Campus Blogs

Aside from our very first conversation with the researchers at B'Tselem, every individual, or group, with whom we have met has either been pro-Israeli or standing as a broker between the Israeli and Palestinian populations.  Today, we met with a representative from the Israel Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), an organization that is most decidedly pro-Palestinian. This post will be a rather stark and straightforward description of their perspective and will not include the Israeli perspective, that will come in a later post.  The ICAHD position is highly, one might say brutally, critical of the Israeli government and assigns to them the most cynical and malevolent of motives.  Below is a brief, and unvarnished summary of their position on the Israeli occupation,the barrier wall, and housing demolitions. The Israel Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) ICAHD believes that the housing demolitions in the West Bank are a part of a larger Israeli effort to subjugate the Palestinians:

The motivation for demolishing these homes is purely political, and racially informed: to either drive the Palestinians out of the country altogether (the “quiet transfer”) or to confine the four million residents of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza to small, crowded, impoverished and disconnected enclaves. By such practices Israel effectively forecloses any viable Palestinian entity or the realization of Palestinian self-determination; it also solidifies permanent Israeli domination and illegal settlement expansion, de facto annexing the OPT (from the ICAHD website)

Our guide was Ruth Edmonds, who holds both a Jewish and British passports.  She owns a compelling personal story (growing up in three countries:  Great Britton, Germany, and Israel), a keen wit, an expressive personality, and a passionate advocate for the Palestinian people.  Her presentation was fact-filled, animated, and, from time-to-time, a bit salty.  In it, she was highly sympathetic of the  plight of the Palestinian people as she was critical of the Israeli government. More on ICHD - The Israel Committee Against House Demolitions

ICAHD is a non-violent, direct-action group originally established to oppose and resist Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territory. As our activists gained direct knowledge of the brutalities of the Occupation, we expanded our resistance activities to other areas – land expropriation, settlement expansion, by-pass road construction, policies of “closure” and “separation,” the wholesale uprooting of fruit and olive trees and more. The fierce repression of Palestinian efforts to “shake off” the Occupation following the second Intifada has only added urgency to our efforts.

Since its founding, ICAHD’s activities have extended to three interrelated spheres: resistance and protest actions in the Occupied Palestine Territory; efforts to bring the reality of the Occupation to Israeli society; and mobilizing the international community for a just peace. Our activities include:

• Resisting the demolition of Palestinian homes.
• Disseminating information and networking.
• Providing oral and written reports to the UN (from their website)

ICAHD's position is that Israel seeks to exert domination over the Palestine through, what their founder calls The Matrix of Control, which is designed to render the Occupation invisible.  This approach is designed to:

1. Allow Israel to control every aspect of Palestinian life in the Occupied Territories, while
2. lowering Israel’s military profile in order to give the impression to the outside that what Palestinians refer to as “occupation” is merely proper administration, and that Israel has a “duty” to defend itself and the status quo, yet
3. creating enough space for a dependent Palestinian mini-state that will relieve Israel of the Palestinian population while
4. deflecting, through the use of “administrative” image and bureaucratic mechanisms, international opposition and thus to maintain control indefinitely and, in the final analysis,
5. to force the Palestinians’ to despair of ever achieving a viable and truly sovereign state and to accept any settlement offered by Israeli. (“Time is on our side” is, as Sharon has often said, a cornerstone of Israeli policy.)

According to Jeff Halper, co-founder of the ICAHD, the infrastructure supporting the Matrix of Control is quite elaborate (see full explanation here). The above description is intended to be stark and disquieting. For our tour, our guide highlight two elements of that Matrix:  the barrier walls and house demolition.  It is ICAHD's position that the barrier wall, ostensibly designed to insulate Israel from suicide bombers, serves a greater purposes:  to isolate and subjugate the Palestine people, to keep them from actualize their life potentials, and, ultimately, to encourage self-deportation.

The barrier wall from the Mount of Olives

The housing demolitions are just one more way "of making life in the Occupied Territories unbearable."  Our guide gave three reasons for Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes:

• Military - In association with assassination.
• Punitive - in retaliation for attacks on Israelis.
• Administrative - tearing down buildings built without permit.

