So I'm back in good old East Jerusalem. Just thought I'd post a quick blog to let everyone know I'm safe. I'll be posting all my pictures once I get back home I think. My camera is running low on juice and I've got to take pictures of Jerusalem on another memory card so the powers that be don't know I've been in the Occupied Territories.
One of my ISM comrades is a Jewish girl who came over on birthright. She has an amazing blog I recommend you all check out:
http://shirajordan.blogspot.com
I'm up at six am to catch a bus to Ben Gurion Airport. The flight looks open so I'm hoping I'll get on without incident. *knocks on wood.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
Nationalism + Religion = Disaster
So some people have accused me of being an anti-Semite, or anti-Israel. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am anti-oppression anti-Imperialist as well as pro-human being. I think Judaism is a beautiful religion filled with amazing heritage and culture and some of the people I respect most in the world are Jewish. It truly is a sad time when one can't criticize the actions of the secular Israeli government without being labeled an anti-Semite. It's only in the last 70 years that Zionist nationalism took hold and caused all the problems.
I truly believe most Palestinians want peace. They are a rich and vibrant culture that is suffocating under occupation. The retaliations taken by Israel are disproportionate and completely unjustified. Yes the Palestinians, as well as the Israelis are guilty of attrocities, but the collective punishment has got to stop. The root causes of the martyr bombings are complete control of daily life of the average Palestinian as well as a land that has been stolen at the barrel of a gun. A well adjusted and free person generally doesn't do suicide bombings. Although I don't support violent resistance, I can see why it happens.
I find myself wanting to talk to the soldiers because I'm sure on a personal level they're mostly OK. They must hate the occupation as much as anyone else. Surely they must know their presence here is unjust and strictly to protect the racist and ideological settlers. Unfortunately, it's not a good idea to talk to them because it looks bad in the eyes of the Palestinians. We want them to trust our presence here.
One of our ISMers has been threatened on the internet. He posted the video of the settler attack just outside our apartment. He received a message saying they know what he looks like and it would be a shame if something were to happen. I'm pretty sure it says in the Torah that it's not OK to commit violent acts. How come fundamentalists can pick and choose which part of their dogma they obey?
We took the long way around to the mosque the other day. Walked past another occupied house taken by the settlers. They apparently took it by force a couple months back. They broke a four year old's hand in the process. They have been served an eviction notice by the courts, but who knows if that will stick. Everywhere the settlers go, they leave their mark. Star of Davids spray painted everywhere. Rocks and verbal abuse thrown at any Palestinian in the area. It's funny, even the courts agree the occupation of the house is illegal yet it still gets army protection.
It's the end of Ramadan here so the streets are eerily quiet. Nothing is open as Muslims everywhere prepare the biggest feast of the year. No school runs today so I imagine we'll just end up doing some checkpoint watching. Five bucks says we stumble upon someone being held just before sundown when Muslim's break their fast.
Our mission over the next couple of days is to track down some spray paint. Green, black, red and white. Because the settlers keep tearing down the Palestinian flags we put up at Issa's house, we're going to paint them on the walls. It shouldn't be too hard to get them in because as I said in a previous blog, the checkpoints aren't for security but humiliation. We'll just have to take the long way round into the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood and cross at the unmanned roadblock.
This song by Propaghandi keeps running through my head:
You speak of Rastafari, but how can you justify belief in a God that's left you behind. You simply fill the gap between the upper and lower class and your faith merely keeps you in line. An amalgamation of Jewish scripture and Christian thought. What will that get you? Not a fucking fuck of a lot. Take a look at your promised land. Your deed is that gun in your hand. Mt. Zion's a minefield. The West Bank. The Gaza strip... Soon to be parking lots for American tourists and fascist cops. Fuck Zionism. Fuck militarism. Fuck Americanism. Fuck nationalism. Fuck religion.
I truly believe most Palestinians want peace. They are a rich and vibrant culture that is suffocating under occupation. The retaliations taken by Israel are disproportionate and completely unjustified. Yes the Palestinians, as well as the Israelis are guilty of attrocities, but the collective punishment has got to stop. The root causes of the martyr bombings are complete control of daily life of the average Palestinian as well as a land that has been stolen at the barrel of a gun. A well adjusted and free person generally doesn't do suicide bombings. Although I don't support violent resistance, I can see why it happens.
