® What is Palestine/? Answers to common questions Sonia K. Weaver Partially destroyed olive grove and wall construction on northern edge of Bethlehem.

®

Acknowledgments Copyright © 2004 Mennonite Central Committee

Mennonite Central Committee Canada I would like to thank Deborah Fast, Alain Epp 134 Plaza Drive, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5K9 Weaver, Jan and Rick Janzen, J. Daryl Byler, William Janzen, Mark Beach, Patricia Shelly, Mennonite Central Committee 21 South 12th Street, PO Box 500, Calvin and Marie Shenk, John F. Lapp and Ron Akron, PA 17501-0500 Flaming for having read through previous versions of this booklet. Their perceptive comments have All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any greatly strengthened this piece. means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

Design by Roberta Fast Photos by Matthew Lester and Ryan Beiler

Printed in Canada.

National Library of Canada ISBN: 0-9735784-1-6 Table of Contents

1. Introduction...... 2

2. Geography What is Israel? ...... 4 What is Palestine?...... 5 Why do some people refer to Palestine/Israel or Israel/Palestine? ...... 5 What are the Occupied Territories? ...... 6 What is the ? ...... 6 What is the Gaza Strip?...... 7 How are Israeli settlements altering the geography of Palestine/Israel?...... 7

3. History Who are the ? ...... 10 What is Zionism?...... 11 How was the State of Israel established? What was the Partition Plan?...... 12 What is the relationship between the Holocaust and the State of Israel?...... 13 Who are the Palestinian refugees? Why are they still refugees? What is the Right of Return?...... 14 What is the Law of Return?...... 17 What is the Palestine Liberation Organization? ...... 17 What is the Occupation? ...... 18 What are settlements? ...... 19 What is the Separation Wall?...... 21 What was the first intifada?...... 22 What were the Oslo Accords? ...... 23 What is the Palestinian Authority? ...... 25 What is the Al-Aqsa Intifada? ...... 25 Why was there a second intifada? Didn’t the Palestinians turn down a generous offer at Camp David in July 2000? ...... 26 What is the Road Map? What is the Geneva Initiative? ...... 28

4. Religion What religious beliefs are shared by Christians, and Muslims? Do members of these three faiths all believe in the same God? ...... 32 What beliefs and practices are unique to Christianity? ...... 33 What beliefs and practices are unique to Judaism?...... 34 What beliefs and practices are unique to Islam? ...... 35 What is the religious significance of Palestine/Israel? What special associations does this land hold for Jews, Christians and Muslims? ...... 37 Are all Jews Zionists? Are all Zionists Jews?...... 39 What is Christian Zionism? What do Christians believe about Zionism?...... 39 Didn’t God give the land to the Jews? Aren’t we as Christians supposed to “bless Israel”? ...... 40 Is criticism of Israel anti-Jewish? ...... 42 Are there religious visions for justice and peace in Palestine/Israel? ...... 42

5. Continuing conflict, sources of hope What is terrorism? What does MCC have to say about suicide bombings? ...... 44 What are the continuing sources of conflict?...... 45 Settlements ...... 45 Water ...... 46 ...... 46 Refugees ...... 46 Borders...... 47

What does MCC see as the solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict? ...... 47 What is the one-state solution?...... 47 What is the two-state solution?...... 48 What are the advantages and disadvantages of these solutions? Is a two-state solution still possible? ...... 48 What does the future hold for Palestine and Israel if the one-state or two-state solutions are not implemented? ...... 49

6. How MCC is responding, how you can help What brought MCC to work with Palestinians? ...... 52 What is the focus of MCC’s work in the Occupied Territories today? ...... 54 Does MCC “take sides” with Palestinians and not Israelis? ...... 55 Does MCC work with Israelis?...... 55 Why does MCC work with Muslims? ...... 55 Why are there no Mennonite churches in the Middle East? ...... 56 Are North American MCC workers safe in Palestine/Israel? ...... 56 What sustains MCC’s work? ...... 57 What can we do? ...... 57 Pray ...... 57 Share ...... 58 Advocate ...... 58 Stay informed...... 59

7. Resources for further study MCC Materials...... 60 Books ...... 60 Web sites ...... 61

Meet MCC’s partners...... 62

A boy holds a piece of art work showing the daily Introduction violence in the Gaza Strip at the Shoroq wa Amal (sunrise and hope) children's center in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip. 1. Introduction The combined name Palestine/Israel only hints at the deep fissures dividing this land. An introductory booklet like this one can only offer a brief glimpse into such a complex conflict. Supporters of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) regularly ask MCC workers about the complexities of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This booklet presents some of the questions MCC workers in Palestine regularly receive from MCC supporters in Canada, the United States and beyond, along with straightforward answers. This booklet is organized by theme, but all of the areas are inter-related. You may jump in and out of the text according to your interest. Please remember that what you are reading is a necessarily simplified treatment of a complicated situation. For those wishing to learn more about Palestine/Israel, the final section includes resources for further study.

2 A street sign in Bethlehem that was Geography run over by a tank during October 2001 fighting.

A Palestinian man and his two sons (who declined to be identified) walk past wall construction near the checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

What is Israel? Israel is the name of the country claiming sovereign control over 78 percent of Mandate Palestine (see Palestine below). Israel includes the Negev (Naqab) Desert in the south, West Jerusalem and the coastal plains in the center, and the Galilee in the north. This area is also referred to as “Israel proper.” Israel has annexed East 2. Geography Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, territories it occupied in 1967, but To discuss geography in the Middle the international community has not East is no simple matter. Even seem- recognized these annexations. Although ingly straightforward questions like Israel occupies the West Bank and the “Where do you live?” or “Where are Gaza Strip militarily, it has not you from?” can have major political annexed these territories, not wishing implications for Palestinians, Israelis to absorb the Palestinians in these and internationals alike. What places as Israeli citizens. Palestinians and the international com- Approximately six million people munity call the Occupied Territories, live in the state of Israel. Israel’s popu- for example, Israel calls Judea and lation is about 80 percent Jewish, 15 Samaria or the “administered territo- percent Muslim, two percent Christian, ries.” The following section addresses and three percent other. Israel is a the multiple meanings behind some unique country because it defines itself of the most common geographical as the state of all Jewish people references. throughout the world, rather than as a state of all of its citizens.

4 As a result, Jewish citizens of Israel receive the in the event that a preferential treatment in all major aspects future independent Palestinian state was of social and political life, including established. Many Palestinians hope for the schooling, health care, housing and land creation of such a state as part of a final use. Israel refers to its Arab citizens as resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. “Israeli Arabs.” In recent years, however, these have increas- Why do some people refer to ingly begun to refer to themselves as Palestine/Israel or Israel/Palestine? “Palestinian citizens of Israel.” These rather clumsy, interchangeable names represent attempts to refer to the What is Palestine? land in question in a way that honors both The name Palestine means different things Israeli and Palestinian attachment to the to different people in different contexts. land. Saying Israel/Palestine or Palestine/ Sometimes Palestine refers to all of Israel emphasizes that two peoples live in Mandate Palestine, which includes all the one land treasured by each as a homeland. land between the River and the Israel/Palestine and Palestine/ Israel desig- Mediterranean Sea. Great Britain admini- nate all of Mandate Palestine, including stered this territory during the first part of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Israel the 20th century through a mandate it received from the League of Nations, hence the name. Today Mandate Palestine includes Israel proper, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The term Historical Palestine is also used to refer to approxi- mately the same territory. Palestine can also be used to designate only the West Bank (including ) and the Gaza Strip. This combination of territories would constitute

Milade Thalgieh leaving the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

5

The shadow of Saliba Baddoun of Wi’am (The Palestinian Conflict Resolution Center) as he surveys the damage in the West Bank village of after the Israeli occupation of October 2001. An overturned Palestinian bulldozer lies in the background.

as Occupied Territories. Some Israelis proper. Use of these names acknow- also refer to the West Bank by the bib- ledges that both Palestinians and lical names of Judea and Samaria. Israelis claim the land and should be Israeli settlers routinely call the able to live there peacefully and Occupied Territories YESHA, an securely. acronym of the Hebrew words for Judea, Samaria and Gaza. What are the Occupied Territories? In Palestine/Israel the Occupied What is the West Bank? Territories refers to East Jerusalem, the The West Bank is a kidney-bean West Bank and the Gaza Strip. shaped territory, 5,860 square kilome- Together these territories constitute 22 ters, extending from the city of in percent of Historical Palestine. In the the north to the city of Hebron in the broader Middle Eastern context, south, with the Jordan River as its “Occupied Territories” also includes eastern edge. More than two million the Golan Heights—Syrian territory Palestinians live in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967. The together with 200,000 Israeli settlers— State of Israel does not consider East figures that don’t include Palestinians Jerusalem, the West Bank and the and Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem. Gaza Strip to be Occupied Territories. Historically, East Jerusalem has been Instead, Israel annexed East Jerusalem an integral part of the West Bank. into the state, and views the West Bank Decades of occupation, however, have and the Gaza Strip as “administered” increasingly isolated East Jerusalem or “disputed” territories, rather than from the neighboring West Bank cities and villages.

6

What is the Gaza Strip? rarely allowed to leave Gaza, either to The Gaza Strip is a small sliver of land, work in Israel or to travel to Jerusalem or 360 square kilometers, which hugs the the West Bank. Mediterranean Sea and the Egyptian border. Some 1.2 million Palestinians live How are Israeli settlements altering the in the Gaza Strip, two-thirds of whom are geography of Palestine/Israel? refugees. Half of the refugees live in Gaza’s The map on page 21 graphically demon- eight refugee camps. Seven thousand Israeli strates how Israeli settlements in the West settlers also live in the Gaza Strip, distri- Bank are turning Palestinian towns and vil- buted among nearly 20 settlements. The lages into isolated islands or reservations. 1.2 million Palestinian Gazans have access Israeli settlements, also known as colonies, to approximately 60 percent of the Gaza have been strategically placed to create Strip. Israeli settlers and soldiers control “facts on the ground” that fulfill Israel’s the remaining 40 percent. Overcrowding in political goals of claiming more territory. Gaza’s refugee camps is a major problem, Rings of Israeli settlements, for example, with the population density in some camps cut off Jerusalem from the rest of the West reaching four to eight people per room. Bank. This makes it more difficult for Gazans enjoy few economic opportuni- Palestinians to one day achieve their goal ties. In the past, most income generated by of an independent state with a shared Gazans was earned by Palestinians Jerusalem as its capital. In addition, Israeli working as day laborers in Israel, where settlements and military outposts dominate they were considered a source of cheap the Jordan Valley and prevent Palestinian labor. Harvard economist Sara Roy has development there. Another set of Israeli analyzed how Israeli military regulations settlements separates Bethlehem from actively discouraged economic develop- Hebron, while still other settlements cut ment in the Gaza Strip, a policy that Roy off from . Palestinians called “de-development.” Beginning with and Israelis committed to peace and the Oslo Accords (see page 23) in 1993, reconciliation fear that the proliferation of however, Israel began severely restricting settlements has already eliminated the the number of Gazans allowed into Israel possibility of establishing a viable, inde- to work. At the same time, Israel began pendent Palestinian state in the West Bank importing workers from Asia and Eastern and Gaza Strip. Instead, settlement expan- Europe as new sources of cheap labor. sion is confining Palestinians to ever Today, the vast majority of Palestinians are smaller parcels of land. This process,

7 known as the cantonization or bantus- tanization of Palestine, is often compared to the establishment of Black homelands in South Africa under apartheid or the creation of Indian reservations for Native North Americans. Since Israel has begun con- struction of a “separation wall,” the process of land confiscation is occur- ring faster than ever. The wall is designed to divide Jewish and Palestinian populations from each other. The map on page 21 illustrates the route of the fences and walls that make it diffuclt at best for Palestinians to go from one part of Palestinian ter- ritory to another without hard-to- obtain Israeli permission. Meanwhile, Israel gains control of more and more of the West Bank, and its natural resources such as water and land, for agriculture and building.

8 An old man walks through Aida refugee History camp in Bethlehem. Im Munir and Abeer cook in the Odeh home in the Aida camp.