Demolished house in the West Bank

Summary

This, perhaps, was the most sobering day of our trip.  We had heard about the demolishing project, as well as the barrier wall, and knew something of what to expect. What was new for several of us was the extent to which these two strategies were a part of a larger "Matrix of Control" - the result of which was the most depressing squalor that is life in the West Bank.

For a more thorough description of the demolition project, go to the ICAHD website.

As we debriefed, we wondered, puzzled, and became angry.  We acknowledged that there is more to the story, and we will hear from Israelis with a different perspective later in the trip, but today was a time to see things from the perspective of the Palestinian and a most articulate advocate and be moved.

If this is truly indeed the Israeli strategy, then Israel is as far from being a "light to the nations" as one could imagine.  More could be written about life in the West Bank, the refugee camps,  the Oslo accords, areas A, B, and C, and so on.  The effect of all this, the very real lived experience of the Palestinian on the West Bank is truly indescribable. Though we didn't take this picture, will leave with this  . . .

Today we met with Dr. Yehuda Stolov, who is the Executive Director of the  Interfaith Encounter Association (IEA) and has been active in the interfaith field for over 16 years.  He brings a deep dedication to the fulfillment of the vision established over forty years ago. Here's his TED talk on the topic. We met with Dr. Stolov in his office and had a delightful conversation with this most dedicated peace activist. Dr Stolov founded Interfaith Encounter Association in 2001, nine months after the beginning of the Second Intifada.  He observed that the major, significant events in Israel/Palestine, such as the Intifada, began as "bottom up," rather than "top down" initiatives.  If disturbances such as these started with "the people," then, perhaps, peace would begin there, as well.  According to Dr. Stovov, what happens among the people is much more important than what happens at governmental levels. Dr. Stovol asked, rhetorically: What needs to be different in order for peace to succeed? Change needs to begin with dispositions.  "Attitudes are bad," he opined, and they are bad NOT because we know each other so well, but because we DON'T know each other at all! Our prejudiced/stereotypes are usually not based on bad experiences, but on no experience at all.   Dr. Stoval offered:  If interactions are real and authentic, the stereotypes will go away. Dr. Stovol notes a difference between being "theoretically open-minded" verses being really open-minded.  This understanding led him to begin among students at first, where individuals are more often open to trying new things, giving them opportunities for authentic encounters that led to meaningful interactions. The goal  of these encounter is to "discover the meaning of the other." He calls these meetings encounters, where true interaction can occur, rather than simple exchanges.  His groups meet once-a-month and have, as a focus, three stages.

1. First, a simple encounter, meet/greet.
2. Provide meaningful exchanges through monthly meetings
3. Prolonged and sustained attitudes change and change

Dr. Stovol has established 86 groups, and  adds 8 - 10 new groups each year; one-half of these groups persist.  Approximately 1000 participate on a regular basis.  Today,  most of the individuals are in their 20's to early thirties, although he has individuals as old as 80!  this process has worked with children, even those who cannot talk with each other - with kids, he just lets them play!! The encounter usually center around a them.  There is a short presentation by both sides of a group represented, mostly Jews and Muslims.   One presentation from each community.  The conversation around presentation.  One unwritten rule:  Don't talk politics!  When politics do come up, talk about it self-referentially. We were scheduled to actually experience an encounter, but with President Trump's visit to Jerusalem today, the Palestinian member of the encounter felt they needed to cancel - RATS!!!  We'll try and fit an encounter in later in our trip. Summary With so much attention given to the governmental/political dimension to the conflict, our time with Dr. Stovol reminds us that the "conflict" is not so much between two nations but between two peoples - nations only existing in the abstract as collections of peoples. Innovative, clever political solutions between nations will mean nothing unless there is peace and understanding between the people who comprise these nations! Touring On the tourist front, some of us visited the Mount of Olives, The Garden of Gethsemane, and the Via Dolorosa (the fourteen `stages of the cross) Tomorrow we travel to Bethlehem!

Jerusalem celebrates 50 years since re-unification.

