Two stories

This Friday I went to Cremizan and Welji, two small villages outside of Bethlehem.

I took part in a hike with 30 other Palestinians and internationals.

The group organizing takes people to hike on land that is under threat of occupation by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Residents regularly receive demolition orders and threats. Most of the land we were walking through is in Area C, which falls under direct Israeli control within the West Bank.

I still get confused about the Areas A, B, and C. Area A is supposedly full Palestinian Control, B mixed ownership, and C under the supervision of Israel. “Your house can be in Area A, and your front step in Area C. Its soo arbitrary” says my friend. I don’t feel so bad about my inability to get them straight.

So we walked and walked, throughout an 19^th century winery owned by the Vatican, and by the world’s oldest olive tree (estimates range from 2000-5000yrs). It was dry, thorny, penetrating and punishing heat. The group was boisterous and would regularly break out into song. Songs from the 1^st intifada, songs from Egypt.

We went to see a house that has been the subject of years of threats and negotiation.

The owner has received multiple offers from the Israeli government for his land: compensation with money, other land inside the West Bank, anything he wanted essentially in return for leaving his house.

I saw his house.

We heard his story outside it, for 30 minutes in the 40 degree heat.

I thought to myself ‘why all the fuss?’ It was a small place, pretty, but hardly qualification for high level Israeli government officials to hem and haw over. But then he told us about the entire annexation plan the Israelis have for the winery, his house, and the village on the mountain.

They want it all.

They have already destroyed an entire mountain with explosives, to make way for more settlements and services for their residents.

The Israeli government wants the mountain because it wants the view.

It wants the mountain because it wants to control the entire area.

I should mention that all of this is taking place approximately 10 min by car from the centre of Bethlehem. The Nativity church, the Shepherd’s field, the entire Christian historical pilgrimage.

The land is under threat

Which one can think about and sort of make sense of. It’s a geopolitical and tourist tactic. I get it.

But what I didn’t get was what happened next.

We were walking down the other side of the mountain towards a field to have a bbq, and all of a sudden 7 IDF come up and wave us away.

Why?

Because right down below, in a public spring (in Area B), there were a group of Israeli settlers enjoying the water.

No problem I thought. We aren’t going anywhere near them.

It apparently was a huge problem. Our group, was told to walk further into the bush, and forbade from getting within 100 yards of the settler group.

Hmm. Alright

So we went and waited. We bbq’d. We talked. We waited.

For 3 hours.

While the Israelis enjoyed the spring and we sat in the blaring sun.

At about 6pm, we started to walk back down. Thinking it was Shabbat (it was Friday, and most observant Jewish families mark the Sabbath with a meal at sundown). It should have been time for them to go.

One Swiss woman in our group walked toward a smaller spring to get some water. No problem. IDF did nothing. One Palestinian man followed just behind her to do the same, and he was greeted with angry shouts and shoving.

I couldn’t really believe my eyes.

Such overt and blatant racism.

Is getting water on your own land a crime, especially after you have been made to endure 4 hours of needless waiting in the mid-day sun?

I guess so.

I again am plagued and confused by this apartheid state. But more than anything, the settlers, or colonists as some call them, confuse me.

Who can stand back and watch police forces actively segregate and restrict the movement of people who are simply having a picnic?

I am blessed to have grown up in a time and place where racial segregation was not tolerated officially, and while there may have been minority ghettoes in Vancouver in the 1990s, there were never cases of the RCMP actively telling one group of people to leave the premises while another group preferentially enjoyed the services.

I added some photos of two things I’ve seen here in the past two days.

The second is described above.

The first is the Festival of Lights in the Old City in Jerusalem. A beautiful night of performance art and light exhibitions throughout the ancient streets. Jews, Arabs, Christians and seemingly everyone else in the city was there walking around and admiring the quiet beauty.

It was such a perfect example of what can happen here. There can be cooperation and mutual understanding. It does happen. I hope to tell you about more of it soon.