This morning we began our day with a Palestinian Israeli (He is Palestinian by ethnicity but has Israeli citizenship) who works for the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. He gave us a brief overview of Israeli history since 1947 and then took us on a tour of East Jerusalem, the part of Jerusalem where most Palestinians live.
Because Israel is trying to push Palestinians out of East Jerusalem in order to annex the land, there have been hundreds of house demolitions and thousands more face possible demolition. Most Palestinians who live in East Jerusalem have lived there for generations, however, Israel argues that since Palestinians cannot prove they own the land, the land belongs to the state of Israel. Palestinians must apply for a permit in order to build a house or apartment on the land and the application fee for a permit is 5000 Euros. Applications are usually denied but Palestinians decide to build anyway. Israel then comes in and bulldozes the "illegal" buildings.
The Israeli Committe Against House Demolitions works with Palestinian families who have experienced house demolitions or who are at risk of having their homes demolished. One family in particular has had their home demolished 4 times. The ICAHD has rebuilt their home 5 times. That is one way the Palestinians are peacefully resisting. Their motto is "You will demolish. We will build."
We also went to B'tselem, an Israeli organization that opposes settlements and the building of the wall. They also seek to hold Israeli soldiers accountable for the violence that is done to Palestinians in the West Bank. In 2007, they initiated a campaign called "Shooting Back," an effort to equip Palestinians with digital cameras so that they could take pictures to document cases of violence and human rights abuses. One photographer documented Israeli soldiers shooting an unarmed, blindfolded Palestinian with rubber bullets. B'tselem was able to use the photographs in order to press charges against the soldiers.
I am quickly realizing that there is so much to learn--so much history I can't wrap my brain around. It feels overwhelming. Much different from our first days of touring, learning and hearing stories makes my heart feel heavy.
Tomorrow we will head to Bethlehem for a few days. More later...
2 comments:
I confess my own ignorance of so many of these issues. I am grateful for your presence there and the voice that you give to these people by sharing their experiences with all of us. Love you...
I am so glad you have "the internets" access. This blog is important! There are so many people (myself included) that don't have this picture of what's really going on over there! Keep it up if you can!
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