News,
articles and documents from the Holy Land
Issue No. 190 - Monday, 3 February 2003
Dear Friends, Brothers
and Sisters,
I was very touched by the statement of
the Papal Nuncio’s statement to the Vatican Radio after the Israeli elections,
he said describing the current situation: “not
only peace has disappeared from the horizon, but the horizon itself has
disappeared”. This is true indeed, because there is a lack of vision and
horizon. The coming Israeli government under Mr. Arial Sharon will be the same,
if not worst, that the previous, because this man doesn’t have any peace plan
or agenda. Which means that we will have some more years of suffering for both
peoples in both sides. This will be more complicated if a war against Iraq will
take place in the near future which will mean a whole confusion in the whole
region. Therefore, we hope that sincere efforts by the international community
will be made in order to make pressure of the Israeli-Sharon government and the
American-Bush Administration, to avoid more suffering and bloodshed in the
region. Governors don’t pay the price; only poor peoples will pay it from their
own lives!
In today’s Olive Branch you will find documents about
Bethlehem area because it is until now under continuous curfew since the
beginning of last December, and we are making effort to raise awareness about
this issue among the public opinion worldwide, because it is impossible and unacceptable
to remain silent in front of this collective punishment of the whole population
of Bethlehem area which suffered already from 134 days of curfew during the
last year. I hope that you will join this effort also.
You will find the following documents:
1)
Nuncio
Views the Dire Situation in Holy Land.
2)
President of
Bethlehem University Talks to Congress: A News Release by The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation.
3)
“LEAKS IN THE SYSTEM” is
the second part of Toine van Teeffelen’s analysis about the various effects of
the Israeli-imposed curfews in the West Bank and Gaza.
4)
Petition for Bethlehem: REQUEST
TO JOIN A COMMITTEE OF RECOMMENDATION FOR A PETITION TO STOP RESTRICTIONS ON
PALESTINIAN DAILY LIFE AND EDUCATION.
A final thought: I was very touched also by the
explosion of Space Shuttle “Colombia” and the loss of the seven astronauts
especially the Israeli and the Indian ones, because I saw on them the dream of
their nations to discover the space and enter the high technology of the modern
era, which means that every nation has a lot of human capacities to reach such
high level when it is used for the benefit of the progress of science and human
knowledge not only for war and destruction.
I hope that one day Palestinian and an Israeli astronauts
will make a safe trip toward the “star of Peace” through the “space of Reconciliation”
in the “shuttle of Justice”.
Best wishes from the faraway island of dreams in
Taybeh Fr.
Raed Abusahlia*
* By the way, my name in Arabic means “Pioneer” and
also “Astronaut”, it is a program of a life! Isn’t It?
Nuncio Views the Dire
Situation in Holy Land
Scene Facing Ariel Sharon's New Government
JERUSALEM, JAN. 30, 2003 (Zenit.org).-
Ariel Sharon's new government in Israel will have to take into consideration
the deep impasse in the Mideast conflict, says a papal nuncio.
"We must be honest," Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the nuncio in Israel,
told Vatican Radio after the victory by the Likud Party in Tuesday's elections.
"The Pope has pointed out four pillars on which peace is based: the first
is truth, the second is justice, the third is love, and the fourth is
liberty."
The present situation, in which "not only peace has disappeared from the
horizon, but the horizon itself has disappeared," shows that the way
chosen so far, that of violence, is wrong, the archbishop stressed.
He pointed out the courage of Christians who have decided to stay in the area.
They can receive support in many ways, including from people who make
pilgrimages to the holy places.
A pilgrimage is not only useful for one who undertakes it, but also "helps
Christians who see that their brothers in the faith are present," the
nuncio said.
"There has been no pilgrim martyr," Archbishop Sambi pointed out,
rejecting the idea of danger as regards pilgrimages. "I have received
several groups since Christmas ... none had problems."