Today, we visited Mt. Hertzl - including the Hertzl Museum - had a conversation with Dr. Ari Eitan, Chairman of The Ilan Institute, and celebrated 50th year since Jerusalem's re-unification. Theodore Hertzl is commonly referred to as the founder of modern Zionism movement.   Dr. Eitan's work at the Ilan Institute involves working with Heredi (Ultra-Orthodox) youth who attend the Institute’s two-year program where their education is enhanced by leadership and life skills on issues such as social activism, critical thinking and tolerance. The tour of Mt. Hertzel and the conversation with Dr. Eitan gave us a better understanding of both the founding of the State of Israel and the nature of the more conservative religious members. Mt. Hertzl and the Hertzl Museum Theodore Hertzl was:

 an Austro-Hungarian journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was one of the fathers of modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the World Zionist Organization and promoted Jewish migration to Palestine in an effort to form a Jewish state. Though he died long before its establishment, he is generally considered a father of the State of Israel, formed in 1948 (from Wikipedia)

Travel to the museum: a short cab drive to the east.

The museum provided a delightful and most effective theatrical re-creation of the life of Hertzl from the first awakening of Zionistic sentiments until his death, 30 years before the birth of the nation of Israel.  The story is told using the tutelage of an actor hired to represent Hertzl onstage.  Through various encounters with the director and Hertzl consultant, the actor learns of the development of the "inner motivation" for Zionism in Hertzl as he prepares to portray him onstage.

Through the theatrical performance, the story is told of how Hertlz became convinced that only the creation and inhabitation of a State of Israel would provide the necessary support and protection for the Jews in an increasingly hostile/anti-Semetic world.

The museum is situated in the western slope of Mt. Hertzl, which contains, among the beautifully maintained gardens, the final resting home for many of Israel's leaders, fallen soldiers, and victims of terrorists.

Our guide, himself a most remarkable thinker and peace activist, led us through grounds, eulogizing, most eloquently, those who had contributed so much to the nation of  Israel. In addition, he spoke most thoughtfully and compassionately of his own work in the peace movement as founder/director of the Sulha Peace Movement.

Dr. Ari Eitan

Dr. Eitan is an Ultra-Orthodox (a UO-ey, as he jokingly referred to himself) who works with this community to assist in making them more relevent and connected to the modern Jewish world.   From a webpage that described his work:

The future of Israel cannot be secure without the Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) sector becoming active participants in the workforce and contributing members of Israeli society.

Dr. Eitan chronicled the development of the Haredi in Israel. This  section from the Hertzl Museum website provides a good overview of the tension between conservative (Orthodox) Jews and their more secular counterparts:

For some Zionists, especially the East European Jewish intellectuals, Zionism was not only a national movement committed to the establishment of a Jewish homeland. It also wished to create a modern, secular Jewish identity. According to this formulation it was not religion that was to provide the basis for Jewish identity but ethnicity and nationalism. The Hebrew language, the land of Israel, Jewish history, literature, customs, folklore and their interplay were to provide a new more open-ended paradigm for Jewish identity. Of course such a formulation was bound to meet with vehement opposition from those who argued that this was a rebellion against the Jewish people’s covenental relationship with God. As the influence of these secularists, popularly known as cultural Zionists, increased within the nascent Zionist movement, their religious opponents warned that future cooperation would be impossible if a single education program was to be adopted by the Zionist movement. They demanded that on matters spiritual and educational, they, the religious Zionists, would enjoy autonomy.

And so as early as 1911, two departments of education existed within the Zionist Organization, one that was based on the secular, cultural approach and the other on the Mizrachi group, a religious-Zionist sub-group within the larger Zionist movement which sought to encourage a traditional religious – but Zionist – understanding of Jewish self-identification. This situation was mirrored in the school system in Palestine and indeed continues until today.

During the question and answer portion of our time together, we asked Dr. Eitan what he saw as the future for Israel.  He replied that dealing with the "Settlement Issue" was critical to the survival of Israel and that the most important was dealing with the religious dimension to the current conflict.  He advocated for "new doctrines" that would, then, "change the religious discourse" for both sides in the conflict.  Current leadership, evidencing both arrogance and ignorance, make progress towards solutions challenging, if not impossible.

