Roman's 8. 24. To paraphrase this verse is simply to say that if you can already see what it is you hope for, then it is not hope, it already exists. Hope is when you cannot see the result and you have to wait patiently.
I am posting this blog now because, although it is not polished, it was started several days ago and there is much new material to add. I will post this as if it was completed on the day I began it. As time is short and the internet is unpredicatable here, please forgive the spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
Today left me feeling very depressed and even had me asking myself whether there was any point in continuing to try to improve life for the Palestinians. Sabeel in the morning spoke of hope, but gave no real reason for any, and ICHAD in the afternoon, gave so much information about the way Israel manipulates its own laws as well as Western media, that it left me feeling that there was no way that the giant, powerful, greedy and agressive machine could be stopped or even slowed down.
Although I already knew some of what we were told today, much also came as an unpleasant revelation. Perhaps it was the way it was explained and the people who were explaining it. Cedar Duaybis of Sabeel told us how Israel keeps cleverly moving the goal posts so that it can continue to claim that it has 'no partner for peace'. Israel was created on land that had been inhabited by others for centuries. For those people to recognise the State of Israel was to ask them to deny their own right to that land. But in 1998, Palestine did accept the State of Israel, Israel then insisted that the Palestinians recognise Israel's 'right' to exist. In order to recognise Israel's 'right' to exist, they were, in effect being asked to deny their right to exist in that place. However eventually Palestine accepted Israel's right to exist. But that was not enough, because then Israel demanded that Palestinians must recognise Israel as a Jewish state. To do so would mean not just denying themselves the land, but to deny themselves equal rights on that land.
During this time Israel has fragmented Palestinians into 5 different groups. There are the 1.6 million Palestinians within Israel, who have citizenship, but are not nationals. These Palestinians are denied the full rights of democracy and are treated as second class citizens. It is true that many Palestinians prefer to live within Israel, but that is because facilities are better than those of their neighbours living elsewhere. It is the lesser of two evils for many of them. The second group are those in the West Bank - 2.5 million. That land has been divided by Israel into 3 areas, A, B and C. A is in theory entirely under Palestinian control. B is under Israeli military control, but Palestinian civilian control and C in entirely under Israeli control. Area A is just 17% of the West Bank and is very fragmented by Israeli roads, settlements and the seperation barrier and the IDF frequently invades the area to arrest suspected 'terrorists' or for various unspecified other reasons. The PA is bankrupt. Israel witholds taxes that it has taken and controls every aspect of their lives.
The third group of Palestinians are those in East Jerusalem. These people are neither Nationals nor Citizens They are just considered residents as if they have entered Israel to live, rather than that Israel has annexed the land and swallowed them up. Israel is openly trying to reduce their number and make their lives so miserable that they choose to 'voluntarily' leave.
The fourth group are the many refugees scattered around the Middle East and also around the world. We were told later by another organisation called Badil (see web-site) that there are now more Palestinian refugees than from any other conflict ever. That was hard to take in and seemed almost unbelievable until we were presented with the statistics.Many are still living in squalid and vulnerable conditions in refugee camps both within this land and in many places outside of it. Some are dying in Syria right now.
And finally there are those Palestinians living in the Gazan prison about which much as been written already.
Palestinians are also divided among themselves. Israel refuses to talk with them until they are more unified. Yet it was Israel and the USA who had originally encouraged and funded Hamas as a means to fragment Palestinian politics. Now Palestinians find themselves in the catch 22 position where Israel refuses to negotiate if they try to include Hamas and refuses to negotiate if they don't!
All the above is just a flavour of what Cedar, a Palestinian, told us and did not prepare us for
our time with Ruth Edmonds, an Israeli/British Jew from ICAHD. Ruth managed to explain Israeli policy in such a way that we were truly left wondering if the work of the many activists, both Israeli and international, was pointless. She also drove us around areas of East Jerusalem to show and explain the evidence. Yet I have finished this particular blog several days after I began it and we have met Palestinians who may be living under an oppressive regime, but are not themselves oppressed, because they have found new creative and effective methods of non-violent resistance. Those people give hope and inspiration in this seemingly hopeless situation. They need to know that we continue to support them. To loose hope ourselves would be to betray them.
to be continued....!
I am posting this blog now because, although it is not polished, it was started several days ago and there is much new material to add. I will post this as if it was completed on the day I began it. As time is short and the internet is unpredicatable here, please forgive the spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
Today left me feeling very depressed and even had me asking myself whether there was any point in continuing to try to improve life for the Palestinians. Sabeel in the morning spoke of hope, but gave no real reason for any, and ICHAD in the afternoon, gave so much information about the way Israel manipulates its own laws as well as Western media, that it left me feeling that there was no way that the giant, powerful, greedy and agressive machine could be stopped or even slowed down.
During this time Israel has fragmented Palestinians into 5 different groups. There are the 1.6 million Palestinians within Israel, who have citizenship, but are not nationals. These Palestinians are denied the full rights of democracy and are treated as second class citizens. It is true that many Palestinians prefer to live within Israel, but that is because facilities are better than those of their neighbours living elsewhere. It is the lesser of two evils for many of them. The second group are those in the West Bank - 2.5 million. That land has been divided by Israel into 3 areas, A, B and C. A is in theory entirely under Palestinian control. B is under Israeli military control, but Palestinian civilian control and C in entirely under Israeli control. Area A is just 17% of the West Bank and is very fragmented by Israeli roads, settlements and the seperation barrier and the IDF frequently invades the area to arrest suspected 'terrorists' or for various unspecified other reasons. The PA is bankrupt. Israel witholds taxes that it has taken and controls every aspect of their lives.
The third group of Palestinians are those in East Jerusalem. These people are neither Nationals nor Citizens They are just considered residents as if they have entered Israel to live, rather than that Israel has annexed the land and swallowed them up. Israel is openly trying to reduce their number and make their lives so miserable that they choose to 'voluntarily' leave.
The fourth group are the many refugees scattered around the Middle East and also around the world. We were told later by another organisation called Badil (see web-site) that there are now more Palestinian refugees than from any other conflict ever. That was hard to take in and seemed almost unbelievable until we were presented with the statistics.Many are still living in squalid and vulnerable conditions in refugee camps both within this land and in many places outside of it. Some are dying in Syria right now.
And finally there are those Palestinians living in the Gazan prison about which much as been written already.
Palestinians are also divided among themselves. Israel refuses to talk with them until they are more unified. Yet it was Israel and the USA who had originally encouraged and funded Hamas as a means to fragment Palestinian politics. Now Palestinians find themselves in the catch 22 position where Israel refuses to negotiate if they try to include Hamas and refuses to negotiate if they don't!
All the above is just a flavour of what Cedar, a Palestinian, told us and did not prepare us for
our time with Ruth Edmonds, an Israeli/British Jew from ICAHD. Ruth managed to explain Israeli policy in such a way that we were truly left wondering if the work of the many activists, both Israeli and international, was pointless. She also drove us around areas of East Jerusalem to show and explain the evidence. Yet I have finished this particular blog several days after I began it and we have met Palestinians who may be living under an oppressive regime, but are not themselves oppressed, because they have found new creative and effective methods of non-violent resistance. Those people give hope and inspiration in this seemingly hopeless situation. They need to know that we continue to support them. To loose hope ourselves would be to betray them.
to be continued....!
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