damn it. i just erased so much work. ahhhh.... anyway. just kidding. of course there were checkpoints.
after my meeting with abdelfattah he took me to the center for rapprochment between people . on the way he showed me a bethlehem that is very different than i k new four years ago. the wall is now completely finished. we went by the guard tower where the old gate used to be, and it faces a girl school. a school with concrete for windows now, a result of the incessant gunfire
from the tower, resulting in the terrorizing of the school girls. abed had shown me a video of this, and other events of the past 4 years, and i thought, this cant be, this is impossible. then i thought, wait, of course this happens. this insanity is well within the realm of conceivable human behaviour here. then i realized i was crazy to think that this could ever be normal, that there is any space in my reality where i could accept this somewhere not as acceptable, but possible. and this is why abed says he takes the children on tour to sing and dance and share, so that they can experience freedom, peace. so that they know what to work for when they 
return home. so that they realize that what they live at home is NOT normal.
abed also showed me the space in front of the wall that the coimmunity had cleared of massive debris. it is a space about 50 feet long, creating a sort of stage. they then painted a section of the 40ft tall wall white, in order to pro ject films on it. and he told me that in the future he hopes they will be able to clear more space and plant a community garden there. their resistance amazes me.
in aida refugee camp of the 5000 inhabitants, over 66% are under the age of 18.
as we continued on to the center to meet with george we didnt pass through checkpoints. this was a shift from the last time i was there. before there were mobile checkpoints that soldiers guarded continuously, and roving patrols of jeeps and hummers that would patrol the town day and nights, filling people's hearts with fear at the mere sound of their rumbling engines. today the soldiers are gone from the streets, but the wall stands high and strong.
i got to the center for rapprochment between people, http://www.pcr.ps/, which was co-founded by Ghassan Andoni. ghassan and george rishmawi were also co-founders of the ISM, who i worked with on my last trip. george is now the executive director of the center. its mission is:
Community service: The primary elements of PCR’s community service program consist of supporting the local Palestinian community’s efforts to remain steadfast in the face of the hardships imposed by occupation policies, contributing the development of the community’s physical and human resources, and encouraging the youth to take an active part in community service and development.
Peace and reconciliation: PCR has a genuine commitment to and a long history of working for peace. High on PCR’s agenda are dialogue aimed at developing mutual understanding and motivating participants to work for peace and justice, education and training for peace and reconciliation, and increasing the the role of civil society in building a just and lasting peace in the region.
Action for Peace and Justice: PCR has a long-standing commitment to supporting people to become involved in nonviolent action and leading them in resistance to the occupation and the struggle for human and national rights.
Advocacy: Advocating for peace and justice, both locally and internationally, is an integral part of PCR’s vision. PCR intends to maintain its stand for Palestinian rights, while continuing, as well, to lobby for the just Palestinian cause and to educate about Palestine and Palestinians.
Serving the youth of Palestine: At PCR we believe that providing the younger generation of Palestinians with experience, proper training, and skills is the necessary basis for their empowerment to defend Palestinian rights, work for peace and justice, and contribute to the development of the Palestinian community.
PCR believes in community-based work. The principal guideline for PCR’s choice of projects to support is the degree to which the community itself is involved in the pursuit of its goals and the development of its resources. The primary consideration for PCR’s involvement is how well a project serves the needs of the community. In addition, PCR is committed to sustaining a high level of independence in defining which projects to adopt and to avoiding over-reliance on funding organizations. PCR, therefore, strives to minimize operating costs through reliance on communal voluntary labor: 70% of the human resources for a given project must be provided on a volunteer basis by community members.
george kindly took the time to meet with me, talked to me about the state of non-violent resistance to the occupation. things are changing. they lost the fight against the construction of the wall. george acknowledged that they were not effective enough in mobilizing massive non-violent resistance to the wall. so now there are new challenges. they wall will remain, enclosing huge areas of the west bank, caging people like animals. george was also very excited to try to incorporate the two-day trainings. he will invite people from the region and organize a training - all he needs now is the trainers to come... he also suggested that a requirement of the participants is that if they get the training for free then they provide it for free. this will ensure that nobody can abuse the tools and training that they get. i thought it was a good idea. i hung out there for a few more hours, and met a few internationals, most of whom were working on the center's new media project. they recently produced this short film - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=29781625495880441&hl=en - about Bil'in, in his words, it is in some ways the symbol of non-violent resistance in palestine. but george loved the idea, and believes that it can be very useful in palestine. the more tools for resistance the better.
i left george and returned to the checkpoint between bethlehem and jerusalem. the checkpoint is massive. i walked into the building, a massive structure that i am unsure of the dimensions, but it felt like a stadium. i waited in line with a group of 50 people for about 45 minutes , waiting to be searched and pass through metal detectors. all around us was metal caging, and soldiers could walk above us. then we passed through the passport section, where each palestinian had to place his/her hand on a very hi-tech machine to instantly identify the palm and fingerprint of each. this is much more sophisticated and developed than the last time i 
was here, yet another indication that there is no intention that the wall is actually temporary, as initially suggested. more money, more humiliation. i returned to east jerusalem passing thr ough the west side, the jewish area. i realized again the apartheid-like system in place. arab busses and jewish busses. arab license plates, jewish ones. bus stops. areas. buildings. and the number of armed soldiers and civilians was staggering. walking about it public armed to the teeth. only israelis, of course. pictures of the wall to come. tomorrow i think i am trying to go to hebron to meet with psychologists there. peace to you, my friends. salaam. shalom, too.
