Off to school

Summer holidays are soon approaching for the students.

Last week, the town of Tulkarem proudly presented their annual graduation ceremonies at the local “kindergartens”. Preparations at some started as early as three months ago. The young ones will be off to big school in the New Year and looked very smart on the stage; it was evident by the performances that Education and gender equality is strongly encouraged. The children were dynamic, impressive and very confident on the stage.

As usual, the mothers were in full view to cheer their babies. However, I am happy to announce that many fathers arrived to show support as well. Hala Azoonee, the manager for public Education, also attended the ceremony. She thanked the parents and teachers for their hard work and interest during this very important stage in the children’s development.

Separation

Many people develop an opinion by their perceptions and misconstrued notions. These thoughts often influenced by feedings from propaganda and inflammatory reports continue to fester until it gives rise to provocation and eventually the proverbial wall.
However, in the case between the Jews and the Arabs, the separation that exists between them is not only proverbial; it is physical, emotional, and spiritual. A huge 9m high wall built in 2003 that is almost 70% complete separate Israelis from Palestinians. Initially the purpose was to prevent the Palestinians entry into Israel when the two nations were at war with each other during the time of the Intifada. The argument was that Arabs are terrorists and Israel should protect its citizens against terror attacks. Instead of building the wall along the agreed demarcations (known as the Green line), it now stands around 25% further into Palestinian territory. This means that a Palestinian requires a special permit to travel into territory owned by Palestine because it is under Israeli occupation and farmers cannot attend to their farms that Israel confiscated. A further implication is that Palestine is now dislocated from the rest of the world with little opportunity for trade, travel and infrastructural development since they are under Israeli control. Palestinians require permission from Israeli Authority for most transactions and are constantly under scrutiny. Their existence is falling more and more dependant on Israel. This situation is crippling the Palestinians who often state that they live in a prison.

Out on the Town

Be careful when you go out on the town in Jerusalem you might end up riding a camel…

The day before all this excitement , I visited the Garden Tomb where Jesus was buried. The beautiful landscaped Garden Tomb with flowers and areas for reading and prayer adds to its spiritual message. Many people touched by the experience often go into meditation. The next day my tourist experience became more adventurous when I continued on to the Mount of Olives where Jesus prayed and triumphantly entered Jerusalem on the donkey one week before Easter. The scripture according to Matthew 21:1-11 says people praised and worshipped Him and threw olive palms and cloaks at his feet. There is also a memorial of the Lords prayer written in several languages. This is proof that the word of God that unites humankind with one powerful prayer is alive all over the world.

My escapades continued when I had the opportunity to ride a camel and ended with song and dance in west Jerusalem and dinner with my friend Kathy. It was a lovely day.

From A to B

The public transport system operating in Tulkarm is pretty impressive especially since the occupation and the separation wall have made it difficult for most Palestinians to be financially independent. Many people use this method in the West Bank to get around.
They travel mainly by three modes of transport, by bus, serviş or taxi.
As usual, the bus is the most economical but also the slowest. Traveling around the West Bank by bus should cost no more than 13 NIS. Then there is the serviş. It is the most frequently used; it comfortably seats around seven people but we have to wait for it to fill before departure. Thankfully, the driver never overloads and everyone must buckle up before he drives off. It is normally well air-conditioned and very economical. I normally pay from Tulkarm to Nablus (45-minute trip) around 8.50 NIS. Approximately 22 NIS will bring me to Ramallah (1½ hour trip) while traveling to surrounding villages in the Tulkarm municipality can cost between 3 to 5 NIS. A word of caution though, for religious reasons men and women socialize completely separate from each other especially in the West Bank. Therefore, it is not preferred for men to sit next to women in the servis or bus, but sometimes this is unavoidable. The third and most expensive yet convenient option would be for me to travel by taxi. On occasion, I use a taxi depending on the distance; I usually pay anything from 10 to 50 NIS.
I have to admit the driver can sometimes be a risk taker because they often overtake at times that are potentially “life threatening”.
We mostly travel by servis, as this is a way to engage with the Israeli / Palestinian population and to show an international presence in the country. In this way, we often have opportunity to speak and learn from the locals.