Historical Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire, ruled from Istanbul in what is now Turkey. The Ottoman Empire extended from present-day Turkey down into what is now Saudi Arabia and over into Egypt in North Africa. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the peoples of the Middle East began to develop national identities. This process paralleled the development of European nationalities 3. History in the mid-18th century. In practical terms, this meant that people in the Who are the Palestinians? Middle East began to think of them- selves as Palestinians, Lebanese, Palestinians are Arabs who live in or Syrians, etc. There was as yet no State come from the part of the Middle East of Israel. The Jewish minority in the today called Israel, the West Bank and Middle East was also subject to the the Gaza Strip. Dispersal of Palestin- Ottoman empire. ians throughout the world makes an After World War I, the lands of the accurate count difficult, but researchers defeated Ottoman Empire were divided estimate that there are some 9.3 million into different nations, kingdoms and Palestinians worldwide. More than “mandate territories” by the League of three million Palestinians live in the Nations, the precursor of today’s West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and United Nations. The League of Nations another million live in Israel proper as gave Great Britain and France the citizens of the State of Israel. The rest mandate to administer various territo- live outside of Palestine/Israel. ries until they were deemed ready for At the beginning of the 20th democratic self-rule. France, for century, well over 90 percent of the example, was given the mandate for people in Historical Palestine were Lebanon and Syria, while Britain Arabs.

10 received the mandate for Palestine. This 1946 the Jewish population of Mandate division of territory into various mandates Palestine had risen to 600,000, or about accelerated the process of separate national 33 percent of the total population. Also by identification. People in French-adminis- this time some six percent of the land in tered Syria, for example, began to view Mandate Palestine was owned by Jews. themselves as Syrians as well as Arabs, Today, Christians make up two to while those in British-administered three percent of the Palestinian population Palestine viewed themselves more and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and 15 more as Palestinians, in addition to being percent of the Palestinians in Israel. The Arabs. remainder are Muslim. Many Palestinian The process of Palestinian indepen- Christians, along with upwardly mobile dence was complicated by the Balfour Palestinian Muslims, have emigrated to Declaration of 1917. This declaration North America and Europe in search of a committed Britain to working toward the better life. creation of a Jewish homeland in Mandate Palestine. Palestinians interpreted the What is Zionism? Balfour Declaration as evidence that the Zionism is the belief that Jews should have British authorities were not serious about a state of their own. In late 19th-century moving Palestine along the path toward Europe, a form of Zionism emerged which democracy and self-determination. held that, just as the French people had The Palestinian population at the turn of France, or the Italians had Italy, the Jewish the 20th century was 80 percent Muslim people should have a Jewish state. These and 20 percent Christian. There were also early Zionists were almost all secular Jews. Jewish communities in Palestine in They viewed their Judaism as an ethnic Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias and cultural characteristic rather than as a which had been present for hundreds of personal religious faith. years. These Jewish communities consti- The author of this form of Zionism tuted about 6 percent of the total was the Austrian journalist Theodore population of Historical Palestine and Herzl, who wrote the landmark book Der made up about this percentage of the pop- Judenstaat (The Jewish State) outlining his ulation for more than 1,000 years. In the vision of a new Jewish state of Israel. 1930s and 1940s, Jewish communities in Herzl and his fellow Zionists dreamed of Mandate Palestine were joined by large establishing the Jewish state of Israel as a numbers of immigrants from Europe. By secular, socialist utopia. In the early days

11 cent of Mandate Palestine, was to be a Jewish state. The remaining 44 percent was to be a homeland for the native Palestinian Arab population. At the time of the Partition Plan, Jews owned six percent of the land in Mandate Palestine and Palestinian Arabs owned the remaining 94 percent. The Palestinians rejected this divi- sion, which they interpreted as the loss of 56 percent of their homeland. On May 15, 1948, the Zionist leader- ship in Palestine, led by David Ben-Gurion, declared the creation of the State of Israel. This declaration ignited the war Israelis of Zionism, European Zionist leaders call “The War of Independence” and considered several locations for the new Palestinians call “The Catastrophe” (the Jewish state, including parts of Uganda Nakba in ). Throughout this and Argentina. Palestine, however, quickly booklet, the term “the War of 1948” or became the focus of Zionist aspirations, “1948 War” designates this event. The and groups of Zionist settlers began Haganah and the Palmach, Jewish military arriving in Palestine in the late 19th cen- units formed before the declaration of the tury. In contrast to these secular Jewish State of Israel, fought against the armies of Zionists, most religious Jews opposed Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Syria, as well as Zionism prior to the Holocaust on the military units of irregular Palestinian grounds that only the Messiah could fighters. The Zionist armies proved better inaugurate a revived Jewish state. equipped and motivated, while the Arab states entered the war with conflicting How was the State of Israel established? motives and goals. During the course of What was the Partition Plan? the fighting more than 700,000 In 1947, the United Nations passed Palestinians became homeless refugees, General Assembly Resolution 181, other- either because they fled in fear of the vio- wise known as the Partition Plan. This lence or were forcibly expelled by Israeli resolution divided Mandate Palestine into military forces. The Israeli military also two parts. One section, comprising 56 per- destroyed at least 413 Palestinian towns

12 and villages. At the end of the war, Israel previously opposed Zionism became controlled 22 percent more land than orig- dedicated Zionists after the Holocaust. inally called for in the Partition Plan, After World War II, many Jewish covering 78 percent of Mandate Palestine. survivors of the Holocaust immigrated to Israel in search of a safe haven. Even for What is the relationship between the Jews who did not immigrate to Israel, Holocaust and the State of Israel? merely the idea of Israel was comforting to many, as it promised safety in the event The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah that genocidal, anti-Jewish forces would (the Hebrew word for destruction), refers gain power once more. Zionism, which to the systematic slaughter of millions of had begun as a European movement Jews and others throughout Europe during seeking to colonize Palestine by displacing the Second World War. The Nazi ideology and ignoring local Palestinian Arabs, of Adolph Hitler viewed Jews and other changed significantly after World War II. “non-Aryans” as less-than-human and a Unlike their predecessors, the Jews arriving threat to racial purity. Jewish people were from Europe after the Holocaust were not rounded up, enslaved in concentration so much concerned with nation-building or camps, killed in gas chambers and cre- the realization of a utopian vision as with mated in what Nazis chillingly called “the safety and security from the ravages of Final Solution.” Millions of other “unde- genocide. sirables” were imprisoned and killed in the Almost 60 years later, the Holocaust camps, including Roma and Sinti people continues to play a major role in discus- (more commonly known as Gypsies), sions of the Palestine-Israel conflict. Some people with mental and physical disabili- people believe that, given Western ties, homosexuals, pacifists, Communists, Christianity’s shameful history of anti- Jehovah’s Witnesses and many Christians. Jewish discrimination and complicity in European Jews suffered the heaviest losses, the Holocaust, Christians have no moral with an estimated six million killed in the right to criticize the state of Israel. Others, concentration camps. however, suggest that past silence in the The Holocaust, for many Jews, was a face of genocide should push Christians horrible confirmation of the Zionist and others concerned with justice and argument that Jews would never be truly peace to raise their voices whenever any at home in Europe and that their security government pursues policies of discrimina- could only be guaranteed in a state of their tion, exclusion and dispossession. own. Many religious Jews who had

13 date. As a condition for joining the United Who are the Palestinian refugees? Why Nations, Israel had to affirm this resolu- are they still refugees? What is the Right tion. Israel has, however, adamantly of Return? refused to allow any Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, and the resolution More than four million Palestinians are has never been enforced. registered as refugees with the United Some people believe it is logistically Nations Relief and Works Agency impossible for most Palestinian refugees to (UNRWA), the organization responsible return to their original homes. Actually, for providing relief and basic services to most of the land to which refugees have Palestinian refugees. These refugees com- the right to return is currently not being prise the people who lost their homes and used for residential purposes, making it livelihoods in the 1948 war as well as their feasible for the majority of refugees to descendants. return to what is now Israel, if they so Many Palestinian refugees live in chose. Broadly understood, Israeli opposi- refugee camps operated by UNWRA in the tion to this process stems more West Bank and Gaza Strip, Lebanon, fundamentally from a desire to minimize Jordan and Syria. Camp residents do not the Palestinian population of Israel rather live in tents; instead they have built small from than any existential threat that concrete block houses with rudimentary refugee return would pose. plumbing and electricity. The camps are In addition to the refugees described extremely crowded and offer a low stan- above, millions of other Palestinians also dard of living. Over the years, some consider themselves refugees. “Internally refugees have moved out of the camps into displaced” Palestinians provide one neighboring residential areas, or have gone example. These Palestinians lost their to live in other parts of the world. homes and lands in what became Israel in In 1949, the United Nations passed 1948, but remained inside Israel’s newly- General Assembly Resolution 194. This created borders. Father , the resolution called for the return of, and well-known Greek Catholic (Melkite) compensation for, those refugees from the priest in the Galilee, originally came from 1948 war willing to live at peace with their the village of Bir’am in northern Galilee. In neighbors. It also stipulated that the 1949, the Israeli military ordered the resi- refugees be allowed back to their homes dents of Bir’am and neighboring Ikrit to and properties at the earliest practicable leave their villages, promising them they

14 would be allowed to return. The military, fully store the large iron keys to their however, proceeded to demolish the towns original homes. Women continue to and prevented villagers from returning. decorate their clothes with the embroidery Chacour and his fellow villagers, who are patterns of their home villages. When Israeli citizens, may not be included on refugee children born in the camps are United Nations lists of refugees, but like asked where they are from, they typically “official” refugees they lost their homes name the cities and villages from which and lands. Still another group of their grandparents came, places they have Palestinian refugees is comprised of those never seen, instead of the refugee camps in who became homeless as a result of the which they have lived all their lives. war in 1967, also known as the Six Day War. After the War of 1948, Israel invoked a law known as the Absentee Property Law to take over Palestinian-owned prop- erties left vacant when their owners became refugees or were internally dis- placed. The Custodian of Absentee Property, an Israeli government institution, allowed the Jewish National Fund (JNF), an agency to promote Jewish settlement in the land, to use many of these properties. Because the JNF allows only Jews to use its properties, much of the Palestinian land became a resource for exclusively Jewish development. Although most of the original refugees have not seen their homes and properties since 1948, they continue to identify with the land from which they were expelled during the war. Many refugees still treasure the deeds to their land and care-

15 What is the Law of Return? The Law of Return and relatively The Law of Return is an Israeli law guar- recent amendments to it are hotly con- anteeing that any Jew can automatically tested within Israeli society. Some defend a become a citizen of the State of Israel. policy, crafted to bring in new immigrants Furthermore, persons from some countries from the former Soviet Union, that allows in which organized Jewish life had not anyone with a Jewish grandparent to claim been possible—such as the countries of the Israeli citizenship, arguing that Israel former Soviet Union—can immigrate to should provide safe haven for those the Israel if they have a Jewish grandparent. Nazis would have killed (anyone with a As an incentive to make aliyah (the Jewish grandparent in Nazi Germany was Hebrew word for immigration to Israel), in danger of being sent to the concentra- Israel offers generous immigration benefits tion camps). Other Israelis worry that by to those who enter under the Law of admitting so many immigrants who are Return. New immigrants are eligible for not Jewish, or who lack a significant con- free (one-way) plane tickets, free and sub- nection to Jewish identity and heritage, sidized housing, no-interest loans, reduced Israel is allowing its identity as a Jewish taxes and tax exemptions, free medical state to be weakened. Still other Israelis insurance, free language study and other welcome all immigration under the Law of attractive benefits. Return because it increases the number Given the generosity of the new immi- and proportion of non-Arabs in Israel. grant benefits package, it is perhaps not These Israelis fear the high birthrate of surprising that many recent immigrants to Israel’s minority Palestinian population, Israel are not Jewish. This is particularly and seek to absorb as many non-Arabs as true of immigrants from the former Soviet possible regardless of their religion. Union, who make up the vast majority of Palestinian refugees find fundamen- Israel’s new immigrants. In 2001, for tally unjust the contrast between Israel’s example, only half of all new immigrants refusal to implement their UN-mandated identified themselves as Jewish upon right of return and Israel’s embrace of the entering the country, and 9 percent identi- Law of Return. In practice this means that fied themselves as Christians. Many of Palestinian refugees who had been born in these immigrants come to Israel not for Israel proper and then became refugees religious reasons, but in search of eco- cannot enter Israel, while anyone born nomic opportunities and hopes for a better anywhere in the world who is Jewish can life. automatically become an Israeli citizen.

16

Israeli soldiers detain Palestinian teenagers in the streets of Hebron, West Bank.