As an bonus, as we exited our dinner, we were caught up in the 50 anniversary celebration of the re-uniting of city of Jerusalem.  We walked towards our hostel just as the orchestra and choir sang Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah!!  A crystal clear soprano voice singing  vocalist sang the verses and we all joined in with the chorus - magical!!!

Summary

Today was a lesson in the founding of the nation of Israel, both the political movement that gave raise to Zionism and the current construction of its population, with an emphasis on the one-third that can be identified as Ultra-Orthodox.  Current context and conflict aside, it is a remarkable story, to say the least.  Jews, who had been "dispersed" throughout the globe, finding their way to Israel and the role that one man played in that story.  So many interesting aspects to the tale, not the least of which was its beginning, how the unjust accusation of a Jewish French soldier (the Dreyfus Affair) and a cynical reporter covering the story (Hertzl) provided the soil for the seed to grow.

The "story with the story" - that of the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community - is both equally fascinating and critical understanding the current conflict.  This group of nearly one-third of the current Jewish population drive so much of, not just, religious life, but also cultural and political life.  If there is to be "peace in the land," then, according to our speaker, this group will play a pivotal, but only as they "change their own narrative."

Today, we visited a Jewish museum and had a session with a Palestinian philosopher - two seemingly different kinds of events with one similar theme:  both provided an insight into reasons why Jewish and Palestinian peoples are committed to their national identities and expression of those identities in their culture and state.  These experiences continue to help us form a better understanding of the various sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Beit Hatfutsot- The Museum of the Jewish People 

Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish People, is more than a museum. This unique global institution tells the ongoing and extraordinary story of the Jewish people.

Beit Hatfutsot connects Jewish people to their roots and strengthens their personal and collective Jewish identity. Beit Hatfutsot conveys to the world the fascinating narrative of the Jewish people and the essence of the Jewish culture, faith, purpose and deed while presenting the contribution of world Jewry to humanity (from the website).

And a "fascinating narrative" it is!  Our museum visit consisted of three separate, powerful stages:

• A retrospective on the life and work of Chim, one of the great photojournalists of the first half of the twentieth century.
• Forever Young – Bob Dylan at 75
• The permanent exhibits

Chim Chim was a Jewish photojournalist who was killed in 1956 while covering the Suez Crisis. He:

took portraits of leaders, artists and intellectuals that appeared in the world’s leading magazines. His depictions of the Spanish Civil War, Europe devastated by World War Two, and the first years of the State of Israel helped form the collective memory of the twentieth century. These iconic photographs reflect Chim’s technical expertise and visual intuition, but also the compassion, humanism and optimism that characterize his work (from the website).

The collection featured examples from a wide variety of his work, but it is the photographs of children who experience the full brunt of war that were the most haunting!!! Follow this link for the entire collection. Bob Dylan Bob Dylan's Jewish heritage was a surprise of just about all of us!!  For those of us "old enough to remember," Bob Dylan was among the "voices of our generation."  The exhibit featured pictures, videos, sound recordings, and each album cover from his 35 releases.  Listening to the music and watching the videos, involuntarily and to reflexively, we relived many of the more important moments of our lives!

It is difficult to think of a Jewish musician who has had a greater influence on 20th century culture than Bob Dylan. Dylan was one of the greatest American poets, the voice of an entire generation. In 1999, he was included in Time Magazine’s ‘100 most influential people of the 20th century’ describing him as a “poet, artist, social commentator, and the leading spirit of the anti-culture generation”. In 2016 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature . . . 

Beit Hatfutsot’s exhibition is designed to show to Museum visitors the complex figure that is Bob Dylan; through film, pictures, images, posters, exhibits and of course a lot of his music (from the website).

The permanent exhibits

The permanent exhibits provided a variety visual and audio representations of Jewish life throughout the ages.  Among the highlights:

• The Family section -  slide show of hundreds of photographs of contemporary Jews from all parts of the world, and depicts profound elements of Jewish life such as Jewish lifecycle events, holidays, festivals and fasts.
• The Culture section - representations of Jewish thought and creativity, with a central wall illustrating the evolution of Jewish intellectual life from the period of the Second Temple to the present, and depictions of Jewish art, Jewish languages and contributions of renowned Jews to world civilization.
• Synagogues past and present - replica models depicting, in great details, synagogues from various times and places.

