My experience through film

I made the short film for a fundraiser I am holding for the HLT and wanted to share it with you all. The high def version wouldn't post so please excuse the Ok quality. Enjoy and circulate...

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." - MLK

One of my favorite quotes spoken by the remarkable Martin Luther King, Jr. When I read this quote, I not only think of the injustices taking place the world over but I am reminded of all the amazing people who wholeheartedly believe in freedom and equality and have fought with their lives for human and civil rights.  It brings me hope that one day people will wake up and understand that Palestine is no different...Power to the people!

Below, a series of photos I took throughout Palestine. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, with my short captions I hope I can bring truth to many of you...

Pictured above, an outpost of the most vicious kind (soon to be settlement?) whose residents have invaded Palestinian olive groves and set fire to them. Notice the black, charred land post-fire.

Olive groves no more. Burnt land post-fire set by extremist settlers

Children selling fruit in Jenin

Children playing in al-Azzeh camp

Keys to the home in Beit Jibreen that a Palestinian family fled in 1948 (the village was turned into a Kibbutz by the state of Israel).

Above and below: Signage in Manger Square, Bethlehem

Below: Art from the Apartheid Wall in Bethlehem

Home, sweet home...

I think it's time for me to tell you a bit about the organization that helped me get to Palestine, the Holy Land Trust (HLT). Forgive me for not mentioning them earlier because it is thanks to HLT that I had the opportunity to visit Palestine. I got in touch with Holy Land Trust in early 2011. My intent was to join them as a volunteer in the nonviolent program, however, I was there for such a short time that that was not possible. During my time with HLT, I tagged along with their field coordinator, Marwan, to several different sites throughout Bethlehem. I learned a great deal from this amazing person and I will never forget the time that I spent with him. With Marwan, I met leaders of the nonviolent resistance movement in Bethlehem, toured old Bethlehem alongside a group of Americans coaching a local basketball camp, participated in a nonviolent demonstration in Ma'asara, visited a refugee camp, and visited a village called al-Walaja where home demolitions by Israel are rampant. The latter will be the topic of this post.

Holy Land Trust has recently been involved with rebuilding homes for Palestinian families. Many of you may be aware of the fact that Israel regularly bulldozes Palestinian homes to make way for new settlements and the route of the apartheid wall, among other illegal reasons.  One of the villages that is widely affected by the bulldozing is called al-Walaja. I visited al-Walaja with Marwan, where I met a man who is close to completing the rebuilding of his family's home which was demolished by Israel 7 years ago. He told us that the Israeli government has even sent the family the bill for the bulldozing fee and on top of that, Israel has also imposed a new land tax and are requiring the family to pay this tax on a monthly basis (these are absurdities to us but realities to the Palestinian people). Marwan asked the owner of the home what he would do if Israel proceeds to demolish his home again. His answer was "I will keep rebuilding. My grandfather and his grandfather have all lived here. This is our home and I will not leave." 

With several volunteers from all over the world, Marwan & HLT, built a home for a family from al-Walaja and HLT held a "housewarming" ceremony for the family on July 23rd (the home is pictured above and the short clip below covers the ceremony).

As you can see from the clip above, HLT's rebuilding initiative is extremely meaningful and I hope that they can continue to provide families with a place to live. Sometimes we take for granted what we have...next time you enter your home and say "home, sweet home" think of those who don't have that same luxury.

If you'd like to help out, please consider becoming a volunteer with HLT or donate what you can (anything helps) to this lovely organization.

Think of Others, by Mahmoud Darwish

As you prepare your breakfast, think of others
(do not forget the pigeon’s food).
As you wage your wars, think of others (do not forget those who seek peace).
As you pay your water bill, think of others
(those who are nursed by clouds).
As you return home, to your home, think of others
(do not forget the people of the camps).
As you sleep and count the stars, think of others
(those who have nowhere to sleep).
As you express yourself in metaphor, think of others
(those who have lost the right to speak).
As you think of others far away, think of yourself
(say: if only I were a candle in the dark).