I find myself wanting to talk to the soldiers because I'm sure on a personal level they're mostly OK. They must hate the occupation as much as anyone else. Surely they must know their presence here is unjust and strictly to protect the racist and ideological settlers. Unfortunately, it's not a good idea to talk to them because it looks bad in the eyes of the Palestinians. We want them to trust our presence here.
One of our ISMers has been threatened on the internet. He posted the video of the settler attack just outside our apartment. He received a message saying they know what he looks like and it would be a shame if something were to happen. I'm pretty sure it says in the Torah that it's not OK to commit violent acts. How come fundamentalists can pick and choose which part of their dogma they obey?
We took the long way around to the mosque the other day. Walked past another occupied house taken by the settlers. They apparently took it by force a couple months back. They broke a four year old's hand in the process. They have been served an eviction notice by the courts, but who knows if that will stick. Everywhere the settlers go, they leave their mark. Star of Davids spray painted everywhere. Rocks and verbal abuse thrown at any Palestinian in the area. It's funny, even the courts agree the occupation of the house is illegal yet it still gets army protection.
It's the end of Ramadan here so the streets are eerily quiet. Nothing is open as Muslims everywhere prepare the biggest feast of the year. No school runs today so I imagine we'll just end up doing some checkpoint watching. Five bucks says we stumble upon someone being held just before sundown when Muslim's break their fast.
Our mission over the next couple of days is to track down some spray paint. Green, black, red and white. Because the settlers keep tearing down the Palestinian flags we put up at Issa's house, we're going to paint them on the walls. It shouldn't be too hard to get them in because as I said in a previous blog, the checkpoints aren't for security but humiliation. We'll just have to take the long way round into the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood and cross at the unmanned roadblock.
This song by Propaghandi keeps running through my head:
You speak of Rastafari, but how can you justify belief in a God that's left you behind. You simply fill the gap between the upper and lower class and your faith merely keeps you in line. An amalgamation of Jewish scripture and Christian thought. What will that get you? Not a fucking fuck of a lot. Take a look at your promised land. Your deed is that gun in your hand. Mt. Zion's a minefield. The West Bank. The Gaza strip... Soon to be parking lots for American tourists and fascist cops. Fuck Zionism. Fuck militarism. Fuck Americanism. Fuck nationalism. Fuck religion.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Inactivism
So i have to admit, the activism I'm doing now isn't exactly what i thought id get up to. My last two days have consisted of waking up at 6:30am for something called the school run. We then have a second school run at around noon. Basically we just hang out at this corner armed with video cameras and watch the kids as they go by and make sure theres no settler harassment. Its really cool meeting the kids and helping them with their English as they in turn help me with my Arabic. "Georgebushfuckyou". We also monitor check points.
There has been a changing of the guards to all the new army guys are a little bit jittery. They're really harassing the Palestinians. Today I went down to checkpoint 56 just before sundown to check on the situation there. They have a habit of detaining people when its Iftar. Iftar is the first meal for Muslims to break their fast each night. So that being said, I stumbled upon checkpoint 56 to find they had detained a man. He had documentation that he has Angina which means he can't go through the metal detectors. Thankfully his family came and gave him a cigarette and some bread. I asked the soldiers what was going on and why this man was being detained. They claimed the only spoke Hebrew. Which is a crock of shit. I haven't run into a soldier yet who cant speak at least a little English.
Some other soldiers came along and filled me in on the details. Apparently they had to wait for the commander to come along. Half hour later the commander comes along and within five minutes, it was sorted. Note to the Israeli Army recruiter: please consider raising the minimum IQ requirements to above 40. The crazy part about the check points in Tel Rumeida (the neighbourhood occupied by the settlers and protected by the army) is they're strictly there to harass.
There are checkpoints at all the points that Palestinians who live in Tel Rumeida have to go through in order to get home. The cab I got from the centre of town to the apartment, all I had to cross was a roadblock made of stones. So the security argument is complete BULLSHIT! It's strictly to make life as hard as possible for the Palestinians who choose to still live here. The area occupied by the Isralis is a ghost town. What was once a bustling market is now shadow of it's former self. Shop doors are welded shut with Stars of David spray painted on them.
