Palestine Summer Encounter

This is a wonderful opportunity for young people - organised by the Holy Land Trust. 

Lent 1 with Embrace the Middle East

I brought with me the "Embrace the Middle East" Lent Study Guide. Study 1 uses the story of the angels coming to the Shepherds. As I am about 3 miles away from the place where this happened, I decided to do Study 1 at Shepherds' Fields, in Beit Sahour. 

This turned out to be slightly more difficult than I expected as there are three locations claimed for the location of the visitations of the angels to the Shepherds. Two of these have archeological evidence, so I decided to visit these two. I had a very pleasant walk through the old city of Beit Sahour, and then encountered the scene on the right, which made me hopeful.

Despite the imposing large metal gates which were closed, a press of the bell gave me entry to this beautiful Greek Orthodox Church. It was in a lovely setting and inside was spectacular, but I respected the notice to request that no photos should be taken.

Alongside the Church was a path leading to this archeological site and an underground Church in a cave. All was nicely arranged and presented. 

Nevertheless, I set off to find site number 2. This was about ½ mile away. The Franciscan Church is in extension grounds and obviously attracts the larger number of visitors as it had many open air chapels set out among the archeological remains of early Churches on this spot. 

It had started to rain, and so I was pleased that I had some shelter as I sat here and read the story and looked out over the land where it all happened. I had some lunch - just some bread, cheese, fruit and water, and thought of the shepherds hearing the news and setting off the way I had come - I had passed the Church of the Nativity on my way there - just think, I had walked in their steps.

I read about the Development of the Upper Egypt Trust which is supported by Embrace the Middle East. The study asked us to think how we could help the marginalised.  And as I sat there I looked out over the Illegal Jewish Settlement getting ever nearer to this beautiful place and I realised again that the Palestinians are marginalised, powerless to stop their land being taken from them.

Before I left this lovely place, I explored the extensive network of caves. As these hills are all solid limestone, they have been used for millennia as caves. There are cisterns carved from the rock to collect water. It seems evident that all these caves were used by shepherds of the time of the birth of Jesus - just difficult to say which was the precise location. 

As if to emphasise the point, as I left, there was another shepherd and some more sheep, although I think this one was more there for the tourists than the grass! Still, I was grateful that he made my image  complete. 


The walk back up to the Church of the Nativity was steep and demanding, but it must have been very exciting in that night. I got home exhausted but happy to feel close to this story.  

Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!

Zoughbi Zoughbi mentioned Balfour to me yesterday and I decided that I should write about this. My feeling is that the involvement of the British in the mess which is Israel/Palestine is not as well known as it should be. I am going to attempt a simple explanation of what was (and still is) a highly complex issue.

Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour wrote to the Christian Zionist Movement on 2nd November 1917 the following:-

His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

During the first World War, Britain made different and incompatible agreements with the Arabs.  T E Lawrence (as in Lawrence of Arabia) worked to secure independence for the Arabs and made promises on behalf of the British Government. However, Britain made different agreements with France to carve up the territory between them, and these prevailed.

Britain wanted to secure control of the area defined as Palestine (in 1919), and thought that encouragement for a national home for the Jews would benefit Britain's claim on Palestine. 

The Mandate was the colonisation of Palestine by the British and given credibility and legality by the League of Nations (the forerunner of the United Nations). It came into effect on 29th September 1923. The Balfour Declaration was included in this document in full.

Article 14 of the Mandate states:-

Article 14

A special Commission shall be appointed by the Mandatory to study, define and determine the rights and claims in connection with the Holy Places and the rights and claims relating to the different religious communities in Palestine. The method of nomination, the composition and the functions of this Commission shall be submitted to the Council of the League for its approval, and the Commission shall not be appointed or enter upon its functions without the approval of the Council.

Sadly, and to Britain's shame, this Commission was never created. Considering the tension now around these sights, this was a grave mistake. 