There is great concern in the Holy Land over a possible war against Iraq, the
nuncio said. A "war cannot be waged except in a case of extreme necessity,
once all other means have been exhausted," he said. "In any event,
war is always a defeat for humanity."
President of Bethlehem
University Talks to Congress
30-Jan-02
The Holy Land Christian
Ecumenical Foundation*
News Release
The President of Bethlehem University in the West Bank of the Occupied Territories in Palestine, Brother Vincent Melham, spoke to members of Congress on January 28, 2003. P.D. John and Gabriel Habib of the Policy Institute for Religion and State and Robert Younes, M.D. Secretary for the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation accompanied him. Brother Vincent spoke at the HCEF's Fourth International Conference on the Christians of the Holy Land last October and graciously his offered his availability to HCEF to speak to Congressional representatives on his visit to Washington.
Brother Vincent met briefly with Senator Chuck Hegal and then spoke with Andrew Parasiliti, aide to Senator Hegal (R-NE). Brother Vincent then met with Ms. Cynthia, the Legislative Director for Congressman John Conyers (D-14th MI). Brother Vincent then had a meeting with the staff of the House Foreign Relations Committee: Mr. Hillel Weinberg of the Majority Staff, Mr. Alan Makovski of the Minority Staff, and Ms. Lara Alameh of the Full Committee. Lastly, Brother Vincent met with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-45th CA).
At each meeting, Brother Vincent described the difficulties he encountered as he tried to administer the education of his Christian and Muslim students. Curfews and military checkpoints disrupted the lives of both the students and faculty. Israeli gunfire damaged most of the buildings in the campus. Occupation military forces were engaged in a systematic strangulation of the Palestinian people and the university was entangled in the same process that affected all Palestinians. The legitimate right of Palestinians to education has been severely impaired by the actions of the Occupation Army. The daily humiliation inflicted on everyone living in the West Bank has taken a terrible toll. A long 21 day curfew was imposed on the Bethlehem area during the month of December. Lifting of curfews was irregular and sudden thereby making planning for exams and other activities very difficult.
Brother Vincent believes that everyone he visited was aware of the situation in the Holy Land. Many were concerned about the conditions and safety for Christians in Bethlehem and how they were being treated. Senator Hegal recently returned from the West Bank as part of a tour of the Middle East. Congressman Rohrebacher is planning a visit to the Holy land and want to visit the Christian community in Bethlehem when he tours the West Bank. It was suggested that members of Congress visit the university when they visit the Middle East. Brother extended an open invitation to representatives, senators, and their staffs to visit him at the Bethlehem University.
LEAKS IN THE
SYSTEM
Toine van Teeffelen
In the
previously sent, first part of the paper I listed the various effects of the
Israeli-imposed curfews in the West Bank and Gaza. The curfew has its effects
in combination with other measures that limit personal movement, especially the
geographical closures and the traveling restrictions for particular groups of
civilians (such as now those under the age of 35 who cannot travel outside
their city or district). My point was that the curfew is part of a system of
control which in its implementation and consequences is all-encompassing,
suffocating and violent. If I am now looking at the cracks and leaks in the
system it is not in order to raise a sense of relief that the system is after
all not so tight but for exactly the opposite reason, namely, that the system
is so inhuman that it is inherently instable and cannot go on for long.
Less stakes
in the system
A first main
field that is bound to go out of control is economic. Many observers have shown
surprise that despite an unemployment rate of about 70% Palestinian society in
the West Bank and Gaza is somehow surviving. Family support, educational jobs,
agricultural outlets, savings, small business and the informal market help
people to maintain a bare level of existence. According to a recent study of
Christian Aid (UK) three-quarter of the population now live below the poverty
line which is 2 dollar a day. But the present situation cannot go on for years
– at least if we assume that Israel and the international community do not want
TV images of mass hunger. Control without allowing people to earn their daily
bread is in the long run obviously impossible.
