[JakeIsraelPalestine] U2 Stepping
Jacob Rosenblum
sitting in the same chair typing on the same computer that I did
before. But my mood has changed; my matzav ruach (the situation with
my soul) is much better.
I've gone to two days of ulpan, I've seen my lovely vegan anarchist
friends, and I feel a lot more at home in general. And I've skipped in
Jerusalem. It was to cross the street quickly, but it counts
nonetheless. In fact it may even count extra, because I skipped
without even thinking about it.
I'm becoming friends with some of the Arabs in my Ulpan (Hebrew
language) class. The class keeps me focused on something concrete,
which can be very useful out here! This place can take you so many
different directions.
My plan tomorrow is to go to Tel Rumeida (in Hebron) to hear the
stories of various families. I'm going with a group called "Bnei
Avraham", Israeli activists focusing on Hebron, and the difficult
situation there. They'll get me back to Jerusalem before shabbat.
--Monday; Yom Sheni
I think Friday was the first day I defied my "agreement" with the
Defense Ministry; I went to Hebron with Bnei Avraham. We met up at a
park about a twenty minute walk from the place I've been staying. They
put the number at around 70; between Bnei Avraham and Ta'ayush, and
random internationals, we ended up with maybe 50 Israelis and 20 or so
internationals. One bus left from Tel Aviv, and I was with the J'lem
crew.
Met some lovely folks, including other rad Jews (wait, I forget, am I
a rad Jew?), and including other Ulpan-students. People from Germany,
Canada, random people from the United States that looked like they
would be more at home in Miami Beach, somehow coming on this
"alternative tourism" view of Hebron.
Hebron is the 2nd largest Palestinian city clocking in at around
400,000 people. Jews had historically lived there in small numbers
until 1929, when several 67 people were killed in that city (The
Hebron Massacre). Following the 1967 war, there was a movement to
"re-settle" Hebron, and on Passover a group led by Rabbi Levinger
checked into the main hotel in Hebron, and then refused to leave. Life
really only started getting difficult with respect to the settlers in
1986, according to one of the Palestinians I met in Hebron.
Anyways, I don't know exactly what to tell. Along the main roads,
shops that belonged to Arab shopkeepers have been desecrated by Jewish
holy symbols. The gates to the shop are welded shut, and just about
every gate either has a "magen david" (Star of David) spray-painted on
it, or else a Hebrew phrase along the lines of "Death to the Arabs."
The situation there that we were there to witness, and lend our
support in their changing their situation for the better.
The main road over by Tel Rumeida is called Shuhada street, and
Palestinians haven't been allowed to walk on it since 2000. The issue
was caught in legal beaurocracy for 5 1/2 years, before a decision was
issued: legally, Palestinians were allowed to walk on the street, they
just weren't being allowed to in practice. This is the situation
today: the high court has ruled that Palestinians can walk on the
road. Unfortunately, the military chief in charge of Hebron is defying
the law by continuing to instruct the soldiers to prevent Palestinians
from the road.
So anyways, we came and we went, but when we went, we held a few signs
and banners, walking down Shuhada street, and as a point of success,
we had Palestinians walking with us along the entirety of the street
that they have been prevented from. So this is an important, yet
symbolic resistance, especially in Hebron where tensions are so thick
you can cut them.
Tensions between whom? Soldiers and Palestinians? Nope. The current
batch of soldiers administering Hebron are actually decently
respectful, as compared with the usual. A large group of them are
kibbutzniks who were all part of a socialist Zionist youth movement,
which means that they have more "liberal" or feeling, tendencies. The
issue is with the Settlers' teenagers, and the unequal treatment by
the law enforcement in the area.
The settlers currently live "above" the Palestinians on Tel Rumeida,
which is to say that on the hillside there are houses built up from
the valley below, and at the very top of the hill are the nice
polished settler buildings. There are maybe four different little
settlement enclaves throughout Hebron, and they command a strong
presence within the city, despite only numbering several hundred. It's
amazing the chutzpah that they display, it's an amazingly confusing
situation. For scared people, they sure didn't put themselves in a
situation to be well liked. They act aggressively towards the
Palestinians, who live all around them, which for me was a testament
of how "docile" the Palestinian population there truly is, despite the
wide perception of Palestinians as dangerous. What I'm saying is that
500 Jews are living amongst, on top of, in spite of, several hundred
thousand Palestinians. And somehow this works out for them. The
Palestinians must be incredibly tolerant, or subjugated, or both.
We watched home videos of the destruction of Palestinian property by
settlers living in Hebron. Teenagers, approximately aged 14 to 19 or
so, would go out in a big group, dressed like modern orthodox kids on
shabbos (kippah, nice clothes, not like the "redneck" settlers I've
seen in pictures before). they would go up to Palestinian homes, with
Palestinians living in them, and attempt to break what they could.
