Seeing the Light

Sharon is 20 years old and is a leftist activist. She works in a library categorising documents. She shows me a pamphlet from 1941 published in Palestine by the British Army and giving a glossary of terms in Arabic. It is an artefact from a time when the world was in flux; the Israeli state had not been created; the world was at war; the horror of the holocaust was underway, hidden in Nazi Germany and much of the world (including Palestine) was still under the dominion of a disintegrating British empire.

“It’s genuine. This is the sort of history you do not get in Schools here...In school they teach you the land was empty, they wouldn’t show you something to make you think about the people who lived here before.”

Sharon’s mother is Iranian and her father is Scottish, she is all Jewish Israeli. At 12 she decided what she was getting taught in School didn’t make sense. The message that all ‘Arabs’ were terrorists and wanted to kill her and that the land she lived in was a wilderness before the Jews came didn’t ring true for her. She now spends her free time engaged in activism against the occupation.

Israeli activists (variously known as “dissidents,” “leftists” or by some in right wing Israeli media “Self Hating Jews”) are a small but significant portion of the effort to end the occupation, Famous war correspondent, author and film maker John Pilger describes those he interviewed as being among the bravest he ever met.

Owing to the holocaust, the manner in which the Israeli state was created and operates is subject to deep sensitivities. Those Israelis who criticise the Israeli state can often find themselves victims of accusations of betraying the memory of Jews who died as a result of other nation’s racism and intolerance.

At 1pm every Saturday afternoon, a group of elderly women stand in a square in Jewish West Jerusalem opposite the Centre for Jewish centre and hold black signs reading “End the Occupation” in Hebrew and English. When we arrive to join them we are greeted by the sight of red haired women screaming at them in Hebrew as they stand passively by:

“She told us we should be ashamed that we will burn for this, that we are no better than terrorists, how can we call ourselves Jews, all this..I am used to it by now”

Ruth El Haz is a Psychotherapist and is one of the founders of the Women in Black, a world-wide network of women committed to peace with justice which began in Israel in 1988. Their tactic is not to chant, but rather it seems, absorb abuse with dignity as they make their point that the occupation must end.

“We get called whores, we get called traitors but all we are asking for is a just peace”

Ruth further explains her motivations:

“I have a need to be heard and that I am against the occupation of any country. I am not against my country, I am not against the state of Israel. I want two countries for two peoples. I hope in 20 years time we’ll be able to have that situation, but meanwhile I want my own country to be a country of human beings.”

In a country where the idea of God given right often overrides a humanist, rights based morality to Ruth is an atheist (or secular Jew).

“At the age of 14 I decided that if there is a God he cannot just pick one people, all he can hope for me is that I am decent to other human beings.”

Contrary to what the right wing in Israel says, Israeli Activists do not hate themselves or their culture, in fact nationalism plays apart in motivating many of them. Activists are often Zionists (Jewish Nationalists) who feel that the Occupation is damaging and weakening Israel, others are motivated by ideals such as equality, justice and peace.

Jeff and I

Jeff Halper is the founder and director of the Israeli Committee Against the House Demolitions (ICAHD) one of the most respected Human Rights organisations in Israel and Palestine. In 2006 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for for his work "to liberate both the Palestinian and the Israeli people from the yoke of structural violence". He has been in the peace movement since he got to Israel as an American Jew over 40 years ago and is an author, anthropologist and lecturer

I put it to him Pilger’s comment that Israel Activists are amongst the bravest he has seen but he brushes it off.

“Actually it’s the other way around, Palestinians would be shot for some of things I do..We are protected because we are Israeli..We are courageous in the sense that we go against public opinion, but even that isn’t a big deal”

Jeff has been arrested on multiple occasions, he stands in front of bulldozers; he rebuilds Palestinian homes demolished by the army and works on raising awareness of the issues at home and through tireless international advocacy. While Jeff stress the importance of getting the international community engaged, informed and putting pressure on Israeli to change the situation described by ICAHD as “apartheid”  he paints a picture of a society in Israel itself  unwilling or unable to meaningfully engage with their recent  history and the occupation on their doorstep.

Last weekend on May the 15^th the Palestinian people commemorated the Nakba. It was the 63^rd anniversary of the occasion when 700,000 Palestinians became refugees in 1948 while fleeing from the advances of the newly formed Israeli army, who were expanding the borders of the newly established Israeli state. The day was marked by protests which and an Israeli response which saw 13 people killed and scores wounded or arrested. I ask Jeff about the Israeli attitude towards this commemoration, which is prohibited within Israel itself under the recent Nakba Law:

“I don’t think there is an Israeli attitude; I don’t think Israelis know about it...”. As we speak we are sitting in a plush region of West Jerusalem just a short walk away from where the West Bank begins

“Take a look around, people have never heard of the Nakba, people have never even heard of the occupation! The Arabs are our permanent enemy, that what everybody believes, but it’s not articulated and therefore you are made immune to anything political...It’s like people say themselves ‘I don’t have to feel guilty because they brought it on themselves’”.

ICAHD want to see end to the occupation, and lobbies European Governments to this effect (he has given up America, where he see’s congress as completely dominated by pro Israelis). He is hopeful and positive that International Recognition of a Palestinian State in September will lead to the occupation disintegrating.

Jeff thinks the idea of Jewish state itself is not viable:

“You can’t have a State in the 21^st century that’s ‘Jewish’, it’s an ethnocracy, not a democracy and anytime you privilege one ethnic group over another, it’s racist. It’s not sustainable, and I think Israelis know it’s not.”

Israeli society prides itself in being a welcome haven for Jews worldwide and a strong sense of community and kinship is often evident in Israel, however, Jeff explains there is a conspiracy of silence, enforced by the media, the education system and strong social pressures.  Even if perhaps Israelis know somewhere deep down that a people are being oppressed and degraded to fulfill the dream of a Jewish State, they are willing to put it to the side:

“In a way you know are being lied to your whole life, but it’s comfortable, why go against it.”

I tell Jeff about the Soldier at Qalandia checkpoint outside Jerusalem I met a few week ago who was intelligent, friendly and talkative but who found it hard to believe that I was living safely, happily and welcomed in a Palestinians town

“You should read the Koran...There you find out that Muslims celebrate death, they celebrate darkness..Jews represent the light”. He said it to me from behind a mesh face where I was standing to watch hundreds of Palestinians make their daily trek through the cages and turnstiles on their way to low paid jobs. The soldier said later that things were not perfect, and that he became an officer in an army to “make a change.”

“They don’t think” Jeff simply said.

Those who have the potential to really make a change are the activists; those who have seen the light and have had the brains and courage to reject a powerful mix of socialisation and propaganda to reject the view that the occupation is necessary or acceptable. Rather than finding self hating Jews, I found in people who had no problems with low self esteem what so ever, but rather felt a responsibility to do something about what is happening in their country.

I met Sharon again on the day of the Nakba in a quiet coffee shop in peaceful West Jerusalem. A day when Israel once again answered stones with bullets, confined more Palestinians to prison for commemorating injustice, wrecked more families and took more lives. Sharon was planning to leave to attend a demonstration. I ask her if it’s difficult, to go against everything, to stand up for what she believes in even though she most go against society to do so.

“Of course it’s difficult.”

So why does she do it?

“What choice do I have? You can’t just see what is going on, sit back and do nothing”

Matters of Life and Death

Coming in from the night air outside; strange electricity. It seems out of place here, the tingle, communicated in sounds that are not usual: The heavy fall of footsteps, amplified by haste and urgency; the screech of an air horn; excited chatter and the sound of hurried traffic.  Somewhere in the distance there is a voice prevaricating on a loudspeaker. The distant, barely distinguishable Arabic vowels have a rousing quality to them; then at 9.45pm this Tuesday night, (7.45pm BST) everything goes quiet.

Palestinians love football. They even have a “national” team though they are yet unrecognised as a state. The team has a serious handicap in that they often can’t field some of their best players because they can’t get them permits to leave the Gaza Strip. It puts the IFA’s discontent about losing talent to the Republic of Ireland into context.

Here, as in many places, the national team plays second fiddle to club allegiances. Tonight is Champions League night; the 2^nd leg of the semi final between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, the forth chapter in the April 2011 El Classico; a series of matches which have contained scenes of senseless ugliness, cynical gamesmanship and moments of utter beauty. If you are a young Palestinian male, it’s quite simple:  you either support Barcelona or Real Madrid. To them, Manchester United, Chelsea and the mighty Liverpool are a mere side show. Tonight, as with the previous three matches, the streets of Tulkarm have come alive.

This match takes place in the context of Real Madrid manager Jose  Mourinhio assigned to the stands for trouble making at half time at the Bernabeau in Madrid. After a controversial sending off in the first leg he held a press conference in which he suggested that FC Barca get special treatment in these sorts of competitions. Like most top level football managers, The Special One has an acute sense of what constitutes injustice. It causes one to wonder about the particular causes for complaint all the young men in Tulkarm tonight draped in his or his opponents team flag might have.

So what of a level playing field in the game of occupation? In the West Bank Palestinians live under military law, while neighbouring settlers (who often live on land taken from Palestinians by military order or legal chicanery) live under Israeli civilian law. According to Hagit Ofran from the Israeli organisation Settlement Watch, there is no good reason for this, save for single court case in 1968 where a settler living in Hebron disputed being tried under military law on the grounds that he was Jewish. The end result is two very different referees for each team on the field. This is surely a bad start to any match up.

Many say football is all about money these days, and the occupation is no different.  The economics of occupation have been that of Israeli suppression of Palestinian economy for their own interests. Israel inherited a weak economy when they occupied the West Bank in 1967; and their policies ensured that it has remained economically stagnant since. Israeli policy toward the West Bank states “there will be no development initiated by the Israeli Government, and no permits will be given for expanding agriculture or industry, which may compete with the State of Israel.” Despite having ample potential for growth, The West Bank’s GDP (not including settlements) has fluctuated between 2-4% of Israel’s for the last 43 years, with the best years being just after occupation. It’s difficult to compete when the other team won’t let you play. In Gaza, with its own particular problems, the situation is a lot worse, there according to the UN, 80% of the population lives below the poverty line.    

Without the potential for a sustainable economy in the West Bank, Israeli jobs have become essential to many Palestinians staving off poverty. However, with the construction of the separation barrier since 2003, and the implementation of a stringent permit system with checkpoints and quotas restricting numbers allowed to do the jobs Israelis themselves won’t do, getting a game is not easy. Various Israeli governments down the years have pursued a policy of reducing dependency on cheap Palestinian workers by importing even cheaper foreign labour. The border crossings themselves are horrific places, which only the very desperate would endure daily. Again, for Gazans its worse, the chance of a job in Israel is practically non existent.

As Jose will appreciate, the laws of any game must be applied fairly. Football loses all meaning if one side flouts the rules without consequence. To that end, Israel has been the Theirry Henry of international diplomacy, blatantly fouling while the referee turns a blind eye. The 4^th Geneva Convention (signed in 1949 with Israel as a cosignatory) was designed to stop the mistakes that lead the world to war in 1939 from happening again. Israel breaks these rules with abandon, which is not surprising since their former Foreign Minister in Tzipi Livni was been revealed by Wikileaks as saying that she respects the law, but not international law, a statement which becomes perplexing when you discover that she is a lawyer.

Whether it be article 27 of the 4^th Geneva Convention (which states that countries should not discriminate between race, colour, religion or creed), Article 49 (which refers to the transfer of populations into occupied territory: 80% of settlers in the West Bank are there because their government incentivized them), Article 53 (the destruction of property; and example of which is the 24,000 homes demolished in the West Bank since 1967), Article 50 (Collective punishment of populations, a small example of which was the arrest of hundreds of Palestinians following the recent murder of a settler family in Itamar recently) or any of the UN security council resolutions that have passed calling for an end to settlements and an end to the occupation, there is no effective accountability for Israel.

Many Palestinians ask why the UN did not sanction airstrikes against Israel when it was bombarding Gaza (using white phosphorus in the process) in the same way it did with Libya. Some more paranoid Celtic fans think that Rangers have the support of some Free Mason referees, for Israel, the support of American and European governments allows them to take a relaxed approach to the rules.

Every team needs a powerful strike force, and Israel certainly has that, with by far the strongest army in the region and one of the most advanced nuclear weapons programmes in the world. Their finishing is not so clinical though; violent Palestinian resistance has consistently been met with a disproportionate response. According to the UN, the recent operation Cast Lead in Gaza cost 1,383 Palestinian lives (mostly civilians), while Israel lost 9.

Driving through the streets after watching the action, we observe lads waving Real or Barca flags and wearing cheap replicas of replica strips as they stand in huddles and jostle at each other. Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera holds the rights to Champions League football here. The local Tulkarm TV station has bought them and is broadcasting the game free for all to see. On the news channels before and after the game, the main story is the unification of Hamas and Fatah, the two main political factions in Palestine who have been at war with each other but who are putting differences aside in the push for international recognition of Palestinian statehood in September.

And coming in from the outside, winds of change in the Middle East. Egypt continues to take tentative steps towards people led democracy (as opposed to Western supported dictatorship); Western diplomats try to find a resolution to the civil war in Libya and Syria continues to butcher its own people who are calling for change in government, losing power and credibility with each bullet fired.

G.B Shaw said that sport was “war without the guns”. Here under occupation, the most prestigious club rivalry in football seems to count for a lot. Football is a great vehicle for dreams; when the reality gets too much bear, there is always football.  

It has a matchless ability to unite and divide; to reflect society’s schisms and provide a common language that reminds us of our shared humanity. On the field, Palestine is waiting for that Messi moment, an unstoppable flurry that breaks the deadlock and gets the world talking. It needs to be a moment that has their most bitter enemies in agreement that it while it may be painful to lose off the back of it, a beautiful thing like it deserves recognition.

When it happens, there will be plenty of Mourinihos grumbling and calling foul, but we can dream that they will be stuck in the stands with the noise of the crowd drowning them out.

After all, to paraphrase the great Bill Shankly; freedom from occupation is a matter of life and death, and nothing is more important than that.

Kids with Guns

Danette is a 25 year old Israeli. When I meet her she is assembling a fancy dress costume for the Jewish holiday of Purim. She believes in peace, she hasn’t much time for her government, but doesn’t see what she can do to change anything. She’s someone you wouldn’t expect to be have been a soldier, but like the majority of her peers, she was.

When I ask Danette about her service she is positive, she enjoyed it, met some great people; had a lot of fun. She served on the border with Jordan in the south of Israel, a low intensity posting, away from the occupation. One of her memories is sharing some cantaloupes (a fruit) with Jordanian soldiers patrolling their own border.

Israel is a highly militarised society. Its occupation of the West Bank and blockade of the Gaza strip demand a high number of soldiers. In the West Bank, there is one fully armed, state sponsored enforcer for every 13 Palestinian civilians in the area. Most West Bank soldiers are conscripts who were plucked from Israeli schools.  Conscription is the norm in Israel. You can go to prison for refusing to join the army at 18. The length of service is 3 years for males and 2 for females.  Inside Israel itself it is impossible to travel anywhere without seeing groups of uniformed teenagers with assault rifles strapped on their backs. Catching a bus, getting a coffee; they are everywhere, whether off or on duty they are compelled to  carry the gun. They are a constant reminder that Israel is a place at war; without them, in most of Israel proper, you could easily forget.

I talk to “Noam” over a drink. He is 30 years old and a fitness fanatic. He served his 3 years and then was called back for offensive military operations in the Lebanon in 2006, and again in Gaza in 2008/9, where he was part of the ground forces that “cleansed” residential areas during Operation Cast Lead. When he talks about his service, he does so with pride, but he is also equally candid about the legal and social pressures young people face about doing their service. You can get out of it he says, but it’s frowned upon, you get abused, ostracised, even the girls. You can try to say you are not mentally capable, but this will have other consequences; like affecting the type of mortgage you can get in the future; “besides,” he says with a smile; “there are plenty of crazy people in the army”.

The conversation gets difficult when he talks about losing two of his best friends to “terrorists”. One of them was shot in the head beside him in Lebanon in 2006. The memory of it causes tears to come to his eyes. He never asked for it, true he volunteered to go back, but he didn’t think he’d lose his friends, not like that.

The organisation New Profile was formed by Ruth Hiller in response to her 15 year old son telling her he was a pacifist who would not serve. New Profile seeks to support parents who do not wish to see their children become soldiers and provides information on how every part of Israeli society is geared towards creating soldiers who are prepared to do the harsh things that the occupation often requires. New Profile is one of several organisations who represent those within Israeli society who are beginning to doubt the logic of trying to make peace while being constantly primed for war. They are conscious of the harm they may be doing not only to the millions of Palestinians who have their rights and dignity systematically eroded by a military occupation, but also to their own country, Israel.

New Profile organisation is banned from schools, but this is hardly surprising. The Israeli education system is very military friendly. It has a final year which is completely devoted to matriculation, soldiers give demonstrations in schools for kindergarten upwards, playgrounds contain canon relics to familiarise children Israel’s militaristic past, the curriculum is full of military imagery (including pictures of war planes and rifles in counting books for 3 year olds alongside flags, Star of David symbols and doves); schools are encouraged to identify students who “lack motivation” who are then given “pep talks” by visiting soldiers.

Ruth presents a stark picture of a system which seems to brainwash students into unquestioningly taking up the gun when they leave. In addition, because full time soldiers retire at 42 with a full pension, many become teachers, sharing their experience with a new generation of young minds.

It is not only in schools where the indoctrination takes place. Popular youth culture treats military service as a coming of age experience. Corporate and media influences also reinforce military priorities; soldiers get special saving schemes with banks. Advertisements aimed at the mothers of soldiers sell everything from baking dough to anti-depressants.

While the positive things about military service are talked about openly; the trauma young people suffer is often suppressed. “Breaking the Silence” is an organization of ex soldiers who encourage people to talk about their experiences, pushing Israeli society to “face the reality whose creation it has enabled.”

Breaking the Silence appeals to a society whose “sense of justice has been deformed”. It has so far garnered over 700 testimonies from former soldiers, a small number relative to the number who have   served, but a good start. According to Mikhail who works for the organisation “the first thing a soldier will say when approached is ‘I don’t really have anything to say’, then the floodgates open”.

The intervention of Breaking the Silence is timely. The Israeli army loses 30-40 young lives per year to suicide. The easy access to guns; the normal stresses and strains of teenage life combined with being asked to perform a role which nobody should be forced to do mean the Israeli army loses more people to suicide than in combat, even in times of war.

In the occupied West Bank, the dehumanising effect the army has on ordinary Palestinians is plain to  see; what is less immediately obvious is the dehumanising effect that service has on Israelis. It is a massive sacrifice the children of Israel and their families are expected to make. I think of “Noam” hunched over his soda water after we finish speaking, staring glassily into space, thinking about his dead friends and the choices he didn’t have. I hope he finds peace. For Israel, the hope for peace seems futile against the reality of a society so constantly ready for war.

 I work for Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW) as an ecumenical accompanier serving on the World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). The views contained in this email are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer (QPSW) or the World Council of Churches. If you would like to publish the information contained here (including posting it on a website), or distribute it further, please first contact the QPSW Programme Manager for I–oPt teresap@quaker.org.uk for permission.

To view New Profiles Exibition of the Militarization of Israeli Society, follow the below link:

http://www.newprofile.org/images/exhibition/exhibition-extracts-english.pdf