For a long time
the Israeli military administration of the West Bank and Gaza understood this.
In the first decades of the occupation, from the late 1960s until the beginning
of 1980s, many Palestinian families in the West Bank and Gaza could increase
their income and reach a measure of individual prosperity by, primarily,
working in Israel (while development of an independent Palestinian economy was
prevented). Almost nobody saw the occupation as legitimate but many were able
to somehow live with it as long as they had work and were able to travel. Also,
in those first decades of the occupation, a myriad of threads was developed to
bind people to the occupational authorities. The elaborate permit system
(obligatory for traveling, transport, civil affairs, and so on) was designed to
keep relations dependent and often personal, while ongoing contacts between the
military administration and village heads or clan chiefs helped to implement
the system.
The threads of
dependency have certainly not disappeared but are now much less functional as
more and more people are punished without distinction, across-the-board,
categorical. The prolonged closures and curfews are examples of that. As a
friend told me, not so long ago you used to deceive yourself by feeling that
your own family had just a little more chance than your neighbor to get the
right permits or a "favorable" treatment. Despite the rejection of
the occupation as such, that feeling kept most people resigned to stay inside
the system. The threat of force could usually stay on the background; instead,
the occupation effectively combined the stick-and-carrot and divide-and-rule
approaches. Nowadays, however, the threat of force is the main, if not the sole
reason for compliance. The system is exhausting its means.
Threats
obviously have their limits, especially in the long run. Occupation and its
control system are at bottom based upon fear. To what extent people are afraid
depends upon the circumstances. Fear is primarily inspired by concern for one's
interests and well-being. Israeli military journalists (Zeev Schiff of Haaretz,
for instance) have noticed that the "fear threshold" among the
Palestinians is decreasing these years of the Intifadah. With the closures,
blockades and curfews in place, people have economically less to lose, and the
difficulties in getting permits make that they also have less to win. A decline
in fear implies a decline in control.
Testing the
limits
In particular,
when people have less fear, they are more motivated to test the system of
control. The more they are restricted in their movements, the greater the urge
to test the limits of those restrictions, and the greater the urge to push the
limits of one's own fear. I very well remember a recent, stark scene of such
testing. At the Bethlehem-Jerusalem checkpoint one early morning, a group of
Palestinians laborers were waiting before a placard with the sign "stop
here" at a distance of some 20 meter from the soldiers' cabin. Since the
soldiers were extremely slow in calling and checking people, there was pushing
and shoving at the head of the queue. The impatient laborers were exhorting
each other to move forewords. This in fact happened, meter after meter, until
the crowd was close to the cabin and the soldiers ordered them back. After that
the pushing process started once again.
That same
natural habit of testing the limits occurs during curfews, especially when they
are not strictly enforced. For instance, when the weather is good, children
tend to go out on the streets. Thus happened a lot, for instance, during the
long curfews of March-April and August-September in Bethlehem last year. You
can't keep the children at home, even if you would want to. As soon as jeeps or
tanks arrive, the children withdraw into the gardens or houses or roofs.
However, they come back and take over the street immediately when the soldiers
leave - as in an ebb and flow movement. Another example: During curfews,
shopkeepers often open the door gradually, first barely noticeable; then the
door is put ajar or opened fully. They know it is risky but they don't want to
loose their business, especially not when other shops open also. The shops of
course close as soon as jeeps or tanks arrive but they are opened again when
the army is out of sight. Hesitatingly, the educational system is presently
testing the limits too. Some schools, under pressure to complete the curriculum
- especially for the students who are going to have the tawjihi
(matriculation exam before entrance to the university or other studies) -
gradually open classes during curfew time, at school or elsewhere. It's a
difficult decision for all involved: Who is responsible for the youths when
they are walking on the streets? Ultimately, the parents are responsible but
nobody wants to keep one's schoolchild home when the majority of his or her
classmates are going to school – as my neighbor told me recently (his 17-year
old daughter is at a school which is rather dangerously far away). Most
daringly, young kids on the street, usually from poor families, are testing the
limits, directly, by throwing stones to the army jeeps or tanks from a short distance.