What is the Palestine Liberation Organization? The Palestine Liberation Organization, commonly known as the PLO, was founded in the early 1960s as the official organization of the Palestinian national independence movement. The PLO has tra- ditionally functioned as the Palestinian What is the Occupation? government in exile, claiming to represent all Palestinians living in Palestine and in By the end of the War of 1948, Israel had the Diaspora. Yassir Arafat, the well- taken control of 78 percent of Mandate known Palestinian national leader, has Palestine. The remaining 22 percent was been chairman of the PLO since the mid- divided into two parts: the West Bank and 1960s. In 1996, Arafat was also the Gaza Strip. The West Bank, which democratically elected the first president of included East Jerusalem and its Old City, the Palestinian Authority (see below). was claimed by the Hashemite Kingdom of Most Palestinians have considered the Jordan, while the Gaza Strip was adminis- PLO to be the only legitimate representa- tered by Egypt. tive of the Palestinian people. Many Then, during the “Six Day War” of political parties make up the PLO, 1967, Israeli military forces drove the including Fatah, the largest party, led by Jordanians out of the West Bank and East Arafat, the Popular Front for the Jerusalem and the Egyptians out of the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Gaza Strip and began to occupy those Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Not areas militarily. Israel also conquered the all Palestinian political organizations Sinai Peninsula, which belonged to Egypt, belong to the PLO, however: neither and the Golan Heights, which belonged to Hamas nor Islamic Jihad (both revolu- Syria. The Sinai was eventually returned to tionary Islamic movements) is a PLO Egypt as part of the Camp David Accords member. of 1978. Israel officially annexed the

17 An empty belt of 7.62mm light machine gun ammunition found by the Thalgieh family near the Israeli emplacement from which came the bullet that killed their son.

organizations, agree that Israel is in fact an occupying power. As such, Israel has obligations under interna- tional law (specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention, which Israel has signed) to safeguard the well-being of the civilian population in the territories Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, it occupies, to avoid confiscating nat- claiming them as integral parts of the ural resources such as water from state of Israel. The West Bank and the those territories, and to refrain from Gaza Strip were not annexed but moving its own civilian population remained under Israeli military control, into the Occupied Territories. a situation which persists to this day Israel routinely violates the and is usually referred to as “the Occu- provisions of the Fourth Geneva pation.” By occupying instead of Convention. For example, Israel fails annexing these territories, Israel to safeguard the well-being of the avoided extending citizenship to the occupied Palestinian population when Palestinians of the West Bank and it collectively punishes the Palestinians Gaza Strip, a move Israel feared would of the West Bank and Gaza Strip with undermine the Jewish majority in curfews, house demolitions and clo- Israel. sures (sieges) of Palestinian towns and Israel argues that it is not occu- villages. In addition, Israel routinely pying the West Bank and the Gaza denies due process to Palestinian pri- Strip but is simply “administering” dis- soners and illegally confiscates natural puted territories. However, the resources from the Occupied international community, including the Territories, such as water from West United States, Canada, the United Bank aquifers. Nations and Israeli human rights One of the most sobering elements

18 of Israel’s occupation policy is its construc- arguing that a just and lasting peace can tion of illegal settlements, also known as only be achieved with a full Israeli with- colonies, for Israeli civilians on confiscated drawal from all the territories occupied in Palestinian land. The Geneva Convention 1967. expressly forbids occupying powers to move any of their civilian population into What are settlements? Occupied Territories. This provision is The term “settlements” refers to the Israeli intended to protect civilian populations colonies established in the Occupied who may become targets of the anger of Territories. Some Palestinians and their an occupied people. Because of Israel’s advocates prefer the term “colonies” to multiple violations of the Forth Geneva “settlements” because it highlights the role Convention, its occupation of the West of the settlements in controlling the land Bank and Gaza Strip is illegal in practice. and natural resources of the Occupied Many jurists also argue that Israel’s policy Territories. As noted above, international of maintaining an indefinite occupation law prohibits an occupying power from makes the occupation itself illegal. moving its civilians into occupied territory. On November 22, 1967, the United This prohibition, however, has not Nations passed Security Council deterred a series of Israeli governments, Resolution (UNSCR) 242 calling on Israel both of the left-leaning Labor party and to withdraw from territories occupied the right-leaning Likud party (the party of during the 1967 war in exchange for Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister as peace. This “land-for-peace” formula was these words are written). Israel began the basis of the Egyptian-Israeli peace establishing settlements in the early 1970s agreement brokered by Jimmy Carter and and the number of settlers and settlements outlined in the Camp David Accords of has steadily increased. Today there are 1978. (The Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty itself nearly 200 settlements in the West Bank, was signed in 1979). Exploiting an ambi- East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip housing guity in the resolution, Israel has argued approximately 400,000 settlers. that UNSCR 242 does not call on it to Settlements are typically built on land withdraw from all Occupied Territories, confiscated from Palestinians. Sometimes and so insists that its continued occupation the Israeli government uses Ottoman-era of the West Bank and Gaza Strip does not land laws as a pretext for expropriating constitute a violation of the resolution. land from Palestinian landowners. Some- Palestinians and Arab countries disagree, times the land is simply taken. Other times

19

Israeli Settlement of Ha’re Homa (Mt. of Mercy) outside of Bethlehem.

Israel has created “facts on the ground” by establishing settlements in a pattern that encircles Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. These settlements effectively isolate Palestinian neighborhoods from each other and cut off East Jerusalem from Palestinians are coerced into selling, or the West Bank. This settlement policy they sell out of fear that the land will undermines the possibility of any polit- end up being confiscated while they ical settlement that includes a real are left with nothing.The subsequent sharing of Jerusalem as one city, two building of settlements results in more capitals. than a loss of land. Israel strategically Israel employs a similar settlement positions settlements in order to secure strategy throughout the West Bank and control over water from West Bank Gaza Strip. Settlements in these terri- and Gaza Strip aquifers. tories are established in ways that Another function of Israeli settle- eliminate territorial contiguity for ment policy is to gain control over Palestinians, separating town from Palestinian population centers by town and village from village. This establishing geographical control. leaves Palestinians unable to move Palestinians, for example, have always from one Palestinian town to the next considered Jerusalem to be their cap- without passing through Israeli-con- ital. They envision Jerusalem as an trolled territory. In addition, over the international city that can be the past decade Israel has built a network shared capital of two states and two of special roads connecting the settle- peoples. In contrast, Israeli govern- ments to each other. Land for the ments have opposed the idea of roads has been appropriated from sharing Jerusalem, insisting that the Palestinian territory, and the right of city be entirely for Israel. In order to Palestinians to use these roads is make this desire a practical reality, tightly restricted. Once again, the

20 practical implication of this policy is to undermine any political settlement that involves the creation of a viable Palestinian state, as Palestinian towns and cities have been separated by a sprawling network of settlements and settlement roads. Some Israeli settlers are motivated by political and religious beliefs, convinced, for example, that settling the whole of Eretz Yisrael (Hebrew phrase for the Land of Israel) is a sacred obligation. They believe that Jews are destined to subjugate, if not displace entirely, native Palestinian inhabitants. The majority of settlers, how- ever, choose life in the settlements for economic reasons: the Israeli government offers a variety of incentives for Israelis to live in settlements, including tax breaks and low- to no-interest mortgages.

What is the Separation Wall? One of the most alarming developments in Israel’s West Bank construction activities is the building of the “Separation Wall.” This wall, called a “security fence” by Israel, but known by Palestinians as the “Segregation Wall” or the “Separation Wall,” is designed to physically separate the remaining Palestinian areas of the West Bank from the Israeli settlements and the state of Israel itself. The “wall” is a means of enforcing separation through force. At points, the barrier is a concrete wall that reaches eight meters in height and features a series of guard towers. In other areas, the 21 A candle sits next to a photo of the mother of Joseph Thalgieh. She died after inhaling tear gas during the first intifada of the 1980s.

by the wall. The walls and fences effec- tively annex land and water resources (along with many settlements) to Israel, leaving Palestinians encircled in reservations that many observers liken to the Bantustans of apartheid-era South Africa.

What was the first intifada? Throughout the 1970s and the early part of the 1980s, foreign reporters visiting the West Bank and the Gaza Strip routinely commented on how quiet the Palestinian population was, given their suffering at the hands of barrier is an elaborate series of fences, Israeli policy. This apparent quiet barbed wire, roads and electronic sen- masked deep-seated frustration and sors. Whether an electronic fence or a anger at life under military occupation concrete wall, the barrier is walling off and at the expanding Israeli settlement Palestinians from Israelis and walling enterprise. On December 9, 1987, the off Palestinians from their land and quiet gave way to protest as water. The wall is not being built on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip launched Israel’s border with the West Bank. the intifada, the resistance movement Instead, land for the wall is being con- that quickly spread to the West Bank fiscated from the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Intifada is an communities it is designed to isolate, Arabic word that literally means and may eventually result in the “shaking off,” but is commonly trans- annexation of at least 10 percent of the lated as “uprising.” The first intifada, West Bank to Israel. Some Palestinian which lasted until 1993, inspired ordi- population centers, such as Qalqilya in nary Palestinians to engage in the north, are almost entirely encircled

22 nonviolent resistance to the Israeli military a representative of the Palestinian people, authorities, particularly during the something they had denied until this time. uprising’s first years. Palestinians used non- The Gaza-Jericho First Agreement (also violent tactics such as strikes, tax known as Oslo I) gave Palestinians resistance and unarmed demonstrations “autonomy” over the West Bank town of designed to “shake off” the Israeli occupa- Jericho and about 60 percent of the Gaza tion and express their desire to live in Strip. The Cairo Agreement (or Oslo II) freedom. The movement was not entirely extended Palestinian autonomy into addi- nonviolent, however: stone-throwing tional parts of the West Bank. Oslo II Palestinian youth and, especially later in divided the West Bank into a geographical the intifada, groups of armed fighters were alphabet soup. In Area A, comprising the also part of the uprising. main cities of the West Bank, Palestinians The Israeli military responded harshly had control over civilian and security to the intifada. Yitzhak Rabin, then Israeli affairs. In Area B, which included villages Defense Minister and later Prime Minister near Palestinian cities, Palestinians had and Nobel Laureate, famously promised to responsibility for civil services such as “crush the bones” of those participating in schools and hospitals while Israel remained the uprising. The first intifada drew to a in control of security. In Area C, mean- close with the announcement of the while, Israel retained full control. Declaration of Principles and the signing of In order to fulfill the requirements of what came to be known as the Oslo the Area A, B and C system, the Oslo Accords. accords established joint Palestinian-Israeli coordination mechanisms for security and What were the Oslo Accords? stipulated a series of three Israeli with- In September of 1993, the PLO and the drawals. At the end of these withdrawals State of Israel issued a Declaration of Israel was to have pulled back from all of Principles (DOP), the product of secret the Occupied Territories except for settle- negotiations conducted in the Norwegian ments and designated military areas. capital of Oslo. The DOP set the general Palestinians understood this provision to framework for the more detailed “Oslo mean that, after the three Israeli with- Accords” that would follow. In the Oslo drawals, the Palestinian Authority would accords, the PLO recognized the existence be in control of 95 percent of the West and legitimacy of the State of Israel. Israel, Bank. Only two withdrawals were carried for its part, simply recognized the PLO as out, however, and these withdrawals

23 occurred only after delays and prolonged pone those issues and hope that a series of negotiations. After the second withdrawal incremental measures would foster a spirit was carried out in 1999, still only 18 per- of trust and mutuality that would allow cent of the West Bank fell under full for the resolution of those issues at a Palestinian control (Area A); in another 22 future date. Critics of the Oslo accords, in percent Palestinians had responsibility for contrast, claimed that an incremental civilian affairs while Israel maintained process served the interests of the stronger responsibility for security (Area B); in the party to the negotiations, namely Israel. remaining 60 percent of the West Bank They pointed out that the Oslo accords Israel kept full control. were vague about the timing and extent of The Oslo accords were based on the the stipulated Israeli withdrawals and that principle that the most contentious issues they lacked any enforcement mechanism. of the Palestine-Israel conflict, referred to These critics also noted that this ambiguity, as the “final status” issues, would be combined with the postponement of the deferred to a second phase of negotiations most difficult negotiations, would allow which would take place five years later. Israel to consolidate its grip on the These final status issues included the future Occupied Territories rather than take steps of Israeli settlements in the Occupied to withdraw from them. Unfortunately, it Territories, the use of water resources in appears that criticisms of Oslo were justi- the Occupied Territories, the fate of fied. The Israeli authorities not only Palestinian refugees, the final status of repeatedly delayed withdrawals from parts Jerusalem and the final borders of a of the West Bank, they also accelerated set- Palestinian state. In the meantime, the tlement building in the Occupied three Israeli withdrawals and the negotia- Territories, established new settlements, tions on the final status issues were to be expanded existing ones and constructed a completed during the course of a five year network of “bypass roads” to connect set- “interim phase.” This interim phase tlements with one another. expired on May 31, 1999 with most of By the time Oslo’s “interim phase” these goals unmet. expired at the end of May 1999, Supporters of the Oslo process argued Palestinians had gone from an enthusiastic that it was impossible to reach agreement embrace of the Oslo accords to a mood of on all of the difficult issues affecting pessimism and despair. It had become Palestinians and Israelis. They maintained apparent to Palestinians and their sup- that the only way forward was to post- porters that the Oslo accords had not been

24

An Israeli soldier checks the documents of a Palestinian teenager.

