What stands out in my memory, months after coming home, is meeting local families, especially those in the West Bank. One of my most profound memories was from our visit to the Al-Arroub refugee camp outside of Hebron in the West Bank. At the camp, small groups of delegates were introduced to families who lived there, and shared dinner with them. The family I visited lived in a small home with four generations living under one roof. The eldest member of the family was a lady who was eight years old during the Nakba (the ‘catastrophe’—the time when thousands of Palestinians were expelled from, and dispossessed of, their homes). She was originally from a Mediterranean coast town on the other side of the country. Her family was one of many who were forced to leave during the Nakba. Her entire family travelled across the country to Al-Arroub and she has lived in the Al-Arroub camp since then.
During our visit, I spoke with the daughter-in-law of our host. She asked where I was from, and when I said that I was from Toronto, she got very excited. She told me that her brother had immigrated to Toronto ten years ago, and that she hasn’t been able to visit him, as it is difficult for residents of refugee camps to travel abroad. This stands out in my memory, as I never imagined that just being from Toronto, and representing that huge city would mean so much to a person. She went on to tell me all about where he worked and lived, and I listened, amazed that this coincidence of my hometown could create such a deep bond between this woman and myself.
If there is one symbol for the challenges of this region that stands out in my mind, it is the key. The key is a symbol of hope for the Palestinians, as it represents the return home. Many of the people who were displaced in the 1948 Nakba still have the keys to their homes. Many Palestinians, like the lady I met in Al-Arroub, had been told that their town had to be cleared for security reasons, and that they could return in two weeks. When they did go back after two weeks, it was to find their homes occupied by new ‘owners’. They were forced to give up on their homes, so were displaced internally or forced to move to a neighbouring country.
The conference was sponsored by an organization called Sabeel, and this was the fourth year that it has run. Sabeel is an ecumenical grassroots liberation theology movement working among Palestinian Christians. Sabeel is an Arabic word meaning “the way” or a “channel of life-giving water.”
Sabeel is a Palestinian Christian organization, but still we had opportunities to meet with four Israeli activist groups during the conference: Rabbis for Human Rights, B’Tselem (The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories), Women in Black, and The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD). These groups, especially, were able to share the other side of this conflict: the side of the Israeli people. Representatives from Rabbis for Human Rights were particularly insightful. We also met with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Jerusalem. OCHA was able to present the conflict from an international and external standpoint, which was very helpful to our understanding of the issues at hand.
The focus of this year’s conference was on Palestinian Christians and the issues that they are facing. We were reminded that Palestinian Christians were the first Christians, as they lived in the area where Jesus was born and lived during his teaching. In 1950, 15% of the population in Israel-Palestine was Christian. Now, Christians represent less than 1%. This decline in numbers (largely due to mass emigration) is the biggest problem for Christian communities in Israel-Palestine. A large proportion of the large number of Christians who emigrate are young professionals. So, not only is the community losing its newly educated population, but it is also losing the next generation. If the pattern continues, it won’t be very long until there will no longer be any Christians living in the Holy Lands.
The challenges encountered by the Palestinian Christians are rooted in a complicated history. Before World War I, Historical Palestine was controlled by the Ottoman Empire. After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, England received the mandate of Palestine, which was to monitor the area until it was ready for independent democratic rule. Mandate Palestine remained in British hands until after World War II, when the United Nations passed Resolution 181, or the Partition Plan. The Partition Plan divided Mandate Palestine into two parts: 56% for a Jewish state and 44% for the native Palestinians. This initiated the Israeli War of Independence, or the Palestinian Nakba. At the end of this war, Israel controlled 78% of Mandate Palestine, 700 000 to 900 000 Palestinians had become refugees and hundreds of Palestinian communities were destroyed. The Occupation of Palestinian territories began in 1967 with the Six Day War, during which Israel annexed East Jerusalem and took military control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
I learned many things from the Sabeel Conference. First of all, I learned that even the most oppressed people could show overwhelming generosity to complete strangers. In every single family home we visited, and in every hotel or convent where we stayed, our group was welcomed as though we were long lost relatives.
Secondly, even when our western media sources aren’t reporting on any conflicts, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t happening. As aware as I am of current events, I knew very little about the issues in Israel-Palestine before my trip, other than the basic history. Now, I am always aware that things are happening in this troubled region. It is important to remember that the issues in Israel-Palestine affect people and those people do not fit into one classification. Palestinians are individuals who are deeply affected by a conflict that is too often over-simplified by the Western media.
Finally, it seems that most of the international community really doesn’t understand what is happening in Israel-Palestine. In order to help with the situation, people need to seriously invest in learning about what is really happening. Unfortunately we can’t rely on the commercial media to teach what we need to know. In order to understand the conflict in Israel-Palestine, we need to learn a lot more about the history and the current politics of the area. It sometimes seems as if the media, and/ or interest groups, and/or governments want people to believe that the issues are too complex to be dealt with by anyone who disagrees with their perspective. The issues are complicated, but they can be understood. There are reliable sources of information—they just need to be found, and shared, to counter the biases of those who would prefer a misinformed or uninformed public.
Before my trip, I had no idea about the daily suffering endured by the Palestinian people. Throughout the West Bank there are security checkpoints, which Palestinians have to pass through while travelling. The checkpoints are strategically located so you cannot travel from any major city to any other, without passing through at least one. There are also checkpoints that exist inside cities, such as Hebron, where we passed through five different checkpoints while walking through the city. This is the reality of the situation in Israel-Palestine, and the resiliency of the Christians living in Israel-Palestine. No matter what challenges are put in front of them, the Christians of Palestine do not give up hope.
During the conference, we were asked how we would explain what we saw and how we felt during our two weeks in Israel-Palestine. At this, we all went silent until one girl said, “Come see it for yourself. There are no words.”
I have tried to share my experiences here, but these are only words. It is true: there is nothing quite like the experience of being in Israel-Palestine. For those who can’t go to see for themselves, I encourage you to listen to people who have been there, read the reports that our church produces, and pray for peace.
For further information about the issues raised in this story, there is an excellent resource available through The Book Room: What is Palestine-Israel? Answers to Common Questions, by Sonia K. Weaver. The book was commissioned by the Mennonite Central Committee, and is recommended by the PCC Justice Ministries Department.