The Jewish population of Palestine was less than 8 percent of the population in 1918. Jews were encouraged to immigrate, buy land, organise a militia, set up a shadow government in waiting and form the nucleus of a future Jewish state under the protection of the British army. 

Whereas the Arab response to the incoming Jews was fairly welcoming immediately after the war, feelings among the Arabs that Britain would renege on the second part of the Balfour Declaration increased and animosity towards the enormous immigration increased, leading to the Arab revolt from 1936 to 1939. Britain brutally suppressed the Arab uprising, hanged some of  the ring leaders and forced the remainder to flee, leaving the Jewish militia in a strong position.  

Relationships between the British and the Jews also deteriorated, as Britain tried to constrain the massive immigration. The Jewish Militias (Irgun, Haganah, and the Stern gang) fought the British independently. With the ever increasing immigration following the end of WWII, and Britain's futile attempts to stop Jews coming to Israel, the Jews appealed to America and received significant financial support. The Militias were able to purchase arms from Czechoslovakia. 

Britain decided in 1947 to withdraw from Palestine. A UN partition Plan was created, which proposed to divide Palestine into an Israeli State, a Palestinian State and an international area around Jerusalem.  

Britain, who had been supplying arms to the Arab countries, stopped doing this, fearing that America would lift its ban on supplying arms to Israel. The result of this was to create a very unequal balance of power between the Israeli and Arab forces which were left to fight it out when Britain left.  

On 14th May, the last day of the Mandate, the Chief Secretary of the British Administration told the press that the British would "leave the key under the mat". 

War broke out the following day. As a result of the war, Israel kept the area designated as the State of Israel, but also occupied 60% of the area allocated to Palestine. No Palestinian state was created. 

During this war, around 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from the area allocated to Israel and were forced to become refugees. Sixty five years on, most of these Palestinians are still refugees. They are stateless, with nowhere to go and not wanted by anyone. The demarcation line agreed in 1949 between all the arab countries and Israel following the 1948 war is known as the "Green Line", was defined by where the opposing armies were on the day of the armistice. The area inside the line became know as the West Bank (and Gaza).

During the six-day war in 1967, Israel occupied the whole of the West Bank and Gaza. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but still retains control of all movement of people and goods into and out of Gaza, and controls the airspace and coastline. 

Israel still effectively controls the whole of the West Bank. Following the Oslo Accord in 1993, some areas within the West bank have a degree of autonomy. However, in practice, Israel security overrides all local decision making. All Palestinian towns have entry/exit gates which are controlled by the israeli military and can be closed at a moment's notice sealing off every town. Areas can be designated as military zones, roads blocked, checkpoints installed and permit rules changed, all in the interests of Israeli security.   

The British role in the Israel/Palestine conflict was significant, duplicitous and shameful. On 2nd November 2017, the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, it would be good if the British Government acknowledged its responsibility in this matter and pledged itself to work for restorative justice.  

[amended on 8th March in the light of comments received]

Another day in the sunshine talking to people

Had an interesting day today. In the morning I went to meet Zoughbi Zoughbi at Wi'am. I didn't have my camera so will go back tomorrow and take some photos. 

We talked about the need for advocacy in the UK and Zoughbi gave me a lot to think about. We discussed Balfour and the 100 year anniversary of the Balfour Declaration in 2017. I need to write about this and so have a project for tomorrow.

Then I went to lunch with Odette, sitting on the balcony in the warm sunshine talking about Palestine. She is a great lady and I enjoy our chats - excellent hostess too.

Back indoors two parcels had arrived, sent by Jo for the family. Everyone is thrilled and excited to receive this unexpected gift.

I wrote to Embrace the Middle East about my visit to the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation and discovered that Rima, who I met there will be coming to the UK to speak at the annual Embrace ME meeting. My blog has been tweeted by Embrace ME - thanks to Su and Stephen there.

No reply yet from Barack Obama or William Hague - they are probably chatting about my email from yesterday. Still hopeful.