Rest in Peace, Archimandrite Philoumenos

On my way to Nablus I stopped at the Greek Orthodox Convent at Jacob's Well. You may be familiar with the story of Jacob's Well which is written in the New Testament; it is where Jesus rested on his journey to Sychar and had a conversation with the Samaritan woman. Today, the well is situated within a Greek Orthodox church in the city of Nablus (across the street from Balata refugee camp). In 1979, a fanatical Zionist from a nearby settlement broke into the monastery and hatcheted to death the custodian of the well, Archimandrite Philoumenos (he is pictured above in the mosaic which hangs at the front of the church). My tour guide mentioned that threats to the church, from nearby settlements, continue today and, out of fear, the church keeps its doors locked regularly.  Rest in peace Archimandrite Philoumenos.

"...The week before, a group of fanatical Zionists came to the monastery at Jacob's Well, claiming it as a Jewish holy place and demanding that all crosses and icons be removed... The group left with threats, insults and obscenities of the kind which local Christians suffer regularly.

"After a few days, on November 16/29, during a torrential downpour, a group broke into the monastery; [Fr. Philoumenos] had already put on his epitrachelion for Vespers. The piecemeal chopping of the three fingers with which he made the Sign of the Cross showed that he was tortured in an attempt to make him deny his Orthodox Christian Faith. His face was cloven in the form of the Cross. The church and holy things were all defiled. No one was ever arrested. (http://www.allsaintsofamerica.org/martyrs/nmphilou.html)

Something to live for

The Jenin Refugee Camp in the West Bank town of Jenin was created in 1953 when thousands of Palestinians fled their homes in Haifa and the Carmel mountain area. Today, the refugee camp is spoken of widely, especially within humanitarian circles, because of the massacre that took place there in April 2002 when the Israeli military entered the camp, completely flattening buildings and leaving 435 families homeless.  If you are interested in learning more about the camp and the massacre I highly recommend the documentary Jenin, Jenin.

Since April 2002 you will find several counter narratives to the Massacre of Jenin but nothing can mask the actual atrocities that took place in that camp at the hands of the Israeli military: Jenin Massacre Evidence Growing.

Today the camp has been reconstructed, and on July 16th I visited the Freedom Theatre which is located within the camp. The Freedom Theatre is "the only professional venue for theatre and multimedia in the north of the West Bank in Occupied Palestine. Since it opened its doors in 2006, the organisation continues to grow, develop and expand, enabling the young generation in the area to develop new and important skills which will allow them to build a better future for themselves and for their society." I encourage you to watch their promo film here .

Despite the theatre being a cultural institution, it has endured substantial harassment from the Israeli military. On July 27th of this year, the theatre was attacked by Israeli soldiers at 3:30 AM. They took one of the staff members of the theatre and he remains in prison today. Reasons are still unknown. On Saturday, August 6th, one of the acting students was taken by the Israeli military at a checkpoint on his way to Ramallah. He is also in prison with reasons unknown:  Press Release.

Those who make the Freedom Theatre what it is today are an inspiring bunch. They have endured hardship upon hardship (even losing their mentor and director this past April), death, destruction, and violence yet they continue with their mission and even travel to Europe and the US for performances. The Freedom Theatre students have found salvation in acting and one of the young men in the promo video even says, "something to live for" ...

(Image below of the Jenin horse constructed by Thomas Kilpper by invitation of the Geothe Institute. Horse is 5 meters high and made out of the scrap metal from destroyed houses and cars found after the massacre.)

"Hooligan Activists"

The week that I arrived in Palestine, over 200 activists from the US and Europe were arrested at Ben Gurion airport. Many of those detained belonged to the Freedom Flotilla. These activists initially planned to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza (including food and medicines), however, their flotilla's were conveniently blocked by the Israeli government, hence, their resort to Plan B - flying into Israel. In addition to their arrests, several activists from another social justice initiative called "Welcome to Palestine" were immediately arrested upon landing at Ben Gurion.  The Israeli government labelled the activists as "hooligans" and accused them of "disturbing the peace."