after my meeting with abdelfattah he took me to the center for rapprochment between people . on the way he showed me a bethlehem that is very different than i k new four years ago. the wall is now completely finished. we went by the guard tower where the old gate used to be, and it faces a girl school. a school with concrete for windows now, a result of the incessant gunfire
from the tower, resulting in the terrorizing of the school girls. abed had shown me a video of this, and other events of the past 4 years, and i thought, this cant be, this is impossible. then i thought, wait, of course this happens. this insanity is well within the realm of conceivable human behaviour here. then i realized i was crazy to think that this could ever be normal, that there is any space in my reality where i could accept this somewhere not as acceptable, but possible. and this is why abed says he takes the children on tour to sing and dance and share, so that they can experience freedom, peace. so that they know what to work for when they 
return home. so that they realize that what they live at home is NOT normal.abed also showed me the space in front of the wall that the coimmunity had cleared of massive debris. it is a space about 50 feet long, creating a sort of stage. they then painted a section of the 40ft tall wall white, in order to pro ject films on it. and he told me that in the future he hopes they will be able to clear more space and plant a community garden there. their resistance amazes me.
in aida refugee camp of the 5000 inhabitants, over 66% are under the age of 18.
as we continued on to the center to meet with george we didnt pass through checkpoints. this was a shift from the last time i was there. before there were mobile checkpoints that soldiers guarded continuously, and roving patrols of jeeps and hummers that would patrol the town day and nights, filling people's hearts with fear at the mere sound of their rumbling engines. today the soldiers are gone from the streets, but the wall stands high and strong.
i got to the center for rapprochment between people, http://www.pcr.ps/, which was co-founded by Ghassan Andoni. ghassan and george rishmawi were also co-founders of the ISM, who i worked with on my last trip. george is now the executive director of the center. its mission is:
Community service: The primary elements of PCR’s community service program consist of supporting the local Palestinian community’s efforts to remain steadfast in the face of the hardships imposed by occupation policies, contributing the development of the community’s physical and human resources, and encouraging the youth to take an active part in community service and development.
Peace and reconciliation: PCR has a genuine commitment to and a long history of working for peace. High on PCR’s agenda are dialogue aimed at developing mutual understanding and motivating participants to work for peace and justice, education and training for peace and reconciliation, and increasing the the role of civil society in building a just and lasting peace in the region.
Action for Peace and Justice: PCR has a long-standing commitment to supporting people to become involved in nonviolent action and leading them in resistance to the occupation and the struggle for human and national rights.
Advocacy: Advocating for peace and justice, both locally and internationally, is an integral part of PCR’s vision. PCR intends to maintain its stand for Palestinian rights, while continuing, as well, to lobby for the just Palestinian cause and to educate about Palestine and Palestinians.
Serving the youth of Palestine: At PCR we believe that providing the younger generation of Palestinians with experience, proper training, and skills is the necessary basis for their empowerment to defend Palestinian rights, work for peace and justice, and contribute to the development of the Palestinian community.
PCR believes in community-based work. The principal guideline for PCR’s choice of projects to support is the degree to which the community itself is involved in the pursuit of its goals and the development of its resources. The primary consideration for PCR’s involvement is how well a project serves the needs of the community. In addition, PCR is committed to sustaining a high level of independence in defining which projects to adopt and to avoiding over-reliance on funding organizations. PCR, therefore, strives to minimize operating costs through reliance on communal voluntary labor: 70% of the human resources for a given project must be provided on a volunteer basis by community members.
george kindly took the time to meet with me, talked to me about the state of non-violent resistance to the occupation. things are changing. they lost the fight against the construction of the wall. george acknowledged that they were not effective enough in mobilizing massive non-violent resistance to the wall. so now there are new challenges. they wall will remain, enclosing huge areas of the west bank, caging people like animals. george was also very excited to try to incorporate the two-day trainings. he will invite people from the region and organize a training - all he needs now is the trainers to come... he also suggested that a requirement of the participants is that if they get the training for free then they provide it for free. this will ensure that nobody can abuse the tools and training that they get. i thought it was a good idea. i hung out there for a few more hours, and met a few internationals, most of whom were working on the center's new media project. they recently produced this short film - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=29781625495880441&hl=en - about Bil'in, in his words, it is in some ways the symbol of non-violent resistance in palestine. but george loved the idea, and believes that it can be very useful in palestine. the more tools for resistance the better.
i left george and returned to the checkpoint between bethlehem and jerusalem. the checkpoint is massive. i walked into the building, a massive structure that i am unsure of the dimensions, but it felt like a stadium. i waited in line with a group of 50 people for about 45 minutes , waiting to be searched and pass through metal detectors. all around us was metal caging, and soldiers could walk above us. then we passed through the passport section, where each palestinian had to place his/her hand on a very hi-tech machine to instantly identify the palm and fingerprint of each. this is much more sophisticated and developed than the last time i 
was here, yet another indication that there is no intention that the wall is actually temporary, as initially suggested. more money, more humiliation. i returned to east jerusalem passing thr ough the west side, the jewish area. i realized again the apartheid-like system in place. arab busses and jewish busses. arab license plates, jewish ones. bus stops. areas. buildings. and the number of armed soldiers and civilians was staggering. walking about it public armed to the teeth. only israelis, of course. pictures of the wall to come. tomorrow i think i am trying to go to hebron to meet with psychologists there. peace to you, my friends. salaam. shalom, too.picture above is graffiti on the wall, below is the settlement that has doubled in size since the last time i was here. shiny white buildings and tons of water.
1 comment:
thanks for including the writings from AbdelFatah Abu-Srour. the images conveyed are poignant. it reminds me that one voice can often free many others to join. hopefully one day it will be met with resounding echoes.
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