We also make a mosque run every other day. The mosque is the Ibrahimi Mosque. A very holy sight for both faiths therefore host to some of the worst secular tensions in the area. There was a shooting a few days ago. The army fired on some Palestinians claiming a kid came in there with a fake gun and fire cracker. Right. This place is also the scene of the 1994 massacre by Baruch Kappel Goldstein. Baruch went on a rampage on February 24th 1994 killing 29 and injuring 150. I think the settlers actually have a monument dedicated to this piece of filth.
The other thing we do to occupy our time is guard Issa's house. The land this place is on is amazing. 1000 year old olive trees and roman walls surround the building. An amazing view of the old city which I'll try and post if I can ever get to a computer that isn't so slow it times out. The army and the settlers have both occupied this house. Issa won it back in court which is an absolutely huge victory. If we don't maintain a presence, there's a fear they'll burn it down. As it is, the worst we've had to put up with is some rock throwing in the back and some serious mosquitos.
Got word of a demonstration going on in Bilin on friday. Apparently it's really good out there because the protest groups are really well organized and come out in serious numbers. Not sure if I'm going to go out there or not. Some of the dudes here have been here for three weeks and are in serious need of a break. I might hold down the fort here and let them do their own thing. My only regret is I don't have as much time as I'd like.
There has been a changing of the guards to all the new army guys are a little bit jittery. They're really harassing the Palestinians. Today I went down to checkpoint 56 just before sundown to check on the situation there. They have a habit of detaining people when its Iftar. Iftar is the first meal for Muslims to break their fast each night. So that being said, I stumbled upon checkpoint 56 to find they had detained a man. He had documentation that he has Angina which means he can't go through the metal detectors. Thankfully his family came and gave him a cigarette and some bread. I asked the soldiers what was going on and why this man was being detained. They claimed the only spoke Hebrew. Which is a crock of shit. I haven't run into a soldier yet who cant speak at least a little English.
Some other soldiers came along and filled me in on the details. Apparently they had to wait for the commander to come along. Half hour later the commander comes along and within five minutes, it was sorted. Note to the Israeli Army recruiter: please consider raising the minimum IQ requirements to above 40. The crazy part about the check points in Tel Rumeida (the neighbourhood occupied by the settlers and protected by the army) is they're strictly there to harass.
There are checkpoints at all the points that Palestinians who live in Tel Rumeida have to go through in order to get home. The cab I got from the centre of town to the apartment, all I had to cross was a roadblock made of stones. So the security argument is complete BULLSHIT! It's strictly to make life as hard as possible for the Palestinians who choose to still live here. The area occupied by the Isralis is a ghost town. What was once a bustling market is now shadow of it's former self. Shop doors are welded shut with Stars of David spray painted on them.
We also make a mosque run every other day. The mosque is the Ibrahimi Mosque. A very holy sight for both faiths therefore host to some of the worst secular tensions in the area. There was a shooting a few days ago. The army fired on some Palestinians claiming a kid came in there with a fake gun and fire cracker. Right. This place is also the scene of the 1994 massacre by Baruch Kappel Goldstein. Baruch went on a rampage on February 24th 1994 killing 29 and injuring 150. I think the settlers actually have a monument dedicated to this piece of filth.
The other thing we do to occupy our time is guard Issa's house. The land this place is on is amazing. 1000 year old olive trees and roman walls surround the building. An amazing view of the old city which I'll try and post if I can ever get to a computer that isn't so slow it times out. The army and the settlers have both occupied this house. Issa won it back in court which is an absolutely huge victory. If we don't maintain a presence, there's a fear they'll burn it down. As it is, the worst we've had to put up with is some rock throwing in the back and some serious mosquitos.
Got word of a demonstration going on in Bilin on friday. Apparently it's really good out there because the protest groups are really well organized and come out in serious numbers. Not sure if I'm going to go out there or not. Some of the dudes here have been here for three weeks and are in serious need of a break. I might hold down the fort here and let them do their own thing. My only regret is I don't have as much time as I'd like.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Ladies and Gentlemen...Welcome to Hebron
So im now in Hebron, the second oldest city in the world. Second only to Jericho, another Palestinian city. The city is divided into two sections: H1 and H2. H1 is Palestinian controlled. H2 is under Israeli occupation. This is due to the unique fact that there is an illegal Israeli settlement in a built up urban area. The settlement houses about 500 of the most ideological and violent settlers. Their claim to the land is that there is the burial sight of Abraham as well as two people mentioned in the Torah. Theyre led by the most fascist right wing settler of them all: Baruh Marzel. He has his own wikipedia entry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruch_Marzel
Took a three hour bus ride into the Hebron city centre. Then caught a cab to Tel Rumeida. Its really apparent that the whole goal of the Israelis is to annex all the fertile land and leave the Palestinians with nothing. You see one side of the highway with these amazing settlements and lush gardens and farmland. Then on the other you see dusty and decrepid Palestinian territory. Its the greatest injustice of our time.
