Ben Guiron airport and Reflecting in London

I am not in northern London in a hostel. I got in late last night and had an interesting time getting to my hostel. I got up early this morning and walked around. I just got back from a beautiful park nearby where I was able to walk around and think. The weather is quite lovely--actually it is warmer here than it was in Jerusalem for the most part. I am going to leave here in a second to catch my train to Manchester.

Leaving Jerusalem and Tel Aviv was quite the experience. I will have to write more fully about it later, but the abbreviated version follows. I had to go through 10 different checks at the airport for security reasons. It took me about an hour and a half to get through all of this--this is the most security checks that I have ever had to go through at an airport. It was quite unnerving. The shuttle ride to the airport was also quite interesting. Most of the people on the shuttle questioned whether I was Jewish and on a Birthright tour. I had to just tell them that I was touring around on vacation with different church people. That pretty much was my story 15 times over to the people on the shuttle and at the airport. I felt pretty sick to my stomach because of this and because of leaving.

Thanks for reading my sporatic postings. I'll continue to add more reflections if I get the chance.

shelley

Leaving comments

I am leaving for the airport in a few hours. I feel so many intense feelings right now because our group has met with so many amazing groups and incredible people. Right now I am at a hotel where Kara and I had tea with a woman working on a documentary here. Her name is Julia and she was involved in writing and editing the recent documentary "Control Room." I feel so priviledged to have met some many amazing Palestinians as well as the many peace activists from Palestine, Israel, and internationals.

I am going to to write more reflections in the upcoming few days while I spend time in the UK visiting a friend in Manchester. I hope that my time in London and Manchester will serve as a good buffer before coming back to the U.S. Right now I am trying to focus on what it is that we need to do in the U.S. to change the situation here.

Kara and I are going to grab some lunch and run a few errands before I head to the airport. Here is to hoping that none of my pictures, books, or anything else gets confiscated at the airport.

Pax,

shelley

Updates

We have been on the go for the past few days so I haven't had a chance to post many updates. Right now i am in Ramallah where we are going to a demonstration since Kofi Annan will be in town.

Yesterday we went to Bethlehem and saw how the wall is preventing people from going there easily as well as discouraging their largest income generator-tourism. We visited the church of the nativity and saw the bullet holes and damage done when the Israeli military trapped people in the church and shot at them for a long while. Right across the street, was the Bethelhem Peace Center which is funded by a Swedish NGO (non-governmental organization). Ironically, the Peace Center was where the Israeli military holed up while keeping the Palestinians trapped in the church.

We then went to Hebron which is one of the tensest places we have been. We went to the center of town which is controlled by 400 settlers who are mostly Americans Jews who are extremists and have taken houses, religious sites, and the center of town from the Palestinians. We went into the center of town to go to a religious site for both Muslims and Jews. It felt like a war-zone---it is a war zone. All of the once-bustling store fronts are now all closed. The settlers walk around with more power than the Israeli military that "protects" them. So walking around, you see these settlers carrying guns who can do whatever they want to whomever they want. And they are mostly American. The feeling I got there from these settlers is like they are almost a cult, like David Koresh at Waco, that is how uncontrolled it is. But these 400 people control movement on behalf of the 120,000 residents of Hebron. What is most interesting is that Hebron prior to 1948 was a town where Jews and Palestinians lived side by side as neighbors. Now the atmosphere is completely the opposite where you readily find grafitti in Hebrew that says "Kill All Arabs."

Hope all is well. I can't believe I leave this place tomorrow.

Peace,
shelley

One other thing

I almost forgot. Today we went on a checkpoint tour with this wonderful young musician/activist Barbara, who is an Israeli/German/US citizen. She mentioned a young boy who was unable to go to school because of the wall. He has been in a wheelchair since birth and her group, M'achom Watch is helping to get him to the US for 4 different orthopedic surgeries. The only thing she mentioned is that he will have the operations in late June in Philadelphia and then recooperate in New Jersey, but they don't have much money and are trying to find a place for him to stay with his family to recover or money to help him out. If anyone knows of anyone in either place, I can put you into contact with Barbara.