• The Diaspora - maps that display not only the countries to which Jewish peoples immigrated, but also the communities they formed in those countries.  Of particular interest was the formation of Jewish centers in Ethiopia, which led to the development of a cross-racial Jewish community, a community Menachem Begin was instrumental in bringing to Israel in the 1970s.

Dr. Mastafa Abu Sway, Al Quds University (West Bank)

Professor Abu Sway was appointed as the first holder of the Integral Chair for the Study of Imam Ghazali’s Work at Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa and at Al-Quds University in 2012. He has been Professor of Philosophy and Islamic Studies at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, Palestine since 1996. He taught at the International Islamic University in Malaysia (1993-96) and was a visiting Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at the Wilkes Honors College at Florida Atlantic University, as well as a visiting professor of Islamic Studies at Bard College, NY. (from the website)

Before the discussion, we visited an exhibit dedicated to Palestinian incarcerated in Israeli prisons.  The exhibit displayed images of Palestinians being held in deplorable conditions, and allegedly, tortured and hanged .  The stories and images of these individuals was disturbing, to say the least.

Professor Sway was most accommodating, knowledgeable in a number of issues relating to Islam, the plight of the Palestinians, and the Occupation.  In a wide-ranging discussion, Professor Sway discussed:

• The three forms of Islamic "knowing":
  • Koran
  • Prophetic traditions
  • Reasoning by analogy
• Aims of Islamic law
  • 1. Protection of life
    2. Protection of religion
    3. Protection of progeny
    4. Protection of reason
    5. Protection of property
• A brief history of Islam - which included a rationale for its claim for the land of Israel/Palestine based on centuries-long possession of the land.
• How International Law supports a Palestinian claim for independence in the Occupied Territories.
• How the current "situation" is a result of an imbalance of power.
• How politicians must take a "long view" in negations (20 - 200 years in the future when the balance of power might shift) instead of looking to win the next election. This was probably the most compelling part of the discussion where Professor Sway stated, unequivocally, that, in his opinion, peace was possible, but only so if there were sincere negotiators on the Israeli side.

Our time with Professor Sway was shorter than we would have liked, due to a delay in the start time (traffic issues) and his University's graduation.  In the brief time we had, the good professor made the philosophical argument (he is a philosophy professor!!) for the Palestinian position.  We had limited time for question and answer, so we were not able to get into some of the trickier aspects of the conflict, but he did make clear that the only acceptable solution for the Palestinian people was a form of real sovereignty for them in the Occupied Territories, although he did cede acceptance of the nation of Israel (although we did not get into the details of what that might mean). Summary The museum was a powerful demonstration of the contributions of the Jewish community over time and place.  Their influence covered just about all spheres of human endeavor:   From the arts to architecture, sports to science, music to mathematics.  This reason for this level of achievement has piqued the interest of any number of investigators.  One intriguing explanation which I read a number of years ago (can't remember the name of the book) was that because the center of Jewish spiritual and cultural life was a book - a book that was memorized, studied, written about, etc. - intellectual acumen which translated into any number of disciplines.  Because the book was "transportable," these skill continued to develop no matter what portion of the globe the Jewish people were dispersed.  Don't know for sure - but seems like a reasonable suggestion. Our Palestinian philosopher highlighted for us the Palestinian position and provided at least a glimpse of the philosophical rationale for Palestinian sovereignty.   We did leave a bit disappointed in that we were not able to get his take on some of the other individuals we've heard, especially Rabbi Ian Pear's unique one-state solution. Another spectacular day - more to follow!!

Today, we heard two stories, one, a significant individual from Israel's past, the other a prominent Orthodox Rabbi very much involved in the current spiritual life in Israel. Rabbi Ian Pear Our morning began with a conversation with Rabbi Ian Pear. From his recent book, Accidental Rabbi, Pear is described as a:

Rabbi, lawyer, and social activist living in Jerusalem.  He is the founder of Shir Hadash, a popular Jerusalem based synagogue, Educational Institute and Community Center, as well as an expert  and activist in Israeli and Jewish environmental law.