ISM has an apartment in H2 right across from the settlement. Daily the settlers harass the Palestinian children as they come home from school. Throwing rocks as well as verbal harassment. There are other international watch dog groups here because its so bad. There are stars of David spray painted everywhere. Protecting the kids is one of our main jobs here. The other is protecting Issa's house. His house is on the other side of the settlement. Its been occupied by settlers as well as the IOF. Through court battles though, Issa managed to win it back. Must really cheese off the settlers, because they attempt to vanadalize it nightly so we have to send two ISMers out there each night to sleep in it.
The most surreal thing about muslim communities is the call to prayer from the mosques. The entire city fills with sound of the Quaran being sung from megaphones on the mosques. Must make the settlers shake in their boots. I love it.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Finished Training
So today i finished my ISM training. I woke up, with no time to shower because I wanted to sleep as much as possible due to the fact that I went out for some pints with some friends last night until the wee hours of the morning. Quick face wash and it was on.
The training today consisted of six main sections: Culture, Security, Legal, Privelege, Self Care and Regional Updates. The areas ISM works in tend to be very conservative muslim areas. It can be very easy to offend even doing things that we think are fine. Women are to wear longsleeves and both sexes are to sleep in seperate areas. I think its in my best interest to walk around with longsleeves as well. Im finding it much easier to walk around when i keep my tattoos covered. Im less of a sideshow spectacle.
The security training consisted of some basic common sense things. Leaving contact numbers on your phone or having numbers written down can jeopordize the ISM operation if you try to cross a border with them. The legal delt with our rights as they relate to the main Israeli security juggernaut. We dont have to give our passport to the Army. We dont have give it to the police. If we get detained the army can hold us for three hours and the Police for 24. Generally if you are arrested, you wont get any charges against you. If its a violent offense they can deport you but it doesnt tend to go that way. More than likely, your friends can come get you with your passport (one of the techniques used is to have someone away from the front lines of the demonstration with the passports) and then your name gets recorded and you go home. Im still going to try my best not get arrested mind you.
Privelege, self care and regional updates, all went pretty fast. Privelege basically dealt with the fact that we internationals can leave so our actions can sometimes make things harder for palestinians in the end, even though we mean well. For example, if a checkpoint is moving extremely slowly or not at all and we start yelling at the guards to hurry up, they can end up closing the checkpoint for two hours and then the palestinians are even worse off. The one thing ISM maintains is that we are palestinian led. If the palestinians want our help then we are there. If not, we wait and observe.
After the regional updates i found out im going to be doing the bulk of my time in Hebron. Its an area in the south of the west bank that has some seriously ideological zionist settlers that are particularly nasty to the palestinians that live there. Its the second holiest sight in judaism. I think its where they think Abraham was burried. Their warped zionist mentality prompts them to believe that they can abuse the palestinians that live there. Ive heard one of the techniques they use is to get the settler children to throw rocks at them because they are unpunishable according to israeli civil law.
Im learning a few arabic phrases. Im hoping that my time in Hebron is somewhat chill so i can have time to brush up on my phrases. Im excited to meet the Palestinians from that area.