Am talking to another church in our diocese tomorrow which may be interested in Kairos - it will be super if we can create a diocese network - just a line between two points at the moment. 

My article on house rebuilding has appeared on the Holy Land Trust website, so can now claim to be a journalist!

Advocacy

I am starting to think about Advocacy and how to help the Palestinians when I come home. There is no point in coming here and listening to the stories if we do not act on them and advocate for change. 

Tracy and Hannah went to an Open Doors event on Saturday. This included Utube video of Stephen Rand talking about advocacy. I listened to this and found it really useful.

His definition of advocacy was :"Speaking to the powerful on behalf of the powerless”

Well I took this to heart and wrote to Phillip Lee, our local MP, William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, Barack Obama (I guess you know who he is), and the Jerusalem correspondent for the BBC, Yolande Knell. I wrote to them about Wafaa and Abed and the demolition order on their house in Battir.

Stephen Rand also said that the first thing is prayer - no one is more powerful than God! 

Tracy and I have been reading Psalm 91, in which it says:-

The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”

Prayer takes on a new urgency when it involves demolition of your home. Please pray for Wafaa and Abed and their family. 

Wonderful meal and chance to hear stories

Yesterday evening we joined Marwan and his family for a delicious meal. It was lovely to meet the family. 

Marwan told us some stories. 

Story One: The peaceful demonstration

One day Marwan was leading a regular protest and encountered the usual roadblock and heavy army presence. The Overall Area Commander was there and they recognised each other. The Area Commander asked Marwan what they wanted. Marwan said they just wanted to proceed to the wall and to hold a quiet protest. He agreed that no stones would be thrown in return for no tear gas and rubber bullets. They agreed, the barrier was removed and the protest proceeded. All was peaceful and the protesters returned home. No stones, no tear gas and no rubber bullets.

The next time the protesters came, the Area Commander was not there. Marwan asked where he was. He was told "you will never see him here again". 

Story Two: Talking to soldiers

Marwan tells us that he can sense when he meets "a good soldier". On this occasion, the soldier had his rifle by his side, not as usually held in direct confrontation. They got into conversation. Marwan told the soldier about the village from which his father and family were evicted. The soldier told Marwan that he now lived in the same village. Marwan told the soldier that he longed to see the village  and the soldier offered to take Marwan to show him. Marwan was very wary about what people would say if he was seen travelling and talking alone with a soldier. He asked the soldier if he would do this "in plain clothes". At this point the soldier's commander grabbed him by his uniform and dragged him back behind the line. The conversation was ended.

My conclusion: There are some good people among the Israeli soldiers. However, any show of kindness or compassion attracts strong disapproval by their peers. Similarly, Palestinians have to consider being treated as a collaborator if they are seen to be too close to the soldiers.    

Sad news yesterday evening

This is Wafaa and Abed, with their four sons, at the reopening of their house. On 11th February, I wrote about the happy ceremony when they were handed the keys of their new house, which had been rebuilt by the Holy Land Trust and the Amos Trust.

The house had been destroyed by Israeli bulldozers in 2002, just one month after it had been completed. The whole community turned out to share the joy.

Yesterday they received another demolition order. They have one month to appeal to the court before the bulldozer arrives again. 

They have nothing to deserve this treatment. It is inhuman and heartless, an act designed purely to maintain fear of the occupying force. This attack on rural villagers who have no part in the conflict needs to be stopped. 

I feel the sense of frustration here that no-one in the world listens to the cry of the Palestinians. The right of the Jews to live in Israel, does not give them the right to terrorise a nation just because they happened to be living here when they arrived. 

Have today written to Dr Phillip Lee, my Member of Parliament, and Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Middle East Council.

Visit to Herodian

This strange bump on the landscape is Herodian. It is situated about 5 miles south of Bethlehem. We visited it today. 

Perched high on this hill is Herod's palace. It was a magnificent place. On top of the hill was the mountain palace-fortress.

Lower down the hill you can see the Royal Theater. Herod's magnificent Royal Chamber is being restored. The archaeologist responsible for all the work here, Ehud Netzer, sadly died in a fall close to the site of Herod's tomb in 2010.

Between the fortress and the theatre, there is a labyrinth of passages and very steep stairs. These included four massive cisterns holding water for the palace. 

On the lower ground around the base of the mound, there was a more extensive palace, with baths, pools and other entertainments.

Herod's tomb is still being excavated. This is a reconstruction of what the tomb looked like. The tomb lies alongside the theatre on the middle slopes and would have been an impressive monument seen from miles away. 

I can see Herodian from Odette's apartment in Bethlehem and, on a good day, you can see the Dead Sea from Herodian. Quite a monument. 

Water - trying to understand

Today I am continuing my series of posts on significant issues for the West Bank. I am drawing on an excellent report written by Elizabeth Koek published by Al Haq in 2013 and titled "Water for one people only".

I visited Al-Haq in my first week here and was most impressed. The Al-Haz website says: "Al-Haq documents violations of the individual and collective rights of Palestinians in the OPT, irrespective of the identity of the perpetrator, and seeks to end such breaches by way of advocacy before national and international mechanisms and by holding the violators accountable." 

The report points out that, contrary to common belief, there is not an overall water shortage in Israel and the West Bank. The issue is that Israel systematically controls the water resources in the West Bank and limits the supply to Palestinians.

In 1967, Israel placed all Palestinian water infrastructure under military control, and in 1982   it was sold to the National Israel Water Company Mekorot (for 1 Shekel). 

There are three main sources of water in Israel/Palestine - the mountain aquifers, the Jordan valley and the Coastal aquifer under Gaza. 

Israel currently extracts 89% of the water from the mountain aquifers for Israel's use. It has refused to issue permits for any Palestinian water infrastructure and destroys Palestinian infrastructure, For example,  in 2011, Israel demolished 89 Palestinian water-related structures. The settlers do not require permits and have unlimited water supplies, consuming, on average, 300 litres per person per day, compared with 70 litres per Palestinian per day in the West Bank. 

Israel extracts around half of the water available in the River Jordan, leading to a drop in the level of the Dead Sea. Palestinians living along in the Jordan Valley are not allowed access to the River Jordan, and are forced to buy water from tankers at 8 times the rate paid by Israelis. Meanwhile the extensive agriculture surrounding the settlements in the Jordan have plentiful water. 

Both Israel and Gaza extract water from the coastal aquifer under Gaza. The result is over-extraction and dangerous seepage of seawater and sewage into the water supply. 

The Palestinian Authority has to buy 50% of the water required for the West Bank from Mekorot, at much higher prices than charged to Israelis. In the summer, Israel reduces the amount of water available to the Palestinians - the Israeli supply is not affected.

Al Haq concludes that Israel has breached International Humanitarian Law by extensively and unlawfully appropriating Palestinian water resources.   

The best pizza ever

Ayed made the best pizza ever for dinner this evening. 

Trying to understand - 3 posts

The following three posts are aimed at providing my readers with some explanation of the complicated issues I have encountered. My knowledge is still limited, but growing, and I try to write a simplified account of things that are covered in great depth by many bodies. 

If there is an issue which interests you, or puzzles you, then either make a comment on the blog, or send me a message and I will try to investigate and report on it. 

This land - trying to understand

Ali Saleem Mousa

One of the strong recurring themes in conversations with Palestinians during my stay here has been "the land".

Ali Saleem Mousa sat overlooking what remains of his stony corner of Al Khader, with a 24 foot wall cutting him off from his crops, a military post built next to his house and soldiers from a watchtower looking on. His house has been demolished 6 times, just because it is there. The ground is rocky and dry, making cultivation hard work. He has to buy all his water from a tanker. He has to travel one hour by donkey to tend his crops which are just in front of the house. 

