My quiet day ended and the day is only now finally quiet again.
First, we had two young Palestinian men come to our door, asking for help to get out of the country and to any safe country in the world. One inquired about asylum possibilities in Europe and I plan to follow up with him this week to explain to him the basis of asylum and things he should know.
Next, we got a call from our neighbour that she'd just received a call about a problem at one of the checkpoints near the Ibrahimi Mosque and could we go and take a look. She told us that men were being detained longer than usual and being beaten. Three of us headed out but found nothing when we got to the checkpoint. We remained in the area for a little while, before heading back to the apt. On our way back a police jeep pulled up next to us and asked one of the men, an Italian with Operation Dove (www.operationdove.org) who was staying with us, for his passport and questioned him on what was and wasn't in his passport and after carefully examining the photopage - he looked like he was trying hard to find something wrong with it - finally he said 'have a nice day' and let him go.
Not an hour later one of my team mates and the Operation
Dove friend headed out to the market to pick up some food for dinner. They weren't five minutes from our door when they came upon six soldiers marching a Palestinian man, cuffed and blindfolded up the street. They followed the soldiers - who told them that this man was a terrorist who had killed many people. The two followed the soldiers for over 20 minutes while they walked and made a sort of loop through the streets until they ended up at Gates 4&5 (at left) - a very restricted and isolated entrance to the Old City. The soldiers said they were going to release the man but not in the presence of internationals. The two men backed up a few meters but kept the group in sight, worried that the soldiers were going to beat the detainee. At this point the two called me to tell us about the situation, but while on the phone the soldiers released the young man.Lastly, just after 10, our neighbour came to our door to tell us of another incident which she had just witnessed, which involved an 18 year old Palestinian man (in the area of the same checkpoint we'd been at earlier) being pulled down the street by a rope around his neck, before being kicked and stepped on by the soldiers. His entire family as well as others witnessed this. An older brother who tried to intervene was detained and taken away by the police. An ambulance took the young man to the hospital. We called the hospital to ask about his condition, which wasn't critical.
To me it seems like the soldiers here are taking out their frustrations over what is going on in Gaza and with Lebanon on the vulnerable people over whom they have control. Tension is palpable and we will increase our presence at the checkpoints and on the streets in the days ahead.
I'm looking forward to going home soon though not without conflicted feelings about whether or not to stay longer. What is it that we really do? What does our presence show? I think about these questions and am continually affirmed by people I meet, who are grateful that I have come to visit them, their city, their country. Do I like it? Isn't it beautiful? Isn't it horrible what's happening? I have met the most hospitable people, people to whom this is daily reality and to many who have never known anything else. And I think that for myself when I look at everyone I meet, I try to see them as a child of God. This is difficult for me, but it helps me to see the human being in each person. Soldiers are taught to dehumanize - shooting at targets not people - this is what helps them carry out their orders. The very least I can do is to remember that we are all human, we are all fallible, we are all vulnerable and in another day it could be one of us as the oppressor or the oppressed. What would we do then?
For now, I bring my eyes to witness, my ears to hear the stories and my voice to share them with you and others when I return.
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2 comments:
One question: why don't folks comment?? No opinions? Having a job now that depends on the internet I value the effort of those who seek to share their stories and create a virtual community - the internet is a two way medium - that's why it is bigger than radio or tv!
I found this posting interesting, you see on the ground the actual behaviour of soldiers while we, in the west, are exposed the media lines of various heads of state, lines like "Isreal has the right to defend herself." It's hard to reject that a country should defend it's people, isn't that part of some social contract?
What to make of it all? Can't we all just get along? Who is right? Why does Hezzbola fire rockets onto Isreali civilians? What drives human behaviour to such an irrational state of despiration? Perhaps it's not irrational. Perhaps it's some form of expression... or frustration. I don't know. I'm not there, I haven't lived the history.
You've made me think a little about the ugly side of human nature, the violence we're capable of, the lack of compassion and empathy that underly unjust and inhumane behaviour... on a beautiful morning, sipping on columbian coffee, listening to classical music on some francophone radio station, with the freedom and time to think about such things.
no comments is my fault, I hadn't realized I had to set that up, so now everyone can comment.
here's a great link to a statement by Sabeel, an ecumenical liberation theology center in Jerusalem http://www.sabeel.org/etemplate.php?id=33 about the invasion of Gaza - which seems to have been overshadowed by the situation with Lebanon.
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