about ending the occupation, but about solidifying Israel’s control over the Occupied Territories. The accords allowed Israel to free itself of the mundane obliga- tions of an occupying power, such as operating schools and hospitals and safe- guarding the wellbeing of civilians, while retaining control over the majority of the Occupied Territories. What is the Palestinian Authority? Critics of the Oslo accords also noted The Palestinian Authority (PA) is the that the incremental nature of the accords national administrative body of Palestine allowed the process to be held hostage by set up in accordance with the Oslo extremist organizations. A minority of agreements. As such, it is responsible for Palestinians, mainly supporters of groups civilian and security affairs in parts of the such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The PA has Popular Front for the Liberation of disappointed the many Palestinians who Palestine, favored continued armed rejoiced in its creation as the first step struggle over the Oslo accords. When towards the establishment of the long- members of these groups carried out a sui- awaited independent Palestinian state. cide bombing or other violent attack, Israel Instead of ushering in a new era of typically cited the violence as a reason to Palestinian self-determination, the PA has discontinue the withdrawals mandated by become barely functional. Israeli road- Oslo. Palestinians opposed to Oslo recog- blocks and checkpoints have severely nized this dynamic and used it to further restricted Palestinian movement between their own interests, much to the chagrin of population centers in the West Bank and the majority of Palestinians who were at Gaza Strip. Israel’s reinvasions of least initially Oslo supporters. Palestinian cities have further weakened the PA. Only the Health and Education Ministries still manage to operate as

25

MCC peace development worker Ed Nyce and Ruti al-Raz, International Coordinator for the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICHAD), tour and discuss the separation wall in the Abu Dis neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

national authorities throughout the intifada received its name from the Al- Occupied Territories. The rest of the Aqsa Mosque, part of the Noble Sanctuary various PA ministries are basically in Jerusalem’s Old City. extensions of municipalities and village On September 28, 2000, Ariel Sharon, councils. Some Palestinians and Israelis who was then leader of Israel’s opposition have observed that the existence of the Likud party, visited this Muslim holy site Palestinian Authority allows Israel to in the company of hundreds of armed maintain its occupation of the West Bank Israeli soldiers and police. This provoca- and the Gaza Strip, without taking respon- tive move asserted Israeli control over the sibility for the welfare of the civilian Muslim holy site. The following day Israeli population, as required under international military units opened fire on Palestinians law. As a result, the international commu- around the Al-Aqsa mosque who were nity, through its support of the Palestinian protesting Sharon’s visit of the day before. Authority and through emergency relief to Five Palestinians were killed and more the Occupied Territories, ends up funding than 200 were injured. These killings the occupation. inspired waves of protest by Palestinians, both within Israel and in the Occupied What is the Al-Aqsa Intifada? Territories. During the month of October On September 30, 2000, a second uprising 2000, 13 Palestinian citizens of Israel were against Israeli occupation began, this time killed by Israeli police during demonstra- known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada. This new tions in Palestinian towns in Israel. Scores

26

of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories produce a dramatic breakthrough in the were also killed, and thousands more stalemated negotiations, a breakthrough injured. By the end of October 2003, more that would address outstanding final status than 2,600 Palestinians had been killed by issues. The outcome of the summit is not Israeli soldiers and settlers. More than in question: the United States was unable 40,000 Palestinians, meanwhile, had been to generate a Palestinian-Israeli agreement. injured (light, moderate and severe The substance of the summit, however, injuries). Israelis have also been the targets remains hotly debated. The various parties of Palestinian violence in the Al-Aqsa do not agree on what proposals were or Intifada. More than 700 Israelis have been weren’t made, and who should take the killed and around 5,000 more have been blame for the summit’s failure. Israeli offi- injured. Sadly, the killing and violence cials accused the Palestinians of having continue. rejected the most generous Israeli offer ever, claiming that Israel offered the Why was there a second intifada? Didn’t Palestinians 90 percent of the West Bank. the Palestinians turn down a generous Some reports from the summit indicate offer at Camp David in July 2000? that Israel did discuss withdrawing from between 80 to 90 percent of West Bank The five-year interim period established by territory. In contrast, Palestinian sources at the Oslo accords expired in May 1999 the summit have questioned the extent of without a completion of Israeli with- the alleged Israeli “compromises.” drawals from the Occupied Territories and What is clear is that Palestinian and without the start of negotiations on final Israeli negotiators approached discussions status issues. Meanwhile, peace negotia- about the borders of a future Palestinian tions continued to limp along, hindered state from very different angles. by Israeli settlement expansion and Palestinians believed they had already Palestinian suicide bombings. Eventually, made their major concession when they in July of 2000, then President of the signed the Oslo accords and agreed to give United States, Bill Clinton, called together up the 78 percent of Mandate Palestine, Yassir Arafat, chairman of the PLO and which is today the State of Israel. From the president of the Palestinian Authority, and Palestinian perspective, the point of the Ehud Barak, then Israeli Prime Minister, Camp David negotiations was to discuss for a summit at Camp David. how to end Israel’s occupation of the Clinton hoped the summit would remaining 22 percent of Mandate

27 Palestine. Israel, on the other hand, viewed demonstrations, a response that left scores the negotiations as centering on what dead, further inflamed Palestinian public portion of that remaining 22 percent sentiment. The Palestinian leadership, would be retained by the state of Israel, rather than instigating the second intifada, and how much of it would be relinquished played the role of follower. to the Palestinians. What Israel portrayed Even after the failure of the Camp as a generous offer did not feel generous to David 2000 summit and the outbreak of Palestinians who believed they had already the second intifada, some Palestinian- made the far larger concession when they Israeli negotiations continued, with relinquished 78 percent of Mandate representatives from both sides coming Palestine to the State of Israel and accepted closer than ever to each other’s positions at establishing a Palestinian state in the meetings held in Taba, Egypt, in January remaining 22 percent. 2001. Recent unofficial Palestinian-Israeli Some Israeli officials claimed that the negotiations, such as the Geneva Initiative Palestinian leadership, having failed to (see below), have tried to build on posi- obtain what it wanted through negotia- tions presented at Taba. tions, turned to violence and launched the second intifada, the Al-Aqsa Intifada. What is the road map? What is the Other analysts, including Palestinians and Geneva Initiative? their Israeli and international supporters, The road map refers to the path to peace paint a different picture. They locate the in Palestine/Israel as envisioned by the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada against George W. Bush administration. The the backdrop of years of popular frustra- second Gulf War of 2003 confirmed the tion with a peace process that was neither suspicions of many in the Middle East ending the occupation nor improving the that the United States favored Israel and economic situation for the average discriminated against Arab countries. In Palestinian. In this view the visit by Ariel an effort to allay these suspicions and pro- Sharon to the Haram al-Sharif (the Noble mote the idea that the United States could Sanctuary) was simply a spark that ignited play the role of Middle Eastern peace- an already volatile situation. Immediately maker as well as warrior, the Bush after the Sharon visit, the Palestinian administration laid out the plan known Authority might have been able to calm as the Road Map. the Palestinian population. But the heavy- This road map, like the Oslo accords, handed Israeli response to the initial

28 Itay Nachliel and Ruti al-Raz discuss the wall. Nachliel is an engineer living in Tel Aviv who believes the wall is necessary for Israeli security and to prevent terrorism, but is troubled by the way in which it has been implemented.

involves incremental stages. Unlike the Oslo accords, however, it insists that the two parties, Israeli and Palestinian, must move together simultaneously, not conditioning their actions on the actions of the other party. In the first phase of the for an end to the occupation and envisions road map, Palestinians are to reactivate a viable Palestinian state next to Israel, it security services (which had been deci- remains to be seen if the promise of the mated by the Israeli military, a fact not road map will be met. If Israel continues mentioned in the road map) and to act building its “separation” wall throughout against Palestinian militant networks. the West Bank, any Palestinian state that Israel, meanwhile, is to freeze settlement would emerge would not be viable, but construction and to dismantle settlement would instead consist of disconnected outposts that even Israel acknowledges to cantons. When Palestinians and their advo- be illegal. By the end of the first phase, a cates speak about ending the occupation, provisional Palestinian state is to be estab- they mean a full withdrawal from the West lished in parts of the Occupied Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Territories— most likely no more than 40 When Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon percent of the West Bank and 60 percent spoke of “ending the occupation” in a of the Gaza Strip. Like in the Oslo much-publicized speech in May 2003, he accords, the core issues of the Palestinian- meant withdrawing from Palestinian Israeli conflict (refugees, Jerusalem, population centers. It remains to be seen settlements, etc.) are postponed to the final whether the road map will lead to a real stages of negotiations. end of the occupation or rather its While the road map is an improve- solidification. ment on the Oslo accords in that it calls

29 Abed Jabber stands in front of his bullet riddled home in Azza refugee camp in Bethlehem.

The Geneva Initiative. In late 2003, a group minimal return of refugees to lands inside of Israeli politicians and academics from present-day Israel, with no Israeli recogni- opposition political parties joined some tion of any responsibility for the Palestinian politicians in an unofficial Palestinian refugee crisis. While some peace effort dubbed the “Geneva Palestinians, desperate for any hope after Initiative.” In many ways, this effort 36 years of occupation, viewed the Geneva mirrored another informal peace effort and Nusseibeh-Ayalon initiatives as prom- known as the “Nusseibeh-Ayalon” plan ising, many others, particularly refugees, named after its drafters, Sari Nusseibeh were dismayed that these unofficial (president of Al-Quds University) and Ami initiatives did not provide for real refugee Ayalon (a former head of the Israeli secret choice between return and resettlement. police). Both efforts shared the following While some Israelis, meanwhile, welcomed features: Jerusalem as a shared capital for the initiatives as potential alternatives to Israel and a future state of Palestine; an the policies of the Sharon government, the Israeli withdrawal from most of the facts on the ground in the form of ongoing Occupied Territories, albeit with an annex- construction of settlements and the separa- ation of several settlement blocs, including tion barrier meant that the borders of the settlements in East Jerusalem; a territorial Palestinian state envisioned by Geneva and exchange in which parts of present-day Nusseibeh-Ayalon were being replaced Israel would be added to the future state of with borders that would leave a Palestinian Palestine in exchange for settlement blocs state with only around 40 percent of the that were annexed to Israel; and at most West Bank. 30 Religion

Milade Thalgieh lights candles in the Church of the Nativity.

are often referred to as the three monotheistic faiths, or the three Abrahamic faiths. The latter expression refers to the patriarch Abraham who is a key figure in the traditions of all three religions. Jews and Christians trace the Abrahamic tradition through Abraham’s wife Sarah and their son Isaac. Muslims also claim the tradition of Abraham, whom they call “the friend of God.” Muslims trace the 4. Religion Abrahamic tradition through Abraham’s concubine Hagar and their What religious beliefs are shared by son Ishmael. Christians, Jews and Muslims? Do Christians, Muslims and Jews call members of these three faiths all God by different names depending on believe in the same God? their native languages, but all of these terms refer to the same God. In Arabic, Christians, Jews and Muslims all the word for God is “Allah.” Arabic believe in the same God. Jews speaking Christians and Muslims both encounter God in the Torah (the first refer to God by this name. Because the five books of the Christian Bible), the Qur’an was revealed in Arabic, some Tanakh (the Torah, the prophetic Muslims refer to God by using the books of the Bible, and wisdom writ- Arabic name “Allah” when they are ings such as Proverbs), and the Talmud speaking English. Other Muslims use (rabbinic commentary on the Torah). the name “God” in English contexts. Christians encounter God in the Old Both of these options refer to the one Testament, the New Testament and in God worshipped by members of all the life, death and resurrection of Jesus three Abrahamic faiths. This is similar Christ. Muslims encounter God to the way Spanish-speakers call God through the Qur’an. These three faiths

32 “Dios” or French speakers call God principle. In this sense, it is unfair to make “Dieu,” without referring to different comments like: “Christians believe in deities. loving their enemies, but Muslims carry Jewish God-talk is sometimes more out acts of terrorism.” In reality, both complicated than that of Christians and Christians and Muslims are enjoined to Muslims, but it still designates the same avoid violence, and both Christians and Supreme Being. Jews refer to God in dif- Muslims sometimes commit violence. It is ferent ways depending on their religious also unfair to make comments like: “Islam orientation. Some Jews believe that the is a religion of justice, but Jews and name God is so holy it cannot be spoken. Christians are always violating the rights To avoid pronouncing the Hebrew word of Muslims.” In truth, Judaism, Christian- for God, which is “Yahweh,” they call ity and Islam all have strong traditions of God “HaShem,” meaning “the Name.” justice, and Jews, Christians and Muslims When writing in English, these Jews some- all sometimes violate human rights. times spell God without the “o,” as in “G-d,” in order to avoid direct reference What beliefs and practices are unique to to the sacred name. In general conversa- Christianity? tion, some Jews also use terms like The foundation of Christianity is the belief “Adonai,” meaning “the Lord,” or that God, the Creator of heaven and earth, “Elohim,” meaning “the highest”, when was incarnated, took flesh, in the person they refer to God. Many other Jews simply of Jesus Christ, who was born, conducted use the name “God” when speaking of his ministry, then was crucified and resur- God in English. Once again, all of these rected. Christians believe that through terms are ways of referring to the one God Christ’s atoning work humanity’s reconcili- worshipped by Christians, Muslims and ation with God is made possible and real. Jews. Through God’s Holy Spirit, creation is sus- One of the most important principles tained and the church is empowered to live to remember in discussing different reli- out its witness to God’s love. Christians gions is that theory should be compared learn about the life of Jesus by reading the with theory and practice should be com- Bible. Both the Old Testament and the pared with practice. Christianity, Judaism New Testament are sacred Christian scrip- and Islam all share an ethic of treating tures. Christians worship God in churches others fairly, yet all of these religions have through the reading of scripture, music, adherents who fail to follow this general teaching and prayer. Mennonites believe