Yet he says "I am ready to pay my life for my land". He can name the 11 generations of his family who have lived in this place. He is one of the people I will always remember when I return home. 

After 65 years, many Palestinians still have the front door key of their house, left behind in 1948 and probably demolished long ago. They still dream of returning to their land. They can name all the families who lived in their village. 

Ayed, with whom I am living, tells me that his grandfather was a sheik, a respected landowner with cows and sheep and crops. The family all lived in the same village. The trauma of being removed from the land and having to become a labourer with total loss of pride and self-respect still hangs over the family - they have been dishonoured. 

I was told that local sizeable town of Al Khader mainly comprises just six families. This illustrates how close families are here - they live and work and talk together. They retell their story and all know it. They remember when they lived on the land, and long to return to that life.

The bedouin I met, Abu Al Abed, lived for 13 years on his own in the desert. For me it was barren, dry, rocky and hostile. Yet watching him I learned much. All his family were there together, greeting the visitors and having their photo taken. He knew everyone and all the camels too. He was alive in this land and took a joy in showing us his desert, leaping across the rocks and lighting a fire to make a cup of tea. When I arrived I thought he had very little, when I left I knew he had a great deal that we, in western civilised life, have lost. 

At the Tent of Nations, I met Daher and Daoud Nassar. These Christian Palestinians show tremendous courage and astuteness in defending their right to farm their hilltop despite all the obstacles they face, physical and legal, Their love for the land (and for people) shines through and they were a joy to meet.   

I have found Palestinians to be a proud, independent people. They are family-based and self-sufficient. They are not greedy - most of them I have met just want to live in peace and farm their land. They share a deep sense of injustice - Britain took the lead in giving away this land, in total ignorance of, or disrespect for, the Palestinians. Noone can deny the right of the Jews to live in this land. But also none should deny the Palestinians the same rights.  

It worries me that the younger "urban" palestinian appears different. He has no memory of his families' land, or of anyone outside the family showing respect. Being proud, he expects to keep the family, yet jobs are scarce and some have to work in the settlements which they hate. Many of the jobs available to Palestinians are low grade and poorly paid. It is difficult to retain your moral stance and yet feed the family. Their experience of Jews is restricted to soldiers and settlers and he has been traumatised by their treatment. It will not get easier to make peace as this generation, which lives with injustice every day, grows older. 

Peace means justice, and only justice will bring peace.

The negotiating skills of the Palestinians have been criticised, whereas the Jewish lobby is unrivalled in skill and rhetoric. I can begin to understand as I see in the Palestinians a rural-based community, tribal and family orientated, with limited experience of travel. They have not been well prepared to advocate on the world stage. I admire and support the efforts of those in Palestine, such as the Holy Land Trust, who seek to empower senior Palestinians to redress the balance and to defend the case of the Palestinian people.   

Movement restrictions - trying to understand

Road blocked at the Tent of Nations

There are three access roads to Nahalin, in the valley south west of Bethlehem and surrounded by hilltop settlements. This is one of the access roads, which has been arbitrarily blocked by large stones by Israel. This means that people going to work and vehicles carrying fruits and vegetables have to be unloaded on one side of the barrier and picked up on the other. In the afternoon, there are groups of people sitting here waiting for a car to come out from the village to pick them up. 

Strangely, a pair of gates has been installed in the past few weeks. Part of the ongoing story of unpredictable closures.

Movement of Palestinians is restricted by a complex structure of physical and administrative barriers. Checkpoints, roadblock and the Wall form the physical barriers. The administrative barriers prohibit movement on the basis of ethnic group, age and religion. They define roads on which Palestinians may not drive - Palestinian cars have different registration plates to Israeli cars. Permits are required for Palestinians with West bank Identity Cards (Green cards) to enter Israel. Even those with permits can be denied access for security reasons, such as a Jewish holiday. Farmers who have been cut off from their land by the building of the Wall have access via an Agricultural Gate, but need to prove ownership of the land, and payment of taxes to get a permit. 