TV images from Hebron yesterday showed how close they were to the tanks. They
don't feel they have any future under the present circumstances, and therefore
are willing to risk their lives. The horrible suicide bombings are the ultimate
expression of such loosing any stake in life.
My point is that
even a hi-tech army cannot repress human nature and human needs indefinitely.
This is especially so when people become less afraid. Fear decreases the longer
the curfews last, and also the more one becomes familiar with them. This is a
major reason why Israel will be unable to keep on imposing the present curfews
and closures for a prolonged time. The borders of what one is willing to risk
are each time drawn a little further until a critical mass is reached. This may
involve a dramatic personal decision. For instance, after the mother of a
clever but naughty class mate of Jara, my daughter, was advised by the teacher
to take her son more regularly outdoors so that he could better take out his
energy, she took courage and said, "OK, if that's the only way, I will
take him outside, curfew or not." Families all the time need to think
about the limits of what is possible. Another small example. This very Sunday
morning curfew was announced and Jara started to cry after we told her that we
had to cancel our plan to go to the play garden. Nothing special, a small
family tragedy, barely worth mentioning. But still you face a difficult
dilemma. My wife and I looked at each other: What to do? Some months ago we would
have decided to stay inside but now my wife decided to at least take a good
walk outside, despite the abandoned streets. How many families have to
deliberate whether or not to cancel a wedding, baptism or funeral after a
sudden announcement of curfew? After all, not everything can be cancelled at a
last-minute notice nor is it dignified to do so – in front of yourself as well
as others. During curfew, people all the time have to weigh the principles of
human dignity and daily needs on the one hand and safety on the other. The
longer the curfews last, and the more often they are imposed, the more one is
inclined to give preference to the principles of dignity and human needs. It is
difficult to keep your self-respect when you continue to be herded in- and outdoors
at will by 17 or 18-year soldiers who sometimes can barely withhold their laugh
while announcing the mamnu'a tajaawel. Observing how others cross the
threshold of fear encourages people to think of their own behavior and
determine when and where they can or should take the risk of crossing that
threshold. Obviously, for some groups it is much more dangerous to go out
during curfew than for others. Especially young males run the risk of being
arrested. How many mothers and fathers are presently worried about their 14-18
year old school kids! Taking drastic steps may be quite dangerous. There are
too many instances that soldiers reacted violently in case orders were
disobeyed.
The soldier's
image
The changing
image of the soldier is important here, too. Compliance is often based not only
upon the fear for a threat but also upon a minimum of respect for the soldier
and his rationality. That bare minimum of respect is shrinking now. The image
of the Israeli soldier was never devoid of ambiguity; rejection or hate used to
be combined with an element of admiration for Israeli discipline, efficiency
and organization. But many Israeli soldiers nowadays look in the eyes of
Palestinians like crazy people, shouting broken Arabic sentences to normal
passers by, or playing little "games" when detecting people who break
the curfew or who otherwise look challenging. One asks oneself: who is being
dehumanized, the soldier or the victim? (The latest bulletin of Bethlehem
University relays how a university student was requested at a checkpoint to
walk round a military jeep in circles while saying his prayers, just as if he
was visiting a religious site). My wife sometimes pities them and observes
traces of demoralization. International reports about soldiers taking drugs and
falling in a psychological abyss, especially after service, here too have not
gone unnoticed.
Some of the
present control measures have built-in contradictions and can be
counterproductive from an Israeli controlling point of view. For instance, when
the army regularly shifts its information about the opening and closing hours
of the curfews, as is happening now - apparently in order to create confusion
or to foster demoralization - a point will be reached that the Palestinian
liaison office who is informed about these hours, or the local TV stations and
the public at large, will not consider the provided information about curfews
as reliable anymore. (Last week it happened that the three local TV stations in
Bethlehem each gave different information about the opening and closing hours).
