Some Reflections from a trip to Palestine (February 2013)
Some Reflections from a trip to Palestine (February 2013) - by Dale Hildebrand
Even after many trips to the West Bank, I still get confused by the labyrinth network of roads that crisscross the West Bank. Palestinian drivers are constantly calculating the fastest way to get from point A to point B. If they have Jerusalem license plates on their car, they can probably use a settler road, especially if they have some internationals like myself in the car.
But in the West Bank, travel is a constant game of unpredictability and risk. When my taxi driver tries to use a settlement road to take me from Bethlehem to the Tel Aviv airport, thereby saving a good hour or more, the soldier at the checkpoint bangs on his hood and motions him to a holding area. He groans as he shakes his head and pulls over. Today, he and I are lucky—after a check of his Jerusalem ID, we are on our way.
After several days of World Council of Churches meetings in Beit Jala, we take a field trip to the so-called “E1 corridor” area. It’s a strategic piece of land that connects East Jerusalem to the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim and the site that the Israeli government wants to turn into more settlements. Last December, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced plans to add 3,000 settlement units in E1. Combined with Ma’ale Adumim and Area C land already controlled by the Israelis, the E1 plans would sever the West Bank in half. Palestinians see it as the death knell for a Palestinian state.
In fact, while Netanyahu frames E1 settlement plans in the future, much of the infrastructure for settlements here is already in place. Sewer, electricity and water lines are already laid down. As with almost all settlement building, the international community makes strong pronouncements and warnings (except Canada, which timidly responded to the E1 announcement by saying that “all unilateral actions are unhelpful to the peace process”) but then takes no action when construction starts.
I was struck during the brief time I had in the West Bank at how rapidly Israel is consolidating its annexation of Palestinian land. Checkpoints that used to be a few cement blocks and a temporary structure are now permanent full blown terminals. It’s no wonder Palestinians are at their wits end when it comes to the future. One state? Two states? Most say that the moment for a two-state solution is already past. A few say, “now or never” but when you press them at all, they say “now” was a year ago.
The one strategy of resistance that does spark some hope is the BDS movement. Palestinians see it as a last ditch attempt to stop the relentless expansion of settlements that is isolating them into islands surrounded by Israeli controlled territory. It is gathering momentum from many sides and the recent European moves to crack down on settlement goods are seen as a faint glimmer of hope. In fact, as our bus rolls through the industrial zone of Maale Adumim, we are told that 10 – 15% of the factories there have either closed down or moved to Israel as a result of boycott and related actions. It’s difficult to verify but if true, it would indicate that the boycott movement is far more than “symbolic” as dismissed by some of its opponents.
Still, overall the Palestinian mood is characterized by “despair, powerlessness, and frustration” as Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan described it in his opening reflections of our WCC meeting. “The Arab Spring feels more like the Arab winter for Palestinians,” he remarked. The settlement train has to be stopped before it can be turned back. Right now, it is still charging full speed through the West Bank on tracks laid down by the Israeli government.
From another point of view, Sergio Yahni, an Israeli opposed to the occupation tells us that as it was conceived, Zionism has failed. He says that the destruction of Palestinian identity and nationhood was inherent in Zionism right from the beginning. “The biggest problem is that Palestinians refused to disappear, as individuals, as a community, as a culture. Palestinians are therefore a permanent ethnic threat to Zionism.” It is not the suicide bomber that most threatens the Zionist project, he said, but the birth of a Palestinian child. But what kind of life will that child be able to live? What human rights will be available to that child?
Dale Hildebrand
Even after many trips to the West Bank, I still get confused by the labyrinth network of roads that crisscross the West Bank. Palestinian drivers are constantly calculating the fastest way to get from point A to point B. If they have Jerusalem license plates on their car, they can probably use a settler road, especially if they have some internationals like myself in the car.
But in the West Bank, travel is a constant game of unpredictability and risk. When my taxi driver tries to use a settlement road to take me from Bethlehem to the Tel Aviv airport, thereby saving a good hour or more, the soldier at the checkpoint bangs on his hood and motions him to a holding area. He groans as he shakes his head and pulls over. Today, he and I are lucky—after a check of his Jerusalem ID, we are on our way.
After several days of World Council of Churches meetings in Beit Jala, we take a field trip to the so-called “E1 corridor” area. It’s a strategic piece of land that connects East Jerusalem to the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim and the site that the Israeli government wants to turn into more settlements. Last December, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced plans to add 3,000 settlement units in E1. Combined with Ma’ale Adumim and Area C land already controlled by the Israelis, the E1 plans would sever the West Bank in half. Palestinians see it as the death knell for a Palestinian state.
In fact, while Netanyahu frames E1 settlement plans in the future, much of the infrastructure for settlements here is already in place. Sewer, electricity and water lines are already laid down. As with almost all settlement building, the international community makes strong pronouncements and warnings (except Canada, which timidly responded to the E1 announcement by saying that “all unilateral actions are unhelpful to the peace process”) but then takes no action when construction starts.
I was struck during the brief time I had in the West Bank at how rapidly Israel is consolidating its annexation of Palestinian land. Checkpoints that used to be a few cement blocks and a temporary structure are now permanent full blown terminals. It’s no wonder Palestinians are at their wits end when it comes to the future. One state? Two states? Most say that the moment for a two-state solution is already past. A few say, “now or never” but when you press them at all, they say “now” was a year ago.
The one strategy of resistance that does spark some hope is the BDS movement. Palestinians see it as a last ditch attempt to stop the relentless expansion of settlements that is isolating them into islands surrounded by Israeli controlled territory. It is gathering momentum from many sides and the recent European moves to crack down on settlement goods are seen as a faint glimmer of hope. In fact, as our bus rolls through the industrial zone of Maale Adumim, we are told that 10 – 15% of the factories there have either closed down or moved to Israel as a result of boycott and related actions. It’s difficult to verify but if true, it would indicate that the boycott movement is far more than “symbolic” as dismissed by some of its opponents.
Still, overall the Palestinian mood is characterized by “despair, powerlessness, and frustration” as Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan described it in his opening reflections of our WCC meeting. “The Arab Spring feels more like the Arab winter for Palestinians,” he remarked. The settlement train has to be stopped before it can be turned back. Right now, it is still charging full speed through the West Bank on tracks laid down by the Israeli government.
From another point of view, Sergio Yahni, an Israeli opposed to the occupation tells us that as it was conceived, Zionism has failed. He says that the destruction of Palestinian identity and nationhood was inherent in Zionism right from the beginning. “The biggest problem is that Palestinians refused to disappear, as individuals, as a community, as a culture. Palestinians are therefore a permanent ethnic threat to Zionism.” It is not the suicide bomber that most threatens the Zionist project, he said, but the birth of a Palestinian child. But what kind of life will that child be able to live? What human rights will be available to that child?
Dale Hildebrand