33 that a core element of Christianity is see Judaism as being completed by the the rejection of violence. Along with divine Jesus of Christianity. other Christians, Mennonites believe in Observing Shabbat, the Hebrew witnessing to the good news of the term for the Sabbath, is an important Gospel through love of God, neighbor practice for observant Jews. According and enemy. to Jewish law, the Sabbath begins on Friday evening and continues until What beliefs and practices are Saturday night. It is commonly unique to Judaism? believed that Jews are forbidden to Judaism, the oldest of the three work on Shabbat. A more complete monotheistic religions, is based on the understanding of the prohibition is Torah, the Jewish name for the that Jews are to refrain from creating Pentateuch, the first five books of the or destroying anything on Shabbat in Hebrew Bible. (The Old Testament is honor of the Creator God. This refers often referred to as the Hebrew Bible to everything from burning trash to in discussions of Judaism). Jews also activating an electrical current. In prac- acknowledge the rest of the Old tice this means that, on Shabbat, Testament as scripture. The Talmud, observant Jews will not turn lights, TV an extensive commentary on the or radio on or off, use electrical appli- Torah, is another important source of ances, write, drive a car, take a bus, or religious authority in Judaism. tie or untie a permanent knot. Shabbat Since Christians and Jews share time is often spent on religious activi- the Old Testament, members of both ties such as attending services at a faiths acknowledge the same Old synagogue, or visiting friends and Testament prophets. Jews are expected relatives. to follow the Ten Commandments as In addition to “keeping Shabbat,” handed down by Moses. While some observant Jews also “keep kosher,” the Jews respect Jesus as a teacher, they phrase used to designate eating only reject his divinity. A small portion of foods permissible under Jewish law. persons of Jewish heritage do acknowl- Pork products and shellfish are for- edge the divinity of Jesus. Some of bidden. Fish, some birds, and land these call themselves “Christians of mammals with cloven hooves that Jewish origin.” Others prefer to be chew their cud are permitted. Keeping referred to as “Messianic Jews” and kosher also means keeping meat (flesh

34

Praying at the Wailing Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem.

selves Jewish for reasons of ethnic heritage and culture.

What beliefs and practices are unique to Islam? Islam, the youngest of the three monotheistic faiths, is founded on the belief that God revealed the Holy Qur’an to the prophet Muhammad in from birds and mammals) and dairy Saudi Arabia in the seventh century foods separate. This means not eating CE*. Many people erroneously assume such foods together at the same meal that the Qur’an plays a role equivalent and keeping two sets of dishes, one for to the Bible in Christianity, and that meat and one for dairy. Utensils that Muhammad plays a role similar to have come into contact with dairy Jesus. A better understanding of Islam cannot be used with meat and vice acknowledges the Muslim belief that versa. Prohibiting meat and dairy com- Muhammad was a human being but binations means, among other things, the Qur’an, containing the words of that observant Jews will never eat God, is a book of divine origin. cheeseburgers or have meat on a pizza. Muslims do not worship the prophet Not all Jews are equally observant. Muhammad the way that Christians According to Jewish law a Jew is worship Jesus Christ. Muslims believe anyone born to a Jewish mother or in the Old Testament prophets, they anyone who converts to Judaism. This believe that Jesus was a prophet, and means that Judaism has a quasi-ethnic they believe that Muhammad is God’s quality. The majority of Jews in Israel, final prophet. They do not, however, about 60 percent, are secular Jews. worship any prophet, all of whom they These are Jews who do not have a religious faith but who consider them- *CE refers to the Common Era, or Christian era, reckoned from the traditional date of Christ’s birth; AD. 35 Samir Odeh prays before breaking the Ramadan fast.

annually to the poor 2.5 percent of all they own. (Note that this is not 2.5 percent of their earnings, but rather 2.5 percent of all their pos- sessions.) • Shehadah (Arabic word for witness). In this context, the Shehadah refers to the statement: “I will be a witness that there is no god but God and Muhammad is the prophet of God.” A person becomes Muslim by speaking this consider fully and only human. In phrase. Islam, the concept of divinity is reserved for Allah alone. Devout • The Hajj (Arabic word for Muslims pray in mosques on Fridays, pilgrimage). All Muslims with the the Islamic holy day. They also follow means to do so are required to Islamic dietary restrictions, including make a pilgrimage once in their abstaining from all alcohol and pork lifetime to the holy cities of products. Makkah and Medina in Saudi Muslims are enjoined to follow Arabia. the “Five Pillars” of Islam: • Ramadan (The name of the ninth Salah • (Arabic word for prayer). month in the Islamic calendar). Muslims are required to pray five During the month of Ramadan times a day. During prayer they Muslims fast during all daylight recite an Arabic text and perform a hours. This fast includes abstaining series of prostrations. They also from food, drink, smoking and engage in personal prayers and sexual relations. In the evening devotions at other times. Muslims break the fast as they • Zakat (Arabic word for alms). gather to eat with family and Muslims are required to give friends. Ramadan is a time when 36

Muslims are particularly conscious of Western Wall, the only remaining support their faith and put extra effort in wall of the Second Temple, since the strengthening family and community destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. There relationships. they lament the destruction of the temple, giving rise to the alternate name “the What is the religious significance of Wailing Wall.” Palestine/Israel? What special associa- Although religious Jews believe that tions does this land hold for Jews, Eretz Yisrael has been promised to them Christians and Muslims? by God, the consensus among Jews until the mid-twentieth century was that the Palestine/Israel is drenched in religious Jewish people would only be returned to associations. Christians, Muslims and Jews the land at the coming of the Messiah. As all consider Palestine/Israel a holy land. a result, contemporary attempts to estab- Often the same religious site resonates lish a Jewish state in historical Palestine deeply with more than one faith. were viewed as blasphemous, a belief still held by many ultra-Orthodox Jews. Other Judaism. For religious Jews, Palestine/Israel religious Jews, however, believe they are is Eretz Yisrael, a holy land promised by divinely mandated to settle all of Eretz God to the Jewish people. The land is con- Yisrael. These Jews argue that settling the nected to Jewish history: Abraham and land will help bring about the coming of Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and the Messiah. Some Jews who hold this Leah are believed to be buried in the West view are already at work preparing the Bank town of Hebron. Their graves are implements to be used in the Third located in the tomb of the patriarchs, Temple, such as the type of priestly gar- known to Jews as the Cave of Machpelah. ments prescribed in Exodus 28 in the The matriarch Rachel is buried near Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. The most Bethlehem where she died in childbirth. extreme proponents of this view believe The kingdoms of David and Solomon that the Islamic holy site, the Noble flourished in what is now Palestine/Israel, Sanctuary which houses the Dome of the and the temples of Solomon and Herod Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, must be were built in Jerusalem. destroyed so the temple can be rebuilt in The most sacred place in Judaism, the its place. Most religious Jews, however, Western Wall, is found in the Old City of refuse to enter the Temple Mount/Haram Jerusalem. Jews have gathered at the al-Sharif, fearful that they would inadver-

37

tently tread on the Holy of Holies, the sec- tion of the temple reserved for the High Priest.

Christianity. Palestine/Israel holds deep asso- ciations for Christians, not only from the stories of the Old Testament but especially from Jesus’ birth, ministry, death and res- urrection. The Church of the Nativity is found in Bethlehem, built over caves where Jesus was born. The Shepherds’ Fields in Beit Sahour next to Bethlehem mark where angels appeared to announce Jesus’ birth. In Galilee, in what is now northern Israel, churches have been built commemorating Milade Thalgieh prays in front of an icon Jesus’ teaching ministry around the Sea of in the Church of the Nativity. Galilee. The Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, a primarily Palestinian city in Israel proper, marks the proclamation of of the early church. Jesus’ conception to Mary by the angel Gabriel. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem’s Old Islam. For Muslims, Jerusalem is revered City, pilgrims retrace the steps of Jesus on first and foremost as the site of the the Via Dolorosa, the way of sorrows. This Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey. path leads to the Church of the Holy Pious Muslims have for centuries under- Sepulcher, a church that contains stood the Qur’an to describe a journey to Gologtha, the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, as “the farthest mosque” in which well as the empty tomb in which Jesus’ Muhammad rode from Saudi Arabia to body was placed after his death and from Jerusalem on a winged horse named al- which he arose on Easter morning. In Buraq and from there ascended to heaven. addition to the dozens of churches and Al-Aqsa, a name meaning “the farthest,” is shrines commemorating biblical events, thus the name given to the mosque on the Palestine/Israel is also home to thousands Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), the of faithful Christians who have been living Muslim sanctuary built on the hilltop and worshipping in the land since the days where the Jewish Temple once stood.

38 Muslims consider the wall to which the Zionists are Jews. Zionism began as a sec- steed was tied to be part of the sanc- ular movement and was initially opposed tuary—and therefore as Islamic-endowed by religious Jews. While the profound religious property, known as “waqf” in shock of the Holocaust caused many reli- Arabic. This wall also happens to be the gious Jews to view the new State of Israel Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism as a safe haven, many other religious Jews where Jews gather to remember the continued to find the Zionist project of Temple. Also in the Noble Sanctuary is the establishing a Jewish state sacrilegious. Qubbet al-Sakhrah, known in English as Other Jews, both religious and non-reli- the Dome of the Rock. This stunning gious, strongly oppose Zionist practice, shrine was built in the eighth century over arguing that Jewish identity is not compat- the rock that Islamic tradition associates ible with the dispossession of Palestinians. with Abraham’s near-sacrifice of his son, These Jews advocate for a future in which Ishmael. (The Qur’an teaches that God Palestinians and Israeli Jews might live commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son together on the land in a relationship of Ishmael, not his son Isaac as recorded in equality and justice. the Old Testament.) For centuries Muslims have referred to What is Christian Zionism? What do all of Jerusalem as Bayt al-Maqdas, or the Christians believe about Zionism? House of the Holy. One mosque outside of Some Christians are Zionists. They believe Jerusalem with particular significance for that it is part of God’s plan to establish a Muslims is the Haram al-Ibrahimi, or Jewish state in Palestine. Christian Zionists Abraham’s Sanctuary, in the West Bank believe that God’s promise of the land to city of Hebron. This resting place of the the Jewish people means that they must Old Testament patriarchs and matriarchs is support the State of Israel. For some important to Christians, Jews and Christians, support of Zionism serves as a Muslims. The site consists of a large form of repentance for Western building which contains a mosque and, Christianity’s shameful history of anti- more recently, a synagogue. (Jews refer to Judaism. For other Christians, specifically the site as the Cave of Machpelah.) those who read the Bible through the lens of a theology known as dispensationalism, Are all Jews Zionists? Are all Zionists support of Zionism is motivated by the Jews? belief that the creation of the State of Not all Jews are Zionists, and not all Israel is an essential step on the way to

39 Jesus’ Second Coming. Although dispensa- 15:18-21 and Genesis 17:7-9.) One way to tionalists are strong supporters of Israel, approach this question is to ask, “Who are their theological approach has an anti- the descendants of Abraham?” The Jewish bias. According to this theology, at Apostle Paul would answer that “he is the the time of Jesus’ Second Coming most father of all of us,” that God’s promises to Jews will be eternally condemned. Abraham are for all of his descendants, , many of whom “not only to the adherents of the law but have suffered tremendously at the hands of also to those who share the faith of the State of Israel, find it hard to under- Abraham” (Romans 4:16). God’s promise stand why some Western Christians of the land to Abraham and his descen- support Zionism. Christians in other dants, then, should not be seen as a Middle Eastern countries find this support warrant for exclusive Israeli Jewish control equally puzzling. Uncritical Western over the land today, but rather suggests Christian support of Zionism hampers the that the land is a place for all those— witness of the church in the Middle East; it Jewish, Christian and Muslim—who claim causes some Muslims to associate Middle Abraham as their father. The land is not Eastern Christians and Christianity in gen- the exclusive possession of one people, but eral with the pro-Zionist beliefs of Western can embrace Jews and Gentiles, both Christian Zionists. Christians in Palestine Israeli Jews and Palestinians. and the rest of the Middle East argue that Another way to approach the question the Bible, which testifies to God incarnate is to think about the conditions of God’s in Jesus Christ, should not be used to jus- gift of land. Scripture repeatedly warns tify the confiscation of Palestinian land, that failure to live righteously means jeop- the destruction of Palestinian homes, viola- ardizing the gift of land. “You shall keep tions of Palestinian human rights and the all my statutes and all my ordinances, and denial of justice to Palestinian refugees. observe them,” Leviticus stresses, “so that the land to which I bring you to settle in Didn’t God give the land to the Jews? may not vomit you out” (Lev. 20:22). Aren’t we as Christians supposed to Many Israelis critical of their government’s “bless Israel”? military rule in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip poignantly suggest that Israel How should Christians understand biblical fails to keep God’s statues and ordinances promises of the land to Abraham and his when it occupies another people and vio- descendants? (See, for example, Genesis lates their human rights on a daily basis.