Haifa

The EAPPI team visited Israel last week. We went to Haifa a beautiful city on the Mediterranean coastline to understand another perspective to the conflict. We met some interesting Israelis with very different views to what one would expect. The representatives came from organisations such as The Other Voice, New Profile, and Adalah. They are Israeli organisations who are actively involved in finding solutions to the conflict in the West Bank and assisting with the peace process on a grassroots level. Among other issues their focus is mainly on addressing the human rights of the Arab minority in Israel, transforming the militaristic aproach to a civic society in Israel and maintaining relationships with their neighbours in Gaza. It was positive to see that there are some groups in Israel who are working towards peace.

Militarism of Israel

Is Israel a State with a Military or a Military with a State?

This is the question...

The concern for some Israelis are not the messages in itself of pure propoganda in favour of the Israeli Military that is depicted in misleading advertisements but the impact that it has on the image of the Israelis as a nation. The underlying messages seem to express a clear militaristic tone that is taught to the Israeli community from as early as childhood and across all levels within the Israeli communities. On observation these messages seem to encourage unity and support to and for the Military while on the other hand seem to manipulate the Israeli mentality towards an aggression that will perpetuate the conflict. Many young people are noticing this and is opting out of serving in the military. The organisation, New Profile, is against Israeli youths having to report for military service against their will. A young person should report for military service by the age of eighteen and should register by the age of sixteen. Any attempt for exemption from this duty may result in a prison sentence of up to one year. On the contrary, having military service as part of your credentials will almost always gaurentee a status position with many advantages. This means that the option for equal opportunity and benefits within the labour market is not certain.

"The Other Voice" in Sderot

We visited the urban kibbutz, Sderot situated 3-5km away from the Gaza Strip. They promote a different social model of life - keeping their ideology and intimacy of the Jewish community within an urban environment.

Sderot was under constant attack during the Intifada of 2001 and the 2008 war on Gaza with between 10 - 60 rockets fired at the town every day. In the past an alarm would go off warning the residents that a rocket was fired, but this gave them only a 30 second headstart to get out of the line of fire. Off course they had no way of knowing where the town would be hit and stood no chance of hiding. The residents lived in fear day and night and reporting for duty at work and completing menial tasks became impossible because they were constantly worried about the safety of their families. As a result approximtely 20% of the population moved out of this town that was once vibrant and had good relations with the people of Gaza. The evidence of the war in this town is clearly visible. The bus shelters are built with protection and every house has a bomb shelter extended.
Some members of this community became tired of this war and raised "The Other Voice" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East and it was them that we visited a few days ago. Nomika and Eric, both residents of Sderot and founding members of The Other Voice, explained the traumatizing experiences that they suffered during the wars. She says that the town members underwent group counselling, but the war polluted every heart, soul and mind and definitely left the community emotionally wounded. They decided to reconnect with their neighbours and are trying to make contact in an attempt to show solidarity. However, reaching or entering Gaza at this time is impossible; the Strip is under complete closure and no one is allowed in or out because of the seige and blockade. The only way to talk with Palestinians who live there are by means of anonimous telephone conversations as they fear being labelled as collaborating with the enemy or traitors.

Nomika and Eric are ready to face social isolation for being empathetic to the "enemy" and for their candid opinions. They are willing to contribute their share towards a peaceful coexistance.

A Political Conversation

Team SA (Sonti, Albert and I) met in Ramallah with the Ambassador to South Africa , Dr Pikane in Israel-Palestine. He met us in his office with two of his Directors. This meeting, though thought provoking and informative soon became informal and conversational. We had an in-depth discussion about the occupied territories in the West Bank, The Settler invasion and the Deportation Order 1649 and its social, economic and political impact on the people. We openly shared our opinions and the message from him was clear: “We as South Africans should encourage a position of reconcilliation in Israel-Palestine.”
The discussions changed to the South African holiday, Freedom Day (27th April) and how it was celebrated in Ramallah. They mentioned that a few delegations visited the embassy and they celebrated in true South African style with a dinner party. The embassy is preparing for World Cup 2010 in Ramallah. Plans are underway to set up festivals where Palestinians can watch certain matches on big screens. This means that even though the Palestinian people will not have a team in action South Africa will bring the match to them. I hope that the conflict in the Middle East will settle in such a manner that soon young people will have an opportunity to display their talent to the world instead of them being disadvantaged by political indecision.