When people don't believe announcements of curfews anymore a major element of
the system of control is eroded.
Human
resilience
Finally, if a
deeper purpose of the present occupation is not just the shrinking of physical
space in which people live, but shrinking the available mental space as well,
breaking people's spirit – in other words, not just controlling but silencing
them - then this overlooks human resilience. Even though the sense of
suffocation is palpably present everywhere, it is also true that people keep
going on to communicate, whether in the shop around the corner, or in
discussions on the ubiquitously viewed local TV. When physical meetings are
impossible as during curfew time, local TV stations fulfill their functions as
"connectors," as sources of latest information about curfews, and as
discussion platforms about the possibilities and limitations of civil
disobedience. By copying satellite stations such as Al-Jazeera from Qatar, they
make accessible news and discussions for those who cannot pay for a satellite.
Despite their many technical shortcomings, local TV stations provide windows to
the world, are relevant to people's lives and give them a voice. Fortunately,
they are at present not much burdened by censorship, certainly in comparison
with standards prevalent in the surrounding Arab countries. They translate
Israeli news items from Hebrew into Arabic, and sometimes an Israeli journalist
(in Bethlehem Yoram Binur lately) is interviewed to give a different
perspective.
Other sources
which keep people alive and aware are cultural. Although less concrete they are
important too. Living here it is impossible not to hear the countless tales
about people who keep on traveling to their work or study despite the long
detours or waiting periods. Daily work and study as a form of resistance. There
is an element of persistence in the Palestinian mentality – perhaps related to
the proverbial stubbornness of a traditional peasant culture – which helps
people not to completely break down and to look all the time for survival
strategies, like a "donkey in the desert" as someone told me. Also, a
Mediterranean kind of vividness and gaiety in socializing helps to prevent
depressions even though hiding sadness. And despite everything, there is a
great love for the land and its people that keeps people going on. My neighbor,
in the possession of a green card and on a visit in the US, came back to
curfewed Bethlehem just because he was homesick!
Bethlehem, 2/2/03
We need you help to
sign a petition to left the curfew imposed on Bethlehem
Dear Friends, I send you this message in order to see if it possible to invite you and others people you know to sign a petition which will be prepared by the Arab Education Institute (AEI) and other NGO's in Bethlehem to ask for the lifting of the curfew and the closure imposed on the whole region since more than two months. As you know all the aspects of the life in the city is almost blocked and people now are getting tired and ask why is all this collective punishment on the whole population of Bethlehem area (120.000 people at least).. Last year the city suffered 134 days of curfew including the several invasions and the siege on the Basilica.. AEI is coordinating with the governor, the Mayer and many other institution to raise this issue to the public opinion and are asking the heads of churches in Jerusalem and else where to support their legitimate request. My friend Toine Van Teeffelen will contact you in order to give you some more details with the text of the petition hoping that you will help to find people to sign it or do whatever possible to end this dramatic situation in the City. Thank you in advance for your understanding and collaboration with us in this issue. Best wishes from Taybeh / Fr. Raed Abusahlia
Petition for Bethlehem
REQUEST TO JOIN A COMMITTEE OF
RECOMMENDATION FOR A PETITION TO STOP RESTRICTIONS ON PALESTINIAN DAILY LIFE
AND EDUCATION
Bethlehem, January 30, 2003
Dear Sir, Madam, Through this letter we would like to enlist your support
for a petition. The petition, included at the end of this letter, will be
addressed to international educational authorities requesting that the Israeli
government is urged to lift the present-day collective measures that it has imposed
upon the civilian Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza.
