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Home , Arik Ascherman, Broederlijk Delen, CIDSE, Jayyous, Khalida Jarrar, Land Day

Voices for Peace Changing perspectives on the -Palestine conflict

’’ Contents

Foreword: Solidarity with actors for peace 1

Rami Elhanan : Breaking the cycle of violence 2

Khalida Jarrar: In pursuit of Palestinian rights 4

Eitan Bronstein: The other face of history 6

Naji Odeh: Caught between the past and an uncertain future 10

Dror Etkes: Though choices: settlements or justice 12

Issa Samander: In defence of the land 14

Rafoul Rofa: Protecting East 18

Arik Ascherman: Sharing the promised land 20

Bernard Sabella: Protecting Christians requires an end to the occupation 22

Einat Podjarny: A new generation for peace 26

Asma Agbarieh: Defending the rights of Arab Israelis 28

Jonathan Shapira: In the service of peace 30

Glossary 32

The Wall 33

The interviews were completed by Thierry Bresillon, journalist and photographer of CCFD, and Brigitte Herremans, Middle East desk officer of , in May 2005. Photographs by Thierry Bresillon. Design by Designit.

The views and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily state or reflect those of the Development organisation network, CIDSE, or its members involved in this booklet Broederlijk Delen, CCFD, , Misereor and Trócaire. Foreword Solidarity with actors for peace

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies at the crossroads of many different race or religion – it is the convergence of their aims and deeply rooted in its collective memory, demands the recognition fundamental issues of our times: , religion, the analyses that is encouraging. They are managing to escape the of its right to a safe state. The Palestinian people demand an stability of a strategic region, and even the inter-connected closed circle of the usual narrative, and in doing so are laying the acknowledgement of its suffering, the loss of historical Palestine, history of Europe and the Middle East. foundations for a new peace movement. They have grasped the and its unfulfilled struggle for self-determination. logic behind the future hope for peace in recognising that For Christians, the conflict relates to the symbolic and spiritual It is our mission to gain a full understanding of all these factors separation will only lead to the dehumanisation of the ‘other,’ importance of the Holy Land. It also invokes our commitment to involved and to act in solidarity with these actors for peace and and it will prevent any fruitful dialogue, solidify hostilities, and the important values of justice and peace, and the protection of change, to find the way to peace in the Holy Land. create permanent indifference. the vulnerable. That is why a delegation of Catholic Development Organisations from the network, CIDSE, visited Israel and the In our view, the most important lesson that stems from this in December 2004. In meeting Israeli and collection of interviews, is that there are a significant number of Palestinian actors for peace, and seeing first-hand the facts on people whose aim is not to denounce the ‘Other’. Instead, they Luc Claessens, director Broederlijk Delen the ground, we obtained a better understanding of the current examine their own society in order to demonstrate the tendencies situation and the pitfalls to peace. that have lead to the current deadlock. We believe this is the first step towards genuine dialogue and reconciliation. Significantly, we met with Israelis and who, each in Jean-Marie Fardeau, director CCFD their way, strive to bring about change. In doing so they are In this way, these peace actors show us the importance of creating the possibility for a better future that breaks away from solidarity in our struggle to support justice, and stand up for the the vicious cycle of the conflict. weak and the oppressed. We denounce the current occupation René Grotenhuis, director Cordaid Central to our mission is how we, as related organisations, because it denies the basic human rights of the people affected. can stimulate and support these actors for change. That is where We share the conviction that the unlawful current occupation has the idea for this booklet came from. We wanted to give a platform to end in order to give the Palestinian population its inalienable Joseph Sayer, director Misereor to these voices calling for another future in the Middle East. These right to live with dignity. are voices of Israelis, Palestinians, , Muslims, Christians, men But we also have a role in recreating the conditions for dialogue and women that are so rarely heard. They wage a peaceful Justin Kilcullen, director Trócaire between Israelis and Palestinians. A precondition for dialogue is struggle that is rooted in a personal and rich history. our knowing and empathizing with both peoples’ historic Beyond their outstanding efforts to go against the grain, both in experiences and trauma: the Israeli people, with many centuries their society and in their relations with the ‘other’ – be it those of of persecution of Jews in Europe and the horrors of the Shoah

 Rami Elhanan Breaking the cycle of violence

Smadar, the daughter of Rami Elhanan and be listened to. You have to understand the Jews’ ties to Nourit Peled, was killed in a terrorist attack in this land and you have to understand the Palestinians’ history of loss, the Nakba [the ‘catastrophe’ of 1948]. Jerusalem in 1997. She was thirteen. Although devastated by despair and grief, they did not But, you know, it took me a long time to get to this point. want to give in to hate and vengeance, so they Losing a child does not make you any wiser. I was a bit of a cynic, I didn’t believe in anyone or anything; I was joined the Parents’ Circle. This group unites like an exile in my own country. families of Israeli and Palestinian victims who support peace. Their struggle can be summarised During the mourning period after Smadar’s death, I had a visit Holding fast to myths from Itzhak Frankental. His son had been kidnapped by Hamas as: “Better the pain and loss of peace than the The Parents’ Circle is a unique organisation. Even though most [the Islamist Group] and executed in 1994. It was at the time agony of war”. Israelis don’t agree with what we’re doing, they respect us. There when the Israeli right, opponents of the Oslo peace process, are some people who consider us “traitors”. I’ve even been told were attacking [former prime minister] Itzhak Rabin for his role that I should have died with my daughter. But parents whose in the peace process. But Frankental was using his story to Every morning, I waver between hate and reconciliation. children have been killed in this conflict are almost untouchable. But every day, I say to myself that we’re not animals. I can’t promote peace. He set up a group called the Parents’ Circle, forgive the man who killed my daughter; she was innocent. which involved bereaved families who were in favour of peace. We’ve given over a thousand talks in Israeli schools, always Nothing can justify killing her. But I can try to understand. I don’t At the time though, I was incensed that he had the nerve to accompanied by Palestinians. But it’s difficult work because the know what I would do if I were a Palestinian. None of my children come and talk to me about peace. students have been subjected to some of the most successful wants to take up a bomb and kill innocent people, but they never brainwashing in history. had soldiers breaking into their homes at 4 o’clock in the morning My wife quickly got involved in the Parents’ Circle, and in 1999 I When I tell them that there is a connection between their nor have they watched their parents being humiliated. agreed to go along to one of their meetings. Some Israeli and Palestinian families were going to meet President Weizman. Among behaviour at a checkpoint when they come to be soldiers and It doesn’t serve any purpose to know who has more right on them was an old woman in traditional Palestinian dress. I saw the latest terrorist attack, they are outraged. People cannot see their side or who is the most cruel. That way, we’ll never find a her getting off a bus, clutching the photo of a little girl. the link between the sufferings of the Palestinians and the solution. Each side has its own story and history and each must suicide attacks. Something inside me snapped and I became a more My son, Elik, served as a paratrooper. As he explained to me: open person. That was in March 1999. Since then, I’ve “At a checkpoint, you no longer belong to Right or Left politically. been active in the Parents’ Circle. It’s what gives me the You are a god and you loathe the people who have put you in “You have to understand the Jews’ ties to energy to get up in the mornings. These people, from this situation, so you treat them like animals”. both sides of the divide, but who are able to discuss this land. And you have to understand the things, have transformed me. We Israelis, we often think that “We are THE victims”, that no Palestinians’ history of loss.” one else can claim this status. It’s a kind of mental block. Now, I tell myself that I have a mission: to prevent the Zionism, nationalism, plus the Holocaust, together form a really drama I’ve been through being repeated. strong bulwark.

 “It doesn’t serve any purpose to know who has The violent face of the conflict more right on their side or who is most cruel.”

The intentional killing of civilians is considered a “grave breach” of international People hold fast to myths, in particular the idea that there is no humanitarian law and a war crime. Such partner for us to deal with to secure peace. It’s very convenient. It acts are unjustifiable. means that there’s no one we have to talk to, and we don’t have to Since the beginning of the make any concessions. over 3000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed due to Israeli military action; and Judaism as a religion of peace 1000 Israeli civilians have been killed by The aftermath of a devastating suicide bomb, St, Jerusalem, 2003 suicide bombings and other violent action This is why the launch of the second Intifada [the Palestinian uprising by Palestinian armed groups. in 2000] surprised many people, particularly in the peace movement. We have to get out of this vicious cycle. The terrorist attacks serve as Thousand more civilians have been wounded They thought that a handshake was all that was needed to settle a justification for anything and everything in the minds of Israelis on both sides .Many of them permanently. everything. But the Oslo agreements were illusory because they and have led to more suffering for the Palestinians. Women and children have been most didn’t take into account the sufferings of the other side. The Israelis need to understand the limits of power and that the affected by the violence, both physically The occupation continued and the expansion of the settlements Palestinians, who have left us 78 % of their country, deserve to be and psychologically. The fear that the accelerated while there was talk of peace. But, at the time, anyone talked to. The Palestinians need to understand that, more than constant threat of violence has created who was sceptical was seen as stupid. anything, Israel needs recognition. poisons everyday life. It’s the same thing concerning the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. All I am sure that we’re heading towards a settlement with the the confrontation with the Israeli settlers is aimed at showing that a Palestinians, because most Israelis know that the occupation is not withdrawal from all the settlements is impossible. It’s absolutely tenable. It’s also clear that the are not going to drive the Jews clear! It’s only in Europe that people don’t see what’s happening, back into the sea. because the European view of Israel is constructed around guilt. You can discuss borders and the status of Jerusalem, but the process When I meet European Jews, I often remind them that you cannot is inevitable: we’ll reach an understanding with the Palestinians and push a people to the brink for 35 years. Occupying and killing is not there will be a State. Like we handed the Sinai back to Egypt, like we only contrary to Judaism, it’s a danger to the very existence of Israel. evacuated . That all seemed impossible, but it still happened.