Rainy days

Yesterday I posted a very long blog but the computer did something strange and everything was lost. Anyway, yesterday we went to OCHA (Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) which is a UN office focused on the occupied territories of Palestine. They gave a wonderful presentation with maps indicating where the checkpoints, earth mounds, wall, and other obstacles that Palestinians face on a daily basis. It is amazing how people are denied the access of mobility within their own land. For example, one of the guys we met from Ramallah, is from a village next to Ramallah. Under normal circumstances, it would take 5-10 minutes to travel from Ramallah or his home village to Jerusalem, the holy city for 3 different religions. This guy, Muez, just turned my age--27--today and has never been to Jerusalem in his life. Can you imagine this? Sahar put it this way--it is as if you lived in Cairo and had never been to the pyramids. This is one of many of the myriad stories we have heard regarding how Palestinians are literally trapped in certain zones, often trapped from their families, their schools, hospitals, jobs, farmland, the list goes on and on. We have heard story after story of women who were denied passage through checkpoints even when they were about to give birth. We have heard about children who have had to drop out of school because they cannot get through a checkpoint or a wall prevents them from passing through.

After the UN, we went to Abu Dis, a suburb of Jerusalem where one of our Palestinian guides, Terry lives. I really need months to even begin to process writing about Terry and her stories of living under occupation. She is perhaps one of the strongest women I have ever met in my life. For example, the Israeli government is building the wall next to her house. Terry is consdiered a Jerusalemite (her identity card) but her husband's identity card says he is a West Banker. One night, the Israelis came and issued these cards--if you were not home, then you were not issued the Jerusalemite card. So, currently it is illegal for her husband to be in Jerusalem or Israel proper, which means it is illegal for him to live in his own house. This is difficult to explain so shortly but everything here seems to be confusing purposefully. Bureaucracy is one strategy that the Israeli government uses to control the Palestinians.

Later that night, we met with several Israeli peace activists. I personally have teared up many times since I have been here, but meeting these people and seeing the work that they do really just hit me hard. Three of the women represented different peace groups. One is called M'achom Watch which involves Jewish women who go to checkpoints every day to monitor the soldiers treatment of Palestinians. Another woman was from Women in Black, a group that we joined today in a protest, who are against the occupation and meet every Friday in the Jewish area of Jerusalem to protest peacefully in a busy intersection. The third woman is from the U.S. and is involved in the International Solidarity Movement which is involved in direct action against house demolitions of Palestinians, actions against the construction of the wall, and much more. The fourth activist was named Jimmy who is also Jewish and from Chicago. He works with the Israeli Coalition Against House Demolitions, where they work on many projects involving direct action, education, and advocacy regarding the house demolitions of Palestinians. There have been over 4,000 Palestinian homes bulldozed by the Israeli government since 2000, which means that 23,000 (i think this is right--i need to check my notes) people have been made homeless. One of the crazy things about the demolitions is that many of them are demolished by US equipment.

Keep in mind that our tax money is going to all of this. The US provides Israel 3 billion a year, not including 10 billion in guaranteed loans, as well as other military provisions. Israel/Palestine is roughly the size of New Jersey. Gaza Strip is the most densely populated area in the world. Fortunately, the people here as well as many of the international people we have met are smart enough to judge a government apart from its people. But this doesn't excuse Americans to be ignorant or inactive regarding this issue. I guess both the injustice and human rights violations are really enough for me to feel connected to this place, but we as people from the US are interwoven with this area because of the massive funding for this tragedy.

I have taken tons of excellent photos and cannot wait to share the stories that I have heard. Well, actually I can wait because this place is very magical and insane at the same time.

Also, if my mom is reading this, don't be surprised when I move to Ramallah someday. Don't worry--it is considered the "city of intellectuals" here in the West Bank.

Please keep writing your emails and posting your thoughts. Thank you to those who have been supportive of me being here and learning alongside me. Besides all of the intensity of such a trip, I have been amongst a very sababa -cool- group of people. Kara and I have been processing our trip and shaking our heads a lot. Ronnie and Monica, both NVC students, are learning a lifetimes worth in the past few days and keeping us entertained and sane. Sahar makes us all laugh and keeps us up late during the night dancing to Palestinian music and talking about life. The two grannies-Mitzi and Marie-crack us up with their wit and charm but also understand this situation. As Marie put it best "those damn soldiers." Sometimes the most simplest assessment of this situation is often the most accurate. Mohammed has been sharing stories and information that we are fortunate to be privy to. Ann has touched all of us with her own stories of how this story is connected to the United States. Rashida and Vicki have been learning throughout the week and determined to take this message back to their communities in Seattle. And all of the wonderful people we have met at our hotels, our guides, Terry, the drivers, the people from Ramallah, the peace activists, the children at Terry's school, the people in the markets, the people in the street. It is amazing to me how people who are living under occupation still are so kind and full of life. I suppose that will is another form of resistance.