In his book, Pear describes the capacity Israel has to be a more transformative force in the world today - an "essential role" - by being true to its historical spiritual and philosophical traditions founded on the Torah.  His book deals with the wisdom and contemporary relevance of the Torah and how that wisdom can - and should! - inform modern Israeli life and through Israel bring "positive change for the word at large." We met at Shir Hadash, the synagogue, where Rabbi Pear serves: Our conversations centered how the State of Israel, as a state, is essential in this transforming In our wide-ranging conversation, Rabbi Pear:

• Described how a proper understanding of the Torah can inform solutions to problems faced by all societies, not just Israel.
• Described how modern day Israelis look at the nature of the State of Israel
• Described how Jews in the state of Israel look at the occupied territories.
• Proposed a "solution" to the "problem" of the occupied territories.

The Rabbi started by describing how the Torah, properly understood, can assist in developing a more humane, compassionate, and just society.  He referenced the how the Torah dealt with the issue of slavery, as just one example.  He noted that, according to the Torah, slavery was an "abomination" but sometimes a social reality (necessity?), and if an Israelite were to ever "own" a slave, the arrangement was to be short-lived.  In addition, the slave was to be so well-treated (fed, clothed, paid) that, in effect, the slave was to become the "master."  Rabbi Pear used this as just one example of the Torah's commitment the poor, to what we now call social justice and just one instance on how rabbinic law, based on the Torah, could inform a more just society. The State of Israel plays a critical role in God's command for Jew to become a "light to the nations," for it is in the application of Torah to the challenges of modern life that the world can see its wisdom and relevance.  This outworking of rabbinic law, requires a "test tube" where these principles can be demonstrated and justified.  It is imperative, then, that Jews have a state that allows the integrity of Judaism to be maintained and this social experiment continued. According to Rabbi Pear, the problem of the Occupation is one that many Israeli-Jews wish would simply "go away," and that if an exchange could be made, another "land for peace" swap, most Israeli-Jews would take it "in an instant."  What prohibits this, according to the rabbi, is that there is no way to ensure the security of Israel in an independent, Palestinian-governed West Bank, Palestinian authorities again-and-again demonstrating their unwillingness to acknowledge a sovereign state of Israel. A proposal for peace:  A single state with guaranteed that the state be an "Israeli state." For the reasons listed above, Jewish people need a state in which to continue their theological, even existential, mission to be a light to the nations.  This mission is tied to the land in a way in which it is not so for Palestinians. This all-too-brief summary of this remarkable rabbis remarks serve as representation of the common (majority?) opinion of the orthodox Israeli.  In short:

• Jewish-Israel needs the land in a way that Arab-Israelis do not.
• The abuses of human rights in the Occupied Territories is reprehensible, but over-reported.
• The two-state solution is impossible (for security reasons) and the best hope for peace would be a single state with guaranteed Jewish-Israeli rights.  A complicated business to-be-sure, but a possibility worth considering, in his opinion.

Thoughts/impressions As our group processed our time with the rabbi, we expressed an appreciation for the experienced and could not help but be impressed with his thoughtfulness, knowledge of the rabbinic traditions, and sensitivity to the current issues confronting life in Israel today.  He exhibited what appeared to be a genuine commitment to peace, justice, and reconciliation.  He expertly summarized Orthodox, Conservative, and Reformed Jewish thinking and how each groups views the current political and social issues in the country. As the rabbi talked, we were well aware that we were receiving a perspective, a decidedly Orthodox Jewish perspective situated in the current state of Israel.  Those in our group who had visited the West Bank, and have viewed the conflict from the perspective of the occupied, thought the rabbi "understated" level of Israeli oppression and that his explanations of the violations - that they were overstated, and often the result of over-zealous, 19-year old IDF soldiers - was not compelling. His proposed modified one-state solution (a single state with a guarantee of Israeli-right protection) was intriguing.  His solution, much like That said, the rabbi was a most engaging, knowledgeable speaker.  We left thinking it would be a most intriguing idea to have the rabbi debate a representative from B'Tselem, our host from yesterday. The Rebel: Menachem Begin We next visited the Menachem Begin Heritage Center.  Israel does not have a presidential library history, as we do in the United States, and not every former Israeli prime minister has a dedicated to his or her accomplishments.  Menachem Begin's place in modern Israeli life almost required this kind of memorial.  Most certainly, this representation of his life advanced an hagiographical account of his life - highlighting his military and political accomplishments and understating his failures (misdeeds, crimes??) in each area.  As is often said:  One person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter, which can most certainly be said of the former primer minister. I wont go into the details of Menachem Begin's life - that is easy enough to do with a simple read of the Wikipedia entry.  Suffice it to say, his inclusion at this stage of our trip added to the story of Israel from the Israel perspective.  It is a story that is both owned by many in the country who are members of the dominate political and ethnic group, and the lens through which they see modern life.  It is also a story at odds with others in the land who do not enjoy their advantages. We are beginning to gain a better understanding of the competing narratives in Israel-Palestine.  Our time has been, at once, enlightening, disturbing, enriching, infuriating, and inspiring. Much more to see - much more to learn!!