For me Judaism is based on values, values for which I have the Of course the situation on the ground has got worse. But we have to highest respect. But I also still see myself as a Zionist. To turn a remain hopeful, otherwise all that is left is despair. Our message is pariah people, the victims of the pogroms, almost annihilated by the to remind people that peace is always possible. To give up and do Holocaust, into a free people with their own State, that’s an amazing nothing means death”. transformation. But the price has been horrendous. Zionist or not, you have to admit that the idea of a land without a people was a lie, that there are two nationalities in this land, that each has the right to For more information on The Parents Circle, self-determination. see www.theparentscircle.org  Khalida Jarrar In pursuit of Palestinian rights

In her efforts to defend Palestinian rights, one year suspended, and banned from taking part in any Khalida Jarrar, director of Addameer, believes demonstration for three years. the fight is on two fronts: against the occupation But, for a woman, it’s not so easy to be involved. I had to stand and for social equality between men and women. up to my father who was not too pleased to see me cleaning the streets. The Muslim Brotherhood, [the predecessor of Hamas], As a member of the popular movement, she was hostile to us too. I can remember that, in Bir Zeit University, sees that one of greatest challenges is the radical when we organised discussions among women’s groups during islamisation of a segment of Palestinian society. Ramadan, they threw eggs at us.

We have to fight on two fronts: against the occupation, and for For as long as I can remember, I’ve been involved in solidarity social equality between men and women. During the first movements. When I was 13 or 14, I was involved, as a volunteer, Intifada, [the popular uprising, 1987–1993], I was a member of a in cleaning the streets in . I was involved in on Women’s Committee. We had a women’s cooperative and we 30 March 1976 [on this day the first mass political protest of Arab organised a boycott of Israeli products. The women gained a lot citizens of Israel was held. The Israeli security forces violently broke of legitimacy thanks to their involvement in the national up the protest killing six people and injuring over one hundred]. movement. one side, we have the Palestinian National Authority and Fatah,

I grew up with the ideas of democracy. I started reading books the ruling party. They control everything and have made all the about the situation of women very early on. My political Civil society as a force for change gains from the current situation. And some people close to these consciousness developed quickly. For people of my generation, But after the Oslo Agreements in 1993, with the establishment sources of power are profiting from the occupation, thanks to being active politically was the norm, because the occupation of the Palestinian Authority, civil society collapsed. Particularly their relationship with the Israelis. was there in front of our eyes, a reality in our lives. the women’s movement. On the other side, people are disillusioned and turning more In 1974, my uncle was arrested and deported to . He Our society is in crisis. We need to strengthen the popular and more to religion. Secular, progressive women today are seen never came back. That had a profound affect on me. When I movement in order to maintain a democratic “third way”. On as agents of the West. Those who are politically active are think back, the occupation means coming to take people away, publicly denounced in the mosques. destroying their homes. I rebel against this type of discrimination. On 8 March 1989, there were 5,000 of us who took part in the My past activities mean that I am listened Women’s March in . We carried Palestinian flags. There “We have to fight on two fronts: to when I talk about the difficulties was a crackdown on the march by the Israeli army. I was one of experienced by women within the Islamic 22 women who were arrested and I spent a month in prison. I against the occupation, and for social tradition. People agree to listen to me was not even told of my trial. equality between men and women.” because I don’t attack them. I don’t talk I heard after the event that I had been convicted of “engaging in about religion, I talk about their personal illegal activity” and sentenced to one month‘s imprisonment, plus situations.

 “We need to strengthen the popular movement to maintain a democratic ‘third way’.” Palestinians in prison

There have been over 650,000 Palestinians detained in Israel since the occupation started in 1967. As of September 2004, there Internal change has become the priority. Civil society must work to open up the political system. First of all the Palestinian Electoral Law were over 10,000 Palestinian prisoners being must be changed because it reinforces the traditional sources of held, according to the International power and we need a redistribution of power, more transparency, Committee of the Red Cross. A further 500 more seats for women and for young people. child prisoners are being held and nearly 1000 Palestinians are believed to be under Before the Oslo agreements, European donors gave large amounts without charges of aid to secular, progressive organisations to help strengthen civil or trial. society. Now, following the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, all the money is going on seminars and training workshops in Each arrest and detention is governed by luxury hotels. military regulations and prisoners are tried You have to understand that the Islamist movements and Saudi within Israeli military courts. Most prisoners Arabia are filling the gap that’s left, and are financing schools, are denied basic rights such as family visits and appropriate housing. pre-school education and services for the general population. Prison is a fact of life for many Palestinians ; Mural in Gaza city, June 2003 The Fourth Geneva Conventions applies to Generally speaking, Palestinian society is fairly secular. The all civilians living in the occupied Palestinian progressive movement represents a quarter of the political landscape. But Israeli society also needs to change. It is very closed and we are Territories. It clearly states that prisoners disillusioned with the peace process. cannot be held outside occupied areas and should be treated humanely. However, In spring 2002, when the Israeli army invaded Palestinian cities detention conditions enforced by Israel on [known as ‘Operation Defensive Shield’] , we didn’t see a soul. We Palestinian prisoners do not conform to the were living in terrible conditions. My husband was arrested and standard rules. beaten and almost died as a result. An Israeli friend managed to locate him and helped us but, overall, there were very few Israeli voices raised to demand an end to such operations, even though every minute counted as far as we were concerned. For more information on Addameer, the association for the defence of Palestinian It is still important to work with Israeli organisations, but I don’t prisoners, see www.addameer.org believe in mixed organisations. We don’t need cooperation just for its own sake. We need support in dealing with certain problems, and Israeli organisations such as Ha’Moked, B’tselem, and Physicians for Human Rights work very well with us on prisoner issues. But all cooperation must be based on a common demand for an end to the A typical day in the ; , October 2000 occupation and compliance with United Nations resolutions.

 Eitan Bronstein The other face of history

Eitan Bronstein is an Israeli peace activist who cleansing. It is true that there was Arab set up the association Zochrot, which means responsibility too, errors of strategy and organisation. But the ideology of transfer ‘remembering’ in Hebrew. He believes that if existed and was implemented in practice.

the Jewish public is able to acknowledge the Because we refuse to reconcile ourselves past, particularly the experience of the 1948 with this aspect of our history and continue Palestinian Nakba, this will change the political to deny our responsibility, we are still in a conflict situation and we still continue to discourse in the region. treat the Palestinians badly.

Obviously, we cannot remake our history. The Jewish State could not have come into existence without What is essential now is to acknowledge it. violence. The 1947 Partition Plan of the United Nations was not I am convinced that this is the key to 90% of the problems of both sides and what each had to bear responsibility for. compatible with what the Israeli leaders of the time wanted, between Israelis and Palestinians. It’s the aim of Zochrot. quite simply because the Jews would have been a minority But lots of Israelis are afraid to hear the truth. For them, within the territory allocated to Israel. David Ben-Gurion [the What we want is not only sympathy for the sufferings of the acknowledgement is a threat. Particularly since it necessarily first Israeli Prime Minister] wanted a Jewish state, so a transfer of Palestinians, not only that Nakba should be remembered. raises the problem of the right to return of the Palestinian the Palestinian population was logically inevitable. To that extent, Neither do we want to accept the narrative of the , often seen as synonymous with the destruction of Israel. 1948 was the founding moment of the identity of Israel: a organisations that reject the existence of Israel. For my part, I don’t accept this idea of a perpetual threat of the process of simultaneous construction and destruction. What we consider necessary is that a record of this period be Jews being driven back into the sea by the Arabs. On the question For a long time, all this was totally covered up. However, within drawn up that makes sense in terms of Jewish history, that it of the Right to Return, we need to stop shouting slogans and the last ten years, the word, Nakba, has started to become be given its place in the Israeli memory, and that the story, look at the matter in detail. It seems a reasonable assumption familiar to Israelis. the history, is taught. It’s that Jewish society should accept that there won’t be millions of Palestinian refugees returning, at this historical reality and acknowledge Nakba and its most 500,000. We still have to face up to the fact that what we did to the consequences, and admit that the Palestinians have rights. Palestinians at that time was wrong and that it was ethnic To go even further, I think that the question of the future of Israel Financial compensation for Palestinian refugees alone as a Jewish state needs to be looked at. If we want to continue to wont get us out of this’ be democratic, we cannot continue with this ideology of Jewish “Obviously we cannot remake our exclusivity. You can be a Zionist without claiming exclusive rights Acknowledging history to the land. history. What is essential now is to The Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in South I consider myself a product of Zionism. My parents emigrated acknowledge it.” Africa, after Apartheid was dismantled, are a good from Argentina. They changed my name from Claudio to Eitan, model. They allowed facts to be stated, and indeed which means something like “strong” – a very Israeli image. I stated in public, at official level, setting out the crimes served in the Army and I was a good soldier. Even the work of

 “Dealing with attitudes is more complex: you have to start by learning to empathise 1948: Two different narratives with the suffering of the other side.” In November 1947 the UN General Assembly voted to partition British- Mandated Zochrot, dealing with memory, with its pioneering spirit is typically You can’t tackle racist images head on. There’s no use in saying “Jews Palestine into a Jewish State and an Arab Zionist! So, I can’t say I’m anti-Zionist. Let’s say, more of a post-Zionist. are racists!” one. Israel then declared its independence on May 14th 1948. For many Jews this was Originally, my views were leftist Zionist. During my military service, Dealing with attitudes is more complex: you have to start by learning the realization of a long-awaited dream – when I was on duty at checkpoints, I found this situation of to empathise with the suffering of the other side. At a later stage, you their own state, where they were free from domination distressing. I was against the war in Lebanon and when can open people’s minds up so they’ll accept what is a painful reality. the discrimination and persecution that had I was called up to do my reserve duty, it was the moment of truth for Take for example the meeting we organised between the former me. I refused to go and was sent to prison three times. led to the Holocaust only a few years before. Arab-Israeli inhabitants of the village of Baram, in Northern Israel, and the Jews now living on that land which they created into a For Palestinians however 1948 was no cause Social action can lead to transformation kibbutz. [The original village was destroyed and evacuated in 1951.] for celebration. In the war that followed more than 440 Palestinian villages were Later on, I taught for ten years in , [a village established At first, everyone was suspicious. The Arab-Israeli’s were wondering destroyed, and 750000 people were expelled by Jewish and Arab Israelis], known as ‘the oasis of peace.’ I took what was in it for them. The Jews were very apprehensive. They from their homes or fled and were denied the part in lots of meetings showed sympathy but couldn’t understand why the Government’s right to return. The year became known as to try and promote proposal was being turned down. They didn’t see the humiliation the “ Nakba,” the Arabic for ‘the catastrophe.’ understanding between involved. The Government was offering the initial inhabitants 600 us, but they did not lead dunums [1 dunum is roughly 1000 sq metres] out of the 12,000 Many of these villages now remain deserted anywhere. We were still dunums that made up the village. Only the first generation was being and in ruins. Others have been converted the stronger. But when authorised to resettle there, along with two descendants, all in into Israeli villages or neighbourhoods, with I started to get really houses built to the same design. Maybe I should point out here that their names hebraicized. interested in how Arab-Israelis are recognised as Israeli citizens, and yet this is the Palestinians actually lived, treatment the former inhabitants of Baram were getting! I realised that, although I It’s certainly easier for politicians to make changes in concrete thought I knew them, in matters. To take the example of the withdrawal from Sinai in 1979. fact I still had subconscious Begin, the Prime Minister at that time, first heard this possibility images of them and was mooted in initiatives coming from the grassroots. There is a dialectic afraid of them. It took time between work on the ground and institutions. Even though majority for me to work my way opinion was opposed to the withdrawal, Begin took this decision, through these images. because the idea existed somewhere. I feel sure that our work can Then I realised that, for play a similar role within Israeli society. the majority of Israelis, looking at all this history straight-on would be a For more information on the work of Zochrot, Remembering the ruins of Zaccharia village: Mural on jump into the unknown. ontact www.nakbainhebrew.org a refugee’s house in Dheisheh camp