Windows, gates, doors, flowerpots, whatever. The man holding the
camera, a forty year old man, was trembling with fear, while his house
was being ransacked. Settler girls would interpose themselves on the
path of Palestinian children walking to school with their mothers, and
swing their bags at them, and kick their mothers. The videos are
incredibly surreal.
These kids look like the good Yeshiva Jews that knew-- acting out all
the hatred, anger, and fear that they had been brought up with. I
consider it to be a serious crime to raise your children as settlers
in Hebron. Their humanity has been buried by the age of 16. We escaped
the Holocaust so that we can actively engage in hating the people who
live around us? Okay, sure, plenty of Jews in the US are scared of all
the goyim around us, but hopefully it plays a relatively minor part in
our lives! These children have been traumatized by being put right
over the flame.
In order for the law to intervene, Palestinians must produce evidence
of who has done what. Our host told a story. After a raid on his home,
he took a picture of the youth with his cell phone. He went to the
police office. The officer said "do you have evidence?" He showed him
the picture on his phone. The police officer copied the picture off of
the phone, and onto his computer. Then he deleted the picture from the
phone, and from the computer. "Now you don't have evidence. Case
closed." What respect I feel for him, that he can withstand this sort
of treatment.
The most amazing thing I experienced (as keeps happening when I spend
time in Palestine) was the compassion of Palestinians. These mensches
who talked about their plight had this to say about their experience
living with Jewish settlers. We don't want them to leave; we only want
equal treatment under the law. We welcome Jews to live here with us.
For the short demo walking down Shuhada street, another Palestinian led chants.
1, 2, 3, 4, Occupation No More.
1, 2, 3, Palestine Must be Free.
And then: 1, 2, 3, Israel Must be Free.
There were audible scoffs and eye-rolling from some Israelis and Internationals.
This is a tricky place: these Palestinians have become wordly enough,
aware enough to know that this rhetoric is important and correct in
relationship to Israelis. But many Israelis and Internationals have
given up hope of working with those Israelis, so for them this becomes
an empty exercise, this "solidarity visit." It's a way for them to
feel good about themselves and their alignment/involvement, without
being able to help these Palestinians build alliances with Israelis.
It's still good that they come, because it's important to these
Palestinians that their stories are heard. They just should have their
mouths taped shut, because their experience of political frustration
is not a tool with which to end the Occupation.
* My First Shabbat
Shabbat, friends, shabbat! Immediately upon returning from that
"solidarity visit" I returned back to the apartment, that I fondly
refer to as "Shapiros" (that's the name on the apartment door, even
though there are no Shapiros currently living there). I prepared
myself for shabbat. I invited a couple of people I had connected with
on on the Hebron trip, and one accepted. A German girl named Maja
(pronounced maya), who is here to study Hebrew. Back in Germany she's
studying comparitive religion, so I thought she might like to see how
we do shabbos around here (plus she's cute).
We went to Shira Chadasha, an amazing modern orthodox congregation
(they use a mechitza there), and people sang, boy did they sing. The
whole order of the service, right from the beginning to the end. Ever
since I went there for the first time three years ago, Shira Chadasha
has become my yardstick for how much ruach a service has. I've only
been to a couple of shabbats that are as beautiful and fervent as
Shira Chadasha. So Maja went and sat on the women's side, my new
friend Tzvi stood in the back, and I sat among the men.
Afterwards, we carried a couple of chairs a fifteen minute walk to a
friend of Tzvi/Ari's. She prepared an amazing dinner, and I was really
happy with the way the evening went. Ari tipped me off that the host's
rules were "no politics." Oh well, I thought to myself. As it turned
out, all anyone seemed to talk about was politics; not specifically
Israel/Palestine, I mean I did my best to avoid the topic while
getting very pressing questions pointed in my direction. Later I
learned that it was because someone brought up the issue of
gay/lesbian ordination within the conservative movement, which has
been a hot issue over the last year. I said "why not just say no
bigots allowed?"
After saying it I realized that what I meant to say was "no bigotry
allowed" but I was too late-- our host removed herself from the table
(as a joke). We all laughed.
Maja got the real deal, which was exciting for me; amazing prayer
should have no ethnic/religous/identity limitations. I want everyone
to be able to experience at the very least *what it seems like*, even
if they aren't able to experience the prayer directly.
Off to meet a friend, this will have to do for now, I've got more
things to write about, so expect another one in the next couple days.
I moved into a room of my own in downtown J'lem, only 4 blocks from my
ulpan. I'm happy about this (although I'm sure I will continue
haunting "Shapiros", I love the people who live there!
Shalom y'all,
Ya'akov m'oly
Jacob in J-Town