[Note:  As mentioned in my original post, there are more than two-sides to the story and in the “Arab/Israeli conflict, the original story sub-divides into ever-so-many fragments, even within individuals.  We begin, now, to hear from some of those stories – in this instance, we hear from an Israeli, pro-Palestinian research/advocacy group. My apologies in advance – these summaries will be far too brief, so much more that could be written.  For these entries, I’ll need to be brief, just covering the basics, will write more reflectively later.]

Chances are you have never heard of B’Tselem; equally likely, though, is that you probably have heard from those who know of this pro-Palestinian, Israel advocacy group.  B’Tselem is:

The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories was established in February 1989 by a group of prominent academics, attorneys, journalists, and Knesset members. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel (from their website).

On Thursday, we met with two researchers (Adam and Amit) from B’Tselem, who are among 40 individuals who, as their website announces, purpose to raise awareness of Israeli human right violations in the occupied territories.  They work with many in various political (e.g. the BDS movement), academic, and artistic circles, providing them with documentation of these violations.  Their work, however, is not without criticism, as noted below. We had a difficult time locating the meeting room, as there was no obvious sign of the organization’s headquarters from the street, and, given the controversial nature of their work, we later understood why! For many in the West, being pro-Israeli is the political default position among most – but most assuredly not all – political and religious groups.  I have known many individuals knowledge and experience of the conditions in the “occupied territories” (not a phrase many Israelis would use), and would often be harshly critical of Israeli’s treatment of the Palestinians.  B’Tselem mission is to bring the Israeli abuses of Palestinian rights to light The session was be too long to relate in its entirely, but here is the highlights of our time together – and the basics of the issues in the West Bank/Occupied Territories:

• A description of the various communities in the West Bank (“occupied territories” for Palestinians; “Judea/Samaria” for many Israelis).  In accordance with the Oslo Peace Agreement, the region was carved into three distinct regions:
  • Area A (full civil and security control by the Palestinian Authority.
  • Area B (Palestinian civil control and joint Israeli-Palestinian security control): 
  • Area C (full Israeli civil and security control): initially
• Under the Oslo II Peace Accord:
  • The Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip commonly known as Oslo II or Oslo 2, was a key and complex agreement in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. . . . The Oslo Accords envisioned the establishment of a Palestinian interim self-government in the Palestinian territories but fell short of the promise of an independent Palestinian state. Oslo II created the Areas A, B and C in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority was given some limited powers and responsibilities in the Areas A and B and a prospect of negotiations on a final settlement based on Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. The Accord was officially signed on 28 September 1995 (from wikipedia).
• According to B’Tselem, the Israeli government has never lived up to either the intent or the expressed demands of Oslo II, but rather, began and continues a campaign of abuse that has as its goal, the subjugation and ultimate removal (or at least diminishing) of the Palestinian population and ultimate Israeli domination/control.
• Abuses include:
  • Unlawful killings
  • Detention
  • Manipulation of natural resources (mostly water) to the disadvantage of the Palestinians
  • Restrictions on movement, especially the erection of the so called “barrier wall”
  • False imprisonment
  • Demolishing of homes
  • And so on . . .
• The work of B’Tselem is to investigate and provide documentation these events, collect and distribute videos, issue reports, and work with advocacy groups to advance social and political change.
• Part of their strategy is to distribute video cameras throughout the West Bank so that human right abuses could be documents – a picture being worth ever-so-much more than a thousand words!!