 The humanitarian face of the crisis

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A bedoin women collects firewood north of the . They are among the Surviving on food distributions from The World Food Programme. Many of the most vulnerable poorest and most marginalized communities. (July 2003) Palestinian communities continue to be dependent on international agencies for food, education and health provision. (Gaza city, There is a deepening humanitarian crisis in the Occupied June 2003.) Palestinian Territory as a result of Israeli-imposed restrictions on the movement of people and goods. These closures have prevented access to adequate health care, to employment, to secure livelihoods, and to education.

The United Development Programme’s Human Development Index tells the tale of these two diverging societies, with Palestine ranked 102, while Israel is placed at 23rd in the A refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. world. Forty-seven per cent of the Palestinian population There are over 1.5 million refugees in (1.7 million) now live below the poverty line, according to the and Gaza. Many of these the World Bank’s 2004 report, and coping strategies for people have been living in ‘temporary’ the poorest are exhausted. The report notes that Gaza communities for over fifty years. Access is one of the worst affected areas. More than 60% of the to health, food and education is provide population live on less than $2 a day, and unemployment by international agencies, such as the is running at 39.7%. United Nations (July 2003)

 Violence, including regular Israeli military incursions, makes daily life extremely difficult for Palestinian families. They live in a climate of fear and stress. The pictures below were taken after an Israeli military incursion in , Gaza, in July 2003:

Surviving on food distributions from The World Food Programme. Many of the most vulnerable Palestinian communities continue to be dependent on international agencies for food, education Collecting much needed fire-wood for the family. and health provision. (Gaza city, June 2003.)

Life must go on: Picking oranges from uprooted trees

Violence all around: a boy collects bullet cases that are lying around. ’’  Naji Odeh Caught between the past and an uncertain future

Like all Palestinian refugees, Naji Odeh, still old son wanted to stop going to school. He wanted to defines himself by the village his family was fight and he even said to us: “I want to die”. driven from in 1948. But he was born in a Three months later, he was injured in the leg during a refugee camp in which is now demonstration. His morale dropped even more. He was determined to follow his ideas through to the end. He surrounded by the Wall. He dedicates his time, was no longer really alive. My wife and I spent hours through his work with a community centre, talking to him. Phoenix, to showing young people that they do I can tell you that, for a father, it’s a very difficult situation. have a choice, that they can choose a peaceful As it happens, we discuss everything in our family and path to resistance. talk a lot with our children, but that’s not the case with everyone. Some parents feel helpless or can’t find the I also had long talks with my nephew. He had joined an armed In the Dheisheh camp, there are 11,000 people living in an right arguments to use and their children then go and do organisation. “I know that my bullets have no chance of piercing area of barely 0.25 sq. km. We have almost no leisure facilities, their own thing. Around me here, many have died. the armour-plating of a ”, he used to say to me. “But how no place to relax. So the Phoenix Centre, where the inhabitants can I continue to do nothing of the camp meet, is very important. when I see bulldozers come and They come here to talk, take courses or just to escape. You have raze houses, or soldiers beat my to realise that the occupation and the situation in the camps, father?” He ended up being killed drives a whole generation to breaking point. There’s such a by an Israeli rocket. It’s terrible build-up of anger and frustration and people have so little hope but, you see, for lots of young for their future that they feel driven to violence. people today, dying is better than this life. Kifah, one of my son’s friends, was killed during a demonstration by young people in the summer of 2002. The army fired on three thousand young marchers. When Kifah died, my 17 year- Making choices My work is to get them to prefer this life. When I was 18, I was sent “For many young people, dying is better to prison for 18 months because of my involvement with a left than this life. My work is to get them to wing party, the Popular Front for prefer life.” the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Older people helped me a lot. Daily life in Jabalya refugee camp; Gaza strip, June 2003 Now it’s my turn.

10 “You have to realize that for us, refugees, The Refugee Question the right to return is crucial.”

There is an estimated 7 million Palestinian refugees and displaced persons in the world, Today my son has a different view of things. He’s involved in youth ourselves in and knowing what we are fighting. We need to push the of which 4 million are registered with the UN exchanges and he uses the internet to communicate with people of young people to learn more about these things. The significance of Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). More his own generation. He’s continuing his studies and is getting good the name Phoenix means that, even though destroyed, we can be than one and a quarter million of these results. He even wants to become a social worker! reborn and continue with our lives. refugees live in 59 official refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, But, you know, my children often have nightmares. My young We provide training in human rights and democracy. People from all and Syria. Living conditions are often daughter was traumatised after an ear-splitting grenade exploded political groups attend our courses. Some of them don’t share our right beside her. And since spring 2002, my young son has even view of resistance and prefer to train young people for the armed extremely harsh. been afraid of me at times. struggle. But it’s important to be able to debate the options. I According to international law, specifically personally have never used a gun and I don’t particularly like people Refugee Law, refugees have the right to The crucial thing is to show young people that they have a choice. In who use them. I chose a different option. I think it’s better if people return to their homes of origin, receive real the centre here, we try to open up people’s minds, get them to see a possible future for themselves and that they have choices. realise that there are ways of resisting apart from resorting to guns property restitution, and compensation for and dying. losses and damages. To this effect, in At the heart of Palestinian life 1949, after the main exodus of Palestinian Education is the best way of not letting yourself be destroyed, of refugees, the General Assembly of the fighting and preparing for a future. Giving up on education means You have to realise that for us, refugees, the right to return is crucial. freezing up. We have to start by understanding the situation we find I come from Deir Aban. I originally come from the village of Deir United Nations passed resolution 194. This Aban in the west of Jerusalem. resolution – along with several others on Palestine – has never been implemented. I went there almost two hundred times before the Intifada erupted in 2000. We organised summer Israeli continues to refuse to acknowledge camps there and I found trees my mother had any responsibility for the Palestinian refugee planted. problem. It therefore remains one of the key The first time we went there with the older people, sticking points in the peace negotiations we couldn’t find anything and the old people between Israel and Palestine. wept. But because they knew the place, when we searched around we found the village gate and the old olive press. My 85 year-old mother found For more information on the refugee trees where she used to gather almonds when question, see www.badil.org she was a young girl. And although she has trouble walking, she clambered up the branches like a 20 year-old. They were peasants, the land was their life. Without land, left in this camp, there’s nothing for them to do. All they can do is The key and the olive tree are symbols of a refugee’s identity; Dheisheh camp, May 2003. sing songs of the old days.

11 Dror Etkes Tough choices: Settlements or justice

As coordinator of the settlement watch programme was. Before anything else, I was an Israeli. But that has changed for the Israeli organisation, Peace Now, Dror over time. Etkes, monitors the ever-increasing expansion In 1988-1989, I was sent for an operation deep into Lebanon [following Israel’s invasion of the country in 1982]. We used of Israel settlements in the West Bank. It terrorist methods in the sense that we terrorised the civilian continues despite widespread international population if it served our goal. I was twenty at the time.

condemnation. The majority of the Israeli When I came back, I found myself celebrating the Sabbath with population doesn’t want to know. my family. We discussed politics so I told them what I had been doing in Lebanon. They all rejected it, nobody wanted to know.

Whatever we were doing, it was justified, they thought, we were

I come from a family that is about to disappear in modern only defending ourselves from the Palestinians. Israeli society – I am orthodox, religious, patriotic, left and devoted to peace. Even if I enjoyed a religious education, wore a During the first Intifada, [the Palestinian uprising between 1987- kippa and obeyed the rules of kasherout when I was a teenager, 1993] I then witnessed the relationship between the occupying I was not raised in an ethnocentric, chauvinistic and tribal way force and the occupied people. One day we arrested hundreds like many Israelis. of young men near the Palestinian city of Jenin. They were Understanding Zionism seated, handcuffed and blindfolded. The soldiers of the elite unit This is due to the fact that we are a tribal society, regardless of started burning their toes with their lighters. I scolded them In spite of my own recognition of the reality, I choose to live the appearances of modernity. Sometimes I feel very close to off and sent them away. In the evening they told me: ‘Not here. I have a genuine connection to this place. It is my duty to Israeli society and other times I feel like an outsider. Me and my only did you embarrass us, but the worst is that you did it in guarantee the future of my family and the next generation. In fellow compatriots are nationals of the same country, nothing front of Arabs!’ that respect I still consider myself a Zionist. less and nothing more. What I do, I am doing for Israel. My interpretation of Zionism, is that it is an ideology of a people The conflict is always there and there is no way to escape it, The army was a traumatising and important experience for that had been excluded from history so finally took fate into its but the eye does not see what is too close by. That is why me. I had to make adult’s choices and learn who I really own hands. Its ultimate goal is to avoid another catastrophe as many Israelis are blind toward the most basic facts. You have befell the Jewish people during the time of the Roman Empire to take a step back to see the scope [the Bar Kochba revolt that led to the destruction of the Jewish of reality. temple in 70]. But Zionism remains an ambiguous revolution, as “We never explain the conflict in terms Here we never explain the conflict in it is mainly carried out by secular forces that seek their legitimacy in the Bible. terms of the history of a people who of the history of a people that took over took over the territory of another It is important to remember that as an ideology, it was born out the territory of another people.” people. Instead we construct a of the Europe of the 19th Century, so it tends to have a romantic reality that is completely opposed to vision of the Near East, in which it considers ‘the other’ as being that of the local people. mere decoration.

