My roommate in Ramallah is from Khalil, and she invited me to see her town.
Hebron was the only city in Palestine I couldn't get Canadian insurance coverage to go to.
well. and the Gaza Strip.
I had heard a lot of friends tell me about the direct confrontation and violence that happens there between Palestinian and Israeli settlers. Throughout the Second Intifada here (2004-2006 approx), this area was heavily affected, with hundreds dying in the old streets and day-to-day life disrupted for years as the fighting went on. There are bullet holes in buildings throughout the city. Local men, about my age, will laugh and point to them when tourists walk through. I was thinking 'you were 14 or 15 during all this and now its a tourist sight' How does that make me feel?
I had also heard a great deal about the richness of the area. My roommate lives in a town close by called Tarqumiyah. It has human history going back 4000 years. It is surrounded by olive groves on all sides, likely planted by any number of past residents: Canaanites, Crusaders, Ottomans, British, Jordanians, Israelis or Palestinians. I was struck by how fertile the place was.
I saw gardens with mangos, apples, apricots, figs, hazelnuts, pomegranates, cherries, oranges, limes and pears.
Hebron is a holy city.
It is home to the Abraham Mosque.
It is here that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah and Rebecca (the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the Jewish people) are said to be buried.
It is also considered the fourth holiest site in Islam, as Abraham and Isaac are also Muslim prophets, and Islamic tradition holds that Mohammad visited the site on his night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem.
So.
Needless to say, it is central to both faith systems and an important part of both groups of believers' spiritual lives. It is believed to date to 1500 BC, and after much violence and discrimination towards both Palestinians and Israelis, is now separated into two sections: Muslim and Jewish.
One is shocked, therefore, when you walk through the Old City towards to the Mosque and see heavy fencing and barrier walls dividing the Old City from an Israeli settlement.
I walked by and overhead were young Israeli children, watching out at me from behind barbed wire.
As I walked further in, I realized the streets were covered with a wire mesh overhead.
Why is that? it is to prevent the Palestinians who walk through heading to the Mosque, or simply moving throughout to their homes or shops, from being hit by objects thrown by the neighboring Israeli settlers. I am cautious as I write this that it could sound hateful.
I felt hatred.
I felt indignant and profoundly jarred. Why are children raised to believe it is alright to throw bags of vomit and feces at their neighbours? How do you reconcile daily armed militia taking American settlers through the streets, telling them in English that all the land they are walking on is Israeli, and the Palestinians are dirty thiefs?
I know that Jewish people have historically been horribly wronged in this very city. They were not allowed to enter to pray or organize in the area. One has to think about vengeance and question its long-term outcomes. The more I travel around this part of the world, the more I am completely convinced about the apartheid state that Israel actively promotes.
Separate roads, requirements to hold documents at all times, obligations to apply for travel permits, removal from strategic natural resource-related lands.
You see it everyday here.
What I saw this weekend was perhaps just more blatant. or no, it was more cruel.
Humiliating.
In my research, I am continually inspired.
Tomorrow I will return to a camp outside of Bethlehem, to sit with women and learn to make bread.
It is a local women's centre that has started a hair salon and bakery in the refugee camp.
I am sure I will see empowering and dignifying things going on.
I hope I see lots more of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment