October 30th was our first full day in the West Bank. We spent the first half of the day with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICHAD). We were taken on a tour of Palestinian neighborhoods in and around Jerusalem and of areas where Israeli settlements have been built / expanded or are planned. These settlements (which are illegal under international law and sometimes even Israeli law) are built on land confiscated from Palestinians. A myriad of arbitrary and confusing regulations and permitting systems are used to take the land. We also learned how restrictions on movement and lack of services are used to ‘encourage’ Palestinians to leave their homes.
Most striking to me was the planned development of Nof Zion; it is a project of an American developer. Even though construction of new settlements is prohibited, there is a billboard advertising the settlement with a phone number for the American sales office. There is also a project map that shows the layout of the new community, including condos, a country club, and shopping malls and supporting infrastructure.
We also saw Ma’ale Adumin. It is an Israeli settlement that is slated to be the largest city in Israel (it is located within the West Bank and its charter extends nearly all the way to the Jordan River). While most of the West Bank is struggling with water shortages, Ma’ale Adumin has lush green landscaping and swimming pools. An Israeli prison has been built just beyond the settlement. Of course there are wide roads, sidewalks and other supporting infrastructure.
We also had our first “up-close” visit to the Wall. It is huge, it is ugly, it is omnipresent - there is no escape from it. Much of the wall is twice the height of the Berlin wall. Calling it a wall just isn’t adequate. I have walls in my house but they divide room from room – not friend from friend.
After lunch Ray Dolphin, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, explained the system of closures and checkpoints within the West Bank used by the Israeli government to control the movement of Palestinians. The majority of checkpoints are inside the West Bank. It is impossible to make an appointment with any certainty of being on time – it could take minutes or hours to get through the checkpoints between you and your destination. Of course there are Jewish only lanes through checkpoints and roads that enable the settlers to avoid the “inconvenience”.
Later we walked to the old city. It is hard to describe the sights and the smells. It was sensory overload, but we were very rushed as we went through the city so it was hard to absorb anything. I was sure that if I went back that I would not be able to find my way around. Luckily I had taken my GPS with me and I was able to mark several areas around the city – this proved to be a good idea later in the trip.
With several others, I spent some time at the Western Wall after we finished our tour. I had very mixed feelings about being there. I am not sure if it was because of the separation of the men from the women (isn’t that one of the thing Moslems are criticized for?); or if it was that the wall is venerated as a holy place by people that are using a wall to control a whole population. After what I had seen that day, it was a strange irony. I had expected to feel more awe in a place of such history, but all I felt was sad.
America, which is less than 300 years old, is a land of mobility. Most of us have moved several times before graduating from high school. As a culture, we do not understand the strong emotional tie to the land the Palestinians feel. I stayed with a family near Bethlehem that can trace their family’s connection to that land over 400 years. Much like the lament of Native Americans pushed onto reservations, we heard Palestinians ask “the land is like our mother; how can you sell your mother?”
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