March 12, 2018

We stayed with Palestinian families over Sunday night (3/11) in Zababdeh, a village in the northern part of the West Bank. I had the opportunity to stay with a wonderful woman named Amna. She lives very simply: her husband has died and she is a cashier. She is wonderful and giving, happy to share everything she had. We stayed up until 11 PM talking to her and her son, Feras. It took a while to convey that although we are American we don’t like Trump.

Hanging in a shop window in Palestine, even here they know how inaccurate and foolish FOX News is! Also, this is made in Minneapolis!! (sorry to anyone who likes FOX)

Wherever we go, the second question after “where are you from?” and the answer given is “America,” any Palestinian promptly asks, “do you like Trump?” If you say “yes” I have no doubt you wouldn’t be treated with kindness. However, as we say an emphatic “no,” we are immediately welcomed into conversation and people are very nice. Anyway, after being sure she knew we didn’t like Trump we had a very engaging conversation about politics in the US and Israel. It was a great evening and subsequent morning.

We arrived very late to our homestays because there was a clash in Ramallah, where we were in the afternoon that day. Instead of being able to travel directly through the city and onto Zababdeh, we had to go around to a different gate – along with everyone else, during rush hour. If you’d like to read an accurate article about the clash, visit Arab News. If you read the Israeli Times (which comes up when you try to google Ramallah clash) you will get a very inaccurate account of the event. If you read both articles, you’ll get a good example of Israeli propaganda and media.
Yet again, it was a hard day, Monday. We went to OCHA in the morning to learn about Humanitarian work by the UN for Palestine. And in the afternoon we visited the Defense for Children International – Palestine.

This is a graphic often seen in Palestine and in any refugee camps run by the UN. You can also find it online.

During the talk at OCHA (Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) the reality of Gaza became clear – it is exactly an open air prison. There is no more clean drinking water. There is not enough food. You can’t get quality medical care. You can’t leave. There is a population of two million people in a space of only 365 square kilometers. This is about 6 km wide and the length of a marathon long. As we learned about the history of Gaza it became clear that Israel is trying to do the same to the West Bank. They start with a small permit system. Then it grows and becomes more rigid and challenging. Then trade is restricted. Then Israel starts annexing the land to make it smaller. And the walls go up. And more. The realization brought me to tears.

As if that wasn’t enough, we then visited the Defense for Children International – Palestine. This was a presentation of the egregious actions committed against Palestinian children daily.

I feel this is an important prayer for all of us, I found it in a church we visited in the morning.

In 2017 there was an average of 310 children in prison each month. There is no other quantitative data. About 60% of Palestinian males have spent time in Israeli prison. Our speaker told us about everything. Most children are arrested between the hours of midnight and 5 am to promote a sense of fear. What typically happens is that the child wakes up to a unit of armed Israeli soldiers surrounding their bed with their parents forced in a corner. This promotes fear in two ways: one, because they learn that their home isn’t safe; two, because they learn that their parents can’t protect them. Once a child (child refers to boys ages 12-17) is arrested they are dragged out of their house (in their pajamas, blindfolded, and with their hands plastic tied behind their backs) and brought into a military vehicle where 72% of children report being abused in every way. Since the arrests are committed at night the child is dragged around to various military bases until the interrogator is ready – from the Israeli police department. Every time a child enters a base, they are strip searched and harassed. During this time (and the subsequent investigation) children are denied access to food, water, and toilets. Then the interrogation, and I don’t feel the need to elaborate. I imagine you can fill in the blanks from what I’ve described so far. Children serve anywhere from 3-12 months sentence in addition to a fine and a “parole” system. The Israeli military court has a 99.7% conviction rate. They illegally hold and abuse children until they get a confession. No exception.

Throughout this hour long presentation, I randomly pictured all of the guides we had met over the course of our travels so far, all of whom had been arrested at least once. Our primary guide was arrested twice, once at 14 and again at 16. I brought this up to him after the speaker and he said his experience was worse. What is told in the presentation is the most common experience.
After all this, I felt hopeless. Not disbelieving in peace itself, but in humanity. The whole group tried to understand how someone could act this way. But I don’t think I’ll ever be able to find an answer or understand.

Knafeh stop in Huwara Village

The late afternoon had two incredible treats for us. One was a sweet shop! It was all cheeses covered in pastry dough, sugar, honey, etc. It was wonderful! But unfortunately gave me a stomach ache later, but still super worth it!

Next we went to the Jacob’s Well Church. This is the most accurate historical site in the Holy Land. Why? Because you can’t move a well. It was a very cool church for many reasons – first of all the well still works! It’s 40 meters deep and the water is delicious.

Jacob’s Well Church, Nablus

The other piece is the history of the church itself. The city of Nablus (where the church is) there is a lot of settler violence (settlers refer to Israelis moved into the occupied Palestinian territory in large developments (settlements) built by Israeli government). Settlers around Nablus are all Jewish Zionist. Thus they are often violent and aggressive to any Palestinians. In the last 10 years the Jacob’s Well Church has been attacked 15 times. The current priest has received four significant injuries during the attacks. The priest prior to him was murdered by settlers. The settlers who committed the crime were deemed unwell and not punished for their actions.

Overall the day ended well. Getting to meet Amna and the priest, seeing the faces of beautiful humans who will stay the course was what I needed. I think this is the summary of our pilgrimage: it is a beautiful country full of hope and immense sadness and injustice, but the people are resilient and inspiring.

~ Monica Shaffer