Salam,
Shelley

International Women's Day

Going to Ramallah
We began our trip for International Women's Day by crossing through a checkpoint to Ramallah. This checkpoint is the only way people from Ramallah, one of the largest cities to get to Jerusalem. We first stopped to pick up some government delegates and women at the Palestinian Environmental Office. While waiting for people, we sat on the bus and this delicious bread with all of our new fellow travelers. We then stopped at the Palestinian Authority Ministry for Women's Affairs office to pick up the Minister from that office and many of her co-workers. These co-workers have made such an impression on me and have given me so much hope and friendship within two short days. Most of the co-workers are young, between 23-28 and include women and men both working for women's rights in Palestine. At first on the bus, we all smiled at each other and I practiced my few emerging phrases in Arabic. We continued to drive to Tulkarem for the women's bakery opening. These Women's Ministry workers then started to sing and clap for the next hour amazing Palestinian folk songs which without understanding the language are still powerfull. Finally, we began to talk with each other and learn more about each other. It is hard to describe how aware, open, warm, generous, and loving this group is. One of my newest friends, Lina, works with the office analyzing complaints from women regarding gender discrimination. Two of the guys, Muez and Ziad, work within the media department and have worked on press releases and making films to show what is happening in the West Bank. Muez and I talked for a long time about the media since he also is an editor at one of the Palestinian papers called Al-Quds. I learned a lot of new words and stories from all of these folks and one of the words "sababa" which means "cool" is the best way to describe all of them. The crazy thing is that we went to two different towns, Tulkarem and Qalkilyia, which were only an hour from Ramalla, but none of these young people had been there because of they do not regularly have permission to cross all of the many checkpoints. They were only able to go because they were with our group.

At Tulkarem, various people spoke about the occupation and how it has the lives of Palestinians. We then were treated to delicious foods and sweets. We were only there for about an hour. This is the only bakery in town and was funded by a fundraiser that Sahar held in Houston that raised $15,000 USD.

We then drove to Qalkilyia for the women's march. International Women's Day is considered an official holiday so kids did not have to go to school but rather could participate in marches in their towns. Qalkilyia is an interesting place because it is near the 1967 line that divides the West Bank and Israel but since the Wall has been built, it has encircled the entire town, cutting the many farmers off from their lands, disallowing people to easily leave for other places such as hospitals. We marched arm in arm and ended up at a girl's school next to the wall. There were a few hundred people there and many speakers shared their thoughts. They also had an art gallery exhibiting pictures of the wall and of other poignant scenarios. Although I can say hello, how are you, cool, and a few other key words, when I walked though the audience at the assembly women and kids and others would smile at me so generously.

I then stumbled around with some of my new friends and went near the wall to take pictures. There were some incredible grafitti with messages of peace and frustration with the Wall. The rest of the marches came out to the wall and took pictures and played around until Israeli soldiers started telling us to go away and using scare tactics. We then all got on the bus and stopped by a grocery where people bought juices, strawberries, and sweets. We all laughed, waxed politically, and discussed our visions of peace. It was an amazing day, mostly because of all of the neat people we befriended. It is very interesting that these same people would be characterized negatively by our media; however, I have only met people with more generosity and life who live lives that are filled with insanities beyond their control.

1 1/2 hours at the checkpoint, and that is considerably lucky
After saying goodbye to our new friends, our bus then got in line to leave Ramallah. Ronnie and I really wanted to stay in Ramallah to hang out with our new friends because none of them have permits to go to Jerusalem, even though a few are originally from there. One guy told me that he has never been to Jerusalem, which normally be 5 minutes away.

We were supposed to go to Jaffa later that night, but we ended up in the normal congestion at the exit through the one checkpoint. We waited 1 1/2 hours to finally get through. I have heard from many people that it can take 2-4 hours easily and sometimes the Israeli military can close the checkpoint without rhyme or reason, which means you get stuck, regardless if your kids are expecting you, regardless if you have no place to stay, regardless if you have someplace to be (like school, work, the hospital to give birth). This experience reminded me of the congestion at the US/Mexico border, but it is even more random since they can actually close it down and that there are less places to cross.