Specifically we would like to ask you whether you are willing to join a
committee of recommendation for the petition. This committee will be presented
in the following way:
"The petition is endorsed and recommended by the following
persons (name and title)". In this way, we expect to collect more
signatures and support and to increase the petition's impact. After the action
will be completed in about two months' time, we will foreword the
signatures to international educational authorities and the international
press. We appreciate having your response in after two weeks (before February 14). If a person from your circle is willing to join the
committee, we would also appreciate to have a brief circumscription of the
position/title.Apart from the petition itself, you can below find a background
text. We welcome your response at aei@p-ol.com
or fax: +972-2-277.7554. Thank you very much for your attention and support.
Fuad Giacaman / Toine van Teeffelen - Arab Educational Institute/secretariat
"Let Our Children Go To School Campaign" Bethlehem /
00-972-2-274.4030 / fax: 00-972-277.7554
INTRODUCTION TO PETITION
The Israeli army regularly and routinely imposes full 24-hour curfews
across many inhabited areas of the West Bank without explanation and without
accountability. It is expected that new curfews will be issued to coincide with
a possible war in Iraq. After experiencing prolonged curfews during the last
year, several of which lasted for more than a month, many Palestinians living
in the West Bank and Gaza have reached the limits of what they are able to
bear. The present Israeli Occupation is creating a humanitarian disaster. In
combination with tight closures and other restrictive and oppressive measures,
the curfews severely disrupt normal personal and family life. The economy in
the Occupied Territories is in dire straits, poverty and health conditions
reach alarming levels, and normal community life is completely paralyzed. It is
not difficult to imagine how people feel when they consistently lack control
over their daily lives and are barely able to plan. This particularly applies
to education where the staff working at schools and institutes for Higher
Education are constantly having to improvise their lessons and change their
schedules, or cannot go to their work. Some universities have been closed by
military order. Not only are hundreds of thousands of pupils and students
lacking any study rhythm, they are also often exposed to killings, injuries or
teargas, and feel hopeless about their present and future. Their lack of
orientation is compounded by the fear for a war on Iraq, and its consequences
for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Many educators here have to live with the
thought that a new young generation – the large majority of the Palestinian
people, in fact – at present do not feel any future here. Regard this message,
written while Bethlehem is once again under curfew, as an expression of
self-respect and a cry for help. We very much appreciate your support,
especially at this dark moment in our lives.
The Arab Educational Institute (AEI) in Bethlehem is working on community
education, especially for youths, in the southern West Bank. Its work focuses
on peace and non-violence education, as well as inter-religious and
inter-cultural cooperation and exchanges. AEI is affiliated to Pax Christi
International, supported by CORDAID and a partner in the Euro-Arab Dialogue
from Below (EAd) network.
AEI is also the secretariat of the campaign "Let Our Children Go To
School" which started in the beginning of October 2002 in Bethlehem with a
demonstration of many hundreds of school children in the presence of Christian
and Moslem religious leaders, civil authorities and local NGOs. Another two
demonstrations were held in Bethlehem and in the West Bank village of Taybeh,
before the December curfews made new planned demonstrations impossible.
PETITION
TEXT
To be
addressed to international educational bodies and authorities.
Dear Sir / Madam,
Restrictive measures which
collectively and over prolonged periods target the civilian Palestinian
population in the West Bank and Gaza, such as the present curfews and closures,
are completely unacceptable and should be lifted immediately. The undersigned
emphatically supports the right of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and
Gaza to go to their schools and institutions of learning, and to conduct their
normal duties of daily life. Also in order to strengthen a long-term prospect
for a just and stable peace in the region, we request you to do everything in
your power to put appropriate pressure upon the Israeli government in
accordance with the demands of international legality including the right of
education.
Name:
Profession:
Email address:
Copy and send the signed petition to: aei@p-ol.com
or +972-2-277.7554 (fax) - The action will last until April, 2003.
|
Important note to our dear readers We really hope that you enjoy what we send you and find it
useful. If you need further information, please feel free to contact us at: nonviolence@writeme.com
Thank you for your understanding & with best wishes from Jerusalem Fr. Raed Abusahlia |