Monday, March 5, 2018
View from the hostel
Today we woke up in Tel Aviv, on the beach. I am bummed that we didn’t get to spend more time there, the hostel was right on the beach and so lovely! The streets in Tel Aviv – even the walk by the ocean – was completely clean. There was no litter, not even cigarette butts, and the sand was groomed. After a pancake breakfast at the hostel, we drove on to Bethlehem.
We went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Museum, for the mid-day, and then on to meet with a Palestinian activist, Dr. Mazig Qumsiyeh.
Yad Vashem, in summary, was a very terrible experience. But, not in any kind of colloquial use of the word. It was terrible because of the reality and honesty. When we learn about the Holocaust in school, it’s summarized. We talk about the US experience. Yad Vashem tells the story from the Jewish perspective. It tells everything. It tells the details, firsthand experiences, videos, diaries, poetry, art, and testimonials. The details are what make the museum terrible. And it’s everything, including what’s not taught in school: individual ghettos and what happened, the Jewish resistance, the Vatican’s complacency, the complacency of many countries including the US who turned away Jewish refugees and forced them to return to their home countries where many ended up being slaughtered. It is hard to walk through the museum without crying, feeling overwhelmed, angry, sad, frustrated, disheartened, and more.
As you walk through the museum, you start by learning about Europe before: the history and development of antisemitism; you learn about the propaganda such as children’s games and schools, the new money created which declared Jews to be the cause of disfunction in Germany; and the political groundwork that was lain through the elections of many public officials (not just Hitler) and the events leading up to the Reich. From there the museum goes into the discrimination of the Jews through social demonstrations and actions such as boycotting Jewish businesses, graffiti, and signs that were posted like advertisements. As antisemitism grew, it spread throughout Europe so that few countries were a haven even before the war began. Eventually, Germany was able to start enacting laws that forbade interracial marriages with Jews, removed the right for Jewish women to work, removed Jewish voting rights, eliminated their opportunities for education, and more.
Very little in the museum itself was about “The Final Solution” (concentration camps, etc.). Even though most of US history talks about this part of Hitler’s plan, it was only a very small phase of his political goal – however obviously most memorable and horrifying.
The museum includes dozens of memorials, in many different forms – whether gardens, walkways, benches, or more. However, the most famous are the Hall of Names, Hall of Remembrance, and the Children’s Memorial. The entire museum ended with a sense of sanctuary. The purpose of the Zionist movement, and thus the formation of the Israeli state, was to provide shelter to a discriminated people and it truly took hold due to Hitler’s reign. The museum ends with an open view of the cascading Israeli territory followed by walks through beautiful donated gardens. However, as I walked through the museum, I couldn’t help but notice the parallels with the Israeli treatment of Palestinians.
After finishing our visit at Yad Vashem, we moved onto the hotel and then the Palestine Museum of Natural History in Bethlehem. The head of the museum is Dr. Mazin Qumsiyen, published author, Palestinian native, and former professor at both Duke and Yale before returning to Palestine to work at Bethlehem University. He is also a well-known Palestinian activist. The work of the museum is to educate children and youth about permaculture and hydroponics as well as teach them about sustainable ways to live. Since Israel controls all resources for Palestine (water, food, electricity, etc.), Palestinians must find ways to conserve water and find sustainable ways to care for themselves. The research the museum does is mostly founded on the ways that the Israeli colonization has impacted the environment: the walls between territories, rerouting water, settlement/colony development, and industries built within Palestine to support Israelis.
Dr. Qumsiyeh spent about half of the time with us talking about the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Throughout my research and education, although I may understand it now, there’s nothing quite like being educated through first hand accounts.
By trade, Dr. Qumsiyeh was a doctor. He believes that any problem can be looked at as a diagnosis. In order to solve a problem, you must first know what it is. He used the example of someone with cancer. If you hear the symptoms and treat only the symptoms of cancer (such as headaches, anemia, digestion, etc.) you won’t solve the problem or eradicate the illness. However, if you can recognize the cause then you can successfully begin to treat the problem. The problem thus is not with Israel, the wall, or even Zionism, the problem is colonialism. Before 1897, only 3 percent of Palestine was Jewish. But the land was fully populated, unlike the Zionist propaganda: “We are a people without a land, they are a land without a people.”
Over time, 538 Palestinian cities were destroyed or evacuated, converting 78% of the land forcefully to Israeli territory. 2/3 of the Palestinian population was displaced in order to erect 230 colonies (or as Israelis put it, settlements).
According to Dr. Qumsiyeh, there are three possible outcomes to colonialism:
Colonizers are removed (ex. Algeria)
Genocide to eradicate natives (ex. Australia and the US)
Colonizers and natives live together in peace (ex. Much of Latin America)
Most Palestinians believe that the third choice is a viable option, however, the observation is that the Israeli government is not willing to “sacrifice” their vision. Thus, despite many peace talks and agreements, the West Bank (declared by the UN to be Palestinian territory) now has more Israeli Jews per Kilometer than Israel proper. There are 150,000 Jewish settlers in Bethlehem alone. Across Palestinian territories, Palestinians own 8.3% of the land, that percent is lower than South Africans during Apartheid.
As Israel and Palestinians see it, Palestinians simply continuing to live in Palestinian territory is a form of resistance. Through choosing to remain on the land despite all that Israel had put them through – controlling their water, walling them into their cities, removing their citizenship, imposing travel restrictions, and more – Palestinians are acting against Israeli wishes and fighting for their lives and homes.
Today was a heavy day overall. By learning about the tragedies that befell the Jews in full depth and then learning about the realities of the Palestinian life, my brain is very heavy but so is my heart. I am so grateful for this experience and everyone I have had the privilege to meet and spend time with. If you would like to learn more about Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh or how to support Palestinians from afar, visit his website: http://qumsiyeh.org/ If you would like to learn more about the Palestinian Museum of Natural History, visit: https://www.palestinenature.org/
~ Monica Shaffer