Going to Ramallah (again)
Last night Sahar taught Ronnie and I this song that talks about "Going to Ramallah" as well as the traditional dance. Fortunately, we went back to this deemed "city of intellectuals." We first went to the Ministry of Women's Affairs where we reconnected with Lina, Ziad, Muez, and others. We first met with the Minister of Women's Affairs who has been arrested several times and is a very powerful speaker. She discussed many aspects of the issues Palestinian women and children face, including education, health, labor, and family. More and more Palestinian women have become heads of household due to their husbands being imprisoned or killed. We then watched a very powerful film called "Women Confront the Wall," (I will have a copy of this that I can lend out) which showed different families being separated from their own family, their schools, their farming land-hence their main income, and water. The most powerful part of the film showed children who cannot get to school because of the wall. In some cases where without a wall, children could walk to school in 5 minutes, now they have to take dangerous routes that can last 1-3 hours just to get one way to school. Often times children and women are searched, often inappropriately, at the checkpoints en route to school or elsewhere. Families have had to take their children out of school because of these difficulties and risks.

We then went to a Panel Discussion that featured Salam from the Ministry, another woman Fadwa Khader from The Rural Women's Development Society, and Ann Helmke from the San Antonio Peace Center. This presentation became very powerful. There were others in the audience who have been imprisoned for their peace work. One thing that Ann mentioned that was very powerful is that Catepillar equipment from the U.S. have been used here. The excavaters are all around to build the wall, and the bulldozers are here to demolish Palestinian homes. I have seen these everywhere and have taken many pictures of the Catepillars at work. Ann discussed that she grew up in a small farming community in Illinois, near Peoria which is the home of Catepillar. Ann talked about how she had given a presentation at her home church and discussed the Catepillar connection to the congregation of mostly farmers and Catepillar-employees. The church group understood the connection and understood how all of what I am writing about is connected to the United States. Powerful.

I then met with Sam, a Palestinian who grew up in Ohio but now lives in Ramallah I interviewed him because he is a published journalist and we discussed the media's role regarding Israel and Palestine, especially regarding coverage of the wall. He gave me a lot of strategies of how we need to influence our own media.

Finally, we went to the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation and had coffee and discussed their struggle to report on the lives of Palestinians. I have to get going right now, but I will continue with this tomorrow.

Who can believe this?

The first days

Traveling here
The trip here went pretty smooth...There weren't any mishaps or problems with all of my flights. The few interesting things that did happen occurred in my last leg of the trip and when I arrived at Ben-Gurion airport. On my flight from London to Tel Aviv, my seat mates were quite intriguing. At first I had planned on getting more sleep in before arriving, but the woman I sat next to pulled me into a conversation. The woman I was next to was traveling with her son who was on her other side. She only spoke Spanish and I later found out that she was originally from Peru. Since I was seated a little further from her son, I couldn't hear his responses but later figure out that she would only speak in Spanish to him and he always replied in Hebrew. They are Israeli citizens and were returning home. Oddly enough, when we touched ground, this woman then only spoke in Hebrew with her son. For some reason this exchange was interesting to me, perhaps because it reminded me of many families in San Antonio who converse in two languages.

Arriving at the airport, I knew that things could become more complicated. Fortunately, I carried all of my luggage on (which a woman from British airlines said was "very rare, very rare indeed) and went straight to Immigration. The lines were long and it was broken down into Israeli and Foreign citizen lines. Interestingly enough, the Palestinians who return need to have an Israeli passport to return, travel at all. Otherwise I suppose they would have to enter the foreign citizen lines, to return to their own country. Odd. I had no problem with immigration, although I cleverly had my response down. The young woman only asked if this was my first trip to Israel. I replied that it was and she wished me a nice visit while I am here.

This last leg of the trip as well as the airport was my introduction to many of the different groups that live here. Other people who were waiting ahead of me in the Customs line included Europeans, Americans, Israelis. There were also Hassidic Jewish men in their black suits, tall black hats, long beards while talking on their cell phones.

Old City life and the old city cats
We drove from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as I anxiously was ready to leave all airports at that point. We passed by many olive trees, Jewish settlements, and proceeded through our first checkpoint. We are staying at the Hotel Gloria in the Old City in the Christian Quarter, where most of the religious sites are located. The hotel is nice and not very crowded. The weather is very fresh as well. The other quarters in the Old City are the Muslim, Armenian, and Jewish. The old city is surrounded by huge walls and everything is extremely old and incredible. I feel like I've been sent through a time machine. There are also a lot of stray kitty cats everywhere-one looks like my outdoor cat at home. Jabberjaws in Jerusalem?