12 “The question of colonisation confronts us with a larger problem: What kind of Settlements society are we?” Since 1967, Israeli governments have encouraged Israeli civilians to settle in the Zionism has also turned out to be a method. It’s about being West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This policy sufficiently organised, sufficiently pragmatic and if necessary sufficiently is in violation of, among others, Article 49 cruel to obtain what we want. That is why David Ben Gurion was so of the Fourth Geneva Convention which successful in expelling more than 750,000 Arabs in 1948. prohibits the occupying power from deporting or transferring parts of its civilian Settlements v’s a modern state population in the territory it occupies. An Israeli settler outpost, south of Jerusalem ; August 1999. But I do not believe that Zionism implies that all Jews should live here. And moreover, that we should be the only ones to have the right to live here. oppressive or absent one. Today 135 settlements exist in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, housing a population of Currently, the settlement expansion in the West Bank claims to be The only question therefore that is now on my mind is: ‘When will more than 450,000 people. In August 2005, based on the religious and historical legitimacy of Zionism and the the next war erupt?’ Israel withdrew its settlements in the Gaza redemption of the land of the Bible. This has led to a corruption During and since the Oslo peace process, the Israelis completely within the Zionist project. If the settlers want to live in the West Bank strip and pulled out from four in the West ignored the fact that settlement expansion was continuing. And they Bank. At the same time it announced as freely as they live in Israel, this can only lead to segregation, an are indifferent to what is happening on the other side of the Green expansion plans for several other apartheid system. Line [demarcation line of 1949]. This in turn has enabled the settlements. Remember that we are living through a period where the anti-Arab government and the military establishment to create their own racism is strongly rooted in Israeli society. It is the contradiction geopolitical realities. between this racism and the wish to be a modern society that pushes I share the same secrets with the settlers but the difference is, I want us to build a separation wall. to reveal them because we should no longer be told lies. I also do We have to build walls to keep the Arabs at a distance. We can accept not want to live in an apartheid state. that they sweep our streets and sell us cheap fruit and vegetables, In order to change this situation, we need time and the anti-colonial nothing more. As long as they don’t organise themselves on a forces need to grow stronger than the proponents of the national basis and that they do not claim collective rights. The settlements. question of colonisation also confronts us with a larger problem: What kind of society are we? What is the most fundamental moral An ideal solution is not possible, but we have to choose between rule that we are bound to? Can we change from within or do we two evils: the suffering of youngsters evacuated from places where need pressure from the outside? More and more Israelis understand they were born, or the suffering on both sides of the that we cannot hold on to the settlements and be a modern state. caused by the occupation. In 1948 witnessed how the country emptied of its Arab inhabitants in a couple of weeks. He saw a radical human, architectural and cultural change in this land. It remains impossible for him to For more information on Peace Now, conceive of any other relationship with Arabs except that of than an go to www.peacenow.org.il 13 Issa Samander In defence of the land

As a Palestinian, Issa Samander shares a love of passage, sending people to the other gate the land with the farmers. He has decided to where they are turned back because they were not supposed to cross there. devote his life to helping them in their struggle against Israeli territorial expansion, the Wall Everything possible is being done to encourage farmers to abandon their and settler violence. lands. The Israeli state can then justify confiscating it. You mustn’t trust speeches made by politicians, you must Don’t believe that this land confiscation is look at the facts on the ground. We have entered a new phase of all temporary. It is an expansion process destruction and land confiscation on a scale not seen since the that has never ended. We are facing an 1990s during the so-called “peace process”. It’s in preparation enormous machine. To demolish fifteen for the expansion of the settlements, the construction of by-pass houses, they bring in nine armour-plated roads through the West Bank and, of course, the separation wall. bulldozers and hundreds of soldiers. They and people are ready to mobilise, fight, make sacrifices, but we At first, we did not realise the scale of what was happening but always find reasons to seize the land. lack a leader and an organisation to convert this energy into the Wall changed our lives, and our perception of normality. something positive. The gap left by this ineffective leadership is For the farmers, things are getting incredibly difficult. In the The path of non-violent resistance being filled by radicalisation. Hamas is the winner as a result. village of [in the northern part of the West Bank], for The priority for us is to hold on to the land. Resisting Israeli Violence is not the natural way for our society to develop. Our example, there used to be five roads to their surrounding farm colonisation is a way of protecting our future, because we realise farmers are close to nature. They don’t know how to react when lands. Now it is all on the other side of the wall. There are only very clearly that we’ll never get back what’s taken. faced with these large-scale confiscations. But if we do nothing, two gates in the wall to get to them, both are controlled by the how will the Israelis even notice the existence and scale of the Israeli army, and the number of crossing permits for the gates But how do we resist? Since 1967, we haven’t found a way to problems that we are living through? is limited. stop them. Nothing works, not even appeals to the Israeli Supreme Court. Faced with the wall, popular mobilisation began as soon as its What’s worse, the gates are not always open when they’re construction started. Since then, local committees have been supposed to be, or sometimes Israeli officers arbitrarily refuse There have been popular movements throughout our history, playing a crucial role. They lead the non-violent protests because they know from experience that it is the best way.

In some villages, up to 90% of the men used to work in Israel. “At first we did not realise the scale of what was happening but the wall was about to Now that they can’t get to work, the survival of their villages is at risk so people are mobilising to make sure the villages won’t die. change our lives, our perception of normality.” They are also starting to work the land again, and for the first time, you can see women organising and playing an active role in the resistance. 14 “First we need a period of calm. But we’re Land dispossession scared of what’s been planned for us.”

Since 1967 Palestinians have been disposed of their lands in the occupied Territories by The people on these popular committees have hopes and ideas. Working in solidarity virtue of a complex system of Israeli legal Some people would like to bring them together in a structured way, and bureaucratic measures. Over fifty but that would amount to killing them. It would introduce political But something very positive is happening thanks to this popular percent of the land in the West Bank is now resistance movement. The villagers now see Israelis coming to help divisions when the primary need is to reinforce unity within the under Israeli control. them. For example, when we were under curfew during the Israeli villages. Committees must be left to decide on their own actions. invasion in April 2002, one of the Israelis that I know phoned me, The most common method of annexation But they do need resources. From our government, not from Europe. and that was from for Human Rights. This used by the Israel government is to simply declare any land that is not registered This is a national movement, it should be independent of foreign group and others like Ta’ayush that we work with today, are an properly as state land. In many cases, the financing. The problem today is that the Gulf states are sending integral part of the fight against land confiscation. original owners are unaware of this re- considerable sums to help people. And of course they finance Hamas. One of the problems in the past with Israeli groups is that they didn’t classification but by the time they discover approach the problem from a political angle. It’s no use the change, it is too late to appeal. The people embracing one another in front of the cameras or Israeli government also utilises an Ottoman making fine speeches, while conditions on the ground law which stipulates that land not cultivated continue to get worse. for three years automatically reverts to the I believe the starting point in any relationship with the Israelis state. More direct methods of land seizure is that they have to acknowledge that Palestinians have include taking it for security or military rights. This is not a problem about food aid – we are not purposes. poor people who need humanitarian assistance. We need our rights, and we’re fed up with this apathy. For more information, go to www. And without international pressure, nothing will put a stop btselem.org to it. The role of the NGOs is critical here to get the attention of media and political leaders - not only about the wall, but about the very process of resistance itself. It’s about the society we want to live in.

First though we need a period of calm to live normally. But we’re scared about what has been planned for us. If nothing changes, the situation will explode again.

Issa Samander works for Ma’an Development Centre, Ties to the land : a Palestinian farmer in the West Bank. for more information go to www.maan-ctr.org

15 Restricting the movement of Palestinian citizens

Movement restrictions by the Israelis - including a complex network of checkpoints, the Wall and the control of identification papers – are one of the main causes of poverty in the occupied Palestinian Territories. The World ‘‘ Bank estimate that if internal closures were removed and exports facilitated, the Palestinian economy would grow by 21% in 2003, and poverty would fall by 15% by the end of 2004. Also, Palestinians used to rely on finding work in Israel but this has become almost impossible. By 2008, Israel has declared than no Palestinian will be able to work there. A roadblock near Ramallah forces women, children and the elderly to continue their journey on foot. A simple journey can take hours to complete. (July 2003)

A young trader (right) tries to buy some vegetables from a farmer (left) which he then hopes to sell in Israel without getting caught. The border is only 200 meters ahead, but the road is often policed. Movement restrictions in the A concrete barrier near Azun, in northern central West Bank, creates chaos for traders. They have to unload their goods from West Bank are one of the main causes of unemployment one truck to the other, loosing both time and money. The Palestinian economy has been devastated by the fragmentation of for Palestinians. It’s increasingly difficult to make a living. the road network in the West Bank. (Azun Atme, may 2003)

16 The network of checkpoints makes a simple journey a difficult and stressful one for Palestinians. Confronted by long queues, barbed wire, and Israeli soldiers, it can often be a frightening ordeal.

Above: This used to be a typical sight at Qalandiya checkpoint. With the construction of the Wall, this checkpoint has been ‘upgraded’ to Right: A scene from the former checkpoint a fully mechanised terminal costing $ 7 million. to enter Bethlehem, March 2002.