One of the big issues is that many farmer do not have formal ownership papers which precisely describe the lands (rather than as "twenty five trees"), and did not pay taxes in the Ottoman era, so this is used as an administrative obstacle to prevent them tending the land. If they do not tend the land for 3 years, it is forfeit to the (Israeli) state. So movement restrictions are associated with the land grab as well. 

There are only 6 remaining access roads into the Jordan Valley and four of these have checkpoints. Palestinians to not have access to most of this area.

There are 542 road obstacles in the West Bank - 61 checkpoints, 25 partial checkpoints, and 423 physical barriers. The Wall has further cut roads and communities.

Every town in the West Bank has a set of gates on all access roads. If there is a security issue, all these gates can be closed within 15 minutes, shutting down all movements between towns in the West Bank. 

The restrictions taken together mean that, even if there is a route between centres, it can take 2-5 times as long to travel Palestinian style, compares with an Israeli vehicle. The "Israeli only" roads form a network which means that travel by palestinian vehicle is more and more limited. 

The family I stay with have not been to Jerusalem (5 miles away) for 14 years and have never seen the sea on the West Coast. They are also not allowed to travel to the Dead Sea, or to the tourist areas on the gulf (i.e. Eilat) 

Area C - Trying to understand

This week I am in the office and so have an opportunity to study some of the complicated aspects of the Occupied Palestinian Territories(OPT).

Area C - shaded blue area

Today I am dealing with the division of the West bank into three areas - Areas A, B and C. Area C is completely under Israeli control - what does that mean?

I am using fact from a UN OCHA fact sheet dated January 2013.

More than 60% of the West bank is designated Area C. Around 150,000 Palestinians live in this mostly rural area. 70% of Area C has been allocated to Israeli settlements (shown in light blue on the map), which are illegal under International Law. Palestinian construction is restricted on 29%, leaving just 1% of Area C where palestinians are allowed development. 

Palestinians houses that have been designed as Area C (after construction) are subject to arbitrary demolition, for security reasons. Palestinians are required to get permits to build and no permits have been issued, so the properties are deemed illegal. 

70% of the Palestinian communities in the West Bank have no access to the water supply and so rely on water brought by tanker at exorbitant rates charged by the Israelis, who have taken control of all water supply in the West Bank. Israeli settlements have unlimited supplies of water. 

In the map shown, the black line is the route of the wall. Often this is well inside the Green Line, which is the Internationally recognised boundary of Palestine, established in 1967. The lighter blue areas are allocated to settlements, the dark blue to Palestinians. The dark bank running down the eastern side of the country is the fertile Jordan valley. 94% of the Jordan Valley is off-limits to Palestinians, being closed military areas, or nature reserves. 

Much of Israel's produce is grown in this area. If you would like to know more about why there is a campaign to boycott Israeli dates grown in the Jordan Valley within the OPT - click here.

Sunday in Jerusalem

This was my third visit to the East Jerusalem Baptist Church and I feel very much at home there. The service included communion in the free church style which I used to experience before coming to St Johns. 

After the service we all sat in a circle and shared some food. I learned that registrations for the Christ at the Checkpoint Conference have exceeded expectations with over 300 internationals and that all the local hotels are now full - great for Bethlehem. 

I also learned that the 16 evangelical churches in the area have not been recognised for conducting marriages and other services. Bishara Awad told us that it has been agreed the they will come under the auspices of the Anglican Church!

There are oranges growing in the grounds of the Church and I was told that they are only suitable for making marmalade. I am really missing marmalade and so have the ladies of the Church on the lookout for homemade marmalade. 

Back home for family lunch. One of the children (aged 5) is quite ill and has been to the hospital this morning. Seems to be a chest infection. Poor her.