40

A bullet-riddled Qur’an was one of the few items that survived the rocket attack on Sami Jubrin’s home.

The biblical prophets were also critical of the unjust acquisition of land. Elijah is blunt in his message to King Ahab after Ahab takes over Naboth’s vineyard: “Thus says the LORD: Have you killed, and also taken possession?” (I Kings 21:19). Yet the State of Israel “took possession” of the aliens. God’s promise of the land therefore homes and properties of the Palestinians cannot mean the dispossession of who fled or whom it expelled during the Palestinians, the destruction of their homes fighting of 1948, forbidding them to and the confiscation of their land. return, and today it takes possession of The Rev. Naim Ateek, a prominent land from Palestinian farmers in order to Palestinian Christian theologian, observes build settlements, bypass roads and its that the concepts of peace and justice are “security fence” (separation wall) in the intertwined in the Old Testament. The Occupied Territories. Hebrew word “shalom” and the Arabic A third approach to the question of world “salaam” share the same linguistic the promise of land is to remember that root and point to a common concept of ultimately it is God, not individuals or peace, justice, wholeness, health and secu- nations, who owns the land. “The land is rity. Peace, Ateek insists, cannot be mine,” God proclaims, “with me you are achieved without justice, a reality illus- but aliens and tenants” (Lev. 25:23). God trated by the prophet Isaiah: “Then justice issues this reminder to the people of Israel will dwell in the wilderness and righteous- in the course of instituting the Jubilee, the ness abide in the fruitful field. And the acceptable year of the Lord. Jesus, in his effect of righteousness will be peace, and inaugural sermon in Nazareth (Luke 4), the result of righteousness, quietness and has the audacity to declare the acceptable trust forever” (Isaiah 32:16-17). year of the Lord, with its Jubilee promises Some Christians hesitate to criticize of justice in the land. A people that Israeli military policies, citing the biblical remembers its alien status in the land will injunction to “bless Israel.” While not dispossess others and treat them as Scripture does not actually talk about

41 “blessing Israel,” God does promise Are there religious visions for justice Abraham that “I will bless those who bless and peace in Palestine/Israel? you, and the one who curses you I will While religion fuels political visions and curse; and in you all the families of the ideologies of conquest, violence and earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). Even revenge, it also energizes those working for if we read this promise to Abraham as peace, justice and reconciliation. Every applying only to the Jewish people, we day, MCC workers in Palestine/Israel meet must still ask ourselves what it means to Muslims, Christians and Jews, both reg- “bless” the Jewish people and the State of ular people and community leaders, who Israel today. Is it to give uncritical and are committed to their religious traditions unconditional support to Israel? Or does and who yearn for a future of peace with blessing Israel instead mean calling upon justice. At the Sabeel Ecumenical Israel to love mercy and do justice in the Liberation Theology Center, Palestinian land? Christians promote nonviolence and work alongside Palestinian Muslims and Israeli Is criticism of Israel anti-Jewish? Jews for freedom and equality. for Supporters of justice, peace and reconcilia- Human Rights, an Israeli Jewish organiza- tion condemn all forms of anti-Judaism. tion, works for the renewal (tikkun) of the (The term “anti-Judaism” is preferable to world by engaging in such acts as helping the more common term “anti-Semitism.” Palestinians harvest olives when they are Anti-Semitism technically refers to discrim- threatened by Israeli settlers. Palestinian ination against all Semitic peoples, a cate- Muslims associated with an MCC partner gory that includes Arabs as well as Jews.) organization, like the Culture and Free Critiquing discriminatory and oppressive Thought Association in the Khan Younis policies carried out by the State of Israel is refugee camp, live and work as committed not anti-Jewish; many Jews themselves Muslims who strive for peace, justice and criticize Israel’s destructive policies, reconciliation. arguing that house demolitions, land con- fiscations and disproportionate use of lethal force are not compatible with Jewish practice and belief. Christian critiques of Israeli policies should be made in a spirit of humility and should not use anti-Jewish stereotypes when describing the oppressive Israeli practices in the Occupied Territories. 42 Conflict & Hope A tree is decorated with the faces of people killed in the violence in the Gaza Strip at the Bunat Lalghad (center for teens) in the Gaza Strip.

The bombers are often young men, but young women and older men have also perpetrated such attacks. What are North American Christians to make of such disturbing actions? Certainly, as we look at news- paper photos of an empty baby stroller standing in the debris left after an 5. Continuing conflict, attack, or hear of cell phones ringing in the wreckage of a blown-up bus, never sources of hope to be answered again, our hearts go out to the victims. There is no possible What is terrorism? What does MCC justification for such horrible crimes. have to say about suicide bombings? As Christians committed to Terrorism is typically defined as spreading the good news of Christ’s violence against civilians in service of a kingdom, including his message of political cause. One of the most visible justice and peace for all people, MCC forms of terrorism in the Israel- workers categorically condemn suicide Palestine conflict is the practice of bombings. MCC Palestine opposes all so-called suicide bombings. As the efforts that use violence in attempting phenomenon appears in Palestine/ to rectify the Palestinian-Israeli con- Israel, the bombings are carried out by flict. While recognizing the despair that Palestinians who strap explosives to many Palestinians living through their bodies and then detonate occupation feel, MCC workers in the themselves in the presence of Israeli Middle East deplore suicide bombings soldiers or civilians, killing themselves and all forms of violence in Palestine/ and usually a number of people around Israel and mourn the senseless loss of them. life.

44

The majority of ordinary Palestinians during Israeli assassination attempts on oppose the killing of Israeli civilians. wanted men, when children on their way Certainly the official Palestinian leader- to school in Khan Younis are killed by a ship, including President Yassir Arafat and bomb left on the side of the road, when an officials of the Palestinian Authority, have elderly woman in Nablus is killed by seem- consistently condemned suicide bombings ingly random shooting, Palestinians and, to the extent possible, tried to prevent wonder why the world does not label these them from occurring. These Palestinian actions as “terrorism.” Palestinians also leaders know that suicide bombings observe that much of Israel’s military hard- destroy their credibility and severely limit ware comes from the United States and hopes for a peaceful resolution to the ruefully ask why the United States does conflict. not object when its F-16 fighter planes and MCC Palestine has tried to understand Apache helicopters are used in military and explain the reality that produces sui- actions that result in civilian deaths and cide bombers, but never to excuse or injuries. justify the practice. Some Palestinians say that the brutal conditions, endless frustra- What are the continuing sources tion, and forced hopelessness of the Israeli of conflict? occupation lead many young people to The Oslo process deferred five issues to believe that the best contribution they can “final status” negotiations. These five make is to “sacrifice” their life for their issues continue to be at the heart of the country. As one Palestinian mechanic put it ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict. while waiting hours at an Israeli check- point on his way to work: “I know this Settlements. Israel continues to build settle- from my work as a mechanic. If pressure is ments, or colonies, in the Occupied applied at some point, it must be released Territories. Illegal under international law, at another. This process explains the rise of these Israeli colonies take over Palestinian the suicide bombers.” land and break up connections between While many Palestinians deplore vio- Palestinian cities and villages. Thanks to lent actions that target civilians, they also settlements and bypass roads connecting ask why the high number of Palestinian the settlements, travel for Palestinians civilian casualties are not given equal within the West Bank becomes difficult to weight. When scores of Palestinian civil- impossible. Jerusalem, meanwhile, has ians are killed as “collateral damage” been progressively cut off from the rest of

45 Dentures rest on a shelf in the medicine cabinet of a burned-out bathroom in a home in Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem.

while, solidifies Israeli control over Palestinian groundwater aquifers.

Jerusalem. Palestinians want East Jerusalem, including the Muslim, Armenian and Christian quarters of the Old City, as their capital. The State of Israel, however, wants exclusive sover- eignty over all of the city; through colonization and the construction of the the West Bank by settlements and bypass Separation Wall, it is cutting Jerusalem off roads. Today there are nearly 400,000 from nearby West Bank villages and cities. Israeli settlers (including those in East Some Israelis insist that Palestinians must Jerusalem) in nearly 200 illegal Israeli recognize Israeli rights on the Temple settlements. The Separation Wall being Mount/Haram al-Sharif if there is to be built throughout the West Bank is a peace. Other Israelis, however, argue that dramatic extension of the settlement the rebuilding of the Temple will be the enterprise, as it de facto annexes many work of the Messiah: Israelis, they argue, settlements into Israel proper. should not insist on sovereignty over the Temple Mount if doing so would scuttle a Water. The Palestinian Hydrology Group chance for peace and reconciliation. records that 75 percent of the renewable water resources in the West Bank and the Refugees. Palestinians insist that any Gaza Strip are used by Israel, both for durable peace must include an Israeli settlements and for use inside Israel recognition of the rights of Palestinian proper. While Israel confiscates water refugees to return and receive compensa- resources from the Occupied Territories, tion, rights upheld by the United Nations nearly 200,000 Palestinians do not enjoy (UN General Assembly Resolution 194) running water. The path of the Separation and in international law. The majority of Wall in the northern West Bank, mean- Israelis, however, categorically reject the

46

return of Palestinian refugees, fearing that what they see as the solution to the con- refugee return would endanger the Jewish flict in Palestine/Israel. MCC Palestine demographic majority within Israel and doesn’t officially advocate for any partic- thus endanger its identity as a Jewish state. ular political solution to this complex MCC partner organization Zochrot, an problem. Instead, MCC supports a frame- Israeli Jewish initiative, promotes dialogue work which will allow Palestinians and within Israeli society about ways in which Israelis to enjoy the “secure dwellings” of the recognition of the rights of Palestinian Isaiah 32:18. International law, with its refugees might be an integral part of peace- prohibitions of illegal confiscation of land building rather than an obstacle to it. and other natural resources, its provisions for the return and compensation of Borders. Palestinians who endorse a two- refugees, and its curbs on violence, all are state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli important elements of any political solu- conflict insist that the borders of the tion that seeks to secure “secure Palestinian state must correspond with the dwellings” for Palestinians and Israelis. demarcation lines of June 4, 1967. In other Some Palestinians and Israelis believe that words, the Palestinian state must comprise justice, peace and secure dwellings can best all of the Occupied Territories of East be achieved through a “two-state solution” Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza to the conflict, while other Israelis and Strip. Some Palestinians have discussed Palestinians suggest that this vision is most potential adjustments to these borders in a compatible with the establishment of one final settlement with Israel, as long as the binational state in which Palestinians and Palestinian state received land from inside Israelis would be equal citizens. Any pro- Israeli equivalent in size and quality to posed resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli compensate for any changes to the 1967 conflict (the Road Map or, more recently, borders. Israeli proposals, however, have the “Geneva Initiative” drafted by civilian involved creating autonomous Palestinian Israelis and Palestinians) must be judged as areas or “statelets” in anywhere between to whether or not it provides secure 40 to 80 percent of the occupied dwellings by ending the occupation, territories. reversing the legitimization of land confis- cation and colonization, and allowing for What does MCC see as the solution to the return and compensation of Palestinian the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? refugees. MCC workers in Palestine are often asked

47 What is the one-state solution? Palestinians insist that, if the two-state When people talk about final resolutions solution is to be economically viable for to the Palestine-Israel conflict they often Palestinians and is to meet the minimum refer to two basic options, known as the demands of justice, the Palestinian state “one-state solution” and the “two-state must comprise all of the West Bank, East solution.” The one-state solution means Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip (22 percent that all of the territory now making up of Mandate Palestine). The ongoing Israeli Israel proper, the West Bank and the Gaza colonization of the Occupied Territories, Strip would be united into a single country. however, is making the implementation of This “one-state” would be a binational such a solution increasingly difficult. state, which means that it would be home to two peoples, the Israelis and the What are the advantages and disadvan- Palestinians. Instead of a Jewish state (as tages of these solutions? Is a two-state Israel is now) or a Muslim state (as a solution still possible? minority of Palestinians hope an inde- The one-state solution features several dis- pendent Palestine would be), the newly tinct advantages. Having one state would created binational state would be a secular allow Palestinian refugees to return to their state with equal rights for all of its citizens. original homes. In contrast, under many versions of the two-state solution discussed What is the two-state solution? by Palestinians, Israelis and international The two-state solution involves creating mediators, Palestinian refugees would be two separate independent states, the State repatriated to the new state of Palestine of Israel for Jews and the State of Palestine but would not be allowed to return to for Palestinians. Under the two-state solu- their original homes in what is now Israel. tion, Israel would end its occupation of the Proponents of the two-state solution argue West Bank and Gaza Strip and withdraw that it is pragmatic and realistic. While it from part or all of this territory. The might not meet the demands of justice, Palestinians would then form an inde- they say, it is the best to which Palestinians pendent state of Palestine on the remaining can aspire. Other Palestinians and Israelis land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. suggest that ethnically-based states are How much of the West Bank and Gaza anachronisms: rather than working for a Strip would be offered to the Palestinians “Jewish state” or a “Palestinian state,” for the creation of their state is one of the persons concerned with justice and recon- major controversies of the conflict.