The former Abu Houli checkpoint in the Gaza strip before Israel’s disengagement. Travelling by car can take Successfully through the former Abu Oleh checkpoint. It’s easier to walk or cycle if you are able. ’’ several hours, particularly for traders (July 2003). 17 Rafoul Rofa Protecting East Jerusalem

Rafoul Rofa’s work places him at the core of the The core of our work is related to land confiscation, the problems in East Jerusalem where Palestinians demolition of houses, the rights of the rights of Palestinians residing in Jerusalem, in fact every aspect of the deliberate Israeli are being targeted by Israel’s discriminatory policy to limit the Palestinian population in Jerusalem. policies. As a lawyer for the -Yves Society After the 1967 War, East Jerusalem was annexed to the territory he provides legal help to Palestinians faced with, of Israel. The Israeli government now wants as much of that land among others, house demolitions, movement as possible, but with as few Arabs living there, as possible. They restrictions and threats to their residency. use several approaches to achieve this:

First, the Palestinians are victims of discrimination when it comes The mission of the Saint-Yves Society – Saint-Yves is the to the granting of building permits. The development of zones patron saint of lawyers – is to work in the service of the poor and for Palestinian populations has been frozen by urban planning oppressed of the Holy Land, regardless of religion. The majority rules. The process of getting a permit takes years and is rarely of cases we deal with concern Muslims. successful, so people end up building without any permit. residence permits for Jerusalem. But they are like foreigners in To bring such cases to court, we have to work with architects their own city. who analyse the town planning rules in order to prepare applications for building permits. Most of the time, the best we This situation creates lots of problems. For example, any Palestinian can manage is to delay the demolition orders. Once the appeals who goes abroad for a few years – to study for example – loses process has been exhausted, if people stay on in their houses, it his right of residence after four years and can no longer reside in is a criminal offence so they are liable to imprisonment! his own home permanently. So where can he live?

Another problem is the right of residency. From 1948 until 1967, I’ve experienced this situation myself. I left to study law in the East Jerusalem was under Jordanian administration. When Israel United Kingdom, and after a year I had to renew my identity took over East Jerusalem, the Palestinian inhabitants held on papers. But the Israeli administration replied that I couldn’t to their Jordanian passports and were given special Israeli because I was an American citizen. But I’ve never set foot in the

“We’re fighting a current that is much stronger than us. People are under such pressure, in such misery, that soon the only one’s left will be thieves, fanatics, and !” A house demolition in Beit Hanina ; East-Jerusalem, August 2002

18 Jerusalem

Jerusalem holds a central place in Judaism and has great religious significance to United States! Then I was told that in fact I was a national of the apply some day and people who don’t have the correct ID to go into Christians and Muslims. At its heart – the country I was living in – the UK. But I was only studying there. It took Jerusalem will automatically lose any property they have there. historic Old City – rests holy places such as me three years to get my residence permit back, and yet my family the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy has been in Jerusalem for 200 years. Sepulchre and the al-Aqsa Mosque. Restricting options After the war in 1948, an Armistice Line We are fighting a current that is much stronger than us. People are Partitioning Jerusalem (or Green Line) divided the city into West under such pressure, in such misery, that soon the only ones left will Jerusalem (Israeli) and East Jerusalem Everything possible is being done to make life as difficult as possible be thieves, fanatics, and saints! People are worn out. (Palestinian). But after 1967 Israel annexed for Palestinians in Jerusalem. The Israelis want them to leave. Now Most Israelis don’t realise what is happening. By restricting our rights with the wall being built around East Jerusalem, it’s getting even it in its entirety. In 1980 it declared the city and taking our land to develop settlements, they will end up thinking worse. Business dealings between the city and the West Bank are its ‘complete and united capital’. that the idea of having two states is no longer feasible. The almost impossible. Economic life in the city is dying. Palestinians enclosed in a restricted territory, the economy choked, But this annexation of East Jerusalem by It’s estimated that over 50,000 Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem plus the refugees if they were to come back in such conditions, it’s Israel has never been recognized by the will find themselves on the other side of the wall. The Israeli not a viable model. The main problem is that there is no longer a international community. As such, under authorities promise that it will be easy to get entry permits. But who single state with equality for all. international law, it remains part of the can say whether or not, in a year’s time, they won’t start to limit the occupied Palestinian Territories. In the meantime, if nothing improves, if there is no political openness, permits and then people will be stuck. if there is no real development in the Palestinian territories, the According to a report of the Israeli human A further blow to Jerusalemites came in July 2004 with the attempt situation will explode. rights group, B’Tselem, the Government of by Israel to re-activate the Absentee Property Law. This law allows Israel’s primary goal is to thwart any attempt Israel to expropriate assets and property abandoned by their to challenge its sovereignty over the city. Palestinian owners during the war in 1948. Thankfully its application To achieve this, it has put in place a set of was soon suspended at the demand of the United States. But it will policies designed to increase the number of Jews living in the city and reduce the number of Palestinians. At the end of 2002, the “Everything possible is being done to population of Jerusalem stood at 680,000: 67% were Jews, and 33% were Palestinians. make life as difficult as possible for Palestinians in Jerusalem. The Israelis For more information, go to want them to leave.” www.btselem.org The Wall in Beit Hanina splits Palestinian residences in two: those living on the right remain in Jerusalem; the left is the West Bank.

19 Arik Ascherman Sharing the Promised Land

Arik Ascherman works for the Rabbis for Human The is the only organisation in Israel their olives; there must be action to ensure their right of access Rights, an organisation working to protect the which brings together rabbis from all wings of Judaism. We have to the land. three aims. First: dealing with violations of human rights, both rights of both Israelis and Palestinians. It is for Jews and non-Jews. Second: spreading the values of Judaism. unique in the landscape of the Israeli peace And third: to engage in education in Israeli schools. Land is a crucial human rights issue movement. He believes his work is particularly In Israel, our concern is with social inequalities. Twenty years Land rights are crucial here because they are also so closely important because it offers hope in a very ago, Israel had the smallest gap between rich and poor of all associated with the Palestinians economic and social rights. intense conflict, by showing that Israeli’s are the developed countries. Today, it has one of the highest. Since 1967, and at an even faster rate over the last three years, working side by side with Palestinians to protect more and more land has come under Israeli control. We want to But it is within the occupied Palestinian territories that we find bring cases of farmers who are unable to get to their fields to the human rights for all. the most serious violations. For me, it’s not a question of being Supreme Court. By law the army is obliged to ensure that farmers moralistic about the occupation. There must be an end to the can get to their land 365 days a year, but it is a principle that is occupation. How? That is up to politicians to decide. But our I grew up in the United States and for me, human rights and not always respected. vocation is to staunch the wound, and to ensure respect for the the connection between Judaism and social justice, were self- rights of 3.5 millions Palestinians. We need also need to change evident. When I got here, I was shocked to find that many Israelis At one hearing, the Supreme Court asked the military things from within. did not share these values. representative: “Do you admit that the survival of these people Particular issues we are working on include the is at stake? That the problem arises from settler violence?” demolition of houses in East Jerusalem, and protecting “Yes”, was the reply, “But we have to protect the settlers.” the cave dwellers who are threatened with expulsion from their homes in the south of Hebron. “If you admit that the violence is coming from the settlers, then why is it the Palestinians that you are preventing from Each approach – humanitarian, political, and legal – has moving around?” its value. Our approach is to combine legal action with direct support to the affected communities. We don’t This is typical of the kind of situation that we are trying to make feel it is enough to go and help the Palestinians harvest progress on through legal action.

“I don’t think that God asked us to obey His commandments if that meant doing injury to another people.”

20 “We have to prepare a coalition of hope.”

Unfortunately, the Israelis protect themselves behind the certitude that: “We have the most moral army in the world”. I regularly get death threats from them. But who does most for Israeli society? Someone who sends threats or someone who thinks that Zionism means promoting the humanist values of Judaism?

An Israeli human rights lawyer takes note of farmers complaints about The occupation prevents us being faithful to the values of Judaism. alleged abuse from Israeli settlers; April 2005 As one of Israel’s most famous intellectuals, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, warned us, there is no such thing as an inoffensive And here’s another example of our work: we are currently planting occupation. trees in areas between the wall and the Green Line [1949 armistice line]. If the Palestinian farmers can’t get there to work this land, which Bringing about hope they have worked for centuries, it will end up as state property under a famous Ottoman Law used by Israel to confiscate Palestinian land. We have a right to self-determination in the land of Israel. The Palestinians have an absolute right to return to their homes, but this would wipe out the right of Israelis to decide their fate. When both The Jewish legacy communities can’t fully exercise their rights, the only thing possible is compromise. It is also true that the attention we give to questions on the Holy Land relates to our relationship with it as Jews. For 2000 years, we I think that people wanting peace need arguments in favour of prayed for a return to the Promised Land. The Jews who were chased compromise, so we have to fight back within our own society. It is up from Andalusia held on to the keys of their houses for over five to us to show the Palestinians something other than uniformed hundred years. But how can we then ignore the ties of another Israelis coming to destroy their homes. Every October, Israeli peace activities, like the Rabbis people to this land? So an anecdote to finish off: I was recently in Biddu, a village close to for Human Rights, work alongside Palestinian farmers to harvest their olive trees. Their presence For myself, I consider, without a shadow of a doubt, that this land Jerusalem, where I was stopped by the Israeli army at the same time protects farmers from settler harassment and was given to us for eternity. It is therefore hard for me to give up a as an injured boy was attached to a soldier’s jeep like a human highlights their land plight. place like Hebron, for example. But if the land was promised to us, shield. I comforted him. Later, he said to people: “There was a tall that promise implies that we behave morally. Yet we have chosen the Jew with a skull-cap who came to help me and tell me not to be most immoral methods – those most against the commandments of afraid!” On my way back, my car was pelted with stones by For more information about the work Judaism – to appropriate it for ourselves. Palestinians, but my experience with the young boy made it of the Rabbis for Human Rights, go to worthwhile. www.rhr.israel.net I don’t think that God asked us to obey His commandments if it meant doing injury to another people. Instead of fighting over the We have to prepare a coalition of hope. It is a bit like being at the land left to us by Abraham, we would do better to pay more attention Jewish feast, Hanukkah: when everything is dark, you must start to to his moral legacy. lighten the darkness with a candle.