Some interesting facts about Palestinians. There are actually four types living in Palestine. The 1948 ones that have full Israeli citizenship, Israeli passports and all the amenities that go with it. They represent about 20% of the Israeli population. Then there are the East Jerusalem Palestinians. They have an Israeli ID card but arent allowed to have a passport or vote. Yet they live in Israel. Some democratic state they claim to be. There are then the West Bank/Gaza Palestinians. They have an ID card issued by the Palestinian Authourity. They can only come into Jerusalem via Qualendia checkpoint. They can be denied movement in their own country. They are forced to endure Main Checkpoints, Sub Main checkpoints and rolling checkpoints. The latter only really being there to hassle them, although its claimed its to try and track down wanted fighters from the armed Palestinian Resistance. I ask you this though: WHY THE FUCK WOULD A FIGHTER GO THROUGH A CHECKPOINT HE CAN SEE A MILE AWAY AND JUST GO AROUND? he wouldnt. its just put there as a collective punishment for the average person in the west bank. The last kind has no ID whatsoever. there are 12,000 of them. 8000 in gaza and 4000 in the west bank. They have absolutely NO ability to move within their own country. Unreal.
Heres a video of the settlers in Hebron:
The training today consisted of six main sections: Culture, Security, Legal, Privelege, Self Care and Regional Updates. The areas ISM works in tend to be very conservative muslim areas. It can be very easy to offend even doing things that we think are fine. Women are to wear longsleeves and both sexes are to sleep in seperate areas. I think its in my best interest to walk around with longsleeves as well. Im finding it much easier to walk around when i keep my tattoos covered. Im less of a sideshow spectacle.
The security training consisted of some basic common sense things. Leaving contact numbers on your phone or having numbers written down can jeopordize the ISM operation if you try to cross a border with them. The legal delt with our rights as they relate to the main Israeli security juggernaut. We dont have to give our passport to the Army. We dont have give it to the police. If we get detained the army can hold us for three hours and the Police for 24. Generally if you are arrested, you wont get any charges against you. If its a violent offense they can deport you but it doesnt tend to go that way. More than likely, your friends can come get you with your passport (one of the techniques used is to have someone away from the front lines of the demonstration with the passports) and then your name gets recorded and you go home. Im still going to try my best not get arrested mind you.
Privelege, self care and regional updates, all went pretty fast. Privelege basically dealt with the fact that we internationals can leave so our actions can sometimes make things harder for palestinians in the end, even though we mean well. For example, if a checkpoint is moving extremely slowly or not at all and we start yelling at the guards to hurry up, they can end up closing the checkpoint for two hours and then the palestinians are even worse off. The one thing ISM maintains is that we are palestinian led. If the palestinians want our help then we are there. If not, we wait and observe.
After the regional updates i found out im going to be doing the bulk of my time in Hebron. Its an area in the south of the west bank that has some seriously ideological zionist settlers that are particularly nasty to the palestinians that live there. Its the second holiest sight in judaism. I think its where they think Abraham was burried. Their warped zionist mentality prompts them to believe that they can abuse the palestinians that live there. Ive heard one of the techniques they use is to get the settler children to throw rocks at them because they are unpunishable according to israeli civil law.
Im learning a few arabic phrases. Im hoping that my time in Hebron is somewhat chill so i can have time to brush up on my phrases. Im excited to meet the Palestinians from that area.
Some interesting facts about Palestinians. There are actually four types living in Palestine. The 1948 ones that have full Israeli citizenship, Israeli passports and all the amenities that go with it. They represent about 20% of the Israeli population. Then there are the East Jerusalem Palestinians. They have an Israeli ID card but arent allowed to have a passport or vote. Yet they live in Israel. Some democratic state they claim to be. There are then the West Bank/Gaza Palestinians. They have an ID card issued by the Palestinian Authourity. They can only come into Jerusalem via Qualendia checkpoint. They can be denied movement in their own country. They are forced to endure Main Checkpoints, Sub Main checkpoints and rolling checkpoints. The latter only really being there to hassle them, although its claimed its to try and track down wanted fighters from the armed Palestinian Resistance. I ask you this though: WHY THE FUCK WOULD A FIGHTER GO THROUGH A CHECKPOINT HE CAN SEE A MILE AWAY AND JUST GO AROUND? he wouldnt. its just put there as a collective punishment for the average person in the west bank. The last kind has no ID whatsoever. there are 12,000 of them. 8000 in gaza and 4000 in the west bank. They have absolutely NO ability to move within their own country. Unreal.
Heres a video of the settlers in Hebron:
Saturday, October 6, 2007
HAHAHAHA!!
A comrade here caught this on tape during the Israeli Occupation Force Invasion of Nablus. Dimwit tear gasses himself.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Shit Just Got REAL!
