected.
Where there used to be a main street connecting Qalqilia to the north, now there is a permanently-closed fence.
In cities like Qalqilia, the wall crosses the 1967 border, confiscating agricultural and water resources and fortifying illegal settlements. Surrounding the city entirely, the wall permanently closes three of four entrances and confines 40,000 citizens to a human zoo. The remaining entrance opens three times a day, for fifteen minutes, at the whim of the IDF. The result has been the complete economic destruction of this town that a few years ago had close relations with Israel - 600 out of 1800 shops have closed.
Israel's "security" fence ventures widely off of the 1967 border, grabbing up prime water and land. It also creates major problems for the Palestinians living under occupation.
We met with student leaders who had to cross through the gate each day to go to classes. They spoke of frequent hour or two-hour delays to opening the fence, without explanation. The students admitted Israel’s right to security, but wondered why if security was the goal the wall was being built jutting into Palestinian land, separating farmers from their land or workers from their jobs. I have never found a reasonable answer to this question from the Israeli perspective, other than the admission that there are ‘other’ goals.
I fully acknowledge that there are fundamentalists from all three religious views (Christian, Muslim and Jewish) manipulating the events in Middle East, but in our visit to Hebron I had my first experience with the Jewish strain of extremist. Hebron is a unique city in the Occupied Territories because unlike most settlements, which are built on the outskirts of Palestinian towns, in Hebron the settlers have taken control of the very center. All three Abrahamic traditions consider his church a holy place, but it is 200-500 settlers who live around the site now, protected by 2000 IDF soldiers. What was once a main bustling street is now a ghost town, with the occasional passing SUV adorned with bumper stickers and Israeli flags.
There is a wide range of opinion on the part of the Israelis, but it is the more radical among them that would choose to live in Hebron. Many of them come from the United States as well.
We spoke with several of the settlers in Hebron, but there was one eighteen-year-old Israeli I cannot forget. He was extremely candid about his beliefs, claiming that he believed “in peace ... but only when the Palestinians moved far away.” He believed that “from the Bible … Israel was only for the Jews, not for the others, the Christians and the Muslims.” Continuing, he said the Palestinians in Hebron should “take their families … and move to Jordan, or Syria.” He said this while agreeing with us that this land had been historically majority-Arab for hundreds of years. Only this mentality, it seems, could possibly make a Jewish civilian from the US want to move into the middle of a war zone and live inside Palestinian territory.
The Intifada
There is no Palestinian Intifada going on in 2004. In December 1987, as the first Intifada was starting, local groups across the West Bank and Gaza Strip were organizing themselves and forming strong networks with their neighbors and neighboring communities. The struggle against occupation was popular, organized and participatory, evolving spontaneously without any direction from a central committee or organization. Quickly the uprising made some basic tactical decisions, like the banning of knives and guns at all protests. They knew then, as they do now, that they could never defeat the Israelis through force. The real battle was for the sympathy of the international community, and the image of boys throwing rocks at tanks and receiving live ammunition fire in return was powerful.
Last week more than 80 Gaza homes were demolished leaving 1100 homeless, a rocket blast and tank shelling killed 8 protestors, and the population of the Rafah refugee camp faced sniper fire, helicopter strafing, and house-to-house incursions in search of militants. Still, to many Americans, the image of all Palestinians as militants and suicide bombers cannot be shaken.
There has been worldwide condemnation of these attacks, and UN representatives have asked the Security Council to consider an arms embargo against Israel, like the one against apartheid South Africa in 1977. Bush’s response, however, was to urge “restraint” to both sides. In an unusual but not unheard of move, the US abstained instead of vetoing Resolution 1544, calling on Israel to adhere to the Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law.
Conclusion
There is a deep current of distrust and hopelessness on both sides of this conflict, for obvious reasons. The despair felt by most Palestinians is overwhelming to witness (especially from the privileged American perspective), but the stubborn, driven sense of hope our delegation encountered was a testament to the fact that peace is still possible. The only way forward is through encouraging and developing new non-violent strategies of resistance, based on a strong network of cooperation between International, Israeli, and Palestinian peace activists. The clashing fundamentalisms that are driving this conflict will only be defeated by showing the world that the way to peace is through peace. The responsibility is all of ours together.
For millions around the world, the actions and ideologies of Israel and the U.S. are becoming harder to distinguish. We must alter our government's policy in this crucial area.
To see pictures from the trip, go to http://tallahassee.indymedia.org/feature/display/3790/index.php
More info:
www.flpalsolidarity.com - Will be largely updated and expanded in the coming weeks to include all our stories and pictures
www.tacitconsent.com - My personal site – will also be expanded in the coming weeks
www.endtheoccupation.org - Great national resource
www.haaretz.com - Mainstream Israeli paper with a great reputation for presenting both sides |
This work is in the public domain |