21 Bernard Sabella Protecting Christians requires an end to occupation

As a Palestinian Christian, Bernard Sabella, is holy places of Christianity in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and concerned with the emigration of Christians have been respected by Muslims and their security guaranteed. from the Hold Land. He fears that the unique Since Christian communities have been essentially town-based, identity of the land will be destroyed. The they have always lived in a mixed, open environment which problem, for him, lies in the economic and social permitted neighbourly relations with people of other faiths. impact of the occupation. Living conditions for Christian institutions set up since the 19th century have served everyone, without any distinction in terms of religion. all Palestinians have to improve. But today, we are affected by the occupation in the same way as

our Muslim neighbours and there is no contradiction between I’m concerned at seeing more and more Christians deciding being a good Christian and being a Palestinian patriot. to leave. Our community within the Holy Land gets smaller and I, for my part, believe in the message of Jesus: to alleviate smaller. For example, Armenians made a great contribution poverty and injustice. When we are faced with injustice, what towards enriching the culture of Jerusalem but now there are Reasons for Christian emigration use is dialogue without engagement? Talking about theology in only about 1,500 left. such conditions does not contribute much to peace. What use is The reason emigration of Christians is so high, and of such talking to one another, if you don’t make progress in terms of Contrary to what is often said, it is not Muslim fundamentalism concern – on top of the historical and social factors which have justice, if you have no effect on people’s suffering? that is forcing Christians to leave. The Islamicisation of encouraged this trend – is essentially due to the dramatic For us, as Christians, at present, we need to engage with public Palestinian society is a fact, and creates difficulty for Christians, deterioration in economic conditions as a result of the occupation. life. Our role is to pacify feelings and help societies to recover. but it is not our principal problem. Our concern at the moment Through more dialogue with Muslims that we will stop the But we have to tackle the problem in overall terms. Our problem is the occupation. emigration of Christians. It’s by putting an end to the occupation. is political, so the solution is political. We hear a lot about inter-faith dialogue, and the work of For centuries there have been relatively good relations between The Israeli-Palestinian people-to-people dialogue groups that Christians and Muslims. Since the Omar Pact of 638 [the peace Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation groups. This kind of thing is no flourished after the Oslo Agreements no longer seem relevant. accord offered to the Christians by the conquering Caliph], the longer relevant to our situation. Too often, they were based on the idea that you have to change people’s hearts, particularly those of the Arab Palestinians, in order to bring about peace and reconciliation. They presupposed that the hearts of the Israeli Jews were already won over to peace “Solidarity and support from Israeli and international groups will always and it was Palestinians that needed to change to ensure the security of Israel in the long term. be precious to us if it helps us in our fight for a Palestinian state that is free

and democratic.” A focus on rights We are in a situation - even more so now with the construction

22 “Contrary to what is often said, it is not Muslim fundamentalism that is forcing Christians to leave.” Palestinian Christians

The Christian faith has its historical origins in the Holy Land. Pilgrims from all over the of the wall – where the Palestinians world come each year to visit holy sites in are the victims of the continuous Nazareth, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. violation of their rights. Meeting There are more than 40 Christian groups should concentrate their denominations represented; a diversity that energy on condemning these reflects the rich ecclesiological heritage of violations, rather than trying to change attitudes. Attitudes will only the region. change when Israeli practice on the Palestinian Christians have always played an ground conforms to international important role in social, economic and law and the fundamental rights of political life; the majority follow either the the Palestinians are guaranteed. Greek-Catholic or Greek Orthodox churches. A typical scene in the Old City; East-Jerusalem, May 2005. The physical separation created by But their presence has dwindled in recent the wall has radically changed the years due to the political and economic situation for these Israeli-Palestinian meeting groups. Their work is In saying this, I don’t mean to sound cynical. I am merely suggesting situation. becoming almost impossible since it requires regular face-to-face that the Israeli peace groups should try and work on Israeli society in meetings. I challenge anyone to try to achieve reconciliation across a order to highlight how their government’s policy of separation, There are over 400,000 Palestinian wall and checkpoints to tell me their enterprise has been successful! among other things, is affecting Palestinian human rights. Christians worldwide. Only 50,000 of them now live in the West Bank, East Jerusalem Likewise, for us Palestinians, our society and its and the Gaza Strip, out of a total population structure must be on the agenda. I’m not just talking of more than 3.5 million. A further 125,000 in terms of institutionalisation of government, but every aspect of life. These challenges are at the top Palestinian Christians live in Israel, out of a of our national priorities, while we still have to cope population of one million Arabs. with the occupation and the separation. Solidarity and support from Israeli and international groups will always be precious to us if it helps us in our fight for a Palestinian state that is free and democratic.

Bernard Sabella works for the Middle East Council of Churches, for more information go to www.mec-churches.org

23 Settlements

Abu Ghneim forest (right), July 1999: It was then destroyed to make way for the Israel settlement ‘‘ of Har Homa (below) May 2005.

The settlement of Neve Daniel (July 1999).

There are 135 Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem housing a population of more than 450,000 people. The expansion of settlements, particularly in East Jerusalem, has continued despite international condemnation. Settlements are connected to each other, and to Israel, by a complex system of by-pass roads. They are also protected by the route of the wall. Together, the settlements, the roads network and the Wall, is contributing to the fragmentation of the Palestinian Territories. New housing units in the settlement of Hadar Betar (south west of Bethlehem).

24 The effect of the Wall

The Palestinian town of Abu Dis is an example of the devastating impact of the Wall and other closure policies on communities. It used to be the eastern gate of Jerusalem, connecting the city to West Bank and the Jordan valley. It has now been surrounded by the eight meter high concrete wall.

The wall threading through the Palestinian communities of Abu Dis. It is preventing farmers grazing their animals, students reaching schools, and sick patients reaching the hospitals. (April 2005)

The construction of the Wall through Abu Dis was finalised in 2005. In April, it was still possible to clamber through a hole in the wall, if you were fit enough! In a matter of months, the whole area was surrounded and sealed. Access is now restricted to a small opening which can only be accessed on foot. ’’ 25 Einat Podjarny A new generation for peace

As a member of the Jewish-Arab organisation, The name, Ta’ayush, means ‘living Ta’ayush, Einat Podjarny, belongs to a new together’. The fundamental idea is that the time for dialogue is over. We now generation of Israelis committed to working and simply have to act together. The rest will living side by side with Palestinians to protect flow from this work done together. their land. She believes it will take more than

words to change the silent transfer policy of the A different historical view Israeli state. It demands action on the ground and political mobilisation. Originally, I didn’t know about the history of the conflict. Strangely enough, it was while I was in the army, in 1997-98, that The event that triggered my engagement in Ta’ayush was the process of awareness started for me. the violent repression by the Israeli police of a demonstration by Eitam, a right wing religious politician, who was then the I was assigned to the office of the Chief of Staff, Amnon Lipnik. I Israeli Palestinians in October 2000. They were protesting in commander of the Israeli forces in South Lebanon, insisted that was also doing a course in the History of the Middle East at solidarity with their brothers in the occupied territories. The the operation go ahead. I was the one passing orders at that university That’s when I discovered what the Nakba was. It really police killed thirteen of them, and yet the Israeli peace camp time. My friend was killed. failed to react. Everyone had swallowed the ‘generous offer’ opened my eyes. I followed a course given by one of Israel’s leading speech made by Ehud Barak [during the failed Camp David left wing academics, Ilan Pappé. I was so naive that I asked him It triggered a long crisis for me that led me to see my country in negotiations of 2000]. to come and give a talk to our group of conscripts in Army HQ! a new light. I realised for example that the orange plantation, Misqa, where I stole oranges when I was a child, had been a At the time, I was attending Tel Aviv University. There was only Around that time, a dreadful thing happened. One of my friends Palestinian village that was destroyed in 1951. one Judeo-Arab group in the university, but I was looking for was in Lebanon. He was due to go on a very dangerous mission, something much more direct and simpler. One of my professors so dangerous in fact that the officer supposed to command it In Israel, the teaching of history has been totally conditioned by told me about this group called Ta’ayush which was geared refused to go so it was initially cancelled. My friend called to tell nationalism, so much so that people don’t even see the real towards action, not just words. me the news saying “I’ll be over this weekend”. But then Effi nature of the problem. So, for example, in January 2001 when Arafat raised the refugee question during the negotiations in Taba, most people thought it was just another pretext for rejecting peace. People knew that there were refugee camps “Part of the problem is that the Israeli media fail to point out what’s but they didn’t make the connection between them and the destroyed villages around us.

happening. There’s no talk about the Wall of Separation, so no one here There have also been many new immigrants who arrived in has an overall image of the reality.” Israel in the 1960s so did not experience the war of 1948, and have no idea about the massacres, the destruction, or what the country was like before.