Jewish neighborhood
At first when I got to the hotel and met up with the group I was feeling the jet lag and ready to fall asleep at dinner. But the hummus and vegetable dishes must have woke me up and I ventured with two of my travel mates, Ronnie and Sahar, to a Jewish neighborhood after dinner. The three of us were quite the trio for many reasons and this trip to the mostly all-Israeli Jewish neighborhood kept me up most of the nap rather than my impeding jet lag. We left the walls of the Old City and entered this other neighborhood. In the Christian quarter where we are staying all of the street signs are in Hebew, English, and Arabic. Once we crossed the street to this other area, it was only in Hebrew. We walked a few blocks and entered another world. This area felt very European with outdoor cafes, Burger King, boutiques, vegetarian restaurants. There were even Jewish punk kids and punk girls who dress what I call "puritan punk", where the girls where long, conservative skirts but at the same time are punk kids. Very odd. While all of this sounds nice and charming, it was unnerving. Almost everyone who passed us by gave Sahar very uncomfortable looks. I only can explain it as this-if Ronnie and I had gone together, we probably wouldn't have gotten any looks, but because Sahar was with us, we were not welcome. It wasn't as if anyone said anything, it was just very thick. And all throughout this area, as we continue to encounter everywhere we go, are military kids (because most of them look like they are 18 or 19) carrying their gigantic guns. I followed Sahar's lead, who continued to walk, not out of stupidity but out of self respect for herself. But in this neighborhood, which was bustling, Sahar was the only "obvious" Palestinian and that wasn't the protocol for the area. We reflected on this experience together, but it was my first eye-opener of what will come this week.

Tour of the Old City
We woke up, refreshed, ate a delicious breakfast of fresh cheeses, vegetables, and eggs. We then went on a tour led by our Tour Guide, Said. We went through all of the different Quarters, including the Syrian area, where we met with a woman who tends to the Syrian Orthodox church which is supposedly the first christian church. We then continued through the maze-like Old City and ended up at the Al-Aqsa mosque, which is beautifully tiled and who I quickly befriended some 8 year old kids. But before we could enter the mosque, we had to wait to be cleared by some Israeli military to enter. Keep in mind this is the 3rd holiest site for Muslims and you need to have special permission to enter. We then visited several more religious sites.

"Atrophy-cutting off blood, cutting off your sense of life"
Later in the afternoon, we went to Augusta Victoria Hospital which is on the top of the Mount of Olives. The Hospital whose services span throughout the West Bank and is ran by Lutherans to assist humanitarian health needs. Unfortunately the Wall that the Israeli government is constructing as well as the many check points located throughout the West Bank have prevented the hospital from serving its clients. Many of its clients, mostly Palestinian refugees who do not receive Israeli national health insurance, can no longer get to the hospital or its subsequent clinics. The hospital has a state of the art cancer center, but the patients and hospital staff are stuck behind a wall or at a check point that they cannot easily get through or at all. So as the Chief Executive Office, Tafiq Nasser said "we are a community hospital but we are cut off from the community." One of the ways that the hospital has challenged this is through perserverance and creativity embodied in a project called "Hope and Health Across the Wall" where they set up an arrangement (which involved pulling in a German dignitary) to have tour buses pick up only children (not their parents) who need things such as kidney operations and take them through 4 designated checkpoints to the hospital. This sounds easier than it really is, but it was a political agreement to get even this to happen. So while we toured the hospital, we passed by the Emergency Room and the Outpatient clinic, but it was empty. Imagine going to your local public hospital to the Emergency Room (University Hospital in San Antonio) and there are no people. There is so much more, but this is just one example.

bureaucracy
One last thing, Tafiq who is an American citizen but also Palestinian, showed us all of the documents he has to carry every day to pass through check points. He has to carry 5 documents. One is his ID Card which is green and written in Hebrew. Second is his Security Card. Third is his permit to work in Israel. Fourth is is permit to travel to Israel proper. Fifth is his document to travel to the West Bank. Three of these documents he has to renew every three months. One document he can renew yearly. The last document he has to renew every month.

We also met with the Lutheran Bishop of Jordan and the Holy Land tonight which was very powerful. To be quite honest, my jet lag is still kicking in and we are constantly on the go. Tomorrow we are going to a Women's Bakery opening in Tulkaram which my friend Sahar helped to raise money for. It will be a very special event and we will go to Qalqilya for a women's peace rally for the International Women's Day. Qalqilya is completely surrounded by the wall with only one exit point. I'll have more to report tomorrow night.

peace, pax, salam, and paz,
shelley