48

ciliation should strive for futures in which national boundaries are transcended. Regardless of whether one favors a two- state or a one-state solution to the conflict, facts on the ground are rapidly under- mining the possibility of a two-state solution. Israeli colonies around Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron and in the northern West Bank are making any future con- tiguous Palestinian state impossible. Many Palestinians and Israelis fear that the Separation Wall, the latest stage of Israeli colonization, is the final nail in the coffin of a two-state solution, as it is creating de facto political borders, leaving Palestinians with at most 40 percent of the West Bank, with no connection to Jerusalem.

What does the future hold for Palestine and Israel if the one-state or two-state solutions are not implemented? If the difficulties of the one-state or two- state solutions cannot be overcome, the future of Palestine/Israel looks very bleak indeed. One of the few principles that all parties in the conflict can agree on is that the status quo cannot continue; the levels of violence and human suffering are too high to make the current arrangement a Neama Mahmod Harb pulls bits of clothing from a sustainable or desirable option. bag. The clothes were wore by her sister Azaza and Unfortunately the other probable sce- friend Rahma Shahean who were accidentally killed narios, known as “unilateral separation” when Israeli helicopters launched rockets at a car and “transfer,” are equally discouraging. during the political assassination of Hosan Awbait.

49 The swept up remains of a United States anti-tank missile lie in the living room of the Nazzal family home in Beit Jala.

In the first scenario, Israel continues imple- remains in full control of the West Bank menting its policy of unilateral separation. and Gaza Strip while simultaneously cre- This involves maintaining control over the ating the illusion that the occupation has Occupied Territories while enclosing ended. More and more Palestinians, Palestinians—through the Segregation Israelis and international observers are Wall, with its eight-meter concrete walls calling unilateral separation a form of and its electronic fences, and through apartheid. trenches, barbed wire, checkpoints and The second scenario, known as military roadblocks—into ever smaller “transfer,” is even more troubling. In pieces of territory. The Segregation Wall is Israeli political discourse, “transfer” is a the most visible manifestation of this plan. euphemism for another euphemism: Unilateral separation might eventually pro- “ethnic cleansing.” Right-wing Israeli par- duce a climate in which Palestinians would ties, including some which have be allowed to call their disconnected terri- participated in coalition governments, call torial islands a “state,” but such a for the “transfer” of Palestinians out of the designation would only disguise, not alter, Occupied Territories in order to create a the reality of turning Palestinian cities into Palestinian-free space. economically dependent reservations. This strategy of “unilateral separation” allows Israel to have its cake and eat it too: Israel

50 Response Students at an MCC-sponsored kindergarten in the West Bank village of Deir Ibziya.

strengthen Palestinian society. In the 55-year history of MCC Palestine, nearly 200 North American volunteers have served in the program. MCC was moved by the plight of Palestinian refugees from the War of 1948 to begin work in Palestine. In the early years, many MCC workers pro- vided material aid to refugees. Numerous Christmas bundles, con- taining much-appreciated clothing, 6. How MCC is were distributed, along with MCC canned meat, comforters and layettes. responding and how MCC also worked hard to empower refugees to help themselves. The you can help proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish What brought MCC to work and you feed him for a lifetime,” has been influential in shaping MCC’s with Palestinians? work in Palestine and beyond. In the MCC has worked in Palestine for more West Bank, early MCC workers started than 50 years. Arriving in 1949 to pro- sewing programs for refugee women vide material assistance to Palestinian and shoemaking and carpentry pro- refugees driven from their homes in the grams for refugee men. War of 1948, MCC stayed to work In the early 1950s, MCC began alongside Palestinians in their search its famous Palestinian needlework for justice, peace and freedom. program. The program worked with Through Christian education, peace- up to 500 women at any given time in building, the promotion of Palestinian villages around Bethlehem and Hebron needlework and rural development, and in refugee camps in Jericho. The MCC has supported vital initiatives to vibrant colors and geometric

52

patterns of Palestinian cross-stitch have and supporter of Palestinian initiatives. been purchased and enjoyed by thousands MCC support of the Palestinian Center for of Mennonites and many other tourists Rapprochement between Peoples exempli- who visited MCC’s needlework shop in fied this type of support. For example, Jerusalem. The decline in tourism caused MCC assisted Palestinian Christians in Beit by increasing political violence led to the Sahour as they created a movement to ini- closing of the shop in 2001. It was the end tiate grassroots dialogue with Israelis and of an important era in the work of MCC promote nonviolent resistance to the Palestine. occupation. MCC also began entering into For many years, MCC was known in partnerships with local Palestinian organi- the Palestinian community for its support zations in fields such as agriculture, of Palestinian Christian schools serving women’s development and the rehabilita- both Christian and Muslim students. The tion of persons with disabilities. These Arab Evangelical Orphanage in Hebron, relationships gave MCC an opportunity to the Hope Secondary School in Beit Jala learn from local people and assist local and the Latin Patriarchate School in groups with grants, loans, training and Zababdeh all enjoyed the contributions of other needs. MCC volunteers and/or material As time passed, MCC workers began assistance. to understand the problems in Palestine From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, less in terms of emergency material assis- MCC’s rural development unit worked tance or capacity building and more as with thousands of Palestinian farmers as requiring justice and peacebuilding. they introduced drip irrigation networks, Returning to the fishing proverb, MCC reclaimed land for cultivation and planted workers began to observe that Palestinians tens of thousands of fruit trees. As Israeli already knew how to fish very well—the military authorities routinely looked to problem was that Israelis were (and are) confiscate uncultivated land, MCC’s work denying them access to the pond. In in rural development had a markedly polit- response, in the 1980s MCC began to ical character. assign North American peace development Gradually, as the capacities of the local workers to serve in partnership with Palestinian population developed, MCC Palestinian peacemaking initiatives. By the began to hand over its projects to local summer of 2002, Palestinian non-govern- Palestinian administration. The role of mental organizations (NGOs) were unable MCC in Palestine became one of catalyst to carry out their work due to increasing

53 Israeli restrictions on freedom of move- • The Badil Refugee Resource Center, ment and Israel’s brutal occupation policies researching and advocating for durable that made normal life impossible. In this solutions for Palestinian refugees. context, MCC workers made an extra effort to communicate with MCC con- • The Stop the Wall Campaign, advo- stituents in North America about the dire cating against the creation of the situation facing Palestinians and Israelis. Separation Wall which cuts through the West Bank. What is the focus of MCC’s work in the • The YMCA Rehabilitation Program, Occupied Territories today? working with Palestinians with disabil- MCC’s work in Palestine today is two- ities, including those injured by the fold: supporting the witness of the local Israeli military. Palestinian churches and working with Palestinian and Israeli groups pursuing jus- • The Palestinian Center for tice and peace. MCC supports projects Rapprochement, promoting nonviolent carried out by a variety of church-related resistance against military occupation. and grassroots organizations: • The YMCA Women’s Training • The Wi’am Conflict Resolution Center Program, supporting sustainable eco- in Bethlehem, modeling nonviolent nomic development. conflict transformation within Palestinian society. • The Culture and Free Thought Association in the Khan Yunis refugee • The Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation camp in the Gaza Strip, providing cre- Theology Center, providing a theolog- ative learning opportunities for ical and spiritual resource for the children and teenagers. Palestinian church. • The Latin (Roman Catholic) • The Rebuilding Homes Campaign, a Patriarchate School in Zababdeh, joint Palestinian-Israeli initiative where MCC’s Global Family program rebuilding destroyed Palestinian homes is providing scholarships for Christian in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and students whose families find it difficult the Gaza Strip. to pay the minimal school fees.

54

Does MCC “take sides” with Palestinians ways. MCC’s peace development worker and not Israelis? regularly meets and consults with members As a Christian organization, MCC does of Israeli peacebuilding organizations such not “take sides” for Palestinians and as Ta’ayush, a joint Palestinian-Israeli ini- against Israelis, knowing that both tiative whose name means “coexistence”; Palestinians and Israelis are children of Gush Shalom, the Israeli peace bloc; and God made in God’s image. MCC workers . MCC also pro- do not take sides in prayer, but rather peti- vides supports to Israeli peacebuilding tion God that Israelis and Palestinians initiatives such as the Israeli Committee alike might dwell in God’s peace. MCC against House Demolitions, devoted to does take sides with the good news of protesting the destruction of Palestinian Christ that reconciliation between enemies homes, and Zochrot, an Israeli organiza- is possible and that reconciliation involves tion committed to raising awareness of the doing of justice. MCC does take sides events of 1948 and to making a just reso- against all forms of violence, regardless of lution of the Palestinian refugee crisis the who perpetrates it. MCC also take sides foundation of future Palestinian-Israeli against a false neutrality that portrays peace and reconciliation. Palestinians and Israelis as equal parties to the conflict and avoids the task of identi- Why does MCC work with Muslims? fying military occupation, siege and MCC works with Muslims for two main dispossession as injustice. Finally, MCC reasons. First, Muslims make up about 98 takes sides with courageous Israeli peace percent of the Palestinian population. In groups and nonviolent Palestinian groups this context it is natural for an organiza- who struggle jointly against military occu- tion like MCC, which emphasizes personal pation and through that struggle form new relationships, to work with Muslims on a bonds of solidarity and cooperation. Please daily basis. MCC workers relate to pray that Mennonite workers in the Muslims in a number of ways: students, Occupied Territories might have wisdom, teachers, friends, neighbors, employees and love, courage and strength as they seek to fellow workers. discern how and when to “take sides.” MCC also works with Muslims in Palestine as a way of witnessing to the pos- Does MCC work with Israelis? sibility of peace between peoples of Yes, MCC works with Israelis in several different religions. In Palestine/Israel there are many examples of fear, hatred and mis-

55 trust based on religion. Christians, sometimes questioned by North American Muslims and Jews all deal with the nega- Mennonites. Middle Eastern Christians, tive consequences of religious prejudice however, consistently report that this every day. In this context, MCC Palestine policy is one of the things they most appre- believes that working with Palestinian ciate about Mennonites. MCC Palestine Muslims as well as Christians is an impor- workers do share their Mennonite beliefs tant part of witnessing relationships that with their Palestinian Christian brothers characterize the Kingdom of God. and sisters. Together with local churches, they strive to promote Mennonite values Why are there no Mennonite churches in like peacebuilding, following Jesus and the Middle East? having a personal relationship with God. When the first MCC workers came to These values are also held by many local Palestine in 1949, 10 to 15 percent of the Christians. MCC workers in Palestine have local Palestinian population was Christian. discovered spiritual vitality in the Eastern The majority of these Christians were Church. Many Palestinian Christians find Greek Orthodox. Some were also Roman within the Orthodox, Catholic or Catholics or Greek Catholics (also known Protestant faiths a deep well of spirituality as Melkites). A minority were Protestants, that sustains them as a minority religion including small numbers of Baptists, living under Israeli occupation. Lutherans and Anglicans. North American Mennonites believed it was more impor- Are North American MCC workers safe in tant to support these local churches than Palestine/Israel? to compete with them by introducing yet While they recognize that no place is another denomination. There was already entirely safe, North American MCC some resentment in the local Christian workers in Palestine/Israel feel confident community regarding “sheep stealing,” the about their security. MCC Palestine consis- practice of drawing Christians from one tently checks with local Palestinian and denomination to another. Instead of international sources regarding any risks to planting Mennonite Churches, Mennonites North Americans or MCC programs. If began to work with all sectors of the MCC’s Palestinian contacts or MCC Christian community. Middle East office supervisors in North The practice of not planting America were to recommend evacuation, Mennonite Churches in the Middle East is MCC Palestine workers would comply.