26 “The separation is creating a radical new reality. Some places have become totally Progressive forces in Israel inaccessible.” Throughout the conflict, there have been many Israeli groups demanding a peaceful Today, I feel close to the anti-Zionist movement. Also, there solution with the Palestinians. But before the 1990’s, any contact with Palestinian are more and more voices calling for the creation of a single, Demonstration against the Wall ; Mas’ha, April 2003. egalitarian, democratic state. When you believe in dialogue, organisations could lead to imprisonment. nothing is taboo. The “silent transfer” The Israeli invasion of Lebanon (1982), Would I be prepared to live in a country with an Arab majority? To be and the first Intifada (1987), triggered a What we want to highlight in future is the “silent transfer”. Near all new awareness among Israeli society of honest, I don’t know. But I do know that if I am driving around a the settlements, groups of young settlers terrorise the local villagers. Palestinian village, it feels natural to me, in contrast to the vast The Israeli Left wakes up every year in October at the time of the the need to reach a political agreement majority of Israelis. I know that I’ve got nothing to fear. The people olive harvest. Groups of them go to harvest the olives with the with Arab countries and the Palestinians. greet me, children welcome me like a friend when I arrive in a family. Palestinians, who are threatened by settlers and blockaded by the The Oslo peace agreements (1993) then It’s Ta’ayush that enables me to live this way. army. But the Israelis don’t combine their action with demands for opened a period for dialogue and cross- the rights of Palestinians to access their fields. From the outset, Ta’ayush had a clear political perspective. We community peace initiatives. The Israeli started with humanitarian action - bringing of water to Bedouin Part of the problem is that the Israeli media fail to point out what’s organisation Peace Now, played an camps, food to towns under curfew - but the aim is to draw attention happening. There’s no talk about the Wall of Separation, so no one important role in mobilising this support. to the political nature of the problem. here has an overall image of the reality. It’s a process of land confiscation, and a system of territorial segregation. However, after the failure of Oslo and the After 2002, when the construction of the wall started, we stopped start of the second Intifada (2000), the Israeli the convoys and split up into small groups, each working on some The only debate is about whether this is only a temporary separation peace movement went into deep crisis. But particular project, in a more sustained and discreet manner. So, for or a border. This doesn’t allow people to get a true understanding of out of the ashes, a new generation of peace example, in spring 2003, we stayed in a house in a village called the nature of the problem. activists has emerged in recent years, many Khirbet Yanoun which was threatened with demolition by settlers in The separation is creating a radical new reality. Some places have of whom are more committed to working the near-by Itamar settlement. Our presence ensured that the local become totally inaccessible. It has become very difficult to go into side-by-side with Palestinians. people felt safe to stay there. That action has become symbolic. the territories. And we have to admit that our action has had little We continue to collect funds from Israelis. It gives them a feeling impact: we haven’t managed to mobilise civil action, independent of of involvement in something and it also enables us to secure the parties, to generate pressure from public opinion in favour of For information on the progressive media coverage. negotiation. You can sense the lack of motivation. Ta’ayush is having Israeli peace movement, go to problems mobilising. It’s a very depressing atmosphere. www.alternativenews.org Being part of a group made up of Jews and Arabs has allowed us to act without difficulty within the Palestinian territories. But the police But Ta’ayush has changed my life. It is much more than an pressure, the escalation in military repression, and the extreme organisation, it’s a way of living. We’ve created a new reality, a way violence of the settlers has made our activities increasingly of living day-by-day, Jews and Arabs, side-by -side. dangerous, particularly for our Palestinian contacts.

For more information on Ta’ayush, see http://www.taayush.org

27 Asma Agbarieh Defending the rights of Arab Israelis

The rights of Palestinian citizens in Israel are When I started work and discovered all the poorly defended and yet they make up 20% of injustice, discrimination and inequalities, I was shocked. My sister had links with the magazine, the Israeli population. Asma Agbarieh wants to Challenge, which is edited by Hanitzotz change that by encouraging Arab Israelis to Publishing House, an organisation that’s embrace their rights. As co-ordinator of the involved in the rights of Arabs, and which also youth group at the Workers Advice Centre, she established the Workers Advice Centre. I didn’t like that as for me politics meant is well-placed to do that. corruption and privilege. But people from Challenge used to come and meet my sister

I was a religious young girl. I wore the veil. Things were and they suggested that I work on the Arabic simple because I didn’t think about life here, only the next world. edition of the magazine, as-Sabaar. It means My father was a building worker in Oumm el-Fahm, an Arab city the cactus. I agreed but that’s when I got a in the North of Israel. He didn’t want me to wear the veil. shock. I found myself alongside Jews who spoke Arabic just like us! I couldn’t understand You have to realise that, in Israel, the Arabs are kept in a state of After three months working there, I stopped wearing the veil. I why Jews from Jerusalem would come to work in Jaffa. Gradually, fear though surveillance by the security services. They are afraid came to the conclusion that taking refuge in prayer in order to I started to become interested in the ideology behind Hanitzotz to talk about politics or change, or to depart from the consensus save yourself is like locking yourself away and cutting yourself Publishing House. This place became an alternative for me. view. Religion is a refuge. The society in which we are living has off. Going to Hanitzotz Publishing House was my ideological no desire to be looked at by outside eyes. initiation.

In school, there is a separate system for Arabs. Teachers I started to see religion differently. I realised that today you have are selected by the security services, with the support of to be open to the world, and realise that what happens to others the Arab elite who cooperate with the authorities. My concerns me too. Above all, I saw that what is important is to grandfather worked with the Israelis, so that’s how I was change life here, today. It’s about having a life with justice. able to be a teacher two years before I even got my diploma! I was disgusted. Striving for coexistence For some people, the road I’ve followed has been hard to accept “We need to work on three fronts: – abandoning Islam, working with Jews! They said to me: “Be careful. They’re probably from Shabak, [the interior security Israeli society, Palestinian society service]. In fact, at first, my young brothers locked me up for two months. They wanted me to get married, have three children! and coexistence between the two.” But I held out and my mother told me that I was as stubborn as my father and so they let me do what I wanted.

28 “The policy of closure has become a means of coercion Palestinian citizens of Israel to turn the Palestinians into a submissive nation.” The Palestinian citizens of Israel, known as Arab Israelis, are descendants of the 150,000 Palestinians that did not flee Israel during While I strive for coexistence between Arab and Jewish Israelis, I upper hand over common sense. Some people celebrated after 11 the 1948 war. There are approximately one don’t believe in just any kind of coexistence. Coexistence is only September. But then what? The situation is worse now. So some million living in Israel today, that’s about possible with people who acknowledge your rights unconditionally people bury themselves even more in religion to escape from and treat you on an equal footing. disillusionment. We are dealing with people who would prefer the 20% of the population. Apocalypse rather than deal with the problems facing us. We are After five years of this intifada, confidence has evaporated, both As a Jewish state, their status in Israel fighting for our lives. societies are too far apart. We need to work on three fronts: Israeli remains problematic. After 1948, they lived society, Palestinian society and coexistence between the two. under military rule and faced restrictions Unemployment fuels disillusionment in terms of freedom of movement, freedom In the 1970s and 1980s there was somehow more public opposition in the streets. But not in the 1990s with globalisation eroding social One of the problems is the scale of unemployment among the of the press and expression, and legal structures. And the Oslo process is also deeply rooted in the process Palestinian citizens of Israel. The rate is 20 to 25 per cent, compared confiscation of land and property. The end of globalisation. After it, Palestinian workers could not go and work with the Israeli national average of 10 %. of military rule in 1966 did not stop this in Israel any longer because of the closures. The policy of closure legal and institutional discrimination which We are trying at the Workers Advice Centre, for example, to encourage has become a means of coercion to turn the Palestinians into a continues to be felt in all aspects of social, the employment of Arab Israelis. We are working at all levels, from submissive nation. political and economic life. minister to employer, and there is some political will to move in this With the Second Intifada, things have only got worse and today the direction in order to reduce tensions. Palestinians, certainly in the Occupied Territories, have neither rights For example, we are negotiating with employers to employ Arab nor work. The main reaction to this has been the rise in Islamic workers, rather than workers from Thailand - there are over 26,000 fundamentalism, including among Muslims in Israel. Because they Thai workers in Israel and the farming lobby would like to increase have no hope for the future, people take refuge in religion. But that this number to 45,000. But they have to be convinced that the Arabs will only last for awhile, people need to live. will be more loyal workers. For the young people that we work with in the Workers Advice We also need to monitor how the employment laws are applied. Centre, seeing Jews approach them is disturbing. They often still Some workers are tempted to accept higher salaries but with no have the idea that “Jews are wicked”. It is true that anti-Semitism and protection, no status. Employers have got into the habit of treating fundamentalism are a problem at the moment. Religion has got the their Arab workers like slaves. “They never call us by our names”, they tell us. We also need to change the self-deprecating view that Palestinian “Coexistence is only possible with people citizens of Israel have internalised of themselves. Self-confidence is who acknowledge your rights unconditionally needed to make contact with others, and with the authorities. and treat you on an equal footing.” For more information on the activities of the Workers Advice Centre, contact www.hanitzotz.com

29 Jonathan Shapira In the service of peace

Jonathan Shapira was one of twenty-seven Israeli Is Israel crossing the red line? pilots who refused to take part in aerial attacks The trigger was the dropping of a one tonne bomb on the on populated Palestinian areas. The pilots spoke building containing the home of Saleh Shehadeh, one of the out against the actions of the military, and leaders of Hamas, on 22 July 2002, in one of the most heavily condemned the occupation and targeted populated districts in Gaza (or the world!). executions. Their refusal to fly, in a signed letter It killed fourteen people, nine of them children, and injured 150 in September 2002, shook Israeli society. Thrown others. Four families were totally wiped out. A few days later, following criticism of the incident, Dan Haloutz, head of the Air out of the military, Jonathan continues to advocate Force, stated that the pilot could sleep with a clear conscience against the repression of the occupation. and that he had carried out his mission perfectly. I don’t have words strong enough to express how much terrorism Everything I do, everything I say, is founded on my love for disgusts me and Shehadeh was responsible for a number of Israel, my people, and my ties to Jewish tradition. I was raised in terrorist attacks. We have to fight terrorism, but without becoming a patriotic family. My father fought in all Israel’s wars up to the more and more like terrorists ourselves. Yom Kippur War of October 1973. My two brothers belong to The statistics show that, when targeted executions are carried commando units. I piloted Black Hawk helicopters. My speciality been an occupying force controlling millions of people. We, the out, 50% of the victims are civilians. Official terminology prefers was rescuing victims. I carried out very dangerous missions in “Master Race”. Lebanon. Then, during the Second Intifada, I dropped officers to talk about “uninvolved persons”. If you plan such a mission and commandos on the ground, so even though I myself was And I really do mean apartheid. When some people have all the while hiding the fact that half of the victims will be civilians, you never involved in an attack mission, I was a cog in the machine. rights over a piece of land, while others have none, what else can can’t talk any longer about purity of intention. you call it? I was moulded by the ideals of purity in the use of arms, and the The fact that buses explode here, does not authorise us to sow certainty that our leaders are driven by moral values and the A German friend of mine served as a volunteer in some of the terror among a population that lives under a regime of enclosed desire for peace. But my passion for flying and my attachment to hospitals in Gaza. She told me about what she saw, the results of camps, threatened by an army equipped to the teeth, with fighter the Israeli airforce “family” stopped me seeing the real world. our attacks and our bombardments. I didn’t want to hear. I planes that make the sky shake and helicopters that sometimes wanted to go on believing that we were “the most highly moral launch missiles in traffic or through the windows of houses. For years, I flew over the occupied territories. I saw this land of army in the world”. apartheid with its splashes of grey and splashes of red. The grey I’ve transported the victims of terrorist attacks; I’ve landed at splashes were the refugee camps - overcrowded, suffocating, One day, when I was in the United States, someone spoke to me sites a few minutes after explosions. I’ve seen my fill of closely monitored from military bases. The red splashes, in about missiles being fired on children. I felt then that I could no mangled bodies. I’ve brought the injured to hospital. I’ve also between the camps, were the roofs of splendid settlements. longer simply go on being an ambassador for my country witnessed the escalation of the madness that is driving us all without trying to find out a bit more. It has then been a whole towards collective suicide. Us, with our Apaches, the combat Even though the injustice was staring me in the face, it took me series of events which has opened my heart up to realities that I helicopters used for targeted executions in particular, and them a long time to realise the simple fact that, for decades, we have just didn’t want to see. with their bombs.