• The abuses listed above are a part of a concerted effort by the government, military, and legal communities to both subjugate  and, ultimately encourage

B’Tselem acknowledges that they are not without their Israeli supporters (see here, here) and distractors (see here, here), In summary:  As mentioned in at the onset, our trip is focus on hearing from multitude and perspectives, and B’Tselem is one of them. With only a brief time to describe our interaction it would be difficult to relate the effect of the presentation on our group.  The videos presented (especially the video of the recent shooting of an already-wounded Palestinian was quite disturbing.  See account here) were shocking, to say the least.  Our hosts were knowledgeable, apparently fair-minded, and were committed to their work despite criticism (both from public figures and even, in some instances their own families and friends). I left quite sobered and disturbed by what I saw.  Perhaps I should have known more about what i was about to see than I did – but I didn’t.  The images I saw will be difficult, if not impossible, to expunge from my mind.  Perhaps that’s the point – they shouldn’t be. Why do members of B’Tselem do work, we wondered as we debriefed later?  Why run the risk of being labeled traitors, “betrayers” their country?  What seemed obvious from our time with Adam and Amit is that they believed deeply in Justice and believed that their work is necessary if the country would ever find Peace!!! As we talked about the day’s event over at dinner, Bret told us that there was “another side to this story,” which will will hear today – hard to imagine what anyone could say after what we just saw!

We’ve been traveling for about 24 hours when we entered the cab for a ride to the hostel. Our cab driver, greeted us with a few quite-polite english phrases, enquired of our destination, and off we went!!

On Tuesday, May 16th, a team of three faculty and several FPU students will travel to Israel/Palestine. This is not a typical “Holy Land Tour,” where the purpose is to visit religious/historical sites. This trip is designed to become better acquainted with individuals and groups involved in the various PEACE MOVEMENTS. I’ll write at the end of each day a reflection of that day’s events

A Prayer for the Country

by Pastor Gaines

  "Heavenly Father, I lift up to You the United States of America. I humbly ask You to open the windows of heaven and come down (Isaiah 64:1). Send revival to Christians in America so that our nation will turn back to You. I pray that You will raise up prayer warriors across America that will fervently call on Your name and seek Your face for an outpouring of Your Spirit. I pray that You will raise up pastors who will preach the Word of God with conviction and without compromise. I pray that You will raise up soul winners that will share Jesus and lead people to faith in Him. I pray that You will raise up disciple makers who will help new believers grow in grace and become more like Jesus. "I pray for our political leaders, from our President, to our governors, to every mayor across this nation, that they will love Jesus and uphold the teachings of Your Word. I pray that You will give us Godly judges that will judge and rule in righteousness. I pray that You will bind Satan from dividing our nation with racial prejudice. I pray that whites, blacks, Latinos, Asians and others will genuinely love and respect one another, and will understand that there is really only one race -- the human race. We are all created in Your image (Genesis 1:27). Jesus died for the sins of all of us (1 John 2:2). You love all of us (John 3:16). Help all of us to love You and to love one another. "Please forgive us for our sins against unborn children via abortion. Please forgive us for affirming any form of marriage other than biblical marriage, which is one man married to one woman for life. Please forgive our nation for our sins of sexual immorality, racial prejudice, greed, and prayerlessness. Help every Christian to be humble in spirit, hungry for revival, and holy in thought and deed. "Lord, please send spiritual awakening to Christians in America. Pour out Your Spirit upon every follower of Jesus Christ from Maine, to Florida, to Texas, to California, to Washington, to Minnesota, back to Maine, all across the continental United States, and Alaska and Hawaii. May we offer up fervent, repentant, humble, faith-filled prayers to You on behalf of our country. We pray and agree with the Psalmist -- 'Will You not Yourself revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?' (Psalms 85:6) Lord, please do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we can ask or think. In Jesus' holy name, amen."