56

What sustains MCC’s work? Pray. To receive frequent prayer requests MCC workers in Palestine are sustained by on the situation in Palestine/Israel, send their faith in God who conquered the your e-mail address to [email protected]. powers of sin and death through Jesus Here are some sample prayers from MCC Christ and who raises up witnesses for jus- Palestine workers: tice, peace and reconciliation through the • Pray that Mennonite workers in the Holy Spirit. Although MCC workers occupied might sometimes become discouraged, they are be granted the wisdom to know when rejuvenated when they see God’s recon- and how to “take sides.” ciling Spirit at work, bringing Palestinians and Israelis together to rebuild a • Pray for Palestinians opposing violence Palestinian home destroyed by Israeli mili- in the resistance to Israeli occupation. tary bulldozers; when they work with Palestinians, Christians and Muslims • Pray for conscientious objectors in engaged in nonviolent protests against mil- Israel who refuse to serve in the Israeli itary occupation; and when they worship army. alongside Palestinian Christians. • Pray for Israeli soldiers who refuse to What can we do? serve in the Occupied Territories. How can North American Christians • Pray for MCC workers, that they respond to the tragic situation in might live and witness, in word and Palestine/Israel? What is the role of deed, the reconciling love of God made Mennonites, as believers in the nonviolent manifest in Jesus Christ. gospel of Jesus Christ, in this conflict? How do we live with the knowledge that • Pray for children in Palestine/Israel: our tax dollars pay for bullets used by the Pray for Palestinian children, who live Israeli army, Apache helicopters attacking daily with the threat of violence and Palestinian towns, and F-16s that terrorize arbitrary killing, who see Israeli sol- Palestinian cities? What risks should North diers with guns and tanks patrolling American Mennonites be willing to take to their streets, who spend too many days promote justice and peace in the Middle of their childhood in their houses East? We can respond in many ways: under military curfew, unable to go

57 A student from the Rawdat Al Mustaqbal Kindergarten in the West Bank village of Beit ‘illu.

Share. Contribute time or money to MCC or specifically to the MCC Palestine pro- gram. The MCC web site www.mcc.org/ areaserv/middleeast/palestine/index.html has examples of giving projects suitable for families, Sunday School classes and congre- gations. A good place to start is MCC’s Global Family program, which supports Christian education in the West Bank town out and play, knowing that even step- of Zababdeh. ping onto the porch or balcony could draw Israeli gunfire. Remember them in Advocate. Work to change United States’ your prayers as they wait for hours at foreign policy in the Middle East. Raise checkpoints, watching their parents and awareness in your church and community grandparents humiliated by teenage of issues of peace and justice in Palestine/ Israeli soldiers, kept away from school, Israel. Ask that your tax dollars not go to church, mosque and medical care by support the Israeli occupation. Contact Israeli policies of collective punishment. MCC’s offices in Washington, D.C. or Pray that God would grant them some Ottawa for advocacy suggestions or check joys of childhood despite these difficult on-line at www.mcc.org/areaserv /mid- conditions, and to keep their hearts free dleeast/worship.html. of hate and full of hope for a just and peaceful settlement. Pray for Israeli Stay informed. MCC workers send monthly children, who live in fear of suicide e-mail updates on MCC’s work in bombers on buses and in stores. Pray Palestine/Israel. To receive these updates, that they not grow up with hate in their send your e-mail address to optmcc@men- hearts. Pray for young Israeli men and nonitecc.ca. women required to do military service, Continue to learn by reading MCC and pray for strength for those who publications like this booklet. U.S. citizens refuse to serve for reasons of con- can subscribe to the MCC Washington science.

58 Memo and act on “Action Alerts” sent out by the MCC Washington Office. For more information, see www.mcc.org/us/wash- ington/alert_form.html. Follow news of the conflict, but remember that the North American mainstream media does not tell the whole story. Seek out alternative sources of information such as the periodi- cals, books and web sites mentioned in the final section of this booklet. Learn more about MCC’s work in Palestine on the MCC web site: www.mcc.org/middleeast/areaserv/pales- tine/index.html/. The web site includes service opportunities, news stories, photos, articles, program updates, giving projects, worship resources, prayer requests and more. Consider the resources for further study listed below.

59 A student at the Dar Al-Luiqman Kindergarten in the Khan Younis Refugee Camp of the Gaza Strip.

devastated by Israel's separation barriers and high- lights the voices of Palestinians and Israelis who work for a future of bridges instead of walls.

The July 2004 issue of MCC's Peace Office Newsletter focuses on the separation wall that Israel is building in the Occupied Territories. The issue includes a map and articles by Dr. Jad Isaac of the Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem, Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and Samia Khoury, a board member 7. Resources for at Sabeel.

further study Constantinianism, Zionism, Diaspora: Toward a Theology of Exile and Return. MCC Occasional Paper #28 (Akron 2002). MCC Materials Walking the Path Jesus Walked, a video Books featuring Nora Carmi, a Palestinian Naim Ateek, Justice and Only Justice (Maryknoll, Christian. NY: Orbis, 1986). A Palestinian Christian theolo- gian reads the Bible out of the experience of Salt and Sign: Mennonite Central occupation. Committee in Palestine, 1949-1999, Alain Epp Weaver and Sonia Weaver (Akron Gary Burge, Whose Land? Whose Promise? What 1999). A video of a brief history of MCC’s Christians are Not Being Told about Israel and the work in Palestine. Palestinians (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2003). An evangelical Christian New Testament professor The Dividing Wall, a video/DVD featuring at Wheaton College reads Scripture in light of the Palestinians whose lives have been Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

60

Marc Ellis, Out of the Ashes (London: Pluto Donald E. Wagner, Anxious for Armageddon: Press, 2002). Jewish-American scholar Marc A Call to Partnership for Middle Eastern and Ellis provides a searing analysis of the Western Christians (Scottdale, PA: Herald Palestinian-Israeli conflict from a Jewish faith Press, 1995). Discussion and critique of perspective. Christian Zionism by the president of Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding. Amira Hass, Drinking the Sea in Gaza (New York: Henry Holt, 1996). A leading Israeli , Witnessing for Peace: In journalist chronicles life in Gaza during the Jerusalem and the World (Minneapolis: early 1990s. Fortress Press, 2003). Poignant personal accounts and theological reflections from the Mitri Raheb, I Am a Palestinian Christian Lutheran of Jerusalem. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995). Pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, Web sites Raheb offers narrative and theological Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem: reflections on Palestine/Israel. www.arij.org. Maps and case studies on Israeli settlement activity in the Occupied Territories. Tanya Reinhart, Israel/Palestine: How to End the War of 1948 (New York: Seven Stories Badil Resource Center for Residency and Press, 2002). A professor at Tel Aviv Refugee Rights: www.badil.org. Leading University presents a concise analysis of the Palestinian resource and advocacy center for roots of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and researching and promoting durable solutions discusses potential ways forward. for Palestinian refugees.

Raja Shehadeh, When the Bulbul Stopped Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions: Singing (London: Profile Books, 2003). A per- www.icahd.org/eng/. Critical Israeli perspectives sonal account of life in the West Bank town of on settlements and house demolitions. Ramallah during the Israeli invasion of April 2002. Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center: www.sabeel.org. News and reflections Ilan Pappe, The History of Modern Palestine from Palestinian Christians. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003). A leading Israeli historian presents a Stop the Wall: www.stopthewall.org. Extensive thorough discussion of the tumultuous events material about the Separation Wall being built of the 19th and 20th centuries. in the Occupied Territories. 61

Meet MCC’s Partners:

Nora Carmi, Sabeel Zoughbi Zoughbi, Wi’am “Remember that Christianity started here “The reality of our life is living trapped by and that I am a descendent of the contin- fear,” says Zoughbi Zoughbi, director of uous non-stopping witness of Christianity the Wi’am Center for Conflict Resolution in this land,” urges Nora Carmi, director in Bethlehem. Economic insecurity, restric- of local programs at the Sabeel Ecumenical tions on movement and the possibility of Liberation Theology Center. “Christianity military invasion all contribute to was not imported—imported to this land. Palestinians’ fears, according to Zoughbi. And we are the few faithful remnants who The Wi’am Center mediates conflicts are living and witnessing every single day.” among Palestinians and trains educators to Carmi organizes theological and spiritual work with children living through trau- workshops for Palestinian Christian clergy, matic events. Zoughbi and his co-workers lay people, women’s groups and youth “try to help people address injustice rather groups, seeking to support and strengthen than avenge it.” Palestinian Christians, the Palestinian Christian witness for the Zoughbi believes, are “Christians of the gospel and its message of peace, justice, cross, awaiting resurrection.” Security, he and reconciliation. In her work, Carmi continues, will not come through takes inspiration in her work from Jesus’ vengeance, but through a future of peace example. “For us Palestinian Christians, and justice for Palestinians and Israelis there is a lot we can learn from our model, alike. “We need to bring Israel to its Jesus Christ,” she shares. “How did Christ senses, not to its knees,” he says. resist the occupation? What can we learn from Christ in our resistance? How can we resist with dignity, respect, non-violence but yet have the courage to speak out, because we cannot remain silent when there is injustice.”

62 Eitan Bronstein, Zochrot Amal Khoudeir, Culture and Free Thought The father of four children, Eitan Association Bronstein organizes workshops for “The children here are older than they Palestinian and Israeli Jewish youth at the should be,” says Amal Khoudeir, director School for Peace at /Wahat of the Bunat al-Ghad (Builders of the al-Salam, an intentional community in Future) center for teenagers in the Khan Israel whose name means “Oasis of Younis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Peace.” In 2002, Bronstein and 15 friends Strip. “They’ve seen too much, grown up and acquaintances founded Zochrot, an too fast.” A devout Muslim woman, Israeli initiative to promote discussion of Khoudeir is committed to providing the Palestinian Nakba of 1948 within Palestinian children and teenagers with Israeli society. Zochrot organizes visits by safe spaces to develop their intellects and Israelis to the sites of destroyed Palestinian creativity and to empowering Palestinian villages, where they hear from refugees girls. In the summer of 2000, Amal about the history of the village and how its attended the Summer Peacebuilding residents were expelled. Zochrot then Institute at Eastern Mennonite University, places signs in Hebrew and Arabic at the where her conviction that peace without site, bringing an erased past momentarily justice cannot last was reinforced. For back to life. “I believe that the right of Amal, the biggest challenge in her work is return [for Palestinian refugees] is a condi- to provide children with a sense of hope tion for reconciliation,” Bronstein says. amidst routine military invasions, house Bronstein challenges students to learn demolitions, and nearly nightly shooting about the erased history of the country- from nearby army bases guarding Israeli side, starting with “Canada Park” near the settlements. “How can we inspire them, School for Peace. This national park is give them hope?” she asks. “That is our planted with trees donated by the task.” Canadian Jewish community and is built on the site of three Palestinian villages (Imwas, Yalu, Beit Nuba) destroyed in 1967. “Students often resist hearing about the past, and when they don’t deny the past, they often want to justify it. Education is a long, hard process.”

63

MCC peace development worker Ed Nyce and Ruti al-Raz, International Coordinator for the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICHAD) at a section of the wall that has yet to be per- manently built. A small opening has been left to allow pedestrian traffic.

Jeff Halper, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions For Jeff Halper, a teacher of sociology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, stop- ping Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes is about promoting reconciliation. House demolitions, he observes, have been “at the center of the Israeli struggle against the Palestinians” since 1948. The message sent by Israeli bulldozers, according to Halper, is that “You [the Palestinians] do not belong here. We uprooted you from your homes in 1948 and now we will uproot you from all of the Land of Israel.” Halper and his colleagues at the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions Mennonite Central Committee and MCC U.S. 21 South 12th Street, PO Box 500, Akron, PA 17501 (ICAHD) believe that the way of peace, (717) 859-1151 or toll free (888) 563-4676 justice and reconciliation takes a different MCC Canada 134 Plaza Drive, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5K9 route than that of the bulldozer. In addi- (204) 261-6381 or toll free (888) 622-6337 tion to raising awareness within Israel and MCC Washington, D.C. Office internationally about house demolitions, 110 Maryland Ave NE #502, Washington, D.C. 20002 ICAHD staff joins with Palestinians to (202) 544-6564 MCC Ottawa Office rebuild destroyed Palestinian homes, 803 - 63 Sparks Street, Ottawa, ON K1P 5A6 building peace from the ground up. (613) 238-7224 www.mcc.org

0407rlf25c Printed in Canada.

64 peace