30 Refuseniks

Military service is compulsory in Israel: three years for boys and two years for girls. In The signatories of the pilots’ letter realised addition, Israeli citizens can be called to that the Israeli policy of targeted assassinations serve one month of reserve duty every year. is a war crime. Far from contributing to Israel’s During the Israeli-Lebanese war in 1982, security it has had the opposite effect. some reserve soldiers refused to serve But it is hard to get a hearing in Israel because A heated exchange at a checkpoint: Hebron, October 2000. because they saw the war as an act of our society is so militarised. After the letter, I aggression. Their refusal gave rise to the heard things that would send shivers down Our mission is not only to refuse, it’s to express our views within organisation, Yesh Gvul, meaning ‘There your spine. It started with a one-to-one meeting with Dan Haloutz Israeli society. Some people ask us: “Why bother about them?” But Is A Limit.’ It has been active ever since in for over an hour who tried to get me to change my views. He finished “we” and “them” no longer mean anything. That’s what has changed offering support to imprisoned conscientious by setting out for me how he ranks the value of blood, with Jewish inside me as a result of this long process. I’ve reached the point of objectors. Other Israeli groups have since blood at the top and Palestinian blood at the bottom. feeling part of a community of Israelis and Palestinians who share joined in protest at the abuse of Palestinians Another pilot who signed the letter wrote to me saying: “Heroism in the same values, the same vision of the solution. by the Israeli Army. 2003 does not mean risking our lives in aerial combat but overcoming This process has value as therapy, but it’s an individual thing. It is our repugnance at being professional assassins in the service of the always possible to wake up but it takes a long time. Maybe if I could state of Israel.” take an average Israeli to Nablus for a week so he could see the In 1993, an army spokesman and the military prosecutor rejected reality for himself, he might change in the same way. But we are the accusation that there was a unit whose job included individual rushing headlong towards catastrophe and some people have given executions. They stated: “There has never been, nor will there be, in to total pessimism. For me, it’s as though this is the most important “We, air force pilots reared in the spirit of any policy or reality that will see the Israeli army intentionally execute rescue mission of my life. If we don’t act now, what kind of society the values of Zionism, sacrifice and service people being pursued. […] The sacredness of human life is one of will our children live in? to the State of Israel […] refuse to take part the fundamental values of our army. Nothing has changed or will We must prevent a situation where only the poor and extremists will in air attacks on zones of civilian population. change in that respect.” be left in Israel. […] These actions are illegal and the result And yet today, this practice of targeted assassinations continues. It is of the occupation that is corrupting Israeli On this mission, we need Europeans with us. We here will continue acknowledged and justified, even by the authorities responsible for society in general […]” Letter signed by to fight with what resources we have but massive pressure must be military ethics. Is this not a sign that we have crossed a red line? 27 pilots in the Israeli airforce in exerted on our government from outside so that it behaves in line September 2002. with international law, ends the occupation and the apartheid. Pressure by all governments To put it even more clearly: as a Jew and an Israeli, I’m calling for When my country is like a plane heading straight for the ground, I targeted sanctions against our regime. It’s an idea that’s hard to For more information on the Combatants have three options: jump overboard and leave Israel, let it plunge grasp, but I think we’ll get there by degrees. We must move Israeli letter go to: www.seruv.org.il headlong towards the crash that will kill us all, or pull the joystick society, because I don’t want us to be in the same situation in twenty with all my legal strength to try and save us from crashing. years time.

31 Glossary

Areas A, B and C: International Court of Justice (ICJ): Permits: As part of the Oslo peace process, the West Bank and Gaza Strip Situated in the Hague, the ICJ is the UN’s principal judicial organ. Israel has effectively cut the West Bank into eight zones, isolated were divided into distinct areas of control. The Palestinian In December 2003 the UN General Assembly requested an from one another, with movement between them controlled by Authority exercises control of civil and security issues in Area A, advisory opinion from the ICJ on the legal consequences of the the Israeli army. Palestinian needing to travel are required to which is 17.2 per cent of the West Bank. In area B (23.8 per cent construction of Israel’s wall in Palestinian territory. The Court apply to the Israeli occupation authorities for special permits to of the West Bank), the Israeli military has the control over delivered this in July 2004 asking Israel to remove the wall from enter or leave a zone. In addition, Palestinians require permits security, while the PA retains the control over civilian Palestinian territory. for travel between the West Bank and Gaza Strip and to travel administration. Israel has full security and administrative control abroad. Intifada: within , which comprises 59 per cent of the West Bank In December 1987, a collective Palestinian uprising against Israeli PLO: (including the settlements). rule began, know as the intifada (‘shaking off’ in Arabic.) A The Palestine Liberation Organisation was founded in 1964 with Checkpoints: second intifada erupted on 28 September 2000. In contrast to the intent to establish an independent Palestinian state originally Israeli military checkpoints control the passage between Israel the first, it is dominated by the Palestinian armed groups. in the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean and the occupied Palestinian Territories, and have also been Sea. In recent years its goal has been redefined to consist of Occupation: placed at strategic points throughout the West Bank. Some establishing a state only in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Israeli captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem checkpoints are temporary – or flying – which means they are Jerusalem. It has observer status in the UN. during the 1967 Six Day war. These areas are known collectively placed at random along Palestinian roads. as the Occupied Palestinian Territories. An Israeli military Zionism/Zionist movement: Closure: administration was established to govern Palestinian residents A Jewish national movement that began primarily among Eastern Measures include Israeli military checkpoints, trenches, roadblocks, of the OPT. European Jews in the last decades of the 19th century in gates and observation towers that divide up the West Bank and response to discrimination and growing persecution. Theodor and peace process: make the flow of people and trade contingent on Israeli Herzl, with the publication of “The Jewish State” (1896), was the The Oslo peace process refers to the Israeli-Palestine peace approval. founder of political Zionism. Zionists called for the establishment process begun September 1993 which attempted to establish a of a Jewish homeland in which Jews would found a sovereign Gaza Disengagement: framework for the resolving the conflict and resulted in the nation. Lobbying by the growing Zionist movement in Britain In August 2005, Israel withdrew its forces from inside the Gaza signing of the Declaration of Principles, the first in a series of culminated in the Balfour Declaration of 1917, in which the Strip and removed 8,500 settlers. Israel still maintains control of agreements known collectively as the Oslo Accords. Ultimately British government stated that it viewed with favour the all air space and shipping, as well as access of people and goods the peace process failed. establishment of a homeland for Jews in Palestine, provided that to and from strip. Palestinian Authority: it did not harm the rights of the existing non-Jewish population. Green Line/Armistice Line: The governing authority of the Palestinian territories, established After the cessation of hostilities in 1948, an armistice agreement within the Oslo Accords and currently led by President Mahmoud was signed in 1949. The agreement delineated the borders of Abbas, following the death of former leader, in each party and designated the no-man’s-land between them 2004. according to the location of their respective armies. This line demarcates the borders between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip as recognised by the international community.

32 A ROUTE OF THE BARRIER

H The Wall

C APPROVED BY THE ISRAELI CABINET

O FEBRUARY 2005

Jenin Green Line In June 2002, the Israeli Government started the construction of a “security fence” around the West (1949 Armistice Line) Wall Bank following several suicide bombings and attacks by Palestinian militants on Israeli citizens. To Major Palestinian Cities many Palestinians it has become know as the Separation or Apartheid Wall. Israeli Settlements

Major Israeli Cities When complete, the Wall will be more than 650 km long. This is twice the length of the Green Line, Tubas Database: The Wall - Israeli Government maps Tulkarm (Ministry of Defence & Seam Zone Authority) the internationally accepted border between Israel and the West Bank. Others - PA MoPIC, OCHA Update 2005 Cartography: OCHA-oPt, October 2005 In July 2004, the International Court of Justice determined in its advisory opinion that Israel’s construction of the Wall in Palestinian Territory was illegal under international law and violates the Nablus a e

S rights of Palestinian civilians. It stated that it should be dismantled.

n e e r a Around 80% of the proposed route of the Wall will lie in Palestinian Territory. Only 20% will be r r e t i located on the Green Line. It will separate 300,000 Palestinian farmers from their land. A further d e M Salfit 240,000 people will be trapped between the Wall and the Green Line, isolated from the rest of the

N

A West Bank. TEL AVIV D JAFFA

R

O J As of February 2005, 209 kms of the Wall is complete. It comprises of ditches, trenches, roads, razor wire, electronic fences and concrete walls.

Ramallah Al Bireh Israel justifies the Wall as a temporary construction built for security reasons. The current route allows for, and protects the settlements. No Man's Land

ISRAEL

JERUSALEM EAST (Al Quds)

Bethlehem

WEST BANK

Hebron

GAZA Dead Sea

ISRAEL

JORDAN

EGYPT

0 10 20 Kilometers Will there ever be a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Fortunately, there are, in both communities, actors for peace who are driven by a deep sense of justice and responsibility. These Israelis and Palestinians are striving for change within their societies, thereby creating new perspectives for peace. As Catholic organisations concerned about peace in Israel and Palestine, we want to ‘‘ give a platform to these voices. Their message tells us that in this conflict there can only be two winners or two losers. We want to support their commitment for a better future.

Left: No man’s land: a view looking towards the border with Egypt; Rafah, July 2003.