Nevertheless, several activists still made it to Palestine and I participated in a peaceful demonstration alongside them* in Ma'asara on Friday, July 15th. The weekly anti-wall demonstration in Ma'asara is led by a member of the community named Mahmoud. Following a short briefing by Mahmoud we made our way over to the area where Israel plans to build a wall that will cut deep into the village and ultimately take away 60% of their land (unfortunately, a typical story). Trained activists remained peaceful, and at one point we lifted our arms while facing the Israeli soldiers who were blocking our path. The demonstration lasted for about one hour and the soldiers, thankfully, hardly got violent. The demonstrations will go on...

P.S. I encourage you to watch the amazing film Budrus which tells the story of a village that used nonviolent methods to oppose the separation wall that was planned to take parts of their village including olive groves. Through regular & strategic peaceful demonstrations, the villagers succeeded in pushing the planned route of the wall back, closer to the Green Line.

*A majority of the nonviolent activists were Welcome to Palestine participants from France, Spain, and Italy. 

Settlements, settlements everywhere!

Bam! Settlement. First thing to greet me upon arriving in Palestine. I left the Allenby Bridge, happily on my way to Jerusalem and the first thing I see is a monstrous settlement, one of the oldest and largest, called Ma'ale Adumim. Look it up on wikipedia and you will see that the Editing for Zionist group has achieved part of their goal to misinform people and rewrite history... Check out Editing for Zionists initiative here: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/wikipedia-editing-for-zionists/

Upon seeing Ma'ale Adumim (a settlement I was quite familiar with through text), the feeling of happy excitement was quickly stifled and replaced by anger and even helplessness. I was all of a sudden a firsthand witness to modern day apartheid and the sighting of one illegal settlement would lead to many, many more on the road to Jerusalem and then again to Bethlehem. These settlements, built by the Israeli government for immigrants* (and with US tax dollars), were created out of sheer racism and a superiority complex that contributes to the sense of entitlement harbored by almost every settler. Settlements are spreading throughout the West Bank like a cancer and make a two-state solution impossible. The huge homes and perfectly manicured gardens of the settlement made me nauseous. While Palestinians are starving and living with scarce water, the foreign settlers are watering their lawns daily and pruning their bushes. 

But before I could take in the vast injustice and inequality of the situation, I was struck by the vision of a horrendous and enormous apartheid wall. The wall is 25 feet high:

The construction of the Israeli separation wall began on the 16th June 2002. For the most part the barrier, which could eventually extend over 750km, consists of a series of 25 foot high concrete walls, trenches, barbed wire and electrified fencing with numerous watch towers, electronic sensors, thermal imaging and video cameras, unmanned aerial vehicles, sniper towers, and roads for patrol vehicles.
The Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign’s most recent map of the Wall’s path, finalized November 2003, reveals that if completed in its entirety, nearly 50% of the West Bank population will be affected by the Wall through loss of land, imprisonment into ghettos, or isolation into Israeli de facto annexed areas1 . (http://www.vtjp.org/background/Separation_Wall_Report.htm) 

Seeing the apartheid wall on a daily basis was a constant reminder of the machine that is Israel. The image has left a hole in my heart and the guilt I have harbored remains today. Why do I have freedom? And when will the Palestinian people achieve freedom? Living restrained within this huge wall for just one week made me realize how resilient the Palestinian people are and I will always admire them for their strength. Kurt Tucholsky, a German-Jewish writer once said "A country is not only what it does. It is also what it tolerates." 

*Settlers are predominantly American, Eastern European, and Russian, and most recently a large number of Ethiopians have settled in the W. Bank as Israel claims to have found one of the "lost tribes of Israel" in Ethiopia. 

(The picture above is of one of the many settlements I saw on my way from Bethlehem to Nablus. The image below taken in Manger Square. Click on image to maximize)