So today was a pretty eventful day. I woke up at five am. Still a bit jet lagged. Went out to the local market and got some falafel, some sweet cakes and some yoghurt for breakfast. I made my way to the bus station with a hand drawn map that Hisham gave me. I was looking for bus number 18. I dont know if shit was just mega chaotic because its ramadan here but fucked if i could find a bus. Saw like five bus number 18s but none of them stopped. I finally get catch a bus and find out its only going to the Qalendia Checkpoint.
My first view of the apartheid wall followed shortly after exiting the bus. This shit is fucked. Homes bulldozed within twenty metres of the wall. I cannot illustrate the epicness of this place. Towers watching over the people with ominous glares coming the Israeli Occupation Force. The calousness in which the IOF deals with the Palestinians is sickening. Theyre treated as nothing more than human cattle. From what Ive heard from other ISMers is that they come down hard on religious holidays. The point being collective punishment and humiliation of the Palestinians.
As if on cue, to incite anger in me, the IOF began shoving about 200 people back. I got caught up in the melee but just to illustrate the racist actions of the occupiers, was spared the shame of being treated like an animal. They asked for my passport and were soft spoken and kind. They then let me pass. All in all i think about 500 people looking to pray were denied access to Jerusalem. From the west bank side of the checkpoint i caught a cab to where i was supposed to meet my contact.
We made a short walk to the ISM media office where we proceeded to recieve some intense training. We went through non violent resistance tactics and a few other things. The thing that really hit home with me was the weapons training. We saw tear gas canisters, flash bang/concussion grenades and two types of rubber bullets. The next session is the more important one where we'll learn about cultural respect, our legal rights and security precautions.
Walking around Ramallah afterwards was one of the most enlightening experiences Ive ever had. The Palestinian people are some of the most warm and friendly people ive ever encountered. They get next to no internationals here so were somewhat of a spectacle. Thankfully one of my ISM comrades is studying Arabic here so we were able to communicate.
Ill be loading pictures of my day once i get to a computer that can take an upload from the camera. Updated photos!!
My first view of the apartheid wall followed shortly after exiting the bus. This shit is fucked. Homes bulldozed within twenty metres of the wall. I cannot illustrate the epicness of this place. Towers watching over the people with ominous glares coming the Israeli Occupation Force. The calousness in which the IOF deals with the Palestinians is sickening. Theyre treated as nothing more than human cattle. From what Ive heard from other ISMers is that they come down hard on religious holidays. The point being collective punishment and humiliation of the Palestinians.
As if on cue, to incite anger in me, the IOF began shoving about 200 people back. I got caught up in the melee but just to illustrate the racist actions of the occupiers, was spared the shame of being treated like an animal. They asked for my passport and were soft spoken and kind. They then let me pass. All in all i think about 500 people looking to pray were denied access to Jerusalem. From the west bank side of the checkpoint i caught a cab to where i was supposed to meet my contact.
We made a short walk to the ISM media office where we proceeded to recieve some intense training. We went through non violent resistance tactics and a few other things. The thing that really hit home with me was the weapons training. We saw tear gas canisters, flash bang/concussion grenades and two types of rubber bullets. The next session is the more important one where we'll learn about cultural respect, our legal rights and security precautions.
Walking around Ramallah afterwards was one of the most enlightening experiences Ive ever had. The Palestinian people are some of the most warm and friendly people ive ever encountered. They get next to no internationals here so were somewhat of a spectacle. Thankfully one of my ISM comrades is studying Arabic here so we were able to communicate.
Ill be loading pictures of my day once i get to a computer that can take an upload from the camera. Updated photos!!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Morning Day 2
im off this morning to do some training in the west bank city of Ramallah. Dont know what kind of computer access ill have, so updates might be few and far between. slept outside on the roof of the hostel last night. it was great. perfect temperature for sleeping. met some japanese and south africans at the hostel this morning. also met a fellow air canada employee. small world. feeling a little homesick already. ha.
enjoyed talking about the parallels of the apartheid system here as opposed to the south african one. its funny, people have a hard time seperating overt racism to institutionalized racism. thats why its so hard for people to get it i think. on a personal level im sure everyone can relate to each other. but its hard for the oppressor to empathise with the oppressed. the one things the south africans mentioned is that its now become harder for whites in S. Africa. It got me to thinking about how people fill roles when the roles are reversed. When the oppressed get a chance at becoming the oppressor, why do they follow the same path as their previous oppressors?
enjoyed talking about the parallels of the apartheid system here as opposed to the south african one. its funny, people have a hard time seperating overt racism to institutionalized racism. thats why its so hard for people to get it i think. on a personal level im sure everyone can relate to each other. but its hard for the oppressor to empathise with the oppressed. the one things the south africans mentioned is that its now become harder for whites in S. Africa. It got me to thinking about how people fill roles when the roles are reversed. When the oppressed get a chance at becoming the oppressor, why do they follow the same path as their previous oppressors?
Thoughts, Day 1
so im winding down my first day. Saw a lot of amazing things. The most striking thing is the difference between the Jewish quarter and the Arab quarter. The jewish one is highly polished, clean, quiet. Almost too sanitary. The Arab one is the polar opposite of that: loud, dirty, grimey. I guess its a microcosm of the nation itself. Its such a shame that the jewish prosperity comes at Arab expense. Both cultures are so amazing and dynamic. The other observation I made is about the underlying oppression. Its next to impossible to walk around in the Arab quarter and not notice the Police and Army pressence.
Everyone stares at my tattoo. Its quite the conversation starter. You really have to have bargaining skills here. You feel guilty when you decide not to buy something. Bought a few gifts for certain someones.
So it looks like I wont have as much time for tourism as I thought. Got word that im heading into the occupied territories to begin my training in Ramallah tomorrow. Here we go.
Arrival
So after a 13 hour flight and an hour shuttle bus ride to Jerusalem i finally arrived. Shortly after exiting the bus I proceeded to (in true Chris Sherriff fashion) sprain my ankle. Thankfully my ankles are pretty much ruined anyways and I recover quickly. Popped a couple pain killers and Im ready to take on Jerusalem in all its biblical glory.
Its the end of Ramadan here so the streets are absolutely chaotic. Im meeting up with some nice people i met on the plane. Air Canada employees. On a mission to find some turkish coffee and falafel.
Its the end of Ramadan here so the streets are absolutely chaotic. Im meeting up with some nice people i met on the plane. Air Canada employees. On a mission to find some turkish coffee and falafel.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Palestine Bound
So this is where im bound on October 3rd. If everything goes as planned, i'll arrive in Tel Aviv late thursday morning. Catch a shuttle to Jerusalem, and find my hostel. I then have a couple days to kill in Jerusalem to do the tourist thing. Should be interesting, the holiest sites in Judaism and Christianity and the third holiest site in Islam. Religion overload. THIS TIME ITS BIBLICAL!!!Once I get to Jerusalem, I give the International Solidarity Movement a call and they set me up with a training course in non-violent conflict negotiation. Once I've done the course, I head into the West Bank and my movements and accomodation are coordinated by the ISM. I'll be doing homestays with Palestinian families. I'm really looking forward to the interesting people I'll meet.
I dont think I'll have the chance to get into anything too heavy. I'm hoping it will be stuff like walking Palestinian kids to school to prevent settler violence. Helping the farmers work what little land they have left as they try to eek out a living. Maybe the odd Apartheid Wall protest. All the while avoiding tear gas and flash bang grenades. I can't even imagine what life is like under and occupation.
I feel like this trip is going to galvenize my activism at home. If we dont fight for every single freedom we have, they'll take it away. EVERYTHING we have here in North America came through struggle. If we don't stand up and stop the injustice at home, how can we claim to be doing it in places like Afghanistan. I dont understand how people can say "I'm apathetic when it comes to politics". Politics affects everything. Politics is everything.
The thing im the most worried about is the Israeli Border Control. I've heard they can be bastards. I've got my story and I'm sticking to it. Backpacking around Israel, ready to spend many Shekkels having a blast yet being very respectful.
Seeing my family and friends before I left was very important to me. They all mean so much to me and enrich my life so much. I look forward to coming back to see them and tell them all the stuff I got up to. This cause is extremely important to me and I'm thankful I've had lots of support leading up to the trip.
Hopefully the next blog comes to you from Jerusalem. The flight is looking good. Nine open seats in the front and I'm number two on the list. Wouldnt it be nice to start the trip sipping courvoisier. Man, the bourgeoisie know how drink.
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