What Would Jesus Do?

It's difficult to know how to write about the situation in Gaza. You don't have to be here very long to realize that the facts here are very different from what most of us in North America have been led to believe. And the longer you're here, the more you realize the depth of the differences. Maybe one way to write about the situation, then, is to share some facts. Not spin, not grudges, not religious rhetoric, not mythologies (which play such a huge role in how people perceive this place). Facts. If you'd like to find the documentation and/or know more facts, I commend two resources in particular: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (http://www.btselem.org/) and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (http://www.icahd.org/). The UN website is also a good resource, but it takes alot of patience and persistence to get at what you want.

It's good to start with basics. The bedrock fact here, without which you can't get anywhere in understanding, is that the state of Israel was made in a place that was already inhabited. By Palestinians. For 2000 years it had been under the control of one empire or another and during all that time, Jews were present as a rather small minority, less than 10%. Between the World Wars the area was under control of the UK. That period was marked by growth of the Zionist movement. The Zionists sought a Jewish homeland in hopes of providing unassailable security. After WW II, with fresh images of the concentration camps in mind, much of the world consented that a Jewish state should be established. Palestine was chosen as the place, without consent of the inhabitants, and the UN created a partition plan that would divide the land into a Jewish state and a Palestinian state. But while the UN dithered, waves of Jewish immigration occurred and Zionist troops began to conquer the place. Among these troops, by the way, was the Irgun led by Menachem Begin. Amont the tactics used by Irgun were massacres, assassinations, and bombings (most famously the King David Hotel here where 92 occupants died). Today, Irgun would be known as a "terrorist organization". This is another important fact to keep the perspective about how "patriots" and "terrorists" can morph back and forth very easily depending on the historical context and point of view.

In any event, that conflict of 1947-'48 drove thousands of Palestinians out of the land as their homes were destroyed or confiscated. Many moved to an area west of the Jordan River which was then in the country of Jordan. It's known today as the West Bank. The state of Israel was declared in May 1948. It will celebrate its 60th anniversary this year. The Palestinians will mark the date also, but know it as Al Nakba "The Shame".

Many Palestinians remained in the new state of Israel and had citizenship, but were subject to different laws and practices in employment, housing, and educational opportunities. Then in 1967, fearful about its security, Israel invaded Jordan and established an occupation of the West Bank. Eventually, Jordan withdrew and the West Bank is no longer part of that kingdom. The Occupation of the West Bank continues to this day and is illegal under every international law. Israel does not use the word "Occupation" but refers to "disputed territories". But even George Bush, in his feckless visit here in January, spoke of the "Occupation".

Here are some snapshots of these 40 years of Occupation:

...Residents of the Occupied Palestinian Territories have no citizenship. They carry ID cards issued by the Israeli government.

...since 1967, 18,000 Palestinian homes have been demolishedby order of the Israel Ministry of the Interior. The occupants are not compensated or offered replacement services. The police and bulldozers show up one day and destroy the house.

...A Wall is being constructed between Israel and the West Bank. Its stated purpose, security, is clearly not its purpose as it meanders in and out of the border area, usurping an increasing proportion of Palestinian-owned land. 80% of the Wall is built on Palestinian-owned land without compensation to the owners. The Wall brings under Israeli control 70% of the water resources of the area and prime farming land. It separates towns and villages from the surrounding area, locking residents in because no Palestinian can move anywhere within the West Bank without a permit.

...There are more than 500 checkpoints within the West Bank, miles away from Israel. They control movement of the population and access to jobs, schools, and families. They do not provide a security function.

..."Settlements" of Israeli citizens are established all over the West Bank. It is illegal under international law for an occupying force to import its citizens into the occupied territory. Israel says it is not building new settlements or adding to the existing ones. This is a lie. I visited several settlements last week and the construction is booming. The land for these settlements is confiscated from the Palestinian owners without compensation.

(Incidentally, these activities go on without international rebuke or sanctions because the US has used its Security Council veto power to block every such attempt. The US voting record is public information if you'd like to check.)

...The settlements are landscaped with olive trees which were confiscated from the Palestinian owners without compensation, uprooted, and replanted. Olives are the only real industry Palestine has and loss of these trees adds to the economic servitude of the people. Keeping these landscapes flourishing in a desert - and in the midst of a drought - requires huge amounts of irrigation. The settlement of Ma'ale Adumim near Jerusalem uses 5 times its share of water on a per capita basis.

...Palestinians in Jerusalem live mostly in East Jerusalem. They pay 35% of taxes to the municipality and receive about 10% of the benefits. About 2% goes to education. There are no municipal playgrounds or parks in E Jerusalem. There are 35 municipal swimming pools in W Jerusalem, there are 0 (zero) in E Jerusalem. There is no trash pickup in E Jerusalem. (Some people like to point to how "dirty" the Palestinians are.......how would your neighborhood look with no trash pickup for 40 years?)

...Since last summer Gaza's borders have been tightly controlled; it is nearly impossible for anyone to leave. Exports are not allowed so people there depend completely on what they receive from Israel. Unemployment is near 80%. 80% of people earn less than $2/day.

...40 items are allowed into Gaza. Apples are 1 item, bananas are 1 item.....obviously 40 items will not provide much of a life

...80+ medicines are not allowed into Gaza including most anesthetics

...Electrical power is under Israeli control and is now cut off for some portion of every day

...Different from what you've probably heard, in this current siege 70% of casualties have been civilian. About 20% have been children. Another 1 month-old baby was killed last night.

This story is much deeper than these few facts. The world is presented with the story that Israel is only defending against attack. This is really not accurate. Israel, created in a land that belonged to someone else, subsequently invaded and occupied additional land. The aggressor, the attacker, cannot by definition be defending itself against resistance to that aggression. If I attack you, and you respond by hitting me and I then kill you in turn, have I killed you "in defence"?

Everyone knows the story of Jesus driving money changers from the Temple. But only the Gospel of John describes Jesus as taking a whip to it. Most of us don't like this act of violence from Jesus. It makes us squirm. It disturbs our myth about him. In a service last week where this verse was read, I saw the Palestinians there nod their heads in understanding. One young Palestinian man spoke about how difficult it is for him to restrain himself from violence as he lives under this occupation.

I found myself nodding my head, also. This is not a comfortable place to be in; ie, understanding, perhaps even sympathizing, at a gut level why people become violent here. But in this land you soon realize how much damage is being done by not coming to terms with the truth; by not acknowledging injustices no matter who perpetuates them, or whether they violate our mythologies and shrink our comfort zone. As the priest at the service said, it's good to acknowledge this anger so we can turn it into righteous energy.

The violent resistance we see featured on the news because it fits our mythology will continue to come from only a very small proportion of the 4 1/2 million other Palestinians. Those other millions will continue to endure this with their humor, their generosity, their faith, and their patience in the face of wanton, blatant and unapologetic injustice. I hope more and more of us will join them in speaking out, stating the facts, and working peacefully for the justice that must inevitably come.