Living Loudly

I have so many notes from today it will be difficult to fit everything in! I've already gone through half of one of the notebooks I brought... Regretfully I, was so enthralled, I did not get as many good pictures today as I wish I could have, so please forgive me...

Our first meeting today was a video conference with young Palestinian activists in Gaza. This was truly a privilege to hear a narrative that many people are not privy to. Three of the women we spoke with emphasized their lack of mobility, describing their lives as living in a prison. The three women (Aya, Sama and Ruba) talked about their work as coaches for young women in Gaza. They work to empower these youth (the three of them youth as well, between the ages of 20 and 23) to become informed and engaged and working to get their voices heard and to end the siege of Gaza. They talked about their work inspiring BDS campaigns in students around the world through these type of video conferences and finding ways to build the movement among young people. We often hear criticisms of Hamas, and assume it must be representative of all the people of Gaza. While they were certainly all critical of Hamas' religious-centric tactics, they were clear in stating that Israeli blockades, restrictions on trade (including vital things like medicine and food) and mobility restrictions in the larger context of military occupation are really what is to blame. Aya said "we rely on people like us-- we do not rely on government." This is so similar to the narrative of minorities in the US fighting for their liberation as well, and it was cool to be able to draw this connection. She was so poised and articulate, even after spending the first 22 years of her life in the world's largest open air prison. SHe described living in Gazaas "dying slowly in this very small space" describing how farmers can't access their own farms, fishermen are not allowed to travel far enough into the sea to get a fruitful catch, there are not enough jobs to go around, or medicine for sick people. Brahim, another young activist with AFSC described the psychological effects. More than 90% of Gazans say they wish to leave but cannot, and many suffer from PTSD and depression. Through all of this they were hopeful that there will be an end to this system, and that there are ways we can stand in solidarity with them.

Next we heard from Sam Bahour. An Ohio-born Palestinian whose father left the region in 1956. He described all of the ways in which the systems of classifying Palestinians is playing a part in their oppression. He moved to Palestine in the 1990s with his Palestinian-born wife in order to start a telecommunications business-- to fill a gap that left 200,000 people without telephone access. He had to leave the country and reenter every three months so as to get his visa renewed. One day, after 15 years of this process, he was told that his visa would no longer be valid, and was forced to apply for residency of the West Bank. After months of paperwork and jumping through hoops, he was finally granted residency, but this was still not enough to grant him the mobility he needed. He needed to apply for two more forms of identification and is still waiting on the third. Becoming a resident of the West Bank actually made it more difficult for him to exist. He is no longer allowed on many of the main highways, making it very difficult for him to be a normal, thriving business person, parent, and husband. Or at lest normal in the ways that we assume, this lifestyle is normal for Palestinians. Despite all of this, he is still fighting and speaking out, and still working on his telecom efforts. Check out his website: www.epalestine.com.

Sam Bahour sharing with all of us. "We have so much sympathy, we could package it and export it. We don't need your sympathy. We need people to be aware of of what their own country is doing to perpetuate this, and take action." Sam helps people start and sustain BDS campaigns as educational and tactical ways to do this.

After we met with Sam, we had lunch with some young Palestinians who are actively working to empower their communities. We met in small groups. Our group spoke with Rawan who works for the organization Palestinian Vision (www.palvision.ps). She brings young people together to talk about issues of belonging and identity, and helps them understand their history in a way that the school system does not allow them. SHe described how it is sometimes difficult to motivate them because they just want to live their lives and not think more than they already have to about all the ways in which they are oppressed. She told us that she went to a summit for Palestinians and Israeli entrepreneurs to start businesses together but quickly rejected the idea. "How am I supposed to work with someone who served in the military who could have killed my family members in Gaza in 2008/2009? This is not going to work." She told a story of how her family took a case to the courts when the wall was planned to be built over her grandparents' graves, but to no avail. There it stands. Just as the women in Gaza, or Sam Bahour, all of this is normal everyday life for her, and she is not living up the fight. This made me realize that there is absolutely no reason why I should not be putting up a fight as well. There is no one killing my family,  no one restricting my access to my hometown, no one defining my identity by a piece of plastic that allows me only certain rights. 

We had lunch with young Palestinian activists outside the AFSC Ramallah office in this garden area. 

From here we took a walk around Ramallah. Ramallah has this reputation of being a haven of normalcy for Palestinians, and from what I observed this is true. People are living their lives as we do, with little IDF presence or mobility restrictions in the city itself. People did not have fear in their eyes. When Micah was looking for a place to buy a shirt, several shop owners pointed him in the direction of other storefronts that might have what he was looking for. This is not information shop owners in New York or Philadelphia would freely share without at least asking them first. When we found a shop that sold sandals made in Jerusalem, Micah asked if they were made in Palestine, to which the owner replied "of course!" as if it were an impossibility for Jerusalem to be anywhere else. 

Street art on the sidewalk in Ramallah. It says "grassroots revolution" in the bottom right. 

 After walking around Ramallah, we made our way o the office of Defense for Children International (DCI) which gives children who are imprisoned and interrogated legal help and works to change some of the military rules that any Palestinian (as opposed to their settler counterparts) is accountable to (http://www.dci-pal.org/english/home.cfm).  Brad spoke with us about the interrogation process, which is not video or audio recorded. Many times these children (99% boys) are harassed into confessing either by being told they will be let go, or by forcing them to sign a confession written in Hebrew, without telling the what it is, landing them in prison for at least a few months. While these are certainly traumatic experiences for any child (the charges will not be expunged when they become adults), Brad stressed that their guilt or innocence is of little relevance. DFI works for the rights of children whether they are guilty or not, to a fair trial, attorney representation and to respect and dignity.

We then had the pleasure and privilege of meeting with Omar Barghouti, who started the BDS movement in Palestine (http://www.bdsmovement.net/). If you don't know anything about BDS, definitely check out the website. I don't have a ton of time to go into the basics here. Omar talked to us about the importance of BDS' commitment to the RIght of Return for Palestinians, since 69% of them are refugees or internally displaced persons. He also emphasized that BDS does not aim to boycott individuals, but to boycott institutions that are complicit in creating and perpetuating the systematic oppression that exists here. He told us that after the Brand Israel campaign began in 2005 (http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.536556), any artist who performs in Israel must sign a contract which ensures that they will portray Israel in a positive light and will not criticize any of its policies, obviously a blatant disregard of freedom of speech and artistic expression. FOr this reason there is a call to boycott any concerts, movie screenings... etc. that come to Israel to normalize the occupation A worldwide BBC poll showed that Israel is the fourth on the list for least popular nation, competing with North Korea, though this is not our perception when we look at American media. But let's be honest, it is not Israel's image that is the problem, it is its policies. 

Omar speaking to the group at the DCI office.

"Free Barghouti" graffiti on the wall.

We left Omar to return to the hotel in Jerusalem. On our way back, we walked through the Calandia check point. This was a very emotional experience. My eyes swelled up as we walked through small caged queues to be herded towards the front to have our passports checked. There were a series of gates to walk through, and ominous voices on the loudspeaker yelling at passersby. It was incredibly dehumanizing, even as someone who is seen as more human than many as an American citizen. After seeing all of these powerful young people speaking out, it was very enlightening to have even a tiny taste of what it is like to have your morale slowly chipped away at. They are working against so much more than we are (or at least I am, with all of my privileges). It is time to take action.